As a character who knows no compassion nor humanity, the Joker is a deadly outlaw who can make anyone’s life a living hell by doing the worst stuff ever. Being one of the most iconic characters of all time, it is certainly devastating to know how many lines the Clown Prince of Crime has crossed that will leave you distraught. Take a look at the 15 worst things the joker has ever done that cement his status as the greatest villain of all time:
15. Killing People With Shards of Glass
The Joker has killed people by various means and each of them is deadlier than the previous one. In Lovers & Madmen, the mass-murdering psychopath added another milestone to his killing spree by using a blimp to kill many people in Gotham.
The blimp exploded and released poisonous gas and shards of glass on the bystanders. Killing every single one of them, the streets became a pool of bloodied dead bodies torn apart by the glass.
14. Kidnapping Alfred And The Bat-Family
With his parents killed when he was just a child, Bruce Wayne never had many family moments to look back to as an adult. That is why his faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth and sidekicks filled the void of the family.
So just imagine how Batman felt when he realized that all of them were kidnapped by his most dangerous nemesis. In the storyline Death of the Family, the Joker kidnaps Alfred, Robin, Batgirl, Red Hood, and Red Robin in an effort to make the Dark Knight go through another tragic phase.
13. Eating China
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There have been many outrageously stupid instances in comics and the moment of the Joker devouring the second-largest country in the world is one of them. In the storyline Emperor Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime steals Mister Mxyzptlk’s power of altering reality and eats China!
The powers made him capable of fulfilling his sadistic fantasies and he proceeded to cause endless mayhem, raise a ruckus, conduct massacres, etc. In doing so, the Joker ate China just to make a joke.
12. Killing Batman And Then Resurrecting Him To Kill Him Again
Equipped with Mister Mxyzptlk’s reality-altering powers in Emperor Joker, it was only a matter of time before the Joker would unleash his fury on Batman.
The superhero was forced to face death because of tremendous torment and was reincarnated over and over again to suffer the same fate.
11. Making Damian Wayne Fight Batman
In the storyline Death of the Family, the Clown Prince of Crime infects Damian Wayne the fifth Robin, and the biological son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul with Joker Venom and instructs the boy to fight Batman to the death.
Much to the Joker’s amusement, it was a hard-fought battle, and looked like Damian would actually win. However, Robin was able to get a hold of himself and decided to rather die at his father’s hands instead of killing him.
10. Getting His Face Ripped Off
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If there is one thing that certifies the unpredictability of the Joker, it is the moment when the Clown Prince of Crime had his face ripped off. In Batman: Detective Comics, the unthinkable happened when the villain went to a point that absolutely stunned everyone!
After being caught by Gotham City Police Department, the Joker was sent to Arkham Asylum to confront Dollmaker in their arranged meeting in order to have his face sliced off. The Dollmaker obliged and stated:
“Tonight we will both celebrate our rebirth.”
9. Skinning Monty From Head to Toe
The cruelty of the Joker is unimaginable! Brian Azzarello’s graphic novel Joker shows a realistic touch to the supervillain and features a ton of gruesome stuff which was quite frankly too horrific to see.
After being released from Arkham Asylum, the Joker visits a strip club that he ran in the past. Seeing his on-and-off girlfriend as a stripper, Mister J went to Monty – the current owner – and skinned him alive from head to toe!
8. Killing Children By Poisoned Cotton Candy
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The victims of the Clown Prince of Crime are endless and have a range of Gotham citizens, superheroes, fellow villains, and even his own men. In the storyline The Dark Knight Returns, the Joker made another addition to his hit list by including children.
The Joker had the audacity to make such a bold step by giving children poisoned cotton candy. The unsuspecting children instantly died but the Joker got another reason to laugh maniacally.
7. Tricking Super-Man Into Killing Lois Lane
Batman is well-known for his no-killing rule but Superman does not mind spilling blood in his crime-fighting adventures. In the prequel comic to the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Joker tricked Superman into killing his wife Lois Lane.
Making matters worse, Lane was pregnant with Superman’s child. Driven with furious rage, the Man of Steel rips the Joker’s heart out. The moment apparently left Batman in a state of disbelief but with all honesty, Superman definitely did his Justice League member a favor.
6. Framing Batman By Breaking His Own Neck
Often regarded as the best Batman storyline, The Dark Knight Returns had several memorable moments in it such as the battle against Superman and the suicide of Joker.
The 55-year-old Batman comes out of retirement and so does his arch-nemesis to engage in one last showdown. Left to the point of being severely beaten, the Joker knew that the Dark Knight would not kill him so he broke his own neck to make Gotham believe that he died at the hands of Batman.
5. Killing Detective Sarah Essen
Jim Gordon’s second wife and co-worker Sarah Essen died at the hands of the Joker in the storyline No Man’s Land. In an attempt to save several babies, Essen came in the way of the Joker who shot at her forehead before saying, “Merry Christmas.”
Gordon has watched many people of Gotham die at the hands of the Joker but never for an instant had he thought that his wife would be one of the victims of the psychopathic clown.
4. Crippling Barbara Gordon
The Joker had the nerve to go right ahead to Jim Gordon’s department and knock on the door in order to brutally execute his revenge. However, his daughter Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl opened the door.
Getting the shock of her life, the Joker shot her and the bullet snapped her backbone. Severely crippled, Barbara’s career of crime-fighting was over!
3. Forcing James Gordon To Watch His Abused Daughter
The line was definitely crossed in The Killing Joke when the sick clown abducted Detective Jim Gordon and held him in restraints with his clothes stripped off. In order to prove that even righteous citizens can go mad after having “one bad day”, the supervillain did the unthinkable!
The Joker showed a slideshow of Gordon’s daughter Barbara in a bloodied, unconscious, injured, and totally naked condition. It was a sight of disbelief and absolute disgust. What kind of man forces a father to watch his daughter in such a state?
That kind of man is none other than the Joker! Though Gordon did not go insane despite the horror he had to go through, he was left traumatized and still requested Batman to handle the Joker “by the book.”
2. Murdering Jason Todd By Explosion
The Joker has been responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman’s life and the merciless killing of Jason Todd – the second Robin – tops all of them.
In Death in the Family, the Clown Prince of Crime hits Todd with a crowbar numerous times and kills him with an explosion. Often regarded as Batman’s biggest moment of failure, the loss made the superhero reluctant about future partners.
1. Made Batman Laugh By Telling a Joke
The very thought of Batman and the Joker sharing a laugh together is unbelievable and quite shocking. At the climax of The Killing Joke, the Clown Prince of Crime actually narrates a joke to his adversary and surprisingly manages to make Batman laugh. Behold and read the joke that even made the Dark Knight chuckle:
“See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum…and one night, one night they decide they don’t like living in an asylum any more. They decide they’re going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight…stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren’t make the leap. Y’see…y’see, he’s afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea…He says ‘Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I’ll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!’ B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says… he says ‘What do you think I am? Crazy? You’d turn it off when I was halfway across!'”
Did we miss any of the worst things the joker has ever done? Please let us know in the comments below!
Title Image Courtesy: mikealcantara.deviantart.com
