BY RICHARD SUPLEE GEEK SPACE CORRESPONDENT The Joker is the most known super villain of all time. You know who he is. Green hair, white face, and a cackling laugh that borders on horrifying. You’ve seen him played by Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and even voiced by Mark Hamill for decades. You also probably had a friend obsessed with The Joker. That guy in college or high school who said that The Joker had a point in The Dark Knight (2008). He argued that the rules of government or school or society holds life back and The Joker was uprooting the system. This is probably the same guy who made conversations super awkward with dead baby jokes.
The Joker is viewed as this symbol of anarchy and not following the rules every beginning edge lord loves. But that view of The Joker makes no sense. The Joker is not a hero of any story. And this isn’t just me looking through comic books and saying “he’s a villain in issue 435”. He beat the 2nd Robin to death with a crowbar. He shot Commissioner Gordon’s niece in the spine, stripped her naked and took photos of her. The Joker is not someone to agree with. He is just pure chaotic evil. He has no greater philosophy to life. He is just The Joker.
Ultimately what makes The Joker interesting is his conflict with Batman. The calculated embodiment of pure human stubbornness that is Batman needs to be challenged by the clown prince of crime. That is why The Dark Knight is the masterpiece it is and why Heath Ledger deserved the Oscar he won. It wasn’t because of how amazing The Joker was. It was how amazing the conflict between Batman and Joker is. A man of principals and rule vs.a man without either. Order vs. Chaos. Without Batman to go up against, The Joker is just a serial killer in clownface.