Why so serious? Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the worst, most horrifying, and most despicable things DC’s Clown Prince of Crime has done in his history.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Still, better off than his replacement right?
00:05Even tougher making with the yucks when you're worm food huh?
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the worst, most horrifying
00:15and most despicable things DC's clown prince of crime has done in his history.
00:21We'll be looking at monstrous joker occasions from comics, video games and films.
00:2620.
00:38Kidnapped Mr. Freeze's Wife
00:392011's video game Batman Arkham City already put Joker in a bad light when he purposely
00:50infected the cape crusader with the titan disease.
00:53But there was some dark icing to cover that tasteless clown cake.
01:05When Batman goes to Mr. Freeze for the cure, we discover that Hugo Strange had handed Nora,
01:11Freeze's wife, over to the Joker as a hostage to make him continue research on the titan
01:16disease.
01:17If you know anything about Freeze beyond his cold persona and ice based puns, he deeply
01:22loves Nora.
01:24After all, he'd spent years looking for a cure for her Huntington's Chorea making
01:28this move by Joker pretty cruel.
01:3119.
01:32The Laughing Fish
01:33In Detective Comics number 475, Joker infected Gotham City's fishes with a version of his
01:45venom turning them into aquatic versions of himself.
01:49He then attempted to get a copyright to them so he could collect a fortune when they were
01:53sold.
01:54It sounds like a goofy, not very serious plan from the Joker, but it gets pretty serious
01:59later on when Joker's told by officials that he can't copyright fish.
02:04Instead of moving on from that, Joker goes on a slaying spree, even taking out one official
02:10right in front of Batman.
02:11On top of the direct murders, while the fish aren't toxic for consumption, no one is
02:17going to want to eat the bizarre fish and a whole industry would likely be destroyed.
02:2418.
02:33Killing Alexander Luthor
02:34A good thing to note is don't leave the Joker out of anything.
02:39In DC's epic 2005 event Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor from Earth 3 turned evil
02:45during his time in the Paradise Dimension.
02:48So he wanted to combine Earth 2 and Earth 3 to create a perfect world.
02:53However, when Alexander's plan doesn't work and he's defeated, he tries to slink
02:58away in Gotham.
02:59Instead, he's sprayed in the eye with acid from a flower belonging to a certain purple
03:04suited character.
03:05After Joker electrocutes him, Prime Lex Luthor comes out of the shadows to mock Alexander
03:10and admonish him for not inviting Joker into the society.
03:14The clown then took out a firearm and brutally ended Alexander.
03:1817.
03:19Raining Glass Over Gotham
03:22For Batman Confidential, we got to see the early escapades of the Dark Knight.
03:27So of course in the storyline Lovers and Mad Men, we witnessed Jack become the Joker after
03:32battling Batman.
03:34At one point, the newly created clown Prince of Crime sent a blimp across Gotham that exploded.
03:40Joker went old school with this by not using clown gadgets.
03:43Instead, the blimp rained broken glass on the city's population as Joker stood protected
03:49under an umbrella.
03:50To make it worse, if that's possible, the glass was tainted with Joker venom, infecting
03:56those it dug into.
03:58Batman, instead of stopping the rampage, stayed at Lorna Shore's bedside in the hospital
04:03until Alfred convinced him to do something.
04:0616.
04:07Assaulting Shelley
04:082008's Joker graphic novel is a grim and gritty tale about the villain.
04:13Supported by his henchman Johnny Frost, he helps Joker return to his criminal prestige
04:17after leaving Arkham Asylum and taking out those who showed disloyalty while he was locked
04:22up.
04:23At the same time as this, Johnny is dealing with breaking up with his wife, Shelley.
04:27Harvey Dent offered Johnny a job, however, he rejected it and continued working for the
04:32Joker.
04:33Later, Dent told Joker about the meetup out of spite, which Johnny neglected to tell his
04:38employer.
04:39For revenge, Joker assaulted Shelley.
04:42This deeply disturbing moment is divisive with readers, as many believe this is out
04:47of character for the Joker.
04:4915.
04:50Poisoned Cotton Candy
05:00After a decade of Joker being in a coma in Frank Miller's 1986 pivotal comic The Dark
05:05Knight Returns, the clown woke up after Batman's return and immediately got back to his chaotic
05:11best-slash-worst.
05:13After popping up on a talk show and murdering everyone, Joker went to the county fair to
05:18hand out free cotton candy to Boy Scouts.
05:21Aww, cute.
05:22Only instead of it being a sudden redemption arc, the sweet treat was laced with poison
05:27that immediately took their lives.
05:29To make it even worse, Batman narrates that Carrie Kelly, the new Robin, loses her innocence
05:35upon witnessing this.
05:37Yikes.
05:3814.
05:49Blowing Up A School
05:50For 2008's Batman cacophony, on one side you have the Joker.
05:54On the other is Maxie Zeus, a former history teacher who believes he's Zeus from Greek
06:00mythology.
06:01And in the middle is Batman trying to stop them.
06:03With two dangerous and unhinged sides, all sorts of mayhem could potentially take place.
06:09However, no one was expecting Joker to go this far.
06:12The clown went to Zeus' nephew's school and held them hostage until the God Pretender
06:17arrived and Joker could confront him for adapting his venom into a designer substance.
06:21The duel eventually leaves the school, with veiled threats being uttered under friendliness.
06:27Then Joker explodes the school as part of a punchline, kickstarting the gang war between
06:31him and Zeus.
06:3313.
06:34Skinning Monty
06:35Brian Azzarello and Leigh Bermejo's 2008 Joker book was so intense that The Clown Prince
06:41has multiple terrible moments to show his depravity.
06:44Shortly after leaving Arkham, Joker goes to the Grin and Bear it Club to meet Monty, his
06:48henchman.
06:49While Joker gets all chummy and appears to be enjoying the party, he takes Monty backstage
06:54after getting a dollar from Johnny.
06:56When they return, the henchman has been mostly skinned.
07:00Gross.
07:01To make it worse, Joker slaps the dollar on Monty's derriere as he stumbles and falls
07:05motionless on the ground.
07:0712.
07:08The Batman Who Laughs
07:09For years, comic fans had pondered what would happen if Joker and Batman merged.
07:15Well, 2018's The Batman Who Laughs showed us how bleak that could be.
07:20After obliterating Gotham, assassinating the GCPD and villains, and infecting citizens
07:25with the venom all in front of Batman, the Dark Knight snaps and slays Joker.
07:31However, in a final wicked act, The Clown releases a gas from his dying body that Batman
07:36inhaled.
07:37Slowly, he became the Batman Who Laughs.
07:40This version killed the Bat Family, then the Justice League, leaving Superman for last.
07:46With his son John and Lois held captive, this Joker Batman used modified black kryptonite
07:51to make the Kryptonians kill his own family.
07:54Naturally, The Batman Who Laughs became one of DC's most dangerous villains.
08:0011.
08:01Emperor Joker
08:02Usually, Mr. Mischievous Piddle-Ick is a quirky, stupidly powerful annoyance for Superman.
08:07But things turned up a lot when Joker managed to trick Mischievous Piddle-Ick into giving
08:11him the imp's vast power.
08:13He became Emperor Joker and transformed the world, even changing the Justice League's
08:18origins such as making Aquaman a literal fish man.
08:22But the most disturbing was Joker eating all of China, including the people for a punchline.
08:27He also killed Batman over and over again in terrible ways.
08:32Even after being defeated, the psychological damage to Bruce was so much that Superman
08:37took on that burden instead.
08:39Another haunting, all-powerful Joker moment was in Justice League The Knell.
08:44Armed with energy gauntlets, Joker made Bats watch as he crushed Robin and Batgirl.
08:50Yikes!
08:5110.
08:52Family Gathering
08:53In Scott Snyder's Death of the Family, the Clown Prince of Crime shows just how psychotic
08:57he can be.
08:58After reclaiming his recently removed face, the Joker launches a crusade of his own in
09:03order to help Batman rid himself of the obstacles that keep him grounded, his allies.
09:09This leads to a deadly game of cat and mouse where the Joker has kidnapped the entirety
09:13of the Bat Family and cut off their faces.
09:16While this proves to be just another joke, knowing that he could have easily gone through
09:21with it is chilling to the bone.
09:239.
09:24The Tunnel of Love
09:40In Frank Miller's acclaimed take on a much older and grittier Batman, the resurfacing
09:45of the Joker comes complete with a huge body count.
09:49After finding a new purpose in life when his beloved Batman comes out of retirement, the
09:53psychotic clown and the world's detective end up coming to blows in an amusement park,
09:58where it becomes clear only one of them is going to be walking away.
10:02Despite getting a batarang to the face, the Joker appears to be having the time of his
10:06life and gleefully starts a shooting spree as he makes his way through the Tunnel of
10:11Love, leaving an even bigger trail of young lover's bodies for Batman to follow.
10:228.
10:23An Agent of Chaos
10:27Christopher Nolan's vision of the Joker not only provided a fresh take on the character,
10:32but managed to horrify audiences while he was at it.
10:35His most disturbing attribute is just how easily he manages to manipulate the good guys
10:40like puppets on a string, even the Dark Knight.
10:43He kidnaps Gotham's star lawyer Harvey Dent as well as Bruce Wayne's love interest Rachel
10:49Dawes, trapping them each in separate rooms filled with explosives, leaving Batman with
10:54a deadly choice of who to save.
11:07Of course, it's never that easy with the Joker, and the result leads to the death of
11:12Rachel and the birth of Two-Face.
11:137.
11:14Joker Jr.
11:15The
11:38Joker's return in the Batman Beyond movie didn't only give fans a chance to see the
11:42second night battle against his mentor's greatest foe, but also gave us a flashback
11:47segment, which in some way served as a conclusion to the originally animated series.
11:52After kidnapping Robin aka Tim Drake, the Joker goads Batman into a final confrontation
11:58in Arkham Asylum, where he reveals that not only has he tortured and brainwashed Robin
12:02into a psychotic, surrogate son, but that he now knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne.
12:08Even though the animated series wasn't afraid to slip into some dark territory, this
12:28was on a different level entirely, made all the more deliciously evil by Mark Hamill's
12:34performance.
12:356.
12:36The death of Sarah Essin Jim Gordon has lost more to the Joker than
12:40anyone else, yet still refuses to step outside of the law and kill him, though we have no
12:45idea how he resisted ending the clown's life after this despicable act.
12:49Sarah Essin, a brilliant detective in her own right and Gordon's second wife, manages
12:54to catch the Joker at gunpoint, except there's a problem.
12:58He has dozens of infants as hostages.
13:01Using her good-hearted nature to his advantage, the Joker tosses one of the children her way
13:06and Sarah instinctively catches the baby.
13:09However, this leaves her unarmed, and the Joker takes advantage of the moment, gunning
13:13her down.
13:145.
13:15Face-off Nothing quite sums up the Joker's insanity
13:18than when he allowed someone to carve his face off, just to leave an unclear message.
13:24While he's the only one that technically gets hurt as a result of this bloody process,
13:29the loss and eventual reclaiming of his face marks a change in the Joker's character.
13:34He becomes even more dangerous, deranged, obsessed with Batman, and also a hell of a
13:39lot scarier.
13:41Seriously, anyone who gets a near-erotic reaction from having their mug peeled off is someone
13:47you don't want to mess with.
13:524.
13:55The Fall of Superman
14:08The comic book video game tie-in series Injustice Gods Among Us has done wonders for the fighting
14:14game genre by showing that you can indeed have an engrossing story in between kicking
14:19the crap out of your favorite DC characters.
14:22Instead, in an alternate world, the Joker manages to trick the Man of Steel into killing
14:26Lois Lane, their unborn child, and all of Metropolis.
14:39As you can imagine, Soos is not happy about this.
14:43Superman kills the Joker in reprisal, and his loss of sanity leads to Superman becoming
14:47a dictator and enslaving the entire world.
14:51Even in death, the Joker always seems to have the last laugh.
15:113.
15:12Mad Love
15:13Probably the most constant reminder of the Joker's cruelty is his treatment of one
15:17person who loves him above all else, Harley Quinn.
15:31After falling for the psychotic clown and breaking him out of Arkham, Harley has stuck
15:35by her pudding through thick and thin, always helping him commit crimes and try to kill
15:40the Batman on his behalf.
15:42Despite this unending devotion, the Joker does not treat her kindly.
15:46Whether it's manipulating her by playing off her obvious infatuation or via verbal,
15:51emotional, and physical abuse, Harley's suffering is legendary across the comic books
15:56and animated series.
16:022.
16:12The Killing Joke
16:13No other event has rippled across the Batman mythos more than the shooting of Barbara Gordon
16:18in Alan Moore's critically acclaimed graphic novel, The Killing Joke.
16:22With a single shot, the Joker leaves Barbara traumatized and with paralysis.
16:38Only one part of his insidious plan to drive Jim Gordon insane.
16:43Just to prove that anyone can lose their mind after just one bad day.
16:46While the plan would ultimately fail with Jim keeping his sanity and Barbara trading
16:51in her mantle as Batgirl for that of Oracle, Joker's twisted actions have cemented themselves
16:56in pop culture.
17:02Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
17:06about our latest videos.
17:08You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
17:12If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
17:181.
17:19The Death of Jason Todd
17:31Just like Barbara, the second Robin narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Joker and
17:36will carry the trauma and scars of the encounter for his entire life.
17:40Todd's senselessly violent and deeply tragic death served as just another stepping stone
17:46in the Joker's endless quest to break the Dark Knight.
17:54After capturing Jason Todd, the Clown Prince proceeds to beat him with the crowbar before
17:58leaving him to bleed out.
18:00Just before Batman could arrive, a time bomb goes off, seemingly killing Todd.
18:05It's one of Batman's darkest moments, all orchestrated by the man who finds it all to
18:10be one big joke.
18:12If Marvel bought Joker from DC, which superhero would be his nemesis?
18:17Spider-Man?
18:18Daredevil?
18:19Iron Man?
18:20Or someone else?
18:21Let us know in the comments down below!