The Joker is no joke! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 most terrifying Joker moments. Beware of dark spoilers ahead.
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00:00 "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you a...
00:02 stranger."
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 most terrifying
00:11 Joker moments. While we'll look at frightening scenes from video games, movies, and TV,
00:16 we'll save comic scares for another list. Beware of dark spoilers.
00:21 "There's no punchline. It's not a joke."
00:27 Number 20. Executing Bonk. Batman Beyond - Return of the Joker.
00:32 After a couple of decades away from Gotham, the clown prince of crime returned in full
00:36 and put together a new and young crew of henchmen. While most of them loyally followed Joker's orders,
00:42 a goon named Bonk openly questioned his new boss. The clown prince of crime creepily sat in shadow
00:47 as his subordinate complained. But the scene really got scary when Bonk tried to resign.
00:52 "I want out. If you insist." "Hey man, take it easy. I was just kidding."
01:03 Without hesitating, Joker pulls out a pistol and unleashed a little flag labeled "Bang."
01:09 That moment of relief was instantly followed by the moment where the clown shoots Bonk for real.
01:14 After both the dark twist of the scene and Joker's smile in the face of death sunk in,
01:18 we knew we were in for a truly terrifying villain.
01:21 "Bonk? Oh right, dead. DDP alarm and sweep out the trash."
01:29 Number 19. Jerome Threatens His Own Family. Gotham. Despite never being officially called
01:35 Joker, Jerome Valeska's appetite for violence and manic actions made him worthy of the mantle.
01:40 He was especially cruel to his own family members. We could only watch in horror when
01:44 he threatened his father with death. "No thrash dad, it's too late."
01:49 "You don't have to do this." "No, I'm pretty sure I do."
01:54 After Jerome slayed his own father, he focused his rage on his brother.
01:58 The proto-clown wanted to get his revenge against his sibling for spreading false stories.
02:03 Once Jerome cornered his brother in a tight hallway,
02:06 he slowly moved in like a predator hungry for its next meal.
02:09 "You turned everyone I ever loved against me, my own flesh and blood."
02:14 The villain's badly scarred face also added an extra layer of creepiness to the scene.
02:18 By the end, we were convinced that Jerome would take any measure to be an only child.
02:24 Number 18. Joker Jump Scares. Batman Arkham Knight.
02:28 "Give me a moment, Alfred. I'll be fine."
02:32 "You're not looking too good, old boy." Gamers thought they saw the last of the
02:41 clown in the Arkham series after he died at the end of Arkham City. Unfortunately,
02:45 the Joker came back to haunt Bruce and us while delivering hair-raising jump scares.
02:50 At the start of the game, the player is tasked with cremating the Joker's body.
02:55 But those who are replaying the game may get startled by a suddenly lively clown.
03:13 Hours after that heart-attack-inducing moment, the Joker starts appearing in front of Batman
03:18 as a hallucination. While the clown usually announces his presence, he decides to shock
03:23 the Dark Knight and the player by popping up on a rooftop. These jump scares proved
03:28 that the villain could spook us from beyond the grave.
03:31 Number 17. Arthur Invades an Apartment. Joker.
03:35 Although Arthur Fleck had a tough life, he could at least smile about his budding relationship
03:40 with his neighbor Sophie. The two go out on a date, and she even supports him when his mom
03:45 ends up in the hospital. However, their sweet relationship is completely turned on its head
03:49 after he breaks into her apartment at night at the end of a bad day. Arthur unsettles us by
03:55 remaining frighteningly still and silent as Sophie freaks out. To make matters worse,
04:07 it's revealed that Arthur imagined their entire relationship. We genuinely feared that he would
04:12 lash out and harm his innocent neighbor. While no one is harmed in this home invasion,
04:17 we're willing to bet that Sophie was left with emotional scars.
04:20 Number 16. The Last Laugh. Batman - Mask of the Phantasm.
04:33 For once, I'm stuck without a punchline. Uh-oh.
04:37 Held in high esteem by diehard fans of the caped crusader, but largely forgotten by the masses,
04:45 this 1993 film is a continuation of Batman the animated series. Joker doesn't serve as the film's
04:51 primary antagonist. That honor goes to the mysterious phantasm, but it's ultimately Joker
04:56 who gets the last laugh in this harrowing scene. With the world of the future fair exploding around
05:00 him and his fate in the hands of a woman consumed by vengeance, Joker lets out a spine-chilling cackle.
05:06 He's missing a tooth, he's bloody, and for once, he's poised to become the victim.
05:24 But at the same moment, he is reveling in having destroyed a life. It's the sort of chaos he lives
05:30 for. Number 15. Threatening Assassins. Batman - Arkham Origins. Audiences initially thought
05:43 Black Mask hired a bunch of assassins to kill the Dark Knight. In a surprising turn, it becomes clear
05:49 that Joker is the real mastermind behind this. While the clown enjoys watching the hunt, he loses
05:54 patience with his assassins when they fail to kill the Bat. He initially lashes out while pretending
05:59 to be Black Mask. As soon as the Joker drops the act, he turns the full force of his manic rage on
06:06 an assassin known as the Electrocutioner. The clown's horrifying looks of wrath and delight
06:20 are the last things his employee sees before dying. Although Joker wasn't the crime boss
06:25 the assassins thought they were dealing with, he still commanded the room with his bloodthirsty
06:30 actions. Number 14. Saying farewell to his mother. Joker. Speaking of getting personal,
06:54 there are few crime scenes more intimate and disturbing than this one. Between Arthur Fleck
06:59 and Jerome Valeska, these alternative takes on the Joker have a real penchant for matricide.
07:04 After learning the messy truth about his mother and his parentage, Arthur returns to the hospital
07:08 where he quietly unloads about his misery. It is a tense moment. His calm demeanor foreshadows
07:14 something dark and terrible just around the corner. Deeming his tragic life to be a comedy,
07:18 he then takes his mom's pillow and smothers her to death with it as she struggles. He looks
07:23 concentrated but not conflicted. And the peace that this horrific act seems to bring him is
07:28 absolutely haunting. Number 13. John Doe becomes Joker. Batman, the enemy within. In the Telltale
07:36 universe, Bruce is initially good friends with a guy named John Doe. But as the mystery man's
07:41 behavior becomes more erratic, their friendship gets pushed to the breaking point. Their bad
07:46 blood boils over when John Doe holds Waller captive as part of a misguided attempt to get justice.
07:51 "If there's one thing I learned by watching you, violence solves a lot of problems."
07:59 He strikes fear into our hearts with every dangerous gesture and twisted expression.
08:04 Although Batman tries to calm his friend down, John Doe eventually loses his cool and slaughters
08:09 multiple people before embracing a new identity with a bone-chilling declaration.
08:13 "John, it's Joker!"
08:24 We always had a feeling that Bruce's friend would descend into madness. However, we were not
08:28 prepared for how scary his final transformation would be. Number 12. Dinner with the Joker.
08:34 Batman. Vicky Vale's dream of having a nice dinner with Bruce Wayne was shattered when a clown
08:39 arrived instead. At first, he appears to be a mischievous gangster who has restored his
08:44 original skin color. But as dinner goes on, he becomes more unhinged. The Joker casually talks
08:51 about his dark desires with that permanent grin on his face. "I make art until someone dies. See?
08:58 I am the world's first fully functioning homicidal artist."
09:04 Additionally, he shows Vicky a victim he has already gotten to. But the most terrifying
09:10 moment comes when the reporter throws water at the clown's face. When the Joker turns,
09:15 he shocks us by revealing that his seemingly normal face was hiding an appalling sight.
09:31 The horrid dinner is thankfully interrupted by Batman. If the hero had been late, Vicky would
09:37 have been the Joker's next twisted art project. Number 11. Brutally breaking Jason.
09:43 Batman Arkham Knight. During an extended hallucination, we see first-hand what the
09:48 Joker did when he captured Jason Todd. The clown slowly tried to break down the sidekick's psyche
10:00 by alternating between playing bad cop and even worse cop. When the Joker wasn't mentally tormenting
10:05 his captor, he was physically beating Jason. Robin becomes so terrified of the villain that
10:11 he starts shaking as soon as the clown walks into a room. Joker's immense cruelty made it hard for us
10:16 to look at the screen as the scenes went on. And just when the story got unbearable, the clown
10:22 shot Jason point-blank. The Joker's depraved actions definitely broke something inside the
10:28 former Robin that the hero may never fully be able to fix. Number 10. Send in the clowns. Joker.
10:41 This scene from the 2019 Joker film begins with Arthur Fleck acting in self-defense,
10:54 but it's also the moment in which the Joker is born. His first act of violence serving as an
10:59 awakening of sorts. Three employees of Wayne Enterprises, who have been harassing a woman
11:04 on the subway, turn their attention to Arthur when he has a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
11:08 One of them begins to sing "Send in the Clowns" in an intimidating fashion, but it's Arthur who
11:13 gives them all a real lesson in fear. He guns down two of the three men, prompting the third to flee.
11:19 Implacable, Arthur stalks the man down and finishes him off. And as his post-murder
11:24 dance suggests, Fleck feels great about the encounter. Number 9. A visit to Carl Grissom.
11:40 Batman. Before Joel Schumacher took the franchise in an
11:49 overtly campy direction, Tim Burton brought Gotham City to life on the big screen in a way that was
11:53 at once over the top and theatrical, but nonetheless dark. While Jack Nicholson's version
11:58 of the Joker strikes a similar balance, his grand unveiling as the clown prince of crime decidedly
12:03 tilts in favor of scary. Emerging from the elevator, he's obscured in shadow, a sinister
12:09 silhouette. And though crime boss Carl Grissom tries to play nice, the newly christened Joker
12:14 ain't having it. He switches between quiet malice and sudden outbursts of anger, before revealing
12:19 his twisted new look and taking Carl's life. It's a reintroduction to Gotham fit for a prince.
12:24 Number 8. Lashing out at Harley. The new Batman adventures. It's well known that Joker has a
12:34 bad relationship with his sidekick/love interest. But even she can be shocked by the depths of his
12:44 depravity. During one infamous episode, Harley tries to make her puddin happy by putting Batman
12:49 in a certainly fatal trap. When the Joker discovers that she got the bat instead of him,
12:54 the clown can only see red. He attacks and berates Harley until he eventually knocks her out of a
13:10 window. While we're accustomed to seeing Joker be cruel to his enemies, we were not expecting him
13:15 to go so far that he nearly killed someone he claims to love. If Harley isn't safe from his
13:20 unbridled wrath, then no one stands a chance. Number 7. Jerome's confession. Gotham.
13:26 Although fans were wary of bringing in a younger twist on the Joker,
13:38 it took one scene to change everyone's minds. After Lila Velesca is murdered, the trail of
13:44 evidence leads back to her grieving son Jerome. He seemed to be an unlikely culprit until he
13:49 dropped his mask of sanity in a disturbing scene. In a split second, he goes from crying over his
13:55 mother to maniacally laughing and confessing to having killed her. The notes of intense glee
14:08 and cold detachment at being discovered chilled us to the bone. It's a great performance that
14:13 cemented that Cameron Monaghan's Jerome would stand beside all the great Jokers that had come
14:18 before him. Number 6. Tormenting Tim Drake. Batman Beyond. Return of the Joker. Three weeks after
14:34 Robin went missing, the Joker let the Dark Knight know exactly where the sidekick was.
14:39 Unbeknownst to the Bat, he wouldn't like what he found. The clown reveals that he brainwashed and
14:44 molded Tim into becoming a little Joker clone. As if that wasn't depraved enough, the clown showed
14:50 a haunting video montage of Robin's torment. The scenes are so startling and shocking that it's
14:55 hard to believe that this animated movie wasn't rated R. Beyond the sick premise, Mark Hamill's
15:11 always flawless performance carried a ton of menace and ill will. His promise that Batman
15:16 would die hearing deranged laughter from his sidekick was the most unsettling part of the
15:21 clown's long torment. Number 5. Telling the story of his scars. The Dark Knight.
15:33 This is technically a few different moments, but while each twisted story is creepy in its own
15:42 right, it's really the cumulative effect of these conflicting narratives that leaves a lasting
15:46 impression. Throughout the film, Heath Ledger's Joker seemingly opens up to his victims about his
15:53 past. First, he says his father cut him in an act of drunken violence. Later, he tells Rachel Dawes
15:58 that he did it to himself to cheer up his wife. These anecdotes add a skin-crawling personal
16:03 touch to his acts of depravity and violence. We almost get a third version, but Batman doesn't
16:08 let him tell it. Though we are curious as to what he would have said in terms of the scare factor,
16:12 Joker had already achieved the desired effect. Number 4. Getting even with Randall. Joker.
16:19 Todd Phillips' version of Joker isn't the most socially well-adjusted, and he and his co-workers
16:37 have a strained relationship. Once Arthur begins his transformation into the Joker, however,
16:41 he becomes more assertive. And so when Randall comes around asking about the subway murders,
16:47 Arthur responds by brutally attacking the man without warning. It is a savage and bloody
16:52 assault, one that leaves Arthur's clown makeup and walls splattered with blood. He lets Gary go
16:57 as a thanks for his past kindness, but until Gary is safely out of the apartment, the tension is
17:02 agonizing. And now that he is the Joker, Arthur has fun with it.
17:07 Number 3. Attacking Barbara Gordon. Batman the Killing Joke. Batman the Killing Joke is among
17:20 the most influential Joker stories ever told. Thankfully for our purposes, it also got a
17:25 feature-length animated film adaptation in 2016. In the movie, the Joker has escaped Arkham Asylum
17:36 and decides to pay a visit to the home of Commissioner Gordon as part of his most recent
17:40 plot. Unfortunately, it's Barbara, also known as Batgirl, who answers the door. He promptly
17:46 shoots her, resulting in her paralysis below the waist. Being the sick and twisted monster he is,
17:51 however, he doesn't stop there. Joker strips Barbara down and photographs her,
17:56 later using the picture as part of his strategy to torture her father until he goes mad.
18:00 Both moments are hard to watch, but the assault of Barbara is especially horrifying.
18:06 Number 2. Interrogating the Batman Imitator. The Dark Knight.
18:16 Fun fact. You know the videos that Joker sends out of people he's kidnapped in The Dark Knight?
18:26 Heath Ledger was given more or less free reign from Christopher Nolan to direct them himself.
18:30 And armed with that knowledge, we can't help but think that Ledger would have made one heck
18:33 of a horror film director. With its shaky camera work and macabre setting, the atmosphere and tone
18:38 are incredibly uncomfortable. When the character starts manhandling his captive, it's enough to
18:43 make your stomach churn. After using a sickeningly playful voice for much of the video, Joker breaks
18:48 out into a savage roar, reminding us that he can also be deadly serious. In short, the whole video
18:55 is pure nightmare fuel. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the
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19:13 videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch
19:18 on notifications. Number 1 - Live with Murray Franklin - Joker
19:37 Honestly, outside of explicit horror movies, this might have been one of the most disturbing scenes
19:43 of any popular film released in 2019. The gunshot itself is sudden, graphic, and absolutely stomach
19:50 churning. You know that something terrible is coming long before the shot is fired, and yet
19:54 that foreknowledge does nothing to diminish its impact when Joker finally pulls the trigger.
20:11 In fact, this lengthy buildup instead helps to create an oppressive sense of dread and
20:16 ever-mounting terror, so that by the time Joker is ready to deliver his punchline,
20:20 the viewer is already horrified. It's a remarkable moment of gritty and grounded horror,
20:26 one that burns itself into your mind and refuses to fade away.
20:39 Which Joker moment still gives you nightmares? Let us know in the comments below.
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20:56 [Music]