I was about to ask why there is a giant penny and a dinosaur in the Batcave, but both of those questions have been answered already. The other question I had regarding the Batcave is this: I know that several villains, including Bane and Catwoman, have been inside the cave, but I don't remember ever reading that Batman's archenemy, the Joker, has also gotten into the Batcave. Has he?
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The answer is yes, multiple times. I ain't got time to find caps.– user16696Jul 11, 2015 at 0:36
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2@cde - Was he invited, or did he sneak in?– Wad CheberJul 11, 2015 at 0:37
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In the answer below, he was knocked out and then dragged and locked up in the Cave by Batsy– user16696Jul 11, 2015 at 0:41
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Interestingly, in the TV series episode "Flop goes the Joker" he nearly got into the Bat Cave, check out batman.fandom.com/wiki/Flop_Goes_The_Joker– user66716Feb 25, 2019 at 18:36
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1This question isn't about the literal Bat-cave, iykwim ;-)– MöozNov 15, 2022 at 22:30
4 Answers
TL;DR, Probably not in the comics
At the end of the "Death of the Family" arc, The Joker establishes an elaborate set-piece in the caves outside of the Bat Cave, and implies that he followed Batman back a long time ago.
In Batman #17, Joker hosts a mock dinner in the caves leading to the Batcave. Batman and his allies have been bound and doused in gasoline, with Joker warning against escaping at the risk of agitating the flint in the cave; everyone in the Bat-family save for Batman have also been bandaged. A brainwashed Alfred serves them with a cloche seemingly containing their own severed faces. When Joker threatens to ignite the gasoline, Batman escapes and triggers a blaze, but uses an explosive and his knowledge of the cave system to blow its roof open, allowing water to rush in from above and douse the flames. When he frees the others and they take their bandages off, it is revealed that they still have their faces — the whole scene was a sick ploy by Joker.
then
Batman pursues Joker to the edge of a large drop. Batman claims that he knows Joker's true identity, but to prevent him from saying it, Joker purposefully knocks himself over the edge and falls out of sight; Batman finds a notebook which Joker claimed held the secret identities of the Bat-family, but discovers it is blank. Meanwhile, the Bat-family are gassed into attacking each other, but manage to fight off the gas' influence. Later, in Wayne Manor, Batman tells a recovering Alfred that after finding the joker playing card in the cave, he confronted Joker about it in Arkham Aslyum as Bruce Wayne. Joker failed to acknowledge him and Batman realized that he did not care who Batman was under his mask.
Just to make it clear, the writer has since stated that Batman "has physical evidence that The Joker couldn't have been in the cave ... he's positive that this didn't happen".
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Why would the Joker just pretend to disfigured the bats? -1 bad writing– user16696Jul 11, 2015 at 1:04
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@cde: Eh, or he thought it was funny to make Batman agonize over that horrible thing he thought he had done. Part of the Death of the Family storyline was meant to evoke The Killing Joke, I suspect, how Joker knows that Batman will never kill him, but he enjoys goading him toward the edge. Jul 11, 2015 at 1:06
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1When I first read your answer, I thought you said "Death in the Family", and I was very puzzled. "Death in the Family" was the storyline in which Jason Todd was killed. I own it, and I was wondering how I missed the part where Joker does all this stuff. Now I see that you actually said "Death of the Family", which explains everything. I haven't read that one. I stopped reading Batman comics about 23 years ago. Jul 20, 2015 at 5:24
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3It wasn't pools of gasoline, but rather them being soaked in it. The problem with water on a gasoline fire is generally that the gasoline floats to the top and, of course, it's the vapors that catch fire. If the gasoline is soaked into clothing, the water can displace the gasoline and get it off the person. Nov 6, 2015 at 12:57
Looking around at bit, I found some occurrences in which he was inside the Batcave.
- Batman: Gotham Adventures
A comic spin-off of Batman Animated series. The Joker killed the son of a rich philanthropist, who decided to put a bounty of 50 millions dollars on his head. Under those conditions, it was out of question to send him to Arkham Asylum, because everyone would be out to collect the bounty. So Batman decided to have him kept in the Batcave while he deals with the situation.
- Batman: Endgame
Apparently, he managed to get in the Batcave by swimming.
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
He walks in from the main entrance to say hello to his dear friend Batman.
Later on, it is revealed that the real Joker died, and he managed to take over Tim Drake, the second Robin of this universe, which explains why he knew the entrance, although early on the real Joker also tortured Tim into telling all the secrets he knew.
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1Alfred, with shotgun, should have added a perfunctory "sir" to that line. Aug 20, 2021 at 16:30
The Joker got inside the batcave once during the Adam West Batman series, and almost got there a second time. During "The Penguin Declines" (season 2, episode 39), The Joker, Penguin, and several henchmen gain access to the batcave by hiding in the trunk of the batmobile.
The fight scene in the batcave:
Someone's review of the episode, with more footage of the scene:
Later in "Flop Goes The Joker" (season 2, episode 58), The Joker forces his way into Stately Wayne Manor with the intention of robbing Bruce Wayne. After tangling with Alfred, he finds himself in Bruce Wayne's study, accidentally finds the batpoles, and slides down one of them. Due to a combination of circumstances, he doesn't actually reach the batcave and doesn't connect Wayne to Batman.
The Joker at Stately Wayne Manor:
That same guy's review of the episode:
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It's a good thing the bat poles sign was not up that day. It is in other episodes as I recall. Aug 21, 2021 at 1:31
As a short answer, there is at least once that the Joker has been inside the Bat Cave that I can recall. A semi recent cartoon movie, The Batman: Dracula, set in the The Batman cartoon universe, has the Joker, a ghoul almost full vampire convert of the titular and historical Vladimir the Impaler Dracula, locked up by Batman in a cell in the Bat Cave. He doesn't have the run of the place, but in it he is.