No One is Safe From the Clown Prince of Crime
It’s hard to “rank” the Joker’s actions: he’s tormented Gotham since he first came on the scene, has taken countless lives throughout his (let's call it) career, and quickly made himself Batman’s greatest foe—and our biggest nightmare. While it's hard to stick all of his nastiest deeds in a list, we racked our brains and managed to round up a few terrifying acts that crown him as pure evil.
1. Jason Todd and the Crowbar
We can’t help but shed a tear at A Death in the Family’s cover. Jason suffered far more than a crowbar at the hands of the Joker, but his fate left a lasting mark on Batman and his fans (even though fans were responsible for this).
2. Taking Sarah Essen’s Life
As if kidnapping babies wasn’t bad enough, the Joker just had to rope in poor Sarah Essen. After a heroic effort to save the infants, the Joker takes Essen’s life and leaves her among the children. To make matters worse, it’s a scene left for Jim Gordon to find.
3. Mistreating Harley Quinn
We could talk forever about how the Joker mistreats Harley Quinn. From pushing her into a vat of chemicals to locking her in a room of doppelgangers, the Joker worked Harley’s mind and body for years—and proved his depravity.
4. Kidnapping Barbara Gordon
The Gordons can’t catch a break, an especially accurate understatement for Barbara. In this timeline, the Joker wanted to prove that anyone could break in just one day, and to illustrate this point he paralyzed Barbara right in front of her father.
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5. His Henchman, Monty
You don’t just walk away from the Joker. Well, you can, but not without some cosmetic changes. Told from the perspective of Jonny Frost, the Joker tracks down an old associate before letting him stagger from a backroom…talk about a skin-crawling sight.
6. Emperor Joker
The last thing the Joker needs is godlike power, but he sure got it after stealing Mxyztplk’s abilities. He turned himself into an AM-like creature who not only repeatedly tormented Batman but also feasted on all of China.
7. Possessing Tim Drake
It wasn’t enough to kidnap Tim Drake. It wasn’t enough to turn him into J.J. either. No, no, the Joker also implanted a microchip into Drake’s neck. For years, he used the Boy Wonder as a conduit for his consciousness before finally being stopped.
8. Targeting Superman
We’d like to think Superman’s untouchable but throw in the Joker and a little kryptonite? Clark never stood a chance. After being poisoned by the clown, Superman sets his sights on a pregnant Lois Lane, believing her to be Doomsday before he mistakenly ends her life.
9. Alfred Pennyworth’s Hand
We expect the heroes to fight bad guys, not their poor friends. But this is the Joker we’re talking about and he’ll spare no one—and no hand. The good news is that Alfred eventually regained use of it.
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10. The Batman Who Laughs
The only thing worse than the Joker is knowing he sunk his claws into our favorite hero. In truly one of the darkest timelines, the Joker turned Batman into a supervillain wreaking havoc on Earth. He then aimed to reshape the universe before Wonder Woman punted him into the sun.
11. Joker Venom
The Joker’s sicced this creation on many unsuspecting victims, and it’s easily one of the worst things he’s ever done. It’s a gas, it’s a liquid, it’s a horrifying compound that’s taken lives and twisted countless mouths into permanent smiles.
12. Tormenting Jim Gordon
Remember how we said the Gordons can’t catch a break? Well, here we go again. Amusement Mile was anything but as the Joker paraded Jim through his demented theme park. He pulled every trick in the book to try and break Gordon’s spirit, but thankfully never did.
13. Jonny Frost’s Wife
If someone like the Joker feels cheated, he’ll apparently do whatever it takes to even the score. When Jonny Frost didn’t disclose a meeting he had with Harvey Dent, the Joker kidnapped his ex-wife Shelly. We won’t go into detail, but a lot of fans felt the plot was out of character, even for the Joker.
14. Infecting Batman With His Blood
People often associate Batman with the Joker, but the video game series took it to a whole new level. In a last-ditch effort to cure his infected blood, the Joker kidnaps Batman and performs a transfusion, forcing our hero to save them both.
15. Framing Batman
We know, we know. Framing someone hardly seems like a crime at all by this point. However, getting Batman’s allies to turn on him is still evil—especially when our precious hero was totally innocent.
16. The Joker’s Cotton Candy
(The name alone should tell you where we’re going with this.) A day at the carnival is supposed to be fun, and it was for a handful of Cub Scouts. That is, right up until they found the Joker’s concession stand and consumed tainted cotton candy.
17. Tim Drake’s Joy Ride
Joy riding is hardly a way to spend the holidays, but Tim Drake didn’t have a say in the matter. Bound with fairy lights, Robin was forced to play passenger on the worst car ride ever. Drake eventually got away, but it sure put a damper on Christmas.
18. Using the Energy Gauntlets
The Joker doesn’t need any help, in any form, but he certainly didn’t need energy gauntlets. Sure enough, he not only freed Arkham Asylum with them, but he also forced Batman to watch as he snuffed out both Robin and Batgirl.
19. Destroying Metropolis
The Joker’s not above taking out an entire city, which is exactly what he did in Injustice: Gods Among Us. After tricking Superman, the Joker then detonated a nuclear weapon and laid waste to Metropolis.
20. Turning Gotham Into Zombies
Is there anything worse for a hero than feeling they failed someone? What about an entire city of someones? Sadly, that’s exactly what Batman was up against. After the Joker released a toxin on the Justice League, he then set his sights on all of Gotham, forcing Batman to scramble for a solution.
