They both changed their beliefs in response to the experience in 'hell' and work against the Evangelist. They once worked together and lost their eyes when transported to the Adolla.

Burns is outwardly heroic but hides something dark, Joker is clearly evil but slightly noble underneath his darkness.

The difference is that Burns refuses to discuss things with Shinra, while Joker is perfectly willing to string him along with information. They both have knowledge about the Kusakabe house fire and eye patches which cover different eyes. Both are prone to wicked grins and both have pretty simple ideas of heroism. Joker will endanger people and be a criminal while seeking his objectives. Shinra chooses to seek the truth as a hero and protect people as a hero. Enemy Mine: He needs some help when dealing with the church, so he gets Benimaru to help him storm the gate.Death Dealer: Again, he's a card carrier villain capable of using playing cards to parry sword swings and cut through people.A Day in the Limelight: He briefly becomes the star of a story arc when he and The Chemist decide that they need to speed things along while the Fire Force's hands are tied.Once the church had these people killed to cut him off from humanity, Joker fully embraced his cynicism and all that came with it. After years of abuse and suffering, he managed to escape and survive thanks to the kindness of strangers. Dark and Troubled Past: He was raised to be an assassin for the church.Crazy Sane: Joker would have absolutely lost it if he didn't become a chain-smoking, smiling arsonist who played games with innocent lives.Because his attacks flow into each other so quickly, he's able to overwhelm Shinra with minimal difficulty. Confusion Fu: He fights with fire, explosions, cutting attacks, playing cards and hand-to-hand skills.Charles Atlas Superpower: Joker can push his head up while someone is stamping it into the dirt using only his tongue.Later starts calling himself the Anti-Hero. Card-Carrying Villain: He might not be totally villainous, but Joker openly calls himself a devil.

*Bleep*-dammit!: When the Joker and Benimaru Shinmon attack the Holy Sol Temple together, Joker says 'Fuck the Holy Sol Temple', but the word 'fuck' and it's Japanese equivalent are bleeped out (Unfortunately, it gets bleeped out even on BluRay and DVD).

If he does hate someone then he'll try to mask it before and after brutalizing them. Sometimes he'll lose control and show just how bitter and hateful he is while sometimes thinking about his lonely existence with a smile.

Beneath the Mask: Joker acts like a relaxed and unpredictable criminal.

Badass Longcoat: He starts wearing one partway through the story.

'I'm 'The Dreamer of the Dawn.' I'm 'The Smoker.' I'm 'The Joker.'

Fire force characters