Why The Joker Is The Best Villain We Have Ever Seen
Whether you are die-hard comic book fan or a guy on the street who knows next to nothing about comics, you know who The Joker is; talk about any top list from the greatest villain of all time to DC comics top villain, Joker has hardly ever missed the top spot. Though the Joker has fought many superheroes from DC universe, namely the Superman and the Wonder woman; his last stand was always facing the dark vigilante who looks over the Gotham city; the Batman. The Joker is a yin to the Batman’s yang; he just cannot fathom the idea of Batman’s morality and has become obsessed to make Batman see the error of his ways.
The character of The Joker was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson for the debut issue of the Batman comics on April of 1940. The character of the Joker was initially planned to be killed by the end of the first arc, but his popularity among the fans become the key to his survival and now, even after 75 years, he is still known as one of the greatest villainous character ever written. Joker is certifiably insane, mass murdering lunatic, he is truly a rebel without a cause. like his counterpart, the Batman, the Joker has no super power or special ability but unlike the Batman he has no cause to do what he does. The Clown Prince of Crime creates mayhem for the sake of chaos, and this makes him actually the most dangerous villain. Without further due let’s get on to the reasons why the Joker is the ultimate villain of all time.
1. There’s no method to his madness
We have seen that most powerful of the villains have the reason behind the carnage they cause but not the Joker. He is the agent of chaos, and he needs no other reason, Joker sees the world as one cruel joke, with corrupt authority figures as its head. He holds no one and nothing dear and that leaves him with no weakness, he simply has no reason, not cross every line there is; he does whatever amuses him. He is an epidemic of violence; he wants to destroy the order of the world and bring the anarchy.
2. Joker is unpredictable
One minute he will be handing out hundreds of balloons and the next minute he will have mass murder on his mind, he is that much random, one of the many reasons why other villains are actually scared of him, they don’t know when their alliance with the Joker will end up being their death warrant. It doesn’t take long for Joker to turn from goofy prankster to sadistic killer.
3. His Character can Possess
Over the years, many actors have taken over the role of the Joker, and they all have admitted that at one point the character of Joker has taken over them. Jack Nicholson actually warned Heath Ledger, the Joker of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight; of the impact this character can create, and we have all seen that it had nearly destroyed Heath Ledger to bring this character to life. Mark Hamilton, who has voiced the Joker in the animated series, agrees that it was very hard to portray this enigmatic character for straight 20 years. In the upcoming movie ‘Suicide Squad’ Jared Leto, who plays the Joker, pranked his co-star with dead rats saying that he was in the character.
4. Joker does not need a plan to succeed
Over the last 75 years, Joker has managed to get his little victories over the Batman, but he did not have any extravagant plans to achieve them. The Joker managed to kill Batman’s loyal sidekick Jason Todd aka The Robin, he gunned down detective Jim Gordon’s daughter Barbra and paralyzed her from the waist down. He showed the whole organised crime mafia of the Gotham that he was the true crowned Prince of the throne.
5. Joker has bad-ass laugh
If all the super villains ever decide to have an evil laugh competition, we already know who is going to win. Joker has an uncanny ability to laugh at anything and everything, he will set the whole world on fire and watch it all burn just for the sake of a good laugh.
6. Joker vs Batman till the end of times
Joker is the earliest foe of the Batman, and they are presented as day and the night of the Gotham city. Joker is hell bent on corrupting Batman’s morality, Joker will push Batman to no end just so he take away his faith from humanity, he will even put himself on a line, just so he can have a taste of it. Joker does not necessarily hate Batman, in fact, he kind of needs Batman to keep their little dance going for as long as they can and while they are at it, Joker will stop at nothing until he breaks Batman.
7. Joker is very patriotic
In 1996, an issue of a Batman had a crossover with Marvel’s Captain America. Joker and Red Skull were working together to destroy Captain America and the Batman, but when Joker found out that Red Skull was Nazi he turned on him and said, “I may be a criminal lunatic, but I’m an American criminal lunatic” and decided that he will take care of Red Skull all by himself. The iconic character of the Joker have no bounds he is a definition of mania and chaos, while many villains are defined by their heroes, the Joker can take his own stand. He shows that how dark an individual can go just with the power of the mind.
With the unique inhuman ability and powerful mind set, The Joker is undoubtely the best super villain of all times that can’t be compared with any other super villains. He’s incredible superhuman power made him the most popular and the most admired supervillain in the history of DC comics as well as for the Batman. The Joker will remain forever in our heart.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
The Joker is the chaos to balance Batman’s order – the perfect counter and compliment to one of DC’s most complicated and in-depth superhero. His insanity is what defines him, and yet causes him to do things that actually make the reader sympathetic and repulsed all at once (see The Killing Joke for both extremes).
I am not much of a fandom person, but when it comes to fiction and comics, The Joker is my favorite.
Put Joker up against Superman for three seconds with no prep and no editorial protection (“We can’t let him die! He makes us so much cash!”) and he is dead. As hell.
He’s possibly the most evil.
Thanks for the comments.
hello
This comment may be a little ignorant, as I haven’t read the comics – though I love the Nolan films – but I don’t know if I entirely agree with your first point that “there is no method to his madness.” I believe that is the image of himself that he wishes to convey to those around him, but everything that he does (again, at least in the movie) seems to be very calculated as a means of creating chaos while being inherently unchaotic in itself. Recall the scene in the hospital, when he sardonically asks Harvey, “Do I really look like a guy with a plan?” but he most certainly does have a plan; several going on at once, in fact. It requires so many moving pieces, including corrupt cops, elaborate bank heists (which required timing his escape with an unprecedented amount of school buses), tricking the entire mob, assassinated judges and police commissioners, crashing Bruce Wayne house parties, infiltrating a firing squad at a large public funeral to shoot at the mayor, getting caught by someone who was believed to be dead because he stalled too long to unmask his foe who was revealed to be Harvey Dent a couple hours earlier which was proven to be untrue almost immediately after but its okay because he actually wanted to get arrested so that a well-timed cellphone bomb sewn into the stomach of some low level crook with the perfect blast radius could eliminate all of the nearby cops while keeping him and the accountant alive so he can break said accountant out of jail before he can testify against the mob. Meanwhile he was also able to rig explosives all through a densely populated hospital and two large passenger boats – one of which, you’d think, would have increased security on account of it transporting many dangerous criminals – to confirm his theory that mankind (particularly the citizens of Gotham) are inherently evil when pushed to the limits of civilised order, while simultaneously also testing that same theory in a game of heads or tails with the DA and his girlfriend which involved two more explosives that appear to be perfectly timed in accordance with the speed of the Batmobile and squad car response times and Batman’s love for the other victim impairing his judgment as to which one he went to save. Sorry, after a certain point, you just lose the energy for commas. I’m just saying, none of that is him being chaotic; he has a very precise plan to prove a very specific thesis about human morality.
Otherwise, good article.
the joker is a great villain because he has nothing to loose. he has no friends, no family, no emotions, no honor, dignity, and so on.
He is my favorite but even I have to know that he isnt the best villian ever. However, in the comic book world I am sure most people have to agree that he is somewhere up there. I mean look at all the crap he has done.
Comic book wise, he might be the craziest. But unless he starts eating people I don’t think he’ll top Dr. Lector’s insanity in every other form of media.
The reason why the Joker is used to so much is that writer’s can do alot with him and he is a fun person to write and according to alot of actors fun to play.
I think a villain can only really be compared to their nemesis, e.g. Joker, Batman. Sure, against Batman, he is the ultimate villain, weak enough to take out with extreme force, strong enough to withstand the Bat, smart enough to counter Batman, and always crazy enough to come up with new and wacky ways to attack Bruce.
Joker is annoying like Deadpool but without fighting skills.
I think it must be a great part to play as an actor because the role is so iconic. From César Romero to Heath Ledger, the role has been played extremely well without descending into farce. Great piece!
I totally agree! One of the best iconic villains!
He is the best villain. He has accomplished more with less resources than any other villain alive.
Joker has genius level intelligence so a good writer can write what I is considered a “credible” story in a comic book, not sure I have read to many of those to be honest. Joker is primarly a Batman villain and that is where he is at his brilliant best.
The Joker is a very complex and complicated villain. That makes him unique. That is all I can say.
i only like joker in shows and movies, comic joker is terrible.
I believe he is one of the more interesting and entertaining villains out there…not sure about the best though.
Amazing, perfectly explained and i completely agree!
The Joker is great because he lacks many of the character traits that helps us identify will villainous characters. He is just a killing machine with no alternative motives or deep back story.
Well written, intricately woven piece of writing here. As for the joker, he’s just so badass that you find yourself anxiously anticipating his next move. I, too, believe he’s calculated; while at the same time he is someone with nothing to lose, which makes him one of the most dangerous villains. He is the epitome of a villain: no remorse, lack of conscience, highly intelligent, and plans out his actions to perfection. Plus, he knows how to strike where it hurts. When watching the Joker, I do not root for his demise, but eagerly anticipate his next calculated, maniacal move. He is a master chess player.
The Joker is not a lunatic. Many have mistaken him for a madman, but he has an intellect and cunning of a mastermind.
Hey, God, Heath Ledger for Ben Affleck? We’ll throw in Paulie Shore?
Interesting timing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPvI2rLCIFc
Enjoyed the article. Quick note: It’s Mark Hamill (best known as Luke Skywalker) who voiced the Joker. You said “Hamilton.”
the joker inspired me so much thus year that I decided to do a research paper as my final assignment thus year!
The Joker’s unpredictable personality makes him the most intriguing villain to both read about in comics and watch on screen.
Wait, Joker is a great villain because he “is very patriotic”?
…Really?
I also love how three of these points — ”There’s no method to his madness,” ”Joker does not need a plan to succeed,” and “Joker is unpredictable” — are literally synonymous.
This terrifically lazy writing.
Joker is one of those villains that was designed perfectly. his personality, his design, and in the way that he is designed, of the debates of weather he is insane or pure evil genius.
Joker is the perfect supervillain. He has no purpose for his wrongdoings because he is literally insane. He has no motives for committing crimes because he’s a psychopath. The Joker’s character is incredible because he is the perfect villain – he has no motives. And Heath Ledger’s performance was spectacular because he was able to portray the darkness of Joker’s character in such a beautiful way.
It also seems to help that his identity is mostly confined to his character as “The Joker.” ‘The Killing Joke’ seems like the most developed/hypothetical backstory we’ve ever had on him — and we never got his name then — but more than just giving him an “air of mystery” this gives writers an opportunity to reach for *Joker’s* core, rather than the core of an alter-ego.
Now learning about that Nazi episode, it’s amazing how ppl can’t be judged if they are worse than the Joker. Pretty awesome how he can stand on his own without a hero needing to define him.
The Joker crosses the line at Nazis. It kinda creates a new definition of the ultimate evil perhaps?
While I enjoy the Joker as a character, I feel like Heath Ledger’s rendition is absolutely perfect.
Agree 100%. The Joker gets top marks from me because he’s the only comic book villain I have nightmares about. In the past few decades, with the exception of a few less than stellar depictions (*cough* Suicide Squad), Joker has become the most evil, most twisted, most demented character in DC. And we love him for it. Also gotta love a comic book character that breaks the fourth wall.
The ambiguity of the Joker is another factor that makes his character so important with the DC universe(s). Especially with the reliance on alternate timelines and dimension crossing. The mystery surrounding the Joker forces audiences to consider whether he was once a character known to Batman; perhaps even one of the Robins. It adds a dimension of questioning to whether the morals, values, and development of the Batman character has had a positive or negative impact: or if these two are the unavoidable constants by which the DC universe defines it’s heroes and villains.
nice opinion, too bad even DC hates the Joker , which they made pretty clear in a Superman comic where Superman tells the Joker that every writer can write him, every actor can play him, all they have to do is make up their own version, and people will applaud them, because the Joker is nothing, the title is The Sound of One Hand Clapping from Max Landis, and he is absolutely right , the Joker is the most boring character in the Dc universe
isn’t the joker dc and red skull marvel tho
not a comic person sorry if im wrong
Joker is the best and always will be
Mark Hamilton??? Uh no Its Hamil He is Luke Skywalker for robins sakes lol A nerd blog should not make that mistake
THIS WAS FANTASTIC HAHAHAHA
The Joker is iconic for many reasons. ” All it takes is one bad day” is a line from the villain via the comic ” The Killing Joke” and I think that is what the Joker is trying to argue. He does not believe in order and rejects the man made construct of society. Is Joker insane? Probably. Is society insane for the way it is run? Absolutely.
A good essay. I’ve always enjoy the different versions of the Joker to appear over the years. I assume we will see more variations and that other villains will come along to rival the Joker.