10 Villains Who Outsmarted Batman

The Killing Joke is a tale as old as time - and perhaps one of the most infamous cases of the Joker getting to outsmart the Batman in comic history.

While neither Batman or Jim Gordon break psychologically as the Joker intended them to, the Clown Prince of Crime gets another, more interesting sort of victory: he gets the Dark Knight to understand his mindset.

At the end of the comic, when the pair have their final confrontation, the jester manages to tell a joke that even the historically stoic Bat finds funny, leading to the iconic page of the two arch-enemies laughing hysterically together.

Analysis of this scene usually revolves around questioning whether Batman kills the Joker at the end of this comic, as is a popularly believed fan theory. But it's perhaps more important to look at what comes before, as it maybe means more that the jester manages to finally accomplish one of his life goals by convincing the Dark Knight that their constant struggle against one another is pretty funny, from a certain perspective.