In defense of the Joker.
A Kurruption Rant.
The Joker, although he seems like a goofy character and sorta comedic relief, has become the measuring stick when it comes to great villians. With a dark hero like Batman, who uses fear and the dark in order to defeat his enemies. Why would something as cheerful and bright colored as a clown, insue more fear than Batman ever could.
First of, this is no ordinary clown. If their ever was a mascot for deranged psychotics, the joker would be the poster boy. Oh sure he's just a crazy clown, big deal. Oh no my friend, theres more.
One of the Jokers claim to fame is the murder of Robin II, Jason Todd. Although many hated that version of Robin, Everyone was shocked when the Joker was done with him. You see, the Joker actually beat Robin with a crowbar to the point where his white gloves had turned red, stained with blood *god I love detail*. Then left the sidekick and his mom, with a bomb ticking. Batman arrived just as the bomb exploded. Thus the Joker did the unthinkable, killing Robin, Oh, but it gets worse.
In an Alan Moore written story, the Joker went out of his way to prove, that given the right situation, anyone can go insane. He arrived at Commisionar Gordons house, shot his daughter, who at the time was Batgirl, and beat and kidnapped Gordon. He took Gordon to an abandoned amusement park. Once there, Gordon was stripped of his clothes, tied up and tortured. Once the torture was done, the Joker let Gordon take an amusement ride. During the ride, Gordon was shown pictures of his daughter on the floor, shot, stripped of her clothes, and raped. Although the Joker was later caught, the damage was done, Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, had been paralyzed from the waist down.
Now, these are just a few examples, off course their are more. Now next time, hopefully people will think differently when they say the Joker is "just a clown". Now I leave with a Joker qoute from the Alex Ross painted series "Justice" "I was only here because it was funny, and it just stopped being funny."
PS: Kefka Rules too.