Is The Joker The Most Terrifying Villain In The DCU?

[Agent Z]

Its no doubt that Joker is Batman's number one nemesis. Whether its something as nonsensical as producing his own brand of Joker fish or something as horrifying as beating a teenager to death and blowing him up, the Clown Prince of Crime's unpredictable nature gives him an air of menace that few of the Bat's rogues gallery can match. But does this unpredictability make him more terrifying than galactic overlords and cosmic abominations?

It's often stated that when super villains in the DCU want to scare each other they tell stories about the Joker. During Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor made it a point not to invite Joker to his Secret Society because he was to difficult to control (an affront he paid for dearly). Heck when the Martian Manhunter attempted to rewrite the Joker's thought patterns he almost had a stroke in the first two minutes.

I think what helps Old Jack's rep is that he seems to be one of the more realistic villains in fiction. Guys like Darkseid, Black Adam, Sinestro etc are scary and all but how often would you run into a super-powered despot with a silly name. A mass murdering nihilist with no regard for life on the other hand? That is all too real.

So what do you guys think? Is the Joker the most terrifying villain in the DC Universe?

[Godlike13]

Personally clowns scare the crap out of me. Frigging It...

[exile001]

He definitely is since Death of the Family. He was truely terrifying in that... And Snyder says he is going to be even more monsterous when he next appears!

[Captain Haddock]

Darkseid is still far more scary to me, and frankly not a whole lot more implausible. Joker has become a walking mass of random impulses and implausible coincidences, a plot device instead of a character. There are serial killers in real life for sure but Joker does not convince me as at all a particularly 'realistic' version of the trope. He can/will do exactly whatever the plot needs him to do, and that's without a healing ability that puts freaking Wolverine to shame - only off panel.

[Vinsanity]

I would find Luthor scarier. The guy can bankrupt you and ruin people around you.

[Speed Force League Unlimited]

No .

[SiegePerilous02]

The Joker in most modern comics is more a walking cliche that's too hard to take seriously. He reads more like a standard paperback novel serial killer than anything else.

Other portrayals, such as Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, are the stuff of nightmares though. That guy is second to nobody in the nightmare fuel department.

[ABH]

Joker can be pretty terrifying, if you're a Gothamite, but I'd be more afraid of the bigger threats...

Personally clowns scare the crap out of me. Frigging It...

Heh, for me, it was the clown doll in Poltergeist -- I couldn't watch that movie again for years, but eventually, I got over it.

[Alan2099]

I'd say Eclipso is much worse. Joker can kill you, but Eclipso can make you kill your loved ones and enjoy it.

[oasis1313]

Mr. Zzazzaz.

[Vakanai]

I'd go with Lex Luthor. Joker is just a serial killer in the end, which is more overtly and obviously terrifying, but Lex is institutionalized evil. The kind of evil that doesn't just kill people in the dark of night in some crazed murder scheme, but the kind of evil that bankrupts and keeps down hundreds if not thousands, causes people to commit suicide cause they just can't pay their bills and all seems hopeless, brings about street crime far and wide as the disillusioned and downtrodden have nothing left to turn to, causing random muggings and murders to spread around, causes politicians to pass unfair laws making life ever harder for the masses, all this just to profit one already obscenely wealthy man, Lex Luthor.

Luthor is a far greater threat to the DC world, and anyone with a clear mind would see him as the more terrifying presence.
Plus add in all his mad science tricks to the corporate and political evils, and the fact the Legion of Doom is often led by this man, and well you can see why you should be scared. Legion of Doom knows Joker is too mad to listen to, but Lex is the man with the evil plan.

[Goldarmy]

Its no doubt that Joker is Batman's number one nemesis.

It is debatable elevating Joker to such a position does Batman any favor, but yes.

But does this unpredictability make him more terrifying than galactic overlords and cosmic abominations?

From the POV of Joe Sixpack they are equally terrifiying, since he would be equally dead in either case

It's often stated that when super villains in the DCU want to scare each other they tell stories about the Joker.

It is due to the "necessary" Joker-wank.

During Infinite Crisis, Alexander Luthor made it a point not to invite Joker to his Secret Society because he was to difficult to control (an affront he paid for dearly).

Thanks for reminding that crappy ending. Again "necessary" Joker-wank to put him into his "rightful place" in the DC Universe.

Heck when the Martian Manhunter attempted to rewrite the Joker's thought patterns he almost had a stroke in the first two minutes.

Which is to keep status quo of Joker's villainy, and again for "necessary" Joker-wank.

I think what helps Old Jack's rep is that he seems to be one of the more realistic villains in fiction.

There is nothing realistic about Joker, somehow U.S.A doesn't fry him in the chair after all those murders, or the very corrupt police of Gotham somehow doesn't kill him in self-defence, or somehow no-one slips anti-freeze to his drinks when in custody.

Guys like Darkseid, Black Adam, Sinestro etc are scary and all but how often would you run into a super-powered despot with a silly name. A mass murdering nihilist with no regard for life on the other hand? That is all too real.

You actually don't run into mass murdering nihilists very often either.

So what do you guys think? Is the Joker the most terrifying villain in the DC Universe?

Heck no. In the DC Universe he is small fry.

[Hamdinger]

Honestly by now since the old bat continuity still sorta stands the Joker with his body count and bombings and etc, he would be declared a terrorist and shot on sight by every law enforcement organization in the county.

[Pharozonk]

Maybe in Gotham he is, but outside of it he would be a joke compared to many other villains.

[Pinsir]

Hes the most boring