How did Heath Ledger get his scars?

Answer 1

There is much speculation as to how the Joker character received his scars. The most prominent answer seems to be that he either doesn't know, or doesn't want to say. In "The Dark Knight" he tells two stories about how he got them:

Story One

So, I had a wife, she was beautiful...like you, who tells me I worry too much, who tells me I oughta smile more, who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks...[she squirms, and he pulls her back] Hey. One day they carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just want to see her smile again. Hmmm? I just wanted to let her know that I don't care about the scars. So, I stick a razor in my mouth and do this...to myself. [mimes moving a razor around his mouth] And you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves! Now I see the funny side. Now, I'm always smiling!

Story Two

"Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was...a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself; he doesn't like that. Not...one...bit. So, me watching, he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it. He turns to me, and says..."Why so serious?" He comes at me with the knife, "Why so serious?!" He sticks the blade in my mouth, "Let's put a smile on that face!" And...[turns to look at one of Gambol's henchman who looks terrified, and then says]...why so serious? "

Some have said that the exact reason for his scars is not as important as the reasons for the use of multiple stories. These scars may represent the result of some form of evil - or even a universal evil that exists in the world.

In Alan Moore's "The Killing Joke," the first comic book to really explore the Joker's origin, the Joker explains his inability to correctly remember his past this way: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another ... If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" Heath Ledger's Joker's varied history (he tries to tell Batman a third story) is most-likely an homage to one of Joker's most definitive origin stories.

that answer is totally wrong if you really want to know he fell into a vat of chemicals that is how he got to be that way

In the batman comics, the tell of the jokers origins are revealed. The joker used to be a mercenary who was the best shot around. He started getting depressed with his work because there was no challenge. Well one day he comes across batman and finds his true challenge and decides to pursue it. So to go about challenging himself he kidnaps batman's girlfriend at the time. As batman is going to rescue her the joker kills her, batman seeing his loved one die in front of him throws two batarangs at the joker, cutting the sides of his mouth, giving him his scars.

Later in the same comic the joker is at a pharmaceutical plant for some reason. Some how he is knocked into a silo full of anti-depressants. The joker decides to accept death, and just before he's about to die he sees the grate in the bottom. It crosses his mind that he doesn't have to die, so he kicks out the grate and flows through the pipes that dump him out in the bay. The joker then swims ashore, his skin bleached white, his hair turned green, and his suit dyed purple. Laying on the shore he looks at the moon and sees a bunny on it. From then on the joker becomes the psychopath we all love.

Answer 2

There is no legitimate answer. The two stories he told were:

• his wife-beating dad gave it to him
• he self-inflicted it for his self-conscious wife (who then left him)

Of course, this is only evidenced in the most recent movie, the Dark Knight (above given by another author). The real answer of how the Joker became the Joker lie in the comics series.

The joker used to be a mercenary who was the best shot around. He started getting depressed with his work because there was no challenge. Well one day he comes across batman and finds his true challenge and decides to pursue it. So to go about challenging himself he kidnaps batman's girlfriend at the time. As batman is going to rescue her the joker kills her, batman seeing his loved one die in front of him throws two batarangs at the joker, cutting the sides of his mouth, giving him his scars.

Later in the same comic the joker is at a pharmaceutical plant for some reason. Some how he is knocked into a silo full of anti-depressants. The joker decides to accept death, and just before he's about to die he sees the grate in the bottom. It crosses his mind that he doesn't have to die, so he kicks out the grate and flows through the pipes that dump him out in the bay. The joker then swims ashore, his skin bleached white, his hair turned green, and his suit dyed purple. Laying on the shore he looks at the moon and sees a bunny on it. From then on the joker becomes the psychopath we all love.

As taken from: How_did_the_Joker_get_his_scars

Answer 3

As a boy, the Joker's dad was abusive. The Joker's dad took a knife and sliced the corners of the Joker's mouth into a smile.

^^Incorrect... he fell into a vat of chemicals while escaping Batman (he was a criminal called the Red Hood before this incident that only wanted to be able to support his pregnant wife). He emerged with white skin, green hair, and that ridiculous smile...

Answer 4

We don't know. He kept chaging the stories in "The Dark Knight" because he wanted the person to who he was telling the story to think they were like the person who made him insane.

Answer 5

He has fellow super-villain, Dollmaker, surgically remove it before once again escaping Arkham Asylum.