20 best movie villains of all time

The Joker (The Dark Knight)

The Joker is a character that has been around for decades in the DC universe, and he has been portrayed by several different actors by now. However, it’s still the haunting performance by the late Heath Ledger that will remain the marker for the perfectly imperfect Joker portrayal.

In 2008’s The Dark Knight, Batman’s longtime rival The Joker arrives to terrorize Gotham City. The Joker is not your average villain either. He does terrible things just for the sake of doing them. He is a psychopath with a sadistic sense of humor, and he makes everything into a dark, twisted joke. He doesn’t care who he takes down in his path or the lives he ruins.

The Joker has a trademark look that is immediately recognizable, modeled after a clown, with messy clown face makeup, a sadistic red grin, and scars on his face. Heath Ledger said that he played the character as a “psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy,” and that’s exactly why this villain has had such a huge impact. There’s no reasoning with him. Is it any wonder that Ledger was awarded an Oscar posthumously for his work?

Although Ledger died shortly before the film’s release, and though a story that the Joker may have helped cause his death still persists, it’s important to note that Ledger’s death was ruled an accident. Others have tried to take on this complex mastermind since Ledger, but have failed to capture the same manic perfection (sorry, Jared Leto).