Electric Joy Buzzer



"Antoine Rotelli: What if we say no? The Joker: Well, Tony, nobody wants a war. If we can't do business, why, we'll just shake hands and that'll be it."

- Batman

From clowns to big kids and kids with big brains, you can count on them pulling out one of these eventually. Usually made by Acme Products or a competitor, these seem to appear everywhere in media. Until recently a true electric joy buzzer was just a thing of fancy, the traditional joy buzzer is actually a vibrating device that you wind up, however there is now a gag device that will deliver a small, harmless shock but at nowhere near the power of the device used by various bad guys.

Anime & Manga

 * Ranma ½ used a magical one on Mousse in the manga.

Comic Books

 * Batman: The Joker. Since this is The Joker we're talking about, his version of the joy buzzer is frequently lethal to those foolish enough to shake hands with him, such as the gangster from the first Batman movie who got fried alive during a crimelord meeting.
 * He also occasionally uses a version that is a needle poisoned with his Joker Venom, as seen in The Killing Joke when an unfortunate businessman, having just sold him an abandoned amusement park, shakes hands with him.
 * In The Batman vs. Dracula, the Joker uses two in a fight, and when he exits down a waterfall he appeared to have electrocuted himself.
 * In a crossover with Static Shock, the Joker uses one on Static with no effect. Static then returns the favor.
 * Return Of The Joker sees the joybuzzer used to destroy a microchip on the Joker's neck.
 * The picture at the top of the page is one of Joker's attacks in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.
 * It's also, of course, one of his combat moves in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
 * Captain America (comics) used one on Iron Man in Marvel's Civil War event, shutting down his power armor with it.
 * To be fair, what Cap used was a specially made device designed to do exactly that, not a joybuzzer. Sure, there was a similarity, but it was a purpose-designed device built to use against Stark.
 * The Electric Joy Buzzer is a key item in the armoury of Trickster characters (i.e. most of the heroes) in British children's comics such as The Beano and The Dandy.

Film

 * Featured prominently in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?: "The hand buzzer. Still our biggest seller." Marvin Acme's joy buzzer was designed to look like a fancy jeweled ring befitting a millionaire businessman/prankster.

Live-Action TV

 * In one Sesame Street Muppet sketch, the prankster Harvey Kneeslapper intended to use one of these for a gag involving the number 5.
 * In Supernatural a confused kid with Reality Warping powers turned a normal joybuzzer into this. It not only electrocuted a man, it was later used to cook a ham. "That'll do, pig," indeed.
 * On The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon rigs one up to use on Howard, powerful enough to nearly knock himself out when he tested it. When he uses it on Howard, however, he appears to collapse from a heart attack and is forced to administer a syringe of adrenaline straight to the heart, Pulp Fiction style. Of course, Howard was faking it and it was all an elaborate counter-prank. Sheldon facepalms himself... and knocks himself out with his own buzzer.

Video Games

 * Destroyman of No More Heroes uses this during the pre-battle on Travis. He seriously thought he was going to die laughing from how Travis fell into it.
 * This is one of the pranks Sims can pull on each other in The Sims 2. It makes the camera shake if it happens on-screen.
 * You can get one in Kingdom of Loathing from the skill Summon Hilarious Objects. When equipped, it provides a skill that deals damage if your foe falls for it.

Web Comics

 * Riff's Omnitaser Joy-50 from Sluggy Freelance. Justified since it's as large as a joybuzzer would realistically need to be for that sort of electrocution.
 * Bangladesh DuPree in Girl Genius found an unconventional use for a tweaked medical device installed on her hand after it was crushed in the previous fight, that is more in line with her personality.

Web Original

 * In Arfenhouse: Teh Movie, Piakchu uses one of these on Joe. The buzzer then flies off shouting "SO LONGG, SUCKKKREZA!" Yeah, it's a weird movie.

Western Animation

 * Tom and Jerry
 * Bugs Bunny
 * Daffy Duck - specifically, "Daffy Dilly".
 * One of the pranks pulled by Pinkie Pie in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode "Griffon the Brush-Off".
 * The Mickey Mouse short "Mickey's Rival" has a variation. After Mortimer plucks the buttons off Mickey's shorts, Mickey tries to do the same. He gets shocked, as Mortimer's buttons are connected to batteries hidden in his pockets.
 * In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Monkey tries to get Tigress with a "joy luck buzzer". Tigress doesn't fall for it, and doubts anyone is stupid enough to do so. But Po does. Repeatedly.

Real Life

 * Truth in Television: You asked for it?.. There, first item (#13). If you'll look at others, you may need Brain Bleach, though.
 * Here's one from the 1930 De Moulin Bros. & Co. Fraternal Supply Catalog—one of many shock-inducing items available for those initiation ceremonies.