8 Comic Book Villains Whose Own Desires Are Their Downfall

1. The Joker

The Joker
DC Comics/Philip Tan

Without doubt, The Joker is one the greatest – if not the greatest – villains in the history of comics.

The unique insanity of the Clown Prince of Crime has led to some of the most shocking moments ever committed to a comic book panel, and this is a rogue that has tormented Batman from a whole host of different angles.

When thinking about it, though, The Joker can never really win in his twisted plan to off the Dark Knight. Sure, he’s spent decades seemingly trying to kill Batman, and his whole purpose of being is to cause chaos for the Caped Crusader. If the Jester of Genocide did kill off Batman, then what?

This has all actually already been explored back in Legends of the Dark Knight’s Going Sane arc. In that tale, we saw a Joker cease to be, well, The Joker.

Believing that Batman was dead, Mr. J regains his sanity and settles down for a life of normality under the name of Joseph Kerr. It’s only when Batman resurfaces three issues later that we see The Joker become a crazed villain once again, proving that The Joker can never truly defeat Batman if he himself is to continue being the sinister sort we all know and love.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.