Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have taken a unique and, by all accounts, blisteringly impressive look at Batman’s nemesis, Joker. Their film, Joker, won Best Film at the Venice Film Festival and is generating some deafening Oscar-buzz. Phillips and Phoenix have been unflinching in making their take on the iconic character unique, sharing that they have pretty much discarded with the preexisting Joker narratives and origins. Nevertheless, the impending release of Joker has a lot of people asking, who actually is__ the Joker?

There’s no straightforward nor definitive answer to the question because Joker is myriad. The Clown King of Crime’s mythology is divergent, and Joker is only going to add to that fact. The twisted and sociopathic character has been reinvented, explored and represented in many comic, TV, film and video game forms over the years.

This wide array of material makes the Joker a very enigmatic and gripping character to explore – so, even though you’ll likely only find more questions than answers, here’s some key places to start on your Joker research.