With just one year having passed after taking out Ra's Al Ghul's plan to have Gotham eliminated and the mysterious disappearance of Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA the Scarecrow, and after the city was nearly plundered with his toxins, Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter-ego the Batman, continue the seemingly endless effort to bring order to Gotham, with the help of Lt. James Gordon and newly appointed District Attorney Harvey Dent. But a new threat has now emerged into the streets. The Dark Knight faces a rising psychopathic criminal called The Joker, whose eerie grin, laughter, and inhuman morality makes him as dangerous than what he has yet to unleash. It becomes an agenda to Batman to stop the mysterious Joker at all costs, knowing that both of them are in an opposite line. One has no method at all and seeks to see the world plunge into the fire he has yet to light. One represents the symbol of hope and uses his own shadow to bring the peace and order he has yet to accomplish doing.

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Bruce Wayne in Nolan's Batman series is highly complex character. His masks include the public persona of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy who runs Wayne Enterprises, as well as the mask of Batman. His mask as Batman seems to be less about revenge for his parents death as seen in Batman (1989). His motivation is purging Gotham City of its mob world. In keeping with his family's history, his motivation is for the greater good of Gotham City . Through his assumption of the mask, Batman becomes something far greater than a mere vigilante. The transcendent quality of the mask affects both the Batman persona as well as those who grow to need him. This makes him into the hero he is trying to be for the city.

The Joker in Nolan's Dark Knight differs dramatically from the Batman (1989) version. The image of the clown in this case assumes with full force a ruthlessly maniacal yet fiendishly intelligent super-villain who is batman's antithesis. The Joker in this film in fact says that he arises out of the madness that is created from the super-hero that is batman. The mask and the clown are equal and opposite. His persona as a clown is much less groomed than in previous iterations of the Joker. In Nolan's Dark Knight, this Joker's appearance reflects his maniacal madness. The clown imagery extends roughly to his garb and make-up. His warped sense of humour is also reminiscent of the clown type character or trickster. He is referred to on many occasions however as a ‘mad-dog' and his appearance at times therefore is much more dishevelled than the DC Comic version of the Joker.

It should be mentioned however that The Joker of the original DC comics dates back to 1940. Although a back story is made for Jack Napier in Batman (1989), the official Batman comic has never had an official story of the origin of the Joker. This is maintained in Nolan's Dark Knight, where the history of the Joker changes each time he tells it. Common to most renditions of his character however, that exists in both Batman feature movies, is of a fiendishly intelligent lunatic with a warped, sadistic sense of humour.

While the character of Batman doesn'y change from the comics, to any feature movie, the character of Bruce Wayne does change. This is itself a testimony to the power of his mask. In Burton 's version, Bruce Wayne is a largely enigmatic character, whose past is a mystery to most and who seems to exist in society as a wealthy eccentric. In Nolan's version, Bruce Wayne's family history is a legacy that is stitched into Gotham City with Wayne Tower at the centre of the city itself. The mask-less Bruce is the main character of this film. In Batman (1989) the character of Bruce Wayne is truly secondary to that of Batman.