10 Most Unhinged Comic Book Characters

By their nature comic books are a little crazy. Between reality shattering events and bizarre origin stories, the world of comics is rife with tales that require us as readers to suspend the notion of disbelief pretty high. This is all well and good for us, but for those stuck within these kooky situations things may be a little harder to swallow.

That's why over the years comics have seen some absolutely insane characters. This isn't figurative like how insanely powerful Superman is, it's literal; like how insanely insane The Joker is.

Of course mental quirks can produce some truly endearing characters, like the fourth wall breaking Deadpool or the ultimately charming Harley Quinn, but then there's the times when publishers like Marvel or DC produce some scenarios where villains (and heroes for that matter) go a little too far off the deep end.

Whether it's with a lot of medication, a straight up straight jacket or something as archaic as a lobotomy, sometimes we see comic book characters that really should be housed within a padded cell. One with a big, padded lock. Maybe situated inside a padded, active volcano - just to be safe.

You know what's a good joke? Man's depressed, sees a doctor, doctor tells him to see the visiting clown, Pagliacchi. The man bursts into tears, tells the doctor that he is Pagliacchi. What a hoot. You know what's not a good joke? Shooting a pregnant woman.

That's right, 'The Watchmen's Comedian was always somewhat of a loose cannon, and the more we read about him throughout Moore’s classic graphic novel the more we saw how destructive a loose cannon could be. Some circumstances seemed like they could have been justified, or rather condoned, such as when he was burning people alive during wartime, but many others don’t get such a luxury as a presidential pardon.

One of these would include his attempts to enact and then justify raping a colleague, or gunning down protesters. Extra cracks in his psyche also came about towards the end of his life, when he broke into his old arch-enemy’s house and proceeded to break down into tears.

Whether it was due to the shock of learning Ozymandias’ plan or simply the culmination of guilt over the years, The Comedian was often crying more than laughing at the end.