Black and grey realism tattoo of the Joker holding a playing card, with bat shapes above and Why so serious lettering below, on a forearm.

Joker portrait with bats and lettering on a forearm

Realism · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A large black and grey portrait of the Joker character, with smeared white makeup, wide dark eyes and a playing card held near the chin. Three bat silhouettes sit above the head, and the words Why so serious with a question mark run down the lower part of the forearm. The shading is smooth and detailed, with strong contrast in the face and hair, and the design fills the frame from top to bottom.

Realism Lettering Forearm Joker Portrait Bat Playing card Lettering

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dearest Marguerite, you asked whether the rumours from the eastern road are true, and they are, though the truth is stranger. The fool they call Mr Ashgrove came through the Bat Gate on Tuesday with his face painted white as lime wash and a red grin stretched over it that no barber would dare. Bats rose off the battlements as he crossed the bridge. The watch swears they were starlings, though I have never seen starlings hold a shape of wings.

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The King took to him at once. He was given the rooms above the kitchens and a stool beside the throne, and within a week he had emptied the treasurer's purse at dice. Sir Corvin lost four hundred crowns and his grey mare. Ashgrove returned every coin the next morning, folded inside the knave of spades with a small drawing of a cat on its back. Nobody could say how he had got into the strongroom. The locks were whole.

I confess I laughed too, until the Lord Chamberlain's letters began to go missing. Each morning a single card lay on the desk where they had been: a jack, a queen, then the joker with its cap bells. Last night I found mine on my pillow, face up, and beneath it four words in a loose, delighted hand: Why so serious, Steward?

I have barred the door and set two guards on the stair. Come quickly if you can, and bring the old almanac. I want to know whether any fool in this kingdom's history was ever paid to be sad. Your loving brother, Osric.