10 Worst Things The Joker Has Ever Done On-Screen
Mr J's a real piece of work.
Beware the man who laughs...
Batman's greatest rogues often serve as warped reflections of the man himself. They symbolise key parts of the Caped Crusader's fears and personality traits. The Joker is well aware of this, going to extreme lengths in his bid to prove he and Batman are inherently similar. One could almost call him a troll, given his crimes are oft-perpetrated to incite a reaction from his nemesis above all else.
The Joker's obsession with Batman might keep him oddly safe from murder most of the time but he's the exception. The lives of others clearly mean nothing to Gotham's court jester. Guilty of every crime they have a law for, the killer clown haunts the crime-ridden city like no other.
While many of the Joker's most depraved acts have occurred on page, he's saved a few for his countless adventures on the big and small screens. A curious running theme throughout the Joker's big screen dalliances is his impact on the city at large. Whenever the madman shows up, it seems the whole town goes to hell before all is said and done.
One of the greatest menaces in the history of fiction, there's no shortage of unspeakable acts where Mr J's concerned.
10. Slaughtering Randall - Joker
Arthur kicks Joker (2019) off by suffering a needlessly cruel beatdown, seemingly defenceless against the attack. Feeling bad for the struggling clown, Randall hands him a mode of self defence for a city growing more violent than ever: a gun. He doesn't seem to expect much from Arthur in return, making us wonder if this questionable decision was genuinely committed out of kindness over anything sinister.
The gun winds up getting Arthur fired, and from there we have three possibilities:
First, Randall lied about Arthur to the boss in order to save himself from termination.
Second, Arthur hallucinated that his boss told him Randall badmouthed him (we know via his 'dates' with Sophie that Arthur is prone to hallucination).
Third, Arthur's hallucinations mean he actually did seek out Randall for a gun, but remembered it differently.
Due to being such an unreliable protagonist, we're never too sure of any event in Arthur's life. What we do know, however, is that Randall suffers a brutal, grisly death for his trouble. Stabbed to ruins in Arthur's living room, he then has his head bashed against a wall till he expires.
It's a bloodthirsty scene made worse by Joker scaring the wits out of the hapless witness Gary. We wonder if he'll send him to the grim reaper too but cooler heads prevail. After spending much of the film on the receiving end of punishment, Joker's feral outburst confirmed he had become the dastardly jester we love to hate.