This is just my little fan theory on who the Joker will be, assuming they aren't trying to trick us by saying Jerome isn't the Joker. I don't know if anyone has done this fanfic before, though I think it's likely someone else has had this theory, but I hope you enjoy it. I don't own Gotham.
I stared at my reflection in the mirror of my cell. I didn't know how long it been since I broke into Indian Hill in hopes of finding something that could save me from dying, but I know it had been a long time. I know it had been ages since Jerome captured me, and showed me how to smile like his followers. To see the funny side of how life was completely pointless and unfair. That everything anyone, including me, had suffered for meant nothing. And I knew it had worked, since it had hurt so much. I never felt pain before then, and I haven't felt pain since, but I guess Jerome had to try really hard to show me the truth.
But according to the news, Jerome was dead. Killed by a cop named James Gordon. The great visionary who inspired countless Gotham citizens, killed just like that. I could barely comprehend how that was possible, as I stared at my chalk white skin and green hair in the mirror. How could the great Jerome Valeska who saved me from death and cured me of my weakness be dead?
When the man who had aided in Jerome in enlightening me, the man who had helped throw me into one of Hugo Strange's chemicals that resulted in my current appearance, I killed him instantly. It was easy due to the fact I was stronger than most people. I didn't know how or why I was created, but I was better than him. The nobody with my face, or should I say the nobody that I look like. Bruce Wayne. I was a clone of him, who was used by the Court simply to improve their own plans. They said they helped make me, but it wasn't hard to learnt hat wasn't the case. They were just as surprised to see I existed as everyone else.
The next few years were strange for me and seemed to pass by quickly. I was like I was walking through life unable to see. I didn't know what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I was alone and I couldn't get any real work because of my appearance. The only blessing was that because of how much the chemicals had changed me in superficial ways, no one was able to notice I resembled a billionaire or if they did they seemed to tell themselves they were imagining things. Eventually I ended up being a small time hitman for a small gang, creeping some people out with my appearance along the way and using a different name. But I didn't really noticed. It was like I was on autopilot, while on the inside I was screaming for a purpose.
I was strangling a former member of the Maniax who was willing to testify on other former members when I experienced something that I can only described as an epiphany. I was Jerome's greatest creation. He had taught me everything he knew. He had spent weeks with me, revealing the deepest and darkest parts of himself as he expertly transformed me into what I know was. I knew everything he wanted to do, all the great gags he had planned, all the ideas to make people smile and hopefully realize the truth. So I left the man that I had just killed on the floor, not caring to clean away the evidence. I went up the gang leaders I had worked for and with a big smile, killed all of them.
It wasn't hard to take control of the small time gangs and criminals. Not all of them got the joke, or when they did they didn't get it in the same way, but it didn't matter. I was just having so much fun. Because I was starting to see that I could take what Jerome had planned even further. Because while he may have inspired me, I was in some ways better than him. I felt no pain. I was stronger and faster. People have thrown me off buildings and tried to kill me in hundreds of ways yet I keep surviving. And with what he had taught me, Jerome's ideas were able to be improved upon with my unique skills. I was so happy and at peace that I no longer cared about Bruce or Selina or anyone else. I was finally who I was supposed to be.
I was in a bank when it happened. I was stealing the money, and my plan to kill off all the hired goons so I had the money had gone off without a problem. Then, he arrived. My other purpose in life. The man I sometimes consider my platonic, and sometimes not platonic, life partner. The man who deep down, despite not realizing it, was just like me. As he came towards me, planning to stop me, I knew we would make an amazing team. Him, Gotham's mysterious protector Batman, and me, the Joker.
Tell me if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense. I hope you enjoyed this and I explained everything about this theory well. If you have questions you can message me. By the way, I made it so that it seemed that no one knew why the doppelganger was created because I didn't know why he was created when I watched Gotham. The Court of Owls seemed to imply they had a role, but at the same time they showed nothing to support this claim.