Location: Gotham City

Overview • People • Government • Economy • Trend • Analysis

The Psychotic World of The Joker is a massive, socially progressive nation, ruled by The Joker with an iron fist, and remarkable for its complete lack of prisons. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, cynical population of 1.272 billion are rabid consumers, partly through choice and partly because the government tells them to and dissenters tend to vanish from their homes at night.

There is no government in the normal sense of the word; however, a small group of community-minded, corrupt individuals is effectively ruled by the Department of Defence, with areas such as the Environment and Social Welfare receiving almost no funds by comparison. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Arkham Asylum. Income tax is unheard of. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Automobile Manufacturing, Gambling, and Furniture Restoration industries.

The nation's youth is held blameless for all crimes, "The Daily Sacrifice" is a routine segment of morning news shows, soylent products are an expensive commodity due to a lack of volunteers, and society and government have been organized according to a feudal hierarchy. Crime -- especially youth-related -- is crippling, probably because of the country's utter lack of prisons. The Joker's national animal is the lizard, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, its national religion is Anarchy, and its currency is the card.

The Joker is ranked 1st in Gotham City and 5,259th in the world for Shortest Average Lifespan, scoring 13 on the Bus Surprisal Index.

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NationStates by Max Barry, author of and