For years, one of the biggest mysteries that perplexed Joker. The origin of the Clown Prince of Crime got its biggest development ever when Batman used the Mobius Chair to inquire about the Joker’s real name. However, instead of a proper resolution, fans instead got an even more mystifying question once the plot was followed up on in Batman: Three Jokers.
Batman’s experience with the Mobius Chair occurs in 2015's Justice League #42 by Geoff Johns, Jason Fabok, Brad Anderson and Rob Leigh. After the New God Metron is removed from his chair, Batman sits upon it to prevent it from departing via Boom Tube. Connected to complete universal knowledge, the Dark Knight tests its abilities by asking it who shot his parents. Upon confirming its reliability, Batman presses the Chair further, asking it the Joker’s real name, only to be stunned at the answer he receives.
The answer the Mobius Chair provides, of course, is that there are actually multiple Jokers, a plot that was continued in the 2020 DC Black Label series Batman: Three Jokers. Batman, along with Batgirl and Red Hood, investigate a series of murders that lead them to meeting the three distinct Jokers and discovering their plan to turn Joe Chill into the next Joker. The Bat-Family foils their plan and in the end, Batman reveals that not only has he been aware of which Joker was the real one, but that he’s hiding the knowledge of the Joker’s identity to protect the Joker’s ex-wife and son from harm.
The revelation that the Joker’s past from Batman: The Killing Joke is his true origin has been a hotly debated topic, but canon issues aside, the story brings a few things to mind. With Batman confirmed to know the identity of the Joker all along, his question to the Mobius Chair is actually just another way of checking its veracity, instead of the serious inquiry it appears to be. But if Batman was connected to a source that provided infinite knowledge, what exactly would be the first question he would ask?
After all, the Mobius Chair can give him insight into anything. Not just cold, hard knowledge, but an awareness on a cosmic scale. Would he ask how he can truly save Gotham? Inquire what the best use of his talents are? Or possibly how he can one day find peace? The possibilities are endless but sadly, readers never got to see Batman with the Chair for long. That said, knowing Batman, he would likely pose a question that could benefit others rather than himself.
Despite being the World's Greatest Detective, Bruce Wayne doesn't always know everything. Before asking a device that could supposedly answer anything, the Dark Knight had to be 100 percent certain that it worked. And while his knowledge of the Joker's identity helped Batman confirm that, fans were unfortunately deprived of the most pressing question he would have asked.
