Sergeant Joker

"I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill."

- Sgt. Joker

Private James T. "Joker" Davis, later Sergeant Joker, is the main protagonist of the 1987 Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket. He is portrayed by Matthew Modine. He is the narrator of the movie, and he is shown wearing a peace sign on his uniform as well as a M1 Helmet reading "Born to Kill". First, he is undergoing harsh training in the boot camp by Master Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in 1967, who also brutally punishes the overweight Gomer Pyle. Joker is paired with Pyle, and as Pyle's progress through training starts to improve, it comes to a halt when Hartman discovers that Pyle was eating a jelly doughnut, which means that Hartman won't punish Pyle whenever he makes a mistake, he will punish the entire platoon. As a result the platoon throws a blanket party over Pyle, and soon Pyle is pushed over to the edge, and he eventually shoots and kills Hartman before committing suicide in front of Joker. The following year, Joker is transferred to Vietnam as a Sergeant, and now works for the Lusthog Squad. The men engage in the Battle of Hue, and at that time, the squad is interviewed by journalists and reporters about their experiences in Vietnam. Later, while on patrol, the squad leader Crazy Earl is killed in a booby trap, Eightball and Doc Jay are killed by a Vietcong sniper, and the sniper shoots and kills Cowboy, who dies in Joker's arms. Eventually, Joker and the squad finally find the sniper, but after wounding her, the squad argue whether or not if they should kill her or not, with the sniper constantly begging for death. Joker kills the sniper then is congratulated on his kill by the squad as he displays the thousand-yard stare. At the end, Joker and the squad walk back to their camp, with his squad singing the Mickey Mouse March, and Joker states that despite being in a "world of shit", he's happy that he's still alive and that he's no longer afraid.