Ranking All The Jokers: From Worst To Best
Better luck next time, Jared.
There are few pop-culture villains as memorable and beloved as The Joker, a wonderfully off-kilter enigma of a character who has been pervasively played by numerous talents throughout the realms of film, TV and video games.
With more than 20 distinct interpretations of the character, though, they can't all be winners, and it's safe to say that some of the more obscure screen Jokers are absolutely obscure for a reason.
Then again, there are also those little hidden gems you may well have missed, and are well worth checking out. Before diving into our definitive Joker rankings, though, it's time for an honourable mention from a sorta-Joker who definitely deserves a namedrop.
Honourable Mention: Cameron Monaghan - Gotham (2015)
Cameron Monaghan's performance as Jerome Valeska gets an honourable mention here because, while he is in fact an original creation, he borrows a lot of the iconography and mannerisms from previous interpretations of The Joker, and FOX attempted to trick viewers into believing that he was in fact a young Joker. In actuality, he ended up dying three episodes into the second season, though he has of course been revived once more and it looks like he probably is Mr J after all.
Still, he hasn't quite got there yet.
Monaghan made the most of his brief tenure on Gotham with a sublimely creepy performance that clearly owed a debt to the likes of Mark Hamill and Jack Nicholson, but also stood well on its own as a uniquely youthful kinda-interpretation of the Clown Prince of Crime.
And now the official Joker rankings begins...
24. Frank Welker - The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985)
Frank Welker gives a one-off voice performance as The Joker in this animated superhero ensemble show, and considering his howlingly awful performance, it's not surprising he was never invited back.
His vocal inflections are legitimately offensive to the ears and his squealing is beyond cringe-worthy.
His laugh is just about serviceable, but his high-pitched, nasal vocal cadence can honestly be bettered by literally hundreds if not thousands of Joker impersonators on YouTube.
If you haven't heard his rendition, count yourself lucky, because it makes the episode an active chore to sit through. On one hand, it's hilariously bad, and on the other, it'll make hardcore fans want to cry.