Absolute Batman takes the Dark Knight we know and drops him into a world where he's broke and always outmatched.

The new DC Comics series has already given him enemies who look less like costumed crooks and more like Elden Ring bosses, but the latest twist has fans asking, "What did Bruce do to deserve this?"

This week, comic book writer Scott Snyder unveiled Absolute Joker, a reptilian nightmare that looks nothing like the demented clown we know.

The reveal was so grotesque that it had fans begging Batman to retire and move to New York and post jokes about how Gotham had to be the only town with rent in the negatives.

Here's how the Absolute Universe and the character Absolute Joker wound up the subject of memes.

What's Absolute Batman All About?

The Absolute Universe imprint reimagines DC heroes as underdogs trapped in harsher circumstances. In Absolute Batman, Bruce Wayne isn't a billionaire bachelor — he's a poor blue-collar engineer who fights with weapons of his own making, all while he's weighed down by a city that throws him against grotesque versions of the gangsters and villains we know.

The story's lore threads through Darkseid, a cosmic supervillain casting a shadow over Gotham's already cursed streets.

Other heroes get stripped-down, gritty twists in the Absolute Universe, too. Absolute Superman is a working-class Kryptonian fighting on behalf of the oppressed, while Absolute Wonder Woman is depicted as a witch raised in the Underworld. Against that backdrop, Batman comes across as the most mortal of the bunch, and his villains the most monstrous.

What's With People Freaking Out Over Absolute Joker?

On September 19th, 2025, Scott Snyder previewed the first full look at Absolute Joker — a hulking, reptilian figure crouched on a playing card, mouth unhinged to show rows of pointy teeth, his tongue flicking out like some kind of demon-dragon.

The design features claws, horns and spines along his back, and compared to the cunning trickster of the mainline comics, this Joker looks like he crawled out of a swamp designed by H.P. Lovecraft.

The image lit up X / Twitter within hours. For instance, X user @goochmclooch posted a Troll Quotes Sun Tzu meme reading, "Uh Oh," which cleared 40,000 likes in just a few days.

Meanwhile, @RadBlackbody paired a description of Absolute Superman and Wonder Woman with the Silent Hill SpongeBob meme to represent Batman's grim situation.

Redditors joined in on the fun too, with u/HouseErikson gathering more than 1,000 upvotes in the subreddit /r/absoluteuniverse by comparing Batman's mainline villains to Absolute's gallery of freaks.

But fans haven't given up on Absolute Batman just yet. TikToker @himthandrake is one of many fans who believe Absolute Batman best embodies the Indomitable Human Spirit, and they're excited to see him kick reptile-Joker to the curb, just like he did with Bane and Croc.

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For the full history of Absolute Joker, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.