Why is everyone in love with the Joker?

[batman1]

No other villian gets everyone going quite like this. He's treated as if he is Batman or Superman or something.

 

[Bathead]

Because he is the perfect foil for Batman. He's the Yin to Batman's Yang, his complete opposite in every way. And, occasionally he actually can be quite funny, and yet creepy and scary at the same time.

 

[Boy Scout]

We love him because he's an incredibly versatile and unique villain who acts as the perfect foil to the second best superhero to ever exist.

 

[batman1]

Because he is the perfect foil for Batman. He's the Yin to Batman's Yang, his complete opposite in every way. And, occasionally he actually can be quite funny, and yet creepy and scary at the same time.

Yeah! He also is the one who keeps Batman on his toes more than anybody.

 

[FrozenBanana00]

He's an awesome character. He's different from just being a villain. Each time he goes up against Batman he plans something bigger and badder and more insane than the last time. You never no what to expect with him.

 

[batman1]

Never truly being defeated!!

 

[shauner111]

 

[Majik1387]

Because Jared Leto is all kinds of sexy.

 

[jonathancrane]

He is a personification of the id and has several great occult connections, many of which Morrison extracted during his run.

 

[godisawesome]

Because the character's flexible nature meant that it was very hard to write a bad story for him: he was a great, dead-series pulp villain in the 40's, a silly and comedic mastermind in the 50s, a cunning and colorful adversary in the 60s and 70s, a sometimes funny, sometimes disconcerting portrait of madness in the 80s, personal foe in the 90s, and monster in the 00s.

I mean, look at the staying power he had compared to other villains. He's as old as Catwoman, and there wasn't really any time where he ever faded into the background, like Two Face in the Silver Age or Scarecrow before his gas attack or Riddler in the late 90s. Because he could be anything from funny to scary, he never went out of vogue.

And I think that lead to him getting the trio of 80s stories that cemented his comic status as the arch villain over even Ra's: he was the iconic rogue at the end of DKR's first half, part of Alan Moore's revolutionary GN Killing Joke (which I found boring and a little aggravating but is kind of astounding in just how modern it is), and Death in the Family. With a resume like that, he made perfect sense as the villain to help launch the film series, and that continued to bolster his fan power.

Ra's Al Ghul was arguably a bigger, more important and more exciting foe for a while after he premiered. Riddler was the most popular villain from the TV series. Bane dominated the 1990s. But Joker has a classic story in pretty much each decade since his appearance, and even with resurrections and reboots, has a grisly and personal tally against Batman and his family.

And his media appearances are pretty much unparalleled. Cesar Romero's the only cinematic actor for the character without an Oscar, and Cesar Romero was still a reeeaaallly good actor. Mark Hamill, meanwhile, has become a major league villain voice actor, and Joker's easily his most famous voice work. The character's been a major villain in literature, movies, video games, cartoons and live action TV (heck, the Hamill-voiced cameo in Birds of Prey is sometimes the only reason people have even seen that show.)

He's the most exposed and successfully performed supervillain in comic history.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Because the character's flexible nature meant that it was very hard to write a bad story for him: he was a great, dead-series pulp villain in the 40's, a silly and comedic mastermind in the 50s, a cunning and colorful adversary in the 60s and 70s, a sometimes funny, sometimes disconcerting portrait of madness in the 80s, personal foe in the 90s, and monster in the 00s.

I mean, look at the staying power he had compared to other villains. He's as old as Catwoman, and there wasn't really any time where he ever faded into the background, like Two Face in the Silver Age or Scarecrow before his gas attack or Riddler in the late 90s. Because he could be anything from funny to scary, he never went out of vogue.

And I think that lead to him getting the trio of 80s stories that cemented his comic status as the arch villain over even Ra's: he was the iconic rogue at the end of DKR's first half, part of Alan Moore's revolutionary GN Killing Joke (which I found boring and a little aggravating but is kind of astounding in just how modern it is), and Death in the Family. With a resume like that, he made perfect sense as the villain to help launch the film series, and that continued to bolster his fan power.

Ra's Al Ghul was arguably a bigger, more important and more exciting foe for a while after he premiered. Riddler was the most popular villain from the TV series. Bane dominated the 1990s. But Joker has a classic story in pretty much each decade since his appearance, and even with resurrections and reboots, has a grisly and personal tally against Batman and his family.

And his media appearances are pretty much unparalleled. Cesar Romero's the only cinematic actor for the character without an Oscar, and Cesar Romero was still a reeeaaallly good actor. Mark Hamill, meanwhile, has become a major league villain voice actor, and Joker's easily his most famous voice work. The character's been a major villain in literature, movies, video games, cartoons and live action TV (heck, the Hamill-voiced cameo in Birds of Prey is sometimes the only reason people have even seen that show.)

He's the most exposed and successfully performed supervillain in comic history.

Nice to hear from his personal biographer....

 

[batman1]

Never truly being defeated!!

You got a point!

 

[Brother Jack]

Joker is a great character but he's generally overused. There is a wealth of great villains to utilize in Batman stories that have not been given their proper due in various ways. Overexposing Joker hurts the character in my opinion. He ceases to be much of an unpredictable force of nature when he's showing up all the time. Better to withhold and bring him into a story only when its needed. Makes his presence have more of an impact.

 

[Slushy]

Because he's entertaining.

 

[the5timechamp]

Its the writers love for the joker...
their love for the character gets them to do their best story for him..

I only hope that some writer has enough love for other characters to give them their due... A joker quality Scarecrow film would be amazing, almost a bat film of a different genre.

Im shocked someone had enough respect for Bane to make him formidable in Dark Knight Rises and Arkham Origins.

 

[batman1]

Because the character's flexible nature meant that it was very hard to write a bad story for him: he was a great, dead-series pulp villain in the 40's, a silly and comedic mastermind in the 50s, a cunning and colorful adversary in the 60s and 70s, a sometimes funny, sometimes disconcerting portrait of madness in the 80s, personal foe in the 90s, and monster in the 00s.

I mean, look at the staying power he had compared to other villains. He's as old as Catwoman, and there wasn't really any time where he ever faded into the background, like Two Face in the Silver Age or Scarecrow before his gas attack or Riddler in the late 90s. Because he could be anything from funny to scary, he never went out of vogue.

And I think that lead to him getting the trio of 80s stories that cemented his comic status as the arch villain over even Ra's: he was the iconic rogue at the end of DKR's first half, part of Alan Moore's revolutionary GN Killing Joke (which I found boring and a little aggravating but is kind of astounding in just how modern it is), and Death in the Family. With a resume like that, he made perfect sense as the villain to help launch the film series, and that continued to bolster his fan power.

Ra's Al Ghul was arguably a bigger, more important and more exciting foe for a while after he premiered. Riddler was the most popular villain from the TV series. Bane dominated the 1990s. But Joker has a classic story in pretty much each decade since his appearance, and even with resurrections and reboots, has a grisly and personal tally against Batman and his family.

And his media appearances are pretty much unparalleled. Cesar Romero's the only cinematic actor for the character without an Oscar, and Cesar Romero was still a reeeaaallly good actor. Mark Hamill, meanwhile, has become a major league villain voice actor, and Joker's easily his most famous voice work. The character's been a major villain in literature, movies, video games, cartoons and live action TV (heck, the Hamill-voiced cameo in Birds of Prey is sometimes the only reason people have even seen that show.)

He's the most exposed and successfully performed supervillain in comic history.

You got a point. When someone is cast as the Joker they get the best of the best. And they step up to the plate. Being hired as the Joker is like being hired to manage the Yankees! It's historically important!!

 

[Wildcard]

He's everything a villain should be: he's charismatic, he's mysterious, he's purely sadistic & as stated above, he's entertaining. No other villain as pushed their respective hero to their absolute limits in the way the Joker has with Batman. Their dynamic is fascinating & when the writing (be it comics, television or movies) is truly magnificent it makes their encounters almost mythical. Their showdowns are every bit of grandeur because as vile as the Joker is, you can't help but wonder what he's going to do next. At the same time, you also want to see how Batman is going to be able to come out on top. One of the best superheroes of all time going up against the best (arguably) villain of all time.

What more can you ask for?

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

He takes a taboo insecurity and weakness most people don't want to be associated with, like insanity, and makes it powerful, ingenius, stylish, iconic, and timeless.

And most people secretly wish they could do the same.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

He comes with a massive, ginormous cinematic package. His filmic legacy is hung like a horse that's being pulled by a gravity that is ten times the magnitude of earth. Joker's movie cred is erect like a North Korean missile. His cellulite output is thick and abundant like the honey comb of a recently abandoned Bee hive.

 

[PЯOVOSҬ]

OP -

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

"Love That Joker".

 

[hellblazer103]

well, here's one of my reasons :


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[Lantern Venom]

Ironically, what has helped Joker become so iconic was his lack of early development. He didn't have a set origin that needed rewriting or definite goals that couldn't be adapted later on. He reveled in the nature of being a killer, opposing Batman, and baiting the police. Initially, his lure was style, but it wasn't long before the substance caught up with the visual appeal.

 

[Decepticonus]

Joker is a great character but he's generally overused. There is a wealth of great villains to utilize in Batman stories that have not been given their proper due in various ways. Overexposing Joker hurts the character in my opinion. He ceases to be much of an unpredictable force of nature when he's showing up all the time. Better to withhold and bring him into a story only when its needed. Makes his presence have more of an impact.

Totally agreed. I feel Snyder has done the right thing, using him only for these cross-over stories, though personally I wouldn't mind him for a good one shot story (with the exception of New 52 Detective Comics #1).
Joker should be treated much like an old horror villain/monster. The less you see of him, the more threatening he is. Much like Freddy in the original Nightmare on Elm Street film. He was maybe in it for a total of 15 minutes of screen-time tops. Plus, a lot of the times he was in the dark and not completely on-screen. Later on in movies he's in like every major set piece and completely up in the camera, no longer scary (though it didn't help the films also got sillier.) There's a strange aspect to this that the less you see of them, the more you want to see them. But you treasure those small moments and appearances of the villain.

And yes, Batman has plenty of other rogues they could use. I still feel Two-Face doesn't have a truly great must read story. Feel free to disagree though I do like Two-Face however, don't get me wrong. Ever since TDK I have grown quite tired and bored of Joker. I mean is he really that unpredictable? Most of the things he does, you may not see coming but once it's done are you really surprised given the character? Personally, I'm more in love with good ol' Ra's.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Two Face's truly great must read story is Long Halloween/Dark Victory