The Joker is unquestionably one of the greatest villains in the history of comic books.
Unfortunately, though, the character's track record outside the comics hasn't exactly been
spotless.
With over a dozen major appearances in TV, movies, and video games, the varied interpretations
of the Clown Prince of Crime have cast a pretty wide net from amazing to terrible.
Here's our ultimate guide to every version of the Joker, ranked from worst to best.
Scooby Doo Joker
Despite coming in dead last on our list, the version of the Joker that appeared on The
New Scooby-Doo Movies isn't unforgivably terrible—he's just flat out boring, which might be an even
bigger problem.
Plus, he's a complete failure, as he can't manage to even scare Scooby-Doo, a character
defined by being terrified of everything.
"Now, Pengy-Wengy, watch me lure them into the room of doom."
The only thing that's really worth mentioning about him is that he was voiced by veteran
comedian and actor Larry Storch, and let's be real here: that's only really interesting
if you're the kind of person who likes to get into some hardcore trivia about the cast
of F-Troop.
"You've got to be putting me on!"
The New Adventures Of Batman Joker
If you ever want to develop a whole new appreciation for Batman: The Animated Series, take some
time to head back to 1977 for The New Batman Adventures, which features some of the worst
character redesigns ever.
Amazingly, the Joker, who was voiced by Lennie Weinrib, managed to escape that particular
flaw in the show, but "he looks a lot like he does in the comics" is about the only good
thing you can say about him.
His major accomplishment during the show's entire 16-episode run was losing an election
for President of Criminals when the Penguin invented a mind-altering substance called
"crime slime."
If you can't win an election against the Penguin, what are you even doing?
"I, the notorious Joker, will stage the biggest ripoff in the history of Gotham City.
Hahaha."
Son of Batman Joker
In all honesty, we only included Dee Bradley Baker's turn as the Joker on this list in
order to be as thorough as we can.
That's not to knock the guy, but as the Joker's appearance in Son of Batman is limited to
appearing as a shadow on a wall and letting out one laugh.
But… it was a nice laugh at least?
"Hahaha."
Super Friends Joker
The Super Friends saga ran for eight years under various titles, but the Joker only ever
appeared once, when the show was commonly known as the Super Powers Team, in 1985's "The Wild Cards," where he was voiced by Frank Welker.
Unfortunately, his appearance was both minor and bizarre, with the Joker turning up as
part of the playing card themed super villain team the Royal Flush Gang.
He's not the team's Joker, though, he's actually disguised as the Ace.
If your story calls for a chalk-white villain named after a playing card to dress up as
a different chalk-white villain named after a playing card, maybe things are getting a
little needlessly complicated.
"the superpowers own headquarters will soon be our new base on earth.
Don't you love the irony?
Haha."
Young Justice Joker
You know those memes where they intentionally mix a bunch of geeky franchises in order to
induce nerd rage?
Well, the Young Justice version of the Joker feels a lot like that.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this.
Important announcement.
He's the Joker, but he looks like David Tennant as the Doctor and is voiced by Brent Spiner
from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
It's not exactly terrible, but it's overshadowed by just about every other version of Joker
ever.
LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes Unite Joker
If you enjoyed the big-screen LEGO Batman movie, then we have good news and bad news.
The good news is that there's already a second LEGO Batman movie you can watch—and in fact,
it's been available on home video since 2013!
But here's the bad news: It's actually just a collection of cutscenes from the LEGO Batman
2: DC Super-Heroes video game, thrown in with a few new scenes to recreate the events that
happen when you actually play the game, all edited into a 71-minute "movie."
It's actually not that bad, and Christopher Corey Smith gives a solid voice performance,
even if it is just a standard riff on Mark Hamill's Joker.
"I'd have to be crazy to say no to that offer."
The Dark Knight Returns Joker
To say the role of the Joker in an animated version of Frank Miller's classic The Dark
Knight Returns presented a challenge is putting things pretty mildly.
The character's arc went from catatonic to insanely murderous, requiring a ton of range.
Person of Interest star Michael Emerson gave it a shot, but played it just a little too
flat during the first parts of the Joker's journey.
At the end, he ramps up to a satisfying fever pitch, but this one is a little too uneven
to rank any higher.
"Doesn't matter.
I win.
I made you lose control.
Haha.
And they'll kill you for it."
LEGO Batman Video Games Joker
Steve Blum became the first actor to voice both Batman and The Joker in the first LEGO
Batman game, but that accomplishment comes with an asterisk, because he had almost no
dialogue.
That changed in the second and third games, where the game designers decided to expand
the dialogue in order to tell a more complex and rewarding story.
Blum was replaced by Troy Baker for the role of Batman, but stayed on as the Joker, turning
in a fine performance heavily influenced by Mark Hamill.
"I've got whole world, in my PANTS!
I've got the whole wide world, in my PANTS!"
"Joker.
Shut up"
DC Super Friends Short Joker
When you're hiring someone to play the Joker, it stands to reason that two of the most important
qualifications are going to be a morbid sense of humor and an insanely creepy laugh.
If that's the case, you could do a hell of a lot worse than just going out and getting
the guy who played the Cryptkeeper on Tales From the Crypt.
"Beware of skeletons.
Unless they're your truly.
Hahaha."
That's exactly what happened in 2010, when John Kassir lent his voice to a series of
shorts packaged with Fisher-Price's line of Super Friends toys.
Kassir does a good job of mixing up his performance, though it's still instantly recognizable to
anyone who was a fan of the 80's HBO anthology.
Which probably did not include any of the kids in the target audience.
We hope.
"Finally!
You made it!
Now the fun can really begin!"
DC Super Friends Joker
The Joker we're given in DC Super Friends is pretty great if only because of how much
he clearly hates working with the other supervillains.
Voice actor Lloyd Floyd's audible eye rolling adds some fun nuance to a performance that's
otherwise pretty much by the book.
But hey: he does get bonus points for not copying Mark Hamill like so many others have
done.
"You created him Lexy?"
"Arrrh."
"Oh, haha.
I thought you had no sense of humor, you old card, you."
"It was a lab accident."
Suicide Squad Joker
First, you have get past a design that starts with a tattoo of the word "damaged" on his
forehead and just spirals out from there until he looks like he should be performing alongside
Dark Lotus at this year's Gathering of the Juggalos.
Then, you have to get past all the stories of Jared Leto going Method and sending his
co-stars live rats, dead pigs, and used condoms.
What you're left with is… well, not much of anything, really.
For all the hype surrounding Leto's appearance as the Joker in Suicide Squad, it pretty much
amounted to about ten minutes of screentime that were mostly there for Harley Quinn's
origin story - and some ill-advised fanservice.
Arkham: Origins Joker
When Arkham City was announced as Mark Hamill's final outing as the Joker, there was a pretty
big problem.
As Batman's arch-nemesis, the Clown Prince of Crime was definitely going to be in the
next game, which told the story of an encounter much earlier in Batman's career.
Thus, the role of the Joker fell to Troy Baker, and the problem here is obvious: he pretty
much just did a dead-on impression of Hamill's Joker for the entire game.
To be fair, he actually does a really good job of it, but a copy is just never going
to beat the original.
"oh, Bats.
Hahahaha.
What a night!"
Gotham's Jerome Valeska
The people behind Gotham clearly know that they can't really have the Joker show up years
before Bruce Wayne becomes Batman on account of his origin story being so tightly intertwined,
so they just went ahead and created a guy who isn't technically the Joker, but is definitely
a maniacal supervillain with a permanent rictus grin who dresses as a circus clown and wants
to sow chaos wherever he can.
Cameron Monaghan's performance as Jerome Valeska is ridiculously compelling, and has made for
some pretty wild television.
"I'm the boss.
Hahaha."
Arkham Series Joker
First things first: the Arkham franchise has produced some of the best video games in recent
memory, and without question the best Batman games ever.
Unfortunately, even though they got the legendary Mark Hamill to do the voice for three out
of four, they also ended up giving us a Joker who has what might be the single stupidest
master plan in the character's 75-year history.
Seriously, after perfectly executing his scheme, he unveils his ultimate masterstroke, which
is… turning himself into a giant drug monster and getting in a fistfight with the greatest
hand to hand fighter in the world.
Really, dude?
Dumb things like this are why you never beat Batman!
"I can take it.
I can take anything you throw at me Bats.
You can't beat me.
I'm actually going to win!"
The Batman Joker
The redesign of the Joker for The Batman is remembered as one of the most divisive missteps
in the history of DC animation.
Laboring under the shadow of the legendary Batman: The Animated Series, and stuck with
the task of incorporating the "Batwave" gimmick of the accompanying toy line, designer Jeff
Matsuda decided to go as far in the opposite direction as possible from Bruce Timm's sleek
design from Batman: The Animated Series.
The result wasn't very well received, to put it mildly, but Kevin Michael Richardson's
take on the Joker actually had some really good stories, such as "The Laughing Bat,"
where Joker becomes a vigilante and uses Joke Venom to turn Batman into a bad guy so he
has a supervillain to fight.
That's pretty awesome.
"Graffiti.
That's a pretty serious offense, girls.
But that's why I became a crimefighter.
To take out garbage like you."
LEGO: Gotham City Breakout Joker
Sometimes the Joker is a sinister, psychopathic murderer.
And then other times, he's a goofy and delightfully manipulative weirdo who brings down an entire
city armed only with a spoon.
Joker stories that are actually funny are pretty rare these days, so having a version
of The Joker as whimsical as Jason Spisak's take on the character is a rare treat.
And the fact that this short also introduced his new sidekick Spoony is a hilarious bonus.
"Can you make dogs invisible?
"Spoony, that's not even a real super power."
"Ah.. perhaps a demonstration for Spoony?"
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Joker
Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar returned to the roles of Batman, Robin, and Catwoman
in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.
That was great, but the rest of the cast was given the unenviable task of playing specific
versions of characters identified with actors who had died years before.
For Jeff Bergman, that meant playing Cesar Romero playing the Joker.
It was a high wire act, as Bergman had to be respectful of both Romero and Romero's
take on the Joker, but Bergman nailed it in a performance that feels like a true tribute.
"You dare defy us?
You must be insane.
And here's the proof.
Haha."
Batman: The Brave and the Bold Joker
Another show that had to follow in the footsteps of Batman: The Animated Series was Batman:
The Brave and the Bold, which decided to embrace the character's lighter Silver Age phase from
the comics of 50's and 60's.
This Joker, which was voiced by Jeff Bennett, looked a lot like the work of legendary Batman
artist Dick Sprang, and really shined in stories like the alternate world tale of Earth-3,
where a heroic version of The Joker became the last superhero on Earth under the name
The Red Hood.
"Whoever he is, I hope my counterpart on your world will have a chance to repay you.
"Somehow, that seems unlikely."
Batman '89 Joker
Jack Nicholson's performance as the Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman movie is pretty
fantastic on almost every level.
He's certainly the best part of the movie, with Nicholson's already-creepy grin accentuated
by caked on makeup and some truly amazing fashion choices.
And the scene where he trashes an art museum might be the most baller thing a supervillain
has ever done.
"Gentlemen!
Let's broaden our minds.
Lawrence!"
The only problem with this version of Joker is his alter-ego, Jack Napier.
In the comics, a big part of Joker's origin is the idea that some fundamental change in
his personality occurred when he fell in that vat of acid.
Here, though, he's pretty much already The Joker he even carries a deck of cards with him,
and he's obviously a criminal. And that undermines his arc.
Otherwise, though, it's totally awesome.
Batman: Under the Red Hood
Even if you don't recognize his name, you're almost certainly familiar with John DiMaggio
from his roles as Bender on Futurama, Jake the Dog on Adventure Time, and Aquaman on
Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
In 2010, he landed the role of the Joker in Under the Red Hood, and he didn't disappoint,
delivering a Joker who delivers every line as though it is an actual joke, giving you
the sense of someone who genuinely thinks that beating someone to death with a crowbar
is hilarious.
It's memorable in the creepiest of ways.
"So…let's try and clear this up, okay pumpkin?"
Batman '66 Joker
Pretty much everything about Cesar Romero's portrayal of the Joker on the 1966 Batman
TV show is great, from the way he attacks every scene with manic, scenery-chewing glee
to the way he twists his painted-on grin into a disappointed scowl when he's inevitably
defeated.
All the way down to the fact that Romero refused to shave his mustache for the part, instead
caking on the clown makeup and leaving it completely visible in every episode.
There's a panache and even a little menace to the role that makes him one of the show's
most memorable characters.
"Hahaha.
How delicious it is?"
Unfortunately, the show's writers were bigger fans of The Penguin and Catwoman, and Romero
often got stuck in boring and forgettable stories which didn't allow him to really shine.
A true shame.
LEGO Batman Movie Joker
Of all the Joker's appearances across movies and TV, who would've expected that the one
that really went into whether his motivation stemmed from a twisted sort of love would
be the one based on building block toys for tiny children?
And yet here we are, in a world where that's not just acknowledged in the LEGO Batman Movie,
but serves as the driving force for the entire plot.
Zack Galifianakis nails the voicework too, making this modern Joker one of the best ever.
"You're obsessed with me!"
"Phhhhhhh.
No I'm not.
"Yes you are."
"No I"m not."
"YES YOU ARE.
Who else drives you to one-up them like I do?"
"Bane."
"No he doesn't!"
The Dark Knight Joker
Between the massive initial hype and the outpouring of grief following the untimely death of actor
Heath Ledger, it can be a little difficult to judge his performance as The Joker on its
own merits.
But when you put aside all the baggage and really look at it, the truth becomes clear:
it really is that good.
"the good cop bad cop routine?"
"Not exactly."
The Joker of The Dark Knight is both terrifying and genuinely funny, but more than that, he's
got an air of mystery that's almost impossible for a character so well-known to cultivate,
with virtually every line he delivers turning out to be a carefully conceived, manipulative
lie.
Here's one truth you can bank on though: Ledger's Joker is one of the most influential and iconic
movie villains of all time.
But he's still not the best Joker of all time…
Batman: The Animated Series Joker
When you get right down to it, Batman: The Animated Series did everything right.
The slick, stylish take on the Caped Crusader boiled everything down to essentials, and
no character benefitted as much as the Joker.
The Joker was frightening and funny, with a sweeping theatricality that came directly
from Mark Hamill's amazing turn providing his voice.
"hahaha."
And the desire to give Hamill's Joker even more to do directly led to the creation of
Harley Quinn, who has gone on to become one of DC's most popular characters.
Add it all up and the Animated Series Joker remains the definitive take on the character.
And that's… no joke.
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