The Joker is a character who has been around for a long time in the comics, making his
initial debut in Batman volume 1, issue 1 in 1940.
His character has undergone many transformations in the year, always being reinvented as more
shocking, more chaotic, less predictable.
Joker has basically aged with the world in a sense.
As it takes more and more to shock the masses, his character has been challenged and stretched
in the same way.
As such we have had many moments of odd almost redemption from him that as time progresses
seem even more and more out of character and moments that are so grotesque and vile that
even fans are left questioning his motives and what to think.
I personally am a huge supervillain fan.
I think supervillains help us to reckon with the darker side of ourselves in a safe way
but even sometimes the Joker leaves me cringing.
Today we'll be taking a look at some of these shocking moments in Joker's history as we
count down the top 10 Joker moments fans won't believe exist.
Okay, let's get counting.
10 Skins Monty
We obviously know the Joker is capable of next level atrocities but one of the most
unbelievable ones he still has yet to commit is when he returned from Arkham Asylum and
paid his old friend Monty a visit in the 2008 comic Joker.
Which saw the Joker reinvented in more of the Christopher Nolan 2008 Dark Knight vein,
more akin to Heath Ledger's portrayal of the character.
He visits Monty at a strip club and some people believe he did what he did because of Harley
Quinn's presence there as a dancer but honestly who knows if that is the real reason for setting
the Joker off.
Joker takes Monty into the back room and skins him alive, potentially with Harley's help
before making him come onto the stage and dance in front of the horrified audience.
He slaps a single dollar bill onto Monty's now very bare buttocks as he falls to the
floor, dead.
9 Was a Skilled Art Teacher
In the original Batman tv show from the 1960s, Joker became an acclaimed artist by accident
in the episode Pop Goes the Joker.
When he runs into an art gallery declaring that all the art is awful and spray painting
over top of it, he ends up somehow getting praised instead of punished as an artist declares
the art is truly improved by Joker's artistic genius.
This was obviously poking fun at the celebrated modern art of the time which was often more
abstract.
Still miraculously, Joker ends up going on to start an art school where he only trains
the wealthy elite in terms of producing quality art.
The crazy part is this seems like a completely random stumbled upon a plan.
Not only that but this moment in Joker's history had him ransoming the wealthy members of his
acting school for priceless art as opposed to just straight money.
Joker's fascination with art has always amused me.
8 Killed with a Baby
Joker is always trying to get to the good guys, make them crack, make them chaotic and
ruthless and evil like him.
He has tried to do this to both Commissioner Jim Gordon and Batman for years.
In the Christoper Nolan's Dark Knight saga we actually see him successfully get to Harvey
Dent as he is painted as the villain who helped to create Two Face.
But Batman and Commissioner Gordon are hard to get to.
In the Killing Joke, which is not considered canon, we see him try to drive both heroes
to madness unsuccessfully.
He cripples Gordon's daughter, Barbara and tortures him at a carnival, showing him images
of Barbara's naked and broken body while he goes on rides, after making Gordon strip naked.
However Joker did succeed in breaking Gordon in a different storyline.
Gordon had recently remarried detective Sarah Essen and was very much in love with her.
In an attempt to cause him Gordon to spiral into a world of pain and madness, Joker targeted
Sarah.
She however managed to get the upper hand on Joker and pulled a gun on him.
But then he did the unthinkable and defeated her with a baby, tossing the baby at her knowing
she would catch it.
She did catch the baby in both her arms, causing her to drop her gun and resulting in her then
subsequently being shot and killed by the Joker.
This actually caused Gordon to forswear the way of justice momentarily, almost chosing
to kill Joker point blank but instead shooting him in the knee cap instead and having him
charged with murder.
7 Don't Do Drugs, Kids
A surprising moment of Joker's happened in Batman: Cacophany.
A man by the name of Maxie Zeus was a former partner of Joker's who betrayed him by forgetting
to pull of a Joker inspired crime on April Fool's Day while Joker was in prison, so that
Batman would come visit the Joker to inquire as to what was going on and Joker could say
April Fool's.
In revenge for that and in revenge for using his Joker Venom to create a new drug which
Zeus built an empire on, Joker doesn't strike at Moxie.
Instead he blows up a school full of children.
Whether he was targeting someone close to Moxie or simply trying to keep the kids from
doing drugs, we'll never truly know but regardless this was an unexpected retaliation as Joker
declared the beginning of a drug war.
6 Wouldn't Take No for An Answer
The Joker and Harley have always been in a very abusive relationship but in 2011 that
was taken to a whole other level.
Once again Mr J was reborn.
After having his face peeled off, he reclaimed it and wore it over top of his skinned, disfigured
face.
Yet another way for writers to try and make him even more terrifying.
He then returned for Harley but when she expressed reluctance at being with him, he tortured
her.
He threatened to peel off her face, choked her, gave her hyenas rabies and sicked them
on her and locked her up in a dungeon when she threatened to break up with them.
The pair have never been perfect but one would think from the way they treated one another
that Joker would be fine taking a break, after all the two usually end up getting back together.
This reaction and the potential revelation that Joker may have had many other Harley's
was a shocking one indeed.
5 He Was Sane
There are a few instances where the Joker has gone a bit of a redemption journey.
One of my favourite is actually the White Knight series where Joker is actually painted
as the hero and Batman is painted as the villain but there was also a time in the Legends of
the Dark Knight series where he regained his sanity after a dip in the Lazarus Pits, which
appear to have healed not just his body but his mind.
Joker even expresses remorse for all the vile acts he's committed, commenting that sanity
is such a burden.
Isn't it just, Joker?
Isn't it just?
4 Became a Detective
When Dick Grayson momentarily took up the mantle of Batman while Batman was recovering
from an injury given him by Darkseid, he finds him overwhelmed with criminal problems that
need solving justice.
One such problem involves a cartel.
Fortunately he gets an offer of help with the case from a British true crime specialist
and author, Oberon Sexton.
Oberon Sexton surprisingly turns out to be the Joker in disguise who did kill the original
Sexton to take his place but regardless does end up helping Grayson with the task of dealing
with the cartel.
3 Justice League
Joker joined the Justice League.
Sort of.
In the events of the 2001 series Justice Leagues, superheroes come together to create their
own mini versions of the League after the world forgets that the Justice League ever
existed.
Batman's own mini league was the Justice of League of Arkham which oddly enough saw Batman
working alongside quite a few villains.
The League consisted of Nightwing, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, the Ventriloquist,
and you guessed it, the Joker.
The team comes together to put a stop to Advance Man's villainous plot though the team quickly
fell apart while on this mission.
2 Defeats the Red Skull
In the crossover comic, Batman and Captain America we see the two heroes team up during
World War 2.
Also allying themselves are their main villains, Joker and Red Skull.
Although originally Joker works to help the Red Skull, the truth of the matter is he doesn't
truly know who is working for.
When the Red Skull appears and congratulates him on his success and offers to take him
to Hitler so that he can be properly acknowledged and rewarded, the Joker has a change of heart.
While it is common to see the Joker turn on other villains, in this instance he almost
becomes a hero.
Apparently even the Joker has some kind of a moral compass and he draws the line at working
with Nazis.
He condemns Red Skull and gets knocked out by one of Red Skull's goons.
But when he comes to Joker ends up fighting to save Washington from being bombed and defeats
Red Skull in the process.
A surprisingly heroic feat for the Clown Prince of Crime.
1 Joker Corrupts Batman
Well vampire Batman at least.
Batman and Joker have of course always been caught in a constant struggle.
Batman especially.
Joker wants to prove to Batman that they are the same while Batman fights to hold onto
his sanity and prove that they are different by not killing the Joker.
However this sometimes also prevents him from fully protecting the city of Gotham from Joker's
insanity.
In Batman: Bloodstorm, Batman is a vampire, becoming one after being transformed by Dracula.
After Joker kills Selina who is a were-cat in this alternate earth, earth-43, this causes
Batman to lose his last shred of humanity.
Up until this point he had been resisting his vampiric urges and only using the blood
of rats to satisfy his bloodlust.
Think Louis from Interview with the Vampire.
Batman chases after Joker, following him into a church.
The Joker thinks he be torturing him by causing him to do so given that there are tons of
crosses everywhere but Batman still has a pure heart and as such is unaffected by Holy
Water or crosses.
He loses his mind and purity though when during his scuffle with the Joker he gives into temptation
and drinks his blood.
He then stabs the Joker through the heart with a stake so that he cannot come back as
a vampire while the Joker gets his last laugh out.
He dies smiling, feeling as though he has finally one by destroying Batman's sanity
and purity.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you found some of these moments on this list, astounding.
I know there are some that still surprise.
What are some Joker moments that you found unbelievable?
What are some of your favourite or least favourite things that Joker has done?
Are you excited for the newest upcoming Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix?
How do you feel about Joker origins stories?
Let us know in the comments below.
And before commenting, remember to share, like, subscribe and ring our bell for all
the nerdy notifications.
This is top 10 nerd and my name is Amanda McKnight, reminding you as always to stay
nerdy, YouTube.