10 Times Joker Was Actually The Real Hero

1. Bullied Youngster Becomes Beloved Hero – Countdown

the joker
DC Comics

Over in Earth-3, the Countdown series delivered a Joker who was an out-and-out hero. Not a reformed villain. Not a split personality anti-hero. A proper, proper hero.

This alternative look at The Joker saw the character suffer from extreme bullying during his early years. Tormented by his classmates, the youngster would learn to channel his pain by cracking wise later in life as a comedian called Jackie.

During one particular comedy routine, Jackie poked fun at the villainous Owlman – Earth-3’s totally evil take on Batman – which in turn led to Owlman slicing a permanent grin on to the face of the stand-up. From that day forward, Jackie took on the moniker of The Jokester and vowed to fight the good fight against Owlman and all other evildoers.

Countdown marks one of the rare times where there is not even a single hint of villainy within its spin on The Joker. For once, the character was nothing more than a genuine hero who had overcome the odds.

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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 dayjob, 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, Jamie Hayer, 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.