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With all these great aspects to his character, writers are loath to let him go. They prefer to keep up the fun and pit him against greater and greater odds. Some creators, however, have had the courage to kill him off. Whether they use it as a shocking setup or final emotional punch, the Joker’s death is a momentous storytelling occasion which always draws attention.
10 Batman (1989 Film)
Before Zack Snyder’s bombastic Batfleck, Tim Burton’s films were notorious for giving the Dark Knight a high body count. He routinely tosses guys off buildings and blows them to bits. The Clown Prince of Crime isn’t safe from this treatment, especially given he killed the hero’s parents in this story.
During the film’s climax, Batman chases the Joker to the top of a towering church. The villain tries to make a helicopter getaway, but his winged rival latches his leg to a gargoyle statue. Unable to take the weight, the Joker falls several stories to his death. His body should be nothing more than a bloody pulp, but that would rob viewers of his creepy final smile.
9 Batman: The Killing Joke
The overarching theme of Alan Moore’s work is how easy it is to slip into madness, and dwelling in such madness only increases the chance of succumbing. Batman believes this is what awaits him and the Joker: one will eventually kill the other. By the end, he’s right.
After their battle, the hero extends a helping hand and implores his enemy to break the cycle. With a heavy heart, his rival refuses, stressing that it’s too late for him. The Joker then tries to brighten the mood with a joke. He starts chuckling, and so does Batman. They both laugh hysterically as the camera pans down. The Joker’s laughter soon cuts out. Suffice to say, the Caped Crusader ends their feud in decisive fashion.
8 Batman: A Death In The Family
Considering its popularity among the DC animated adaptations, Under the Red Hood would naturally receive a follow-up. The method, however, is unconventional. It’s in a “Choose Your Own Adventure” format: viewers make decisions to alter moments from both the above story and its predecessor, A Death in the Family. The Joker is the antagonist in both tales, so many outcomes result in his grisly death.
The executioner is Jason Todd, Batman’s failed sidekick who was infamously killed and resurrected as the villainous Red Hood. He’s obviously not happy when his mentor bites the bullet, so most choices see him strive for vengeance. One outcome has him kill the Joker in a diner; another sees him kill his enemy during a climactic bridge showdown. Much like the original comic, fans determine the narrative’s trajectory. They can deal whatever death they see fit.
7 Batman: Arkham City
The Joker is slowly dying throughout Arkham City. Messing with experimental steroids will do that. He blackmails Batman into finding a cure, and the Caped Crusader predictably succeeds. Sadly, the desperate jester sabotages himself at the eleventh hour.
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The Joker stabs Batman, causing him to drop the antidote vial. As the Clown Prince of Crime prepares for death, the Dark Knight reveals that he would have saved his enemy despite the death and misery he inflicted. This gives the Joker one last laugh before succumbing. At least he’s happy in his final moments.
6 Titans
This angst-ridden show is desperate for a finale hook in its first season. Dick Grayson, the original Robin, gets word that Batman snapped and killed the Joker. He goes back to Gotham to confirm this, and sees the body himself. It’s just a mangled corpse out of view, but fans know the green hair anywhere. Unfortunately, the series undermines that resonance by the end.
The episode eventually reveals that this scenario is all a vision created by Trigon. It’s further diminished when Bruce Wayne, of very sound mind, shows up in the subsequent season. Despite the backpedaling, though, the image remains. Audiences still experience a reality where Robin has to put Batman down for stopping the man they both hate.
5 Batman: Arkham Knight
The Joker may be physically dead, but he still left his mark on the Dark Knight. Specifically, he injected the hero with his infected blood. The cure helped, but the blood ultimately gestated too long. Coupled with Scarecrow’s fear gas, this causes Batman to see his old nemesis everywhere he goes. It’s a stretch, but it leads to plenty of dark comedy.
No longer bound by physical constraints, the Joker revels in gallows humor. He constantly puts himself in harm’s way, dies horribly, and walks it off. Whether trapped in Penguin’s vault with an exploding weapons cache or riddled with bullets by the Arkham Knight’s troops, the Joker won’t stay down. The real punchline, however, comes when he coerces Batman into snapping his neck during a vision. This finale easily has the most death (real or imaginary) of any mainline Arkham entry.
4 Injustice: Gods Among Us
Elseworld tales are nothing new to DC fans, nor is an evil Superman. That said, Injustice still shocked gamers everywhere with its brutality. During the setup, the Joker drugs the Man of Steel, tricking him into murdering Lois Lane and her unborn child. To make things worse, the villain gives her a heart monitor and connects it to a nuke. She goes, and takes the entire city of Metropolis with her. Superman confronts his sadistic foe, but the Joker only laughs at his plight and promises to top it in the future. That’s the last straw, and the hero throws a punch right through the maniac.
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All of this unfolds before the title even pops up. Of course, the Joker from the mainline DC universe inadvertently joins the Justice League in their cross-dimensional adventure. Thus, he’s still a prominent player and justifies his presence in the fighter roster.
3 Injustice (2021 Film)
The animated adaptation changes many aspects of the Injustice story, including this pivotal point, but the main idea remains the same. The Joker still dupes Superman into killing his pregnant wife; he still levels Metropolis in the process. However, the hero’s retaliation and its effect on the narrative are noticeably different.
Rather than waste his words, the vengeful Kryptonian simply bursts in and delivers the “punchline.” What’s more, the film doesn’t cut away like the game did: viewers see the villain’s demise in graphic detail. The lack of alternate universe antics means no other versions of the Joker crash the party later on, adding some permanence to this scene.
2 Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
This story depicts an older Batman, courtesy of Frank Miller. That means a version more merciless than most. He proves that several times over, but none are more powerful than this long-awaited reunion.
When the Joker awakens from his coma and goes on a killing spree, Batman chases him into a Tunnel of Love. He seems intent on finishing the villain for good. Tired, wound, and at the end of his rope, the Dark Knight can’t bring himself to do it. Luckily, the Joker helps him along with some painful stabs to the gut, causing Batman to break the baddie’s neck. The Joker gloats about giving his rival that final push, and finishes the job by snapping his own neck. So ends one of the weirdest love stories in all comics, and that’s saying a lot.
1 Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker
Another tale of an elderly Dark Knight, this film offers two Joker deaths for the price of one. It’s fitting, since the story belongs to two generations of Batman. The Joker brainwashes Tim Drake (the second Robin), morphing Batman’s plucky ward into a hideous Joker, Jr. The villain implores him to shoot his former mentor, but the kid kills the clown instead.
So, how does the villain return decades later to plague the new Batman, Terry McGinnis? Part of the brainwashing involved encoding the Joker’s DNA on a microchip and setting it into Drake’s brain. Now, the former Robin frequently blacks out and transforms into the twisted clown. Thankfully, Terry manages to short out the chip and rid the Bat family of the Joker once and for all.
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