5 Reasons The Joker Isn't The Greatest Comic Book Villain

2. There Are More Intelligent Villains

As previously touched upon, the Joker is indeed renowned for his mind - scheming, planning, manipulation and psychological warfare - but he's not even close to being the most intelligent villain in comic books. He can build the most basic of gadgets, is an expert in the field of chemicals and can play very clever mind-games that expose Batman's weaknesses like a gaping wound - but his genius pales in to insignificance against the very best villainous minds in comics. The aforementioned Doctor Doom is an expert in all fields of advanced science and technology, as well as the mystic arts, while the High Evolutionary has evolved his intelligence to the upper limit of human potential, and is the only human whose intelligence and knowledge has been described as equal to certain cosmic entities. Darkseid and Thanos are experts in technology beyond the Joker's comprehension. Even Lex Luthor, who is merely a human just like Joker, deals with a far more powerful foe in Superman and creates far more powerful gadgets (such as his Power Armour) and has political and business genius in addition to his technological genius. Essentially, Joker's a clever guy - he's just nowhere near as clever as countless other villains and his repertoire of expertise is nowhere near as vast.