Drillability & Worldbuilding: Reconstructing Joker as The Tragic Villain

Saadah S.; Raihanah M. M.

Drillability & Worldbuilding: Reconstructing Joker as The Tragic Villain

Saadah S., Raihanah M. M.

Abstract

This article examines how participatory fanfiction reconfigures the Joker as portrayed in Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019), transforming Arthur Fleck into a “tragic villain” whose psychological depth invites sustained reader empathy. While the film already departs from comic-book canon by presenting the Joker as a socially marginalised and mentally fragile figure, the Wattpad fanfiction Joker (2019) by artham_asylum extends this transformation through emotionally immersive storytelling. Using qualitative textual analysis, this study investigates how fan-authored narratives advance character complexity through narrative mechanisms not typically explored in canonical media. Addressing a gap in existing research, which often overlooks how fans reshape both canonical and non-canonical reimaginings, this study applies an adapted conceptual framework from Henry Jenkins’s principles of drillability and worldbuilding, extended here to include re-imagined themes and role-swapping. Drillability explores survivor’s guilt, fractured agency, and moral ambivalence, while worldbuilding reconstructs the social and emotional architecture surrounding Arthur’s descent. These mechanisms allow fans to produce original meanings and critique structural violence through character revision. The findings position fanfiction not as a derivative expression, but as a critical and creative form of participatory authorship. It challenges fixed character archetypes and contributes to broader discourses on authorship, trauma, and narrative ethics in digital storytelling.

Keywords: drillability; worldbuilding; Joker; fanfiction; transmedia storytelling

ABSTRAK

Artikel ini meneliti bagaimana fiksyen peminat partisipatif (participatory fanfiction) mengkonfigurasi semula Joker seperti yang digambarkan dalam filem Joker (2019) arahan Todd Phillips, mengubah Arthur Fleck menjadi "penjahat tragis" yang kedalaman psikologinya mengundang empati berterusan daripada pembaca. Walaupun filem tersebut sudah pun menyimpang daripada kanun buku komik dengan menampilkan Joker sebagai sosok yang terpinggir secara sosial dan rapuh mentalnya, fiksyen peminat Wattpad Joker (2019) nukilan artham_asylum memperluaskan transformasi ini melalui penceritaan yang mendalam secara emosi. Menggunakan analisis tekstual kualitatif, kajian ini menyiasat bagaimana naratif yang dikarang oleh peminat memajukan kerumitan watak melalui mekanisme naratif yang biasanya tidak diterokai dalam media kanonikal. Bagi mengisi jurang dalam penyelidikan sedia ada, yang sering terlepas pandang bagaimana peminat membentuk semula interpretasi kanonikal dan bukan kanonikal, kajian ini mengaplikasikan kerangka konseptual yang diadaptasi daripada prinsip penerokaan mendalam (drillability) dan pembinaan dunia (worldbuilding) oleh Henry Jenkins, yang diperluaskan di sini untuk merangkumi tema yang diolah semula serta pertukaran peranan (role-swapping). Penerokaan mendalam menelusuri rasa bersalah mandiri (survivor’s guilt), agensi yang retak, dan ambivalens moral, manakala pembinaan dunia membina semula struktur sosial dan emosi yang mengelilingi kejatuhan Arthur. Mekanisme-mekanisme ini membolehkan peminat menghasilkan makna yang asli dan mengkritik keganasan struktur melalui pengubahsuaian watak. Dapatan kajian ini meletakkan fiksyen peminat bukan sebagai sebuah ekspresi derivatif (tiruan), tetapi sebagai satu bentuk kepengarangan partisipatif yang kritis dan kreatif. Ia mencabar arketaip watak yang tegar dan menyumbang kepada wacana yang lebih meluas mengenai kepengarangan, trauma, dan etika naratif dalam penceritaan digital.

Kata Kunci: penerokaan mendalam; Pembinaan Dunia; Joker, Fiskyen Peminat; Penceritaan Transmedia

Keywords

drillability; worldbuilding; Joker; fanfiction; transmedia storytelling

Full Text:

PDF

References

artham_asylum. (2019). Joker. Wattpad. https://www.wattpad.com/story/177171870-joker

Arthamivea, M., Margono, Y. B., Corresponding, , & Arthamivea, R. M. (2021). 2 Comparison of the Character, Characterization, and Plot in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and in the Cruella. In Universitas (Vol. 17).

Belkhiri, H. (2023). The Dionysian clown in movies: the Homicidal Joker in the Dark Knight (2008), Batman the Killing Joke (2016) and Joker (2019). Comedy Studies, 14(1), 36–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040610X.2023.2149944

Bezio, K. M. S. (2015). Playing (With) the villain: Critical play and the joker-as-guide in batman: Arkham asylum. In The Joker: A Serious Study of The Clown Prince of Crime.

Boillat, A., Papakonstantis, A., & Dimopoulos, I. (2022). Worldbuilding in the Age of Digital (Trans)Media. In Cinema as a Worldbuilding Machine in the Digital Era (pp. 5–54). Indiana University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2m7c5rc.6

Brake, M. (2024). The Joker as Philosopher: Killing Jokes. In The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-24685-2_92

Brottrager, J., Doat, J., Häußler, J., & Weitin, T. (2023). Character Shifts in Harry Potter Fanfiction. Zeitschrift Fur Literaturwissenschaft Und Linguistik, 53(3), 623–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41244-023-00310-5

Coletta, C. (2014). The Joker. In Comics Through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas (Vols. 1–4).

Coppa, F. (2017). The Fanfiction Reader (F. Coppa, Ed.). University of Michigan Press.

Delwiche, A., & Henderson, J. J. (2012). The Participatory Cultures Handbook. Taylor & Francis Group. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kptm-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1024648

Diker, E., & Taşdelen, B. (2019). Fans’ Narrations: A Study on the Reproduction Practices of Branding Stories in the Context of Participatory Culture. In R. Yilmaz, M. N. Erdem, & F. Resuloglu (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Transmedia Storytelling and Narrative Strategies (pp. 292–309). IGI Global.

https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-5357-1.ch015

Duda, J. M., & Joormann, J. (2022). Learned helplessness: expanding on a goal-directed perspective. Cognition and Emotion, 36(6), 1037–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2022.2118238

Echeburúa, E., & Amor, P. J. (2019). Traumatic memories: Adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies. Terapia Psicologica, 37(1). https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-48082019000100071

England, M. (2024). Fanfiction. In J. John & C. Wood (Eds.), The Edinburgh Companion to Charles Dickens and the Arts (pp. 47–64). Edinburgh University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.9941192.8

Fathallah, J. M. (2017). Fanfiction and the Author. Amsterdam University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1v2xsp4

Fink, M. (2021). The Politics and Poetics of Participatory Culture. In Understanding The Simpsons (pp. 37–62). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1z9n0vc.7

Freeman, M. (2017). A World of Disney: Building a Transmedia Storyworld for Mickey and his Friends. In M. Boni (Ed.), World Building (pp. 93–108). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1zkjz0m.8

García-Roca, A. (2019). Fanfictions as collaborative writing: Models of beta readers. Profesional de La Informacion, 28(4). https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2019.jul.04

Geraghty, L., Hassler-Forest, D., & Hills, M. (2018). Transmedia Character Building: Textual Crossovers in the Star Wars Universe. In S. Guynes & D. Hassler-Forest (Eds.), Star Wars and the History of Transmedia Storytelling (pp. 117–128). Amsterdam University Press.

https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt207g5dd.12

Halim, M., Zainal Abidin, A. H., & Ismail, A. (2025). Immersed in Transmedia World: Exploring Multidimensional Engagement with the Marvel Cinematic Universe Fans in Malaysia. PaperASIA, 41, 312–323. https://doi.org/10.59953/paperasia.v41i6b.640

Howie, L. (2024). “If It Was Me Dying on the Sidewalk, You’d Walk Right over Me”: Joker’s Guide to Responding to Injustice. In Joker and Philosophy: Why So Serious? https://doi.org/10.1002/9781394198504.ch15

Irwin, S. (2023). Participatory Culture. Interviews. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 67(2), 238–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2023.2186410

Jamison, A., & Grossman, L. (2013). Fic : Why Fanfiction Is Taking over the World. BenBella Books. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kptm-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1531171

Jenkins, H. (2009). The revenge of the origami unicorn: Seven principles of transmedia storytelling (Well, Two Actually. Five More on Friday). Confessions of an Aca-Fan.

Jenkins, H. (2010). Transmedia Education: the 7 Principles Revisited — Pop Junctions. In Pop Junctions. https://henryjenkins.org/blog/2010/06/transmedia_education_the_7_pri.html

Jenkins, H. (2014). Participatory Culture: From Co-Creating Brand Meaning to Changing the World. GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 6(2), 34–39. https://doi.org/10.2478/gfkmir-2014-0096

Jenkins, Henry. (2006). Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers : Exploring Participatory Culture. NYU Press.

Jesty, J. (2018). Participatory Culture and Democratic Culture. In Art and Engagement in Early Postwar Japan (pp. 21–32). Cornell University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt21h4xb6.5

Joyce, S. (2023). Video Games in Transmedia Storyworlds. Imagining the Impossible: International Journal for the Fantastic in Contemporary Media, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.7146/imaginingtheimpossible.129696

Jürgens, A.-S., & Visconti, W. (2024). Joker stages: popular performance and theatrical sensibilities in Joker comics and film adaptations. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics. https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2024.2410914

Kane, B., & Robinson, J. (1940). Batman #1. DC Publication.

Kinder, E. (2020). Finding balance: nostalgia in star wars transmedia. Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1386/ajpc_00027_1

Klein, S. (2012). Eighth Day Genesis A Worldbuilding Codex for Writers and Creatives.

Knight, S., Rocklage, M. D., & Bart, Y. (2024). Narrative reversals and story success. Science Advances, 10(34). https://doi.org/10.1126/SCIADV.ADL2013

Kruglanski, A. W., Ellenberg, M., Szumowska, E., Molinario, E., Speckhard, A., Leander, N. P., Pierro, A., Di Cicco, G., & Bushman, B. J. (2023). Frustration–aggression hypothesis reconsidered: The role of significance quest. Aggressive Behavior, 49(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.22092

Langley, T., & Rosenberg, R. (2011). Reflections on the Psychopathy of the Joker: A Comic-Con Panel Report. International Journal of Comic Art, 13(1), 654–676. https://research-ebsco-com.eresourcesptsl.ukm.remotexs.co/linkprocessor/plink?id=5c3b0364-f992-3d78-9fd4-fc9eb297c8cd

Lau, D. W. (2014). The matrix hero on youtube: Fan vids as a form of transmedia storytelling. In Social Media: Global Perspectives, Applications and Benefits and Dangers.

Li, E. C. Y., & Pang, K. W. (2024). Fandom meets artificial intelligence: Rethinking participatory culture as human–community–machine interactions. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 27(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/13675494241236146

Lustyik, K., & Holtmeier, M. (2017). The Marvel Studios Phenomenon: Inside a Transmedia Universe. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 37(1), 147–149. https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2016.1273333

Massanari, A. (2013). Playful Participatory Culture: Learning from Reddit. Selected Papers of Internet Research, 3.

McClellan, A. K. (2018). Slash, Fanfiction, and (Non)Compliance in World Building. In Sherlock’s World (pp. 91–117). University of Iowa Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv7n0cdk.7

McKenzie, B. (2023). Dungeons and dragons and digital writing: A case study of worldbuilding. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 20(2). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.20.02.10

Md Khalid, M. F., & Nazmi, H. (2025). Breaking Stereotypes of Villain Representation in Frozen (2013): A Less Traditionally Villainous Traits. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science. https://doi.org/10.47772/ijriss.2025.908000652

Merchán-del-Hierro, X., Fernandez-Boccazzi, J., & Gatto, E. M. (2021). Why is the Joker Laughing? Clinical Features for the Differential Diagnosis of Pathological Laughter. Academic Psychiatry, 45(4), 512–516. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-021-01453-8

Mpofu, S. (2021). “If ever I offended you I am sorry”: Disparagement humour, black twitectives and the dream deferred. In The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age: Perspectives from the Global South. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81969-9_11

Nardi, D. J., & Sweet, D. R. (2020). The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV. In The Transmedia Franchise of Star Wars TV. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52958-1

Phillips, K. R. (2021). “You Get What You Fucking Deserve”: Joker and the Fantasies of Refusal. In Rhetoric, Politics and Society: Vol. Part F765. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74136-5_3

Pullen, J. (2019). Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers. Journal of Creative Writing Studies, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350016705

Quina, F. P. (2021). Making space for myth: Worldbuilding and interconnected narratives in mythspace. SARE, 58(1). https://doi.org/10.22452/sare.vol58no1.4

Reboiro Martínez, A. (2017). Intermedial Joker: The Evolution of the Character from Comic to Film and TV [Universidade de Santiago De Compostela]. http://hdl.handle.net/10347/18320

Reed, S. M., & Boppre, B. (2020). Labeling Theory and Joker: “Could You Introduce Me as Joker?”: An application of labeling theory to explain the creation of the Clown Prince of crime. In Theories of Crime Through Popular Culture. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54434-8_13

Reinhardt, A. (2023). Golden boy - The sad joker. A portrait of a short, intense life. Tanz, Jahrbuch, 26–31. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85180122239&partnerID=40&md5=2f15ede6751dfbf488531e5a1e54099d

Richter, Á. (2016). “The Marvel Cinematic Universe as a Transmedia Narrative”. Americana: E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary, 12(1).

Rosales, M. A. G., & Díaz, I. C. (2024). New literary communities: Fanfiction, identity and collaborative writing. In Feminist Literary and Filmic Cultures for Social Action: Gender Response-able Labs. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032616797-10

Rozikin, A., Kasmaini, K., & Lubis, A. A. (2021). Idiomatic Expressions Analysis in Joker Movie. Journal of English Education and Teaching, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.33369/jeet.5.4.594-608

Salter, A., & Blodgett, B. (2021). Fanfiction, Transformative Works, and Feminist Resistance in Digital C ulture. In Gender in American Literature and Culture (pp. 271–285). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108763790.018

Savitri, L., & Utami, S. (2016). Fans Participatory Culture in Social Media (Studies on Twitter Utilization by Bangtan Boys Fans in Indonesia). International Conference of Communication, Industry & Community, 28–37. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323476353

Schlögl, L., & Zagalo, N. (2019). From Animation to Live-Action: Reconstructing Maleficent. In Second Language Learning and Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25189-5_11

Schober, R. (2019). Adaptation as Connection: A Network Theoretical Approach to Convergence, Participation, and Co-Production. In J. Fehrle & W. Schäfke-Zell (Eds.), Adaptation in the Age of Media Convergence (pp. 31–56). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpbnqd0.4

Scolari, C. A. (2016). Transmedia storytelling: Brands, narratives and storyworlds. International Journal of Marketing Semiotics, 4, 151–169.

Spanò, C. (2016). Audience engagement with multi-level fictional universes: The case of Game of Thrones and its Italian fans. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 13(1).

Spaulding, E. (2012). Transmedia Storytelling: Principles practices, and prototypes for designing narrative experiences with the audience. Verbal Behavior.

Stoppelbein, L., McRae, E., & Smith, S. (2024). The ripple effect of trauma: Evaluating vulnerability, post-traumatic stress symptoms, and aggression within a child and adolescent population. Child Abuse & Neglect, 154, 106916. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106916

Thomas, B., & Herman, D. (2011). Harry Potter Fanfiction and Narrative as a Participatory Process. In B. Thomas & R. Page (Eds.), New Narratives (pp. 205–219). University of Nebraska Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1df4h49.16

Tian, R., & Zhong, X. (2022). Fans Creation in the Development of New Media Technology: The perspective of the Participatory Culture. Proceedings of the 2022 3rd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange（ICLACE 2022), 673. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220706.139

Tobias, E. S. (2013). Toward Convergence: Adapting Music Education to Contemporary Society and Participatory Culture. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 29–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43289013

Traesar, L., & Saktiningrum, N. (2024). The Portrayal of Female Villains: A Representation Study on Cruella. Rubikon : Journal of Transnational American Studies, 11(2), 327. https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v11i2.94900

Tüysüz, D., & Adnan, A. (2021). Sympathy For The Devil: Psychology of Evil From Milton’s Satan to the Joker. In D. Tuysuv (Ed.), International Perspectives on Rethinking Evil in Film and Television (Vol. 1, pp. 1–15). IGI Global.

van Dijk, A., Poorthuis, A. M. G., & Malti, T. (2017). Psychological processes in young bullies versus bully-victims. Aggressive Behavior, 43(5). https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21701

VanSlette, S. H., & Boyd, J. (2011). Lawbreaking Jokers: Tricksters Using Outlaw Discourse. Communication Quarterly, 59(5), 591–602. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2011.614214

Wheeler, E. A. (2024). The Joker’s Shifting Face Eighty Years of Mad History in Batman and American Culture. Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies, 18(3), 369–385. https://doi.org/10.3828/jlcds.2024.17

Zacharek, S. (2019). With This Joker, the Joke Is on Us. TIME Magazine, 194(14), 49–51. https://research-ebsco-com.eresourcesptsl.ukm.remotexs.co/linkprocessor/plink?id=859f466a-e2e7-35c4-9e6d-9b38e92b2f2a

Zaid, M. (2023). The Joker movie: the representation of self based on hegemony theory. Comedy Studies, 14(1), 84–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/2040610X.2022.2149221