The Joker: 10 Totally Different Characters He's Been

2. Emperor Joker

In The Dark Knight, Batman turning up is just another avenue for The Joker to cause chaos. In the comic books, however, the two characters are inextricably linked, destined to constantly clash with each other until one of them dies. Which very nearly came close to being a reality in the Emperor Joker storyline. Like most of Batman's villains, The Joker doesn't actually have any superpowers. He's just a nutter who is very, very organised, driven, and unhinged. In the Emperor Joker arc he gets the reality-manipulating powers of Superman enemy Mister Mxyzptlk, and all hell breaks loose. He remakes the universe in his own image which, amongst other things, involves leading a group of Jokerised supervillains and torturing and killing Batman daily, before resurrecting him. It only gets ironed out when he realises he can't destroy reality totally, because then Batman wouldn't exist.