Any fan of DC’s Dark Knight knows that while his rogues gallery is quite expansive, when it comes to the very baddest on that list, the Joker will always be at the top. Joker is the homicidal peanut butter to Batman’s justice jelly.
Perhaps, more than any other villain in Batman’s history, the Joker has set out to destroy the Bat by any means necessary. With the exception of killing Batman -- though even this rule has its exception -- Joker will go to any lengths to show Batman just how far the Dark Knight can fall. Friends, enemies, colleagues of the Bat, no one is safe from Joker. No one.
10 Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker
If there was anyone out there that thought maybe the villainous rivalry between Joker and Batman would have ended once the duo reached their twilight years, well, as the Joker might say -- Joke’s on Bat-fans everywhere.
Though Joker’s career in crime may have been ending well before Terry Mcginnis took up the mantle of the Batman, Joker, the wily little villain that he is, managed to figure out a way to implant his consciousness into one of Batman’s closest allies only to terrorize Bruce, Gotham, and the brand new Bats once again.
9 Killing Jason Todd
There are very few instances in the relationship between Batman and Joker that can even compare to the events of “Death In The Family.” Hell, even in “Death Of The Family” Joker doesn’t actually kill or maim the kidnapped Bat-Family, it’s all just a ruse to throw Batman off his game. But during the events of “Death In The Family,” Joker actually, for the first time, takes the life of one of Batman’s closest allies, the then-Robin, Jason Todd.
As if beating the young hero nearly to death with a crowbar wasn’t enough, he then left the bloodied and battered hero in a building set to explode. Batman has had some incredibly tough days, but this day likely ranks at the very top. Some would argue that this day was even worse for Batman than that fateful night in Crime Alley.
8 Trying To Break Commissioner Gordon
Yes, as Joker points out multiple times throughout the course of “The Killing Joke,” he is trying to break Jim Gordon and show that anyone, no matter how good and how just, can be completely broken after just one bad day. But beyond that, Joker’s real goal is to irrevocably break Batman by destroying one of his closest and longtime allies.
It’s so much more than just breaking Gordon, it’s that he could do it and there was nothing that Batman could do to stop it. With all his skills, all his experience, all of his crime-fighting prowess, the Dark Knight would fail to save a friend that had long been one of his greatest crusaders in the public eye. At least, that’s what Joker had hoped would happen.
7 Creating The Batman Who Laughs
Perhaps one of the Joker’s greatest gags was that of turning Batman into everything he hated by turning Batman himself into the Joker. After a series of exceptional vile attacks by the Joker, Batman found him and did what Batman tends to do when Joker steps a little too far out of line, beat him within an inch of his life.
However, it was that final inch, which Joker would take himself by breaking his own neck, that would ultimately undo the Bat. After killing the Joker, unbeknownst to Batman, the Joker’s body released a concentrated aerosol form of the Joker toxin, one that would inflict Batman and turn him into The Batman Who Laughs.
6 Paralyzing Barbara Gordon
As if trying to destroy the life of Commissioner Gordon wasn’t enough, one of the first stops on Joker’s little tour of pain during the events of “The Killing Joke” was to Barbara Gordon’s house.
While getting a house call from Joker is never a good thing, this particular home visit ends with a naked and terrified Barbara lying on the floor with a bullet through her spine leaving her paralyzed. Even worse is the fact that this visit wasn’t even about her, it was a calculated attack to inflict the most damage to Commissioner Gordon and, in turn, Batman himself.
5 Emperor Joker
The Joker has a long-standing tradition of never actually intending to kill Batman himself. Sure, he’ll kill people around Batman. Sure, the people of Gotham may as well have ‘expendable’ written across their foreheads. But Batman can’t die. That’s not the joke. The joke is watching Batman suffer after the fact.
The joke is watching Batman break and slowly inch closer to breaking his greatest rule. Well, that is unless Joker can get his hands on Mister Mxyzptlk’s powers and simply resurrect Batman every time he kills him. That joke’s much more funny, no?
4 Killing Himself In The Dark Knight Returns
The Joker doesn’t just pop up in the future that becomes Batman Beyond, but he also makes quite the destructive appearance in Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Though he had gone catatonic after Batman disappeared from Gotham, when Joker sees his old pal becoming active again, he can’t help but join in on the fun.
After unleashing the kind of havoc that Gotham had seldom seen in recent years, Joker eventually leads Batman into a fight before taking his one life. The problem is that Joker made it look like Batman had taken his life. A falsehood that Gotham is all too willing to accept.
3 Killing Robin & Batgirl In Front Of Batman - JLA: The Nail
If anyone ever wondered if the Joker could get worse than he already is, well, the answer is yes. Normal, average, psychopathic murderous Joker is bad enough, but if that Joker just so happens to get his hands on some super-powered Kryptonian gauntlets, well… Batman’s going to have a bad day.
This is exactly what happens in “JLA: The Nail.” Not only does Joker free the inmates of Arkham, he then goes on to literally tear Batgirl and Robin apart in front of Batman. Prompting the Dark Knight to throw his inhibitions to the wind and get his murder on.
2 Death Of The Family
Typically in any type of story, when two characters -- regardless of their standing or any relationship between them -- break bread together it is a sign of communion between these two characters. Well, at least that's how it typically goes when the Joker isn’t involved.
In “Death Of The Family,” however, Joker brings Batman to an exclusive dinner party, one where he leads Batman to believe that he has skinned the faces off of everyone in the Bat-Family. Not only does this put a damper on Batman’s appetite, but it doesn’t exactly exude ‘good day’ vibes from it.
1 Tricking Superman Into Killing Lois Lane - Injustice
A recurring theme for Joker is that rather than attack Batman directly, he’ll aim for the people that he knows Batman cares about. A great example of this is when Joker infects Superman’s mind with a kryptonite-laced hallucinogen and gets the Man of Steel to kill Lois Lane and their unborn child.
Sure, Superman just had a horrible day, but because of Joker’s actions, Batman is about to have a horrible, horrible decade, because this day, while it may have been Joker’s last, was just the beginning for Batman.