Why The Joker Is The Most Dangerous Villain In The DC Universe

Aug 15

Even to those who are not aware of comic books and comic book movies, if you grab a random person on the street and asked them to name heroes you would get your typical answers like Superman, Batman, Captain America and Black Panther. But if you asked someone on the street about villains, you would probably get one answer without hesitation, The Joker. So, does this make the Joker the best and ultimately most dangerous villain in the entire DC universe?

When considering the Joker as the ultimate villain you need to look at some factors in order to understand just how we got to this conclusion. First, does the Joker have a crazy or unique origin story? Next, does he have an iconic look? Third, what types of powers or super powers does he have? And finally, what crazy schemes and plans has he tried to pull during his time? Keep in mind that I’m not just thinking of the tv and movies adaptations of the Joker but the OG content from comics as well.

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As mentioned earlier The Joker has always had a very unclear background story with a lot of creative licenses from not only the man himself but anyone who has ever been connected to him. Since the 1940s with his first appearance, we come to learn that the Joker became the way he was thanks to exposure to chemicals when he tried to escape from Batman. In this version, he was originally the criminal Red Hood who was a former chemist turned robber and following the exposure to the chemicals became disfigured into a permanent grin. In other stories, like the famous Killing Joke one off, the Joker was a chemist who then became a failed stand-up comedian who needed to turn to crime to make ends meet and again met a chemical demise and rebirth at the hands of Batman.

Even stories in TV and movies the Joker is a confirmed sociopath with violent tendencies that became heightened thanks to brutal upbringings like we see in the film Joker with Joaquin Phoenix or Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning portrayal from The Dark Knight. But it seems that no matter what, the Joker was a victim to himself regardless so definitely we have a great origin story.

Now I know that looks aren’t everything but in order to be considering a great villain you need to have an iconic look. Lex Luthor has his bald head, Black Manta has the iconic helmet, and Gorilla Grodd is well a gorilla. But the Joker is on another level. His fiendish grin whether it’s from chemical causes or an abusive father can send a chill down anyone’s spine. According to the original creators of the Joker, Jerry Robinson and Bill Finger, the look is inspired by actor Conrad Veidt from the 1928 movie The Man Who Laughs where the character is mutilated in a permanent grim after offending King James II.

The image of a man in permanent smile must have been terrifying to people at the time to affect comic book writers and designers 20 years or so later. In addition to his permanent grin, the colour purple has always been synonymous with the character whether it is a fine suit or rags, he is definitely never far away from that look. And while there have been chilling adaptations of the Joker look like in the 2011 new 52 series when the Joker has his face removed and then replace back like some kind of mask his iconic grin and purple clothing are never far behind.

What make the Joker such an icon and unique is his complete lack of super powers and abilities. Villains like Lex Luthor, in general, have no super powers, he uses his money to create gadgets and weapons to help him defeat Superman. But the Joker uses his complete lack of empathy and sympathy for human life including his own and his hyper-intelligence is what makes him special. The Joker believes he is the antithesis to Batman and that his ultimate goal is to make Batman be like him, a cold and unsympathetic person.

This is what make him unique. Even in the 60s TV show, Batman, he never was an over powering person instead using his minions to help foil Batman week to week. Even now with his constant companion, Harley Quinn, she is still the muscle in that relationship doing whatever her “Puddin’” tells her to do. And we learned the Joker is definitely not the strongest villain because in the 1988 film Batman, Jack Nicholson’s version is pretty soundly defeated before he even falls to his demise.

The Joker though is definitely someone with severe mental issues. He is someone who fears nothing as we learned when the Scarecrow tried to use his scare nerve toxin and in his repeated disregard for human life. This makes him someone to be feared even more so than someone who can drop a building on your head.

A final way to gauge how good a villain is what kind of schemes does he get involved in. I doubt any of us would feel threatened by someone who goes around committing minor thefts or vandalism so be considered top tier, you better have something good. Given the Joker’s mental stability, you know we are only going to get the weird and wild stuff.

I could spend another thousand words describing everything the Joker has done to Gotham and the world but I think we should focus on a couple of better ones out there. As discussed already, in the famous and iconic series The Killing Joke, the Joker decides to paralyze Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barabara Gordon, by shooting her and then kidnaps him in order to torture him for the sole purpose of reflecting his own life story, someone can be turned to evil following “one bad day”.

That’s pretty badass but how about in the Emperor Joker run from the early 2000s where the Joker was able to get a hold of the 5th dimension travel and abilities of Mister Mxyzptlk and created a world that was moulded in his own thoughts and feelings and then he was able to kill Batman over and over again by simply bringing him back to life. Or how about the time when the Joker almost brought Batman to his breaking point in A Death In The Family when the Joker beat Jason Todd aka Robin to near death and blowing him up in a building.

The now iconic comic cover of Batman carrying a bruised, beaten and limp body of Robin out of rubble is etched in the minds of multiple comic fans. We also get a snippet of this storyline from Zach Snyder’s take on the character in the Justice League movies when we see Robin’s outfit behind glass with “HAHAHA” written all over it. He has also been involved in brainwashing the Justice League to turn on Batman, he has murdered many other villains who believed they were better than him and all done with a smile on his face.

The Joker is an icon no matter where you go and for over 80 years has been the level of villain many try to duplicate. You can see the influence in modern comics and even in modern villains. Homelander from the series The Boys could be an argument for what would happen if you gave the Joker super human powers. Not only in pop culture but in general, he has a story an origin story unmatched by any in the DC universe, he has the look of the devil which can be picked out of a line-up, his powers while non-existent can cause havoc and he has probably some of the best stories to be featured in the DC universe. Without a doubt, the Joker is the GOAT of DC villains and is definitely one of the deadliest.

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