10 Joker Fates Worse Than Death

4. Joker Can't Live Without Batman

Wonder Woman Joker
DC Comics

In the Emperor Joker story arc, Mr. Mxyzptlk wondered what kind of mischief a being like the Joker would get up to with .1% of his power. However, the Clown tricked the imp into giving him 99.99% of his power and it took Joker only 69 seconds to reshape reality into his own twisted image.

Joker proceeded to kill the Justice League and tortured and killed Lex Luthor only to resurrect him and kill him again multiple times. Joker killed the entire nation of China by eating its inhabitants as a Chinese take-out meal. The worst fate, he saved for Batman. He tortured and killed Bruce in new and inventive ways only to resurrect him and do it over and over again.

Superman made Joker realize that he will never be all-powerful because he cannot eliminate Batman forever. Realizing this fact, the Clown gave up the power and the now omnipotent again Spectre and Mxy put the world back the way it was before, with one exception. The multiple deaths had broken even the indomitable will of the Batman. Superman elected to take those horrible memories because the world needed its Dark Knight. The Joker was left drooling in Arkham whispering “Emperor Joker” backward with the Spectre in his eye.

Contributor
Contributor

John Wilson has been a comic book and pop culture fan his entire life. He has written for a number of websites on the subject over the years and is especially pleased to be at WhatCulture. John has written two comic books for Last Ember Press Studio and has recently self-published a children's book called "Blue." When not spending far too much time on the internet, John spends time with his lovely wife, Kim, their goofy dog, Tesla, and two very spoiled cats.