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The Joker managed to push Nightwing to break Batman’s one rule by seemingly killing Tim Drake, shattering the Dark Knight’s best student.
After a lifetime of trying to push Batman over the edge, Joker got the last laugh during what he believed would be his final moments. In 2001’s Joker: Last Laugh #6 (by Chuck Dixon, Scott Beaty, Rick Burchett, Mark Lipka, Dan Davis, Gina Going, Willie Schubert) the Joker learned that he had a terminal brain tumor that would eventually kill him.
Desiring to go out with a bang, the Joker unleashed his chaos on a global scale, “jokerizing” several villains before attempting to spread his toxin globally. In the process, Robin was believed to have been killed while investigating Arkham Asylum. This enraged Nightwing who proceeded to beat the Joker nearly to death. It was only thanks to Batman’s intervention that the Joker survived, but the act scarred Nightwing.
When the report came back that Robin had been killed after going into Arkham Asylum, Nightwing was livid. For him, it was a repeat of what happened to Jason Todd, a young boy who trusted them was killed by the Joker and they weren’t even there to try and help. But this wasn’t one more crime on the Joker’s ledger so much as the straw that broke the camel’s back. Nightwing felt that the Joker had gotten away with too much. Barbara’s paralysis, Jason’s death, the thousands of people he’s tortured and killed, and now Tim Drake. Nightwing resolved to end the madness once and for all.
Entering Gotham Cathedral to confront the Joker, the two began duking it out, the Joker teasing Nightwing about the loss of another little brother. But Nightwing was past the point of reason and proceeded to attack the Joker until finally, he could deliver the killing blow. He got that chance and proceeded to beat the clown prince of crime into a bloody pulp. That was when Robin showed up, having narrowly avoided dying by Killer Croc’s hands, Robin tried to stop Nightwing, revealing that he was alive.
The damage had been done by that point. Nightwing stopped only after the Joker had flatlined. He realized with horror that Tim was alive and that he had just killed the Joker. Fortunately for everyone, Batman had learned what was happening and rushed to save Nightwing from making a terrible mistake. Arriving in the nick of time, he managed to resuscitate the Joker, having been more worried for the clown’s safety than Nightwing’s, knowing full well what each of them was capable of if they decided to kill.
Though he technically avoided murdering the Joker, Nightwing was deeply shaken by the event. The blood may not be on his hands, but he had gone into the cathedral to murder a man and went through with it in the most brutal way possible. Even worse, Nightwing admitted that killing the Joker felt good. He had always been the brightest of the Bat-Family, the one even Bruce admitted was a clearer image of what Batman should have been. So for him to have done this was still a blow.
It invalidates their belief that they are on the side of right. Batman has always struggled not to give into the temptation of killing his enemies. To him, it was a line he would never come back from and he didn’t like what the murderous feelings he felt said about himself. And thanks to the Joker, now Nightwing knows that even he has a breaking point. That even the strongest of wills can be broken by grief and rage.
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