10 Awesome Movie Villains That Had Totally Lame Deaths

Before Heath Ledger set the bar so high for every single movie villain that would ever exist, a certain other madman had been shaping movie villains for decades and that was before he put on the make-up. Jack Nicholson was about the best and really the only choice to play the Joker in 1989. Robin Williams had been considered but you've only got to watch The Shining or One Flew Over Then Cuckoos Nest to see how Nicholson would nail this role.

Dropped into a vat of chemicals and permanently scarred by a stray bullet to the face, Jack Napier would transform into the Crown Prince of Crime. Insane and immaculately dressed, the Joker planned to poison the city's population with nerve gas ("But like my plastic surgeon always said - if you've gotta go, go with a smile!")

Thankfully, Batman corners the maniac at the top of Gotham's 1000 foot high cathedral for the film's final showdown.

The Joker plans to make his escape via helicopter when Batman snags his ankle at the last minute and snares the line to a gargoyle, preventing his take off. When the craft pulls up, the Joker is suspended with the weight of a stone statue pulling him down. Unable to take the weight, he plummets to his death in one of the worst, cartoony special effects in cinema at the time. Even the decision to kill off the character seems incredibly short sighted.

The Joker is left surprisingly intact too, wouldn't the fall pulverise his head at least? Lame.