So, does anyone else think this might be a sort of anagram for Joker is alive? I never got the sense that in City he died, so it kind of shocked me that so many are set on the idea that he is dead for good. I don't know, he could be, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was back in this as a surprise, probably near the end, or maybe not at all, and simply revealed that he's still roaming Gotham. Rocksteady saying he's dead could just be a cover up, as developers like to surprise players. I also think The Joker is just a huge villain in Batman, the biggest, so ending a trilogy without him would be kind of awkward. I think the only reason he wasn't in Rises was due to Heath Ledger's passing, so that's an exception. Maybe he's pulling the strings again, as The Arkham Knight. I think either way, I won't be surprised if he's in it or not.

I hope he's dead. They showed Gordon burning The Joker's body in an aftermath comic.

Also he's just an overused character. Batman is a hero defined by his villains and there're a lot of really cool ones that get overlooked in favour of the big ones from The Animated Series. If the primary antagonists of this game are just Scarecrow and Hush that would be fantastic.

@ntm: You never actually say what that anagram is and where it came from. Help!

I bet he'll be thrown in a Lazarus Pit and be brought back for this last game. No one is truly dead in comics.

@joshwent: Yeah, I saw it in the latest trailer. I guess, which I hadn't noticed, it shows up a lot in small parts. If you see the part in this video, look at the billboard at 1:16. There are more occurrences that the name shows up, but I don't know when as I had just noticed it. I've just heard it has been shown before a bunch.

@monkeyman04: That was my thought, especially villains like The Joker.

I love me some Joker, but I'd rather they didn't pull another gotcha with him.

Also, I'm super curious to see what becomes of Harley without Joker's influence. They could do some really interesting stuff with that.

If anything, his 'death' should spur Harley on to greater things. Heck, have her as the main antagonist instead of a part player.

As much as I love the Joker, I seriously hope he's just dead for good in that version of the Batman universe. I was disappointed when he ended up being the main villain in Origin, but that made some sort of sense. Here, it would just be too much. Like yeah, we get it, he's Batman's ultimate, iconic archenemy, but let's mix things up a little.

I hope Rocksteady has the balls to let him die permanently. Bringing him back from the dead would be such a cop out.

Actually, I've decided. Arkham Knight is Black Mask. He never got his due in Origins.

They said the Arkham Knight was an original character. If they've backtracked on that or it turns out he's original in a "we took this existing character from the Batman universe and put him in a new costume" then it's going to be a bit of a disappointment.

@jesus_phish: I would be fine if the Arkham Knight is Hush, who has gotten a ton of build up in the previous games but never had an actual encounter.

That's exactly what I said to my friend the other day. If Arkham Knight just turns out to be a reanimated Joker, I'll throw the game out the window.

@shindig: Didn't Black Mask die in Origins due to Joker killing him? Well... I don't even know if Rocksteady considers that canon (I think they should). Plus, villains always come back.

I think if he is dead, they should at least have him in there as some kind of story element.

Rocksteady threw Origins under the bus as soon as they announced this game so they could ignore it to their black heart's content. Although, with Origins preceding the rocksteady trilogy, they could fit it in.

@ntm: Well in the Tie-In comic Electrocutioner II makes an appearance and references his predecessor. Also, Firefly's design in AK is exactly the same as Origins So I'm not sure. Have they ever flat out said Origins wasn't cannon?

@ntm: Black Mask never died in Origins, he get's sent off to Blackgate. Then in the Vita game (Blackgate) he escapes following an accident which burns the mask onto his face.

@shindig: I don't think that's the case, I've seen nothing to suggest it getting thrown under the bus, but there's nothing in Origins that they have to ignore since it's all preceding their trilogy.

True. I guess setting Origins in that time avoids conflicting with rocksteady. When they originally said they were concluding the Arkham Trilogy, it was being framed by some outlets as a jab at WB-team.

@shindig: I'd much rather prefer that the plot didn't have that kind of twist (i.e. "turns out that she's the main bad guy after all") since it'd be too similar to Origins and have it more as a power struggle where villains fuck each other over as part of the twist.

Johnny Charisma seems like an alternate name for Mr. Caffeine. I think he would make an excellent Batman villian.

Doesn't an anagram usually need all of the letters to make it complete? There is no K in there, or are you kind of allowed to slide on 'close enough' with that C or something?

Anyways, to echo some others here, I really hope not, the Joker is a great Batman villain, but he's great because people and storytellers made him great, he doesn't always need to be the 'main' villain, so I hope he stays dead, I have my 'no one is ever dead' doubts of course but I would really love for the Arkham Knight to be that fully original character they say and have them make something really cool/fierce to go up against. That would be cool if they made someone as intelligent/strong as Batman to go up against.

Plus isn't Mark Hamill busy with Star Wars? I mean you could always give him a new voice like they did in Origins, buuuuuut juuuust don't, let him be dead, move on, please.

Hopefully you don't get it on Steam.
See cause then you're throwing the computer out of the window!... I'll go away now.

What if it's on the laptop?

What happens now?!?

Tell me!!!

Arkham City had a nice send off for the Joker so I hope he stays dead. I'm not big into comics because tension is so lacking due to all the bullshit that keeps characters alive indefinitely. Moooove on.

Yeah I'm really hopeful that the Joker doesn't return. I liked what they did in Arkham City. Focus on other villains.

@jesus_phish: @ozzdog12: You know, now that I remember back since you guys replied, while I remember him dying in Origins (though I believe you that he was sent to Blackgate), he was in City at the very beginning, one of the first villains you see actually! So that answers that question. Also, I'm not sure if they consider Origins canon or not, I just think they should. I'm probably in the minority here, but I liked Origins more the City, while Asylum is still the best to me.

@jesus_phish: Oh, and I never played Blackgate, but wondered how it was. How is it?

@zolroyce: Yes, that's why I said a 'sort' of anagram, but not entirely. I didn't know any other way to put it, and anagram is the closest thing it comes to.

Well guys. I did a lot of thinking and playing around with the letters. Potential spoilers:

Johnny Charisma Live is an anagram for:

Jason Arch Hymn I Live:

or phonetically

Jason Arkham I Live etc

....Jason Todd