Joker Games

With his shockingly green hair and ghastly white face, the Joker definitely has a face you won't forget. Add to that the maddening leer, the spine-tingling laugh, and the diabolically brilliant mind, and you have the makings of a super-villain that even the caped crusader has trouble dealing with. For the joker is no ordinary super-villain. He is in fact, Batman's arch nemesis, and he often gets the better of even our masked hero.

The most noticeable characteristic of the Joker is, of course, his bizarre appearance, which is the result of falling into a tank of chemical waste. While the accident would have killed most ordinary men, it did little other than to alter his appearance horribly and permanently, with his skin turning a sick shade of white and his hair turning shocking green. The tragedy also served to throw the Joker headlong into a life of fierce battle with the Batman, in which he often employs his sadistically twisted brand of humor.

The Joker’s most powerful weapon is undoubtedly his mind. Often depicted as brilliant and thoroughly knowledgeable in chemistry and engineering, he uses his formidable skills and knowledge in trying to defeat Batman. To this end, he employs a never-ending array of deviously comical weapons and tools including bladed playing cards, acid-squirting flowers, cyanide pies, and exploding cigars that really pack a bang.

It is a good thing–well for the Joker, at least–that he has all these weapons at his disposal since his fighting skills are marginal at best. Although commonly depicted as being agile, he is also just as often shown to be knocked out by a single punch. In the rare instances when he is able to get the better of Batman, the Joker commonly employs distracting tactics and sucker punches.

The synergy between the Joker and Batman is often said to be the perfect illustration of the classic hero-adversary struggle. You can hardly think of one without thinking of the other, and this bond has given rise to numerous TV and movie plots, comic book depictions, and of course, video games. Some of the most popular games in the franchise deal with the two’s classic rivalry and the results can be very entertaining indeed.