Do You Think Joker Could Have A Secret Life?

Ever since reading Endgame where Joker disguised himself as a normal guy and even fooled Batman I've wondered do you think it's possible Joker has a secret civilian life? I mean it's a common theme with super heroes(having a dual identity) and even serial killers sometimes have normal lives with families of their own. I think it would be very cool and scary the idea that Joker can live among every day people and nobody would notice. It would also add a new level of fear with Joker like Harley finding out by accident he has a secret life and he straight up kills her and she stays dead (at least for a while you know comics) I feel her dying like that would really be the embodiment of how toxic and truly unloving Joker is.

I can see him caring about his family but not in a love way more of a controlling possessive way where only the respect and admiration (fueling his narcissism) he gets matters to him. I feel like it would be interesting to see that kind of contrast with Joker especially if he said something like "Harley is like a cellphone very common and easy to replace my wife and kids are more like my favorite car very rare hard to replace not something I intend to lose or wreck just yet." I think a storyline like this would be a real good way of exploring how much of a control freak and possessive jerk he can be like he could at least to his family come off as over bearing and in reality his behavior could him subtly trying to micromanage their lives even going as far as trying to kill them after his identity(not his real one but one he created) gets outed and whether Batman saves them from Joker or not they end up having a creepy moment where Batman sees a very serious threatening side of Joker something like this.
[video=youtube;15B4Uz6-8C8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15B4Uz6-8C8[/video]

The reason I think this would be good is we've never seen a villain/serial killer in a realistic setting (like I said even serial killers can have loved ones) and so much has been done with Joker and if you consider that his whole identity is a secret even from himself it's surprising they haven't done something like this yet.

Well I suppose he could...sort of.

What you've not made completely clear is whether Joker would be a 'normal' guy who becomes the Joker from time to time. In which case how would the extended stays in Arkham be explained to his family? And what would be his motivation for becoming the Joker? Certainly not profit or to accrue power surely?

If the normal guy is a disguise or some kind of ruse set up by the Joker I could sort of understand it more. Like he's playing a long game - setting up one big joke and the payoff is yet to come. I'm still not sure I could see Joker carrying that through though - I just don't think he'd be able to cope with humdrum normality, even if he was playing a part, so to speak.

Yes. I think in another thread someone mentioned he might have a wife and kid in the suburbs of Gotham he goes to see every so often. I envisioned a little story about it. He could never be a normal guy, but he could act like one for short amounts of time, albeit still creepy.

[QUOTE=JamesC;2542999]Well I suppose he could...sort of.

What you've not made completely clear is whether Joker would be a 'normal' guy who becomes the Joker from time to time. In which case how would the extended stays in Arkham be explained to his family? And what would be his motivation for becoming the Joker? Certainly not profit or to accrue power surely?

If the normal guy is a disguise or some kind of ruse set up by the Joker I could sort of understand it more. Like he's playing a long game - setting up one big joke and the payoff is yet to come. I'm still not sure I could see Joker carrying that through though - I just don't think he'd be able to cope with humdrum normality, even if he was playing a part, so to speak.[/QUOTE]

I was thinking of a situation where Joker pretends to be a normal guy off and on while having a family. Like causes chaos as Joker, then goes plays doting husband and father I can't help but wonder what Batman would do would he expose Joker's secret to the world and endanger innocent civilians by broadcasting such knowledge it really would be an interesting scenario. I figure his motivation would be that he considers it his vacation time or that he could view having a picture perfect family as his own weird sort of hobby (marriage and parenting is a lot of work so he might equate it to his own weird form of art) but I can definitely see him doing this if things went south.
[video=youtube;VHT-6C17j-I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHT-6C17j-I[/video]

I don't know about the incorporation of a family, but it would totally be a cool idea to give him a "secret identity". I mean, this could be a cool approach to show him interacting in the normal day to day life. It could also be used to show how he goes about articulating his nasty plots. You could do an entire story arc from his perspective essentially; show him taking up the identity of a normal guy going to purchase groceries and stuff and then like also going to buy material for some plot on Gotham that he obviously couldn't purchase as the joker (i.e. bomb making materials or chemicals or something or other). He could be like a chemist for a lab or something - have a "friend" or two who work there. Then you could do an entire emotional arc about him revealing himself at the end - also creating a ripple in some sort of "normal" relationship hes developed with "friend" and then he kills them (or lets them live). All in all I think something like that could be quite a compelling read, and also, add some sort of depth to the character that has yet to be discovered. You could also show more of his obsession with batman, and potentially answer some questions about where his obsession comes from. Just a good chance to show how a deranged psychopath/schizophrenic really operates.

I could imagine him keeping some poor brainwashed or drugged kids stashed somewhere and doing that. Or possibly he has a virtual reality program featuring a wife and kiddies

[QUOTE=JamesC;2542999]Well I suppose he could...sort of.

What you've not made completely clear is whether Joker would be a 'normal' guy who becomes the Joker from time to time. In which case how would the extended stays in Arkham be explained to his family? And what would be his motivation for becoming the Joker? Certainly not profit or to accrue power surely?

If the normal guy is a disguise or some kind of ruse set up by the Joker I could sort of understand it more. Like he's playing a long game - setting up one big joke and the payoff is yet to come. I'm still not sure I could see Joker carrying that through though - I just don't think he'd be able to cope with humdrum normality, even if he was playing a part, so to speak.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, or why he cut his face off lol.

Some villains can or could, but nah Joker can't imo. Stories like Endgame or Going Sane are cool, I'd read an elseworlds joker story like OP was talking about, but as a status quo thing? Nahhh

A lot of cool ideas in this thread for like a OGN or couple 'tec arcs. Maybe with the 3 Jokers thing it can be explored.

Def check out 'Going Sane' arc from LOTDK 90s if u haven't tho...it's pretty much the closest I've seen to some of these ideas

I'm imagining this being like Roger from American Dad, where a running gag is that he somehow, inexplicably has the time to pretend to maintain the lives of his various characters, having multiple wives, husbands, jobs accross town without any of them realizing its all an act.
Anyway if this is an interesting idea that can add layers to the character, though if it is the case and Batman doesn't know about it, he needs to hand in his "World's Greatest Detective" title.