Joker is Batman's oldest enemy, and the two have battled for decades. While Batman almost always comes out on top, Joker seems to frustrate him and escape more often than any other villain in the Caped Crusader's rogues gallery. He is truly Batman's greatest villain.

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However, Joker is not always on the side of evil. While he is insane and a sociopath, he also has moments of clarity or just moments where he decides he wants to help Batman rather than kill him at that specific moment. Here is a look at the five most heroic versions of Joker and the five evilest incarnations of the Batman villain.

10 HEROIC - SUPERMAN: DISTANT FIRES

The Joker Superman-Distant Fires

In Superman: Distant Fires, the Man of Steel believes he is the sole survivor of another planet-wide apocalypse, this time thanks to a nuclear war on Earth. However, unlike Krypton, there are other survivors on this planet, including Wonder Woman, Shazam, and Joker.

Clark Kent had to bury Bruce Wayne, and that was the key here. Without Batman on Earth to serve as Joker's nemesis, he had no reason left to remain a villain. Instead, Joker sees how terrible the Holocaust was and goes sane. He then sets out to help find a way to protect society from invading mutants.

9 EVIL - INJUSTICE

Injustice Gods Among Us Joker

There can't be a more evil character in comic books than the one that turns Superman into a cold-blooded murderer. The fact that Joker made Superman the world's deadliest villain puts him at the top of the list of DC's greatest antagonists.

Of course, what Joker did in Injustice: Gods Among Us was unforgivable. He made Superman believe that Lois Lane was Doomsday, and the Man of Steel flew her into space, where she died. She was also pregnant with Superman's kid, making this Joker's greatest crime.

8 HEROIC - DARK NIGHTS: METAL

Batman's greatest enemy for almost his entire career was Joker. However, when Dark Nights: Metal created a new villain to push Batman to the limit, there was nowhere to go but to a Batman/Joker hybrid. That would be The Batman Who Laughs.

This villain is an alternate world Bruce Wayne, one that kills because he knows that this Earth's Bruce Wayne's methods are worthless in stopping crime altogether. He also knows Batman's every move, so he is impossible to beat. So, Batman goes to Joker for help, knowing that his unpredictable nature is the only way to stop this new villain.

7 EVIL - EMPEROR JOKER

Superman Emperor Joker

In Emperor Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime came across Mister Mxyzptlk and stole his reality-altering powers. While Mxyzptlk meant for him to get some of the powers, Joker got almost all of them and then became an all-powerful villain, setting his eyes on not just Batman, but Superman.

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Joker used his powers to fulfill one lifelong dream. He killed Batman every day over and over in a Groundhog Day pattern. He also decides to eat the entire country of China. Yes, Joker ate 1.386 billion people for dinner, making him Earth's worst mass murderer.

6 HEROIC - BATMAN: WHITE KNIGHT

Batman: White Knight back to back with a frowning Joker in DC Comics

Batman: White Knight is an Elseworlds story by Sean Murphy. This is an eight-issue limited series that reverses the roles of Batman and Joker. In these books, Joker still killed Jason Todd, but he then reforms and becomes a man obsessed with bringing down the man he sees as Gotham City's greatest villain, Batman.

However, it was a trick, and he wasn't good at all until he realized that a Neo Joker has arrived and was worse than he ever was. As a result, Joker teams up with Batman to help bring down the Neo Joker in exchange for a nice Arkham cell and a wedding between him and Harleen Quinzel.

5 EVIL - A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Death In The Family Joker Beats Jason Todd

Joker is a cold-blooded murderer, and the fact that he is a sociopath who feels no remorse makes it even worse. However, no death was worse than when Joker murdered the second Robin, Jason Todd. The panels of Joker just beating Todd to death were horrific.

When Batman arrived and Robin was dead, it was one of the worst moments in his life. Joker could have left the teenage Todd incapacitated or broken, but he chose to cross the line and didn't stop until the young man took his last breath.

4 HEROIC - BATMAN R.I.P.

This is Joker, so it makes sense that one of his most heroic moments included brutally murdering several people. In Batman: R.I.P., the Caped Crusader was battling a new group of villains known as the Black Glove. They then made their biggest mistake. They asked Joker to join them.

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Joker decided that he would rather help Batman than work with the Black Glove to destroy him. So, Joker killed members of the group. He was also instrumental in helping lead them right into the trap set by Nightwing, Robin, and the League of Assassins.

3 EVIL - TORMENTED COMMISSIONER GORDON

the-killing-joke-joker-barbara-gordon

There are several moments where Joker did everything he could do to drive Commissioner Gordon to commit an act he could never come back from. It speaks to the goodness in Gordon's heart that he didn't kill Joker when he had the chance.

Joker shot and paralyzed Gordon's daughter Barbara, which also ended the active crimefighting career of Batgirl. He tossed a newborn baby at Gordon's wife Sarah and then shot her dead when she caught it to save it. He also murdered a room full of GCPD officers, leaving Gordon AS the last man standing.

2 HEROIC - I, JOKER

In I, Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime killed Batman in a massive battle, and now there is a new Caped Crusader, and he is an evil man. He is known as The Bruce, and he defeated most of his rogues and surgically reprogrammed them to serve him. Once a year, he allowed people to come to try to get through them and beat him.

In this story, a man named Joe Collins, the leader of the resistance, is brainwashed and becomes the new Joker, sent to try to bring down Batman again. He then finds Bruce Wayne's costume and takes on the role of the new Batman, setting out to stop The Bruce once and for all.

1 EVIL - Batman: Cacophony

joker-blows-up-a-school-in-cacophony

If Joker beating a teenage Robin to death was one of his most evil moments, this one tops even that. In Batman: Cacophony, written by Kevin Smith, Joker was involved in a turf war with Maxie Zeus. Batman needs to stop this war because of the collateral damage they are causing.

The perfect example is Joker at his worst. He wants to make a joke at the same time. The joke was dark as coal, and it was the worst thing Joker ever did in comics. He blew up an entire school of children just because Zeus' nephew was one of those children. Murdering so many kids is something Joker can never find redemption from.

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