7 DC Characters Who Defeated The Joker (Who Weren’t Batman)

There are few villains in comic book history as vile and sadistic as the Joker. In his never-ending crusade to spread chaos and misery, the Clown Prince of Crime has gleefully slaughtered thousands of people. Usually, this psychopathic murderer’s plans are thwarted by Batman, which has led to the two developing one of the most intense feuds in DC Comics. Still, even though the Joker has an unhealthy obsession with the Dark Knight, he’s gone after plenty of other heroes as well. While sometimes the Joker emerges victorious, for the most part, he finds himself outclassed by these superheroes. These are the times that the Joker was utterly humiliated and bested by DC heroes other than Batman.

With his insane yet genius mind, the Joker is one of DC’s most dangerous villains. There have been many times when he’s managed to defeat powerful superheroes, including the entire Justice League. Still, there are times when the Joker picks a fight he can’t win and gets utterly humiliated by heroes other than Batman.

7) Rorschach

During the events of Doomsday Clock, the Watchmen universe had a crossover with the DC Universe. The new Rorschach, Reggie Long, was one of several characters from the Watchmen universe to have a run-in with the Joker. When Reggie learned that Ozymandias, with whom he had formed an alliance to save their world, had been deceiving and using him, he started beating up the man he thought he could trust. The Joker, who was watching and laughing the whole time, made the ill-timed decision to touch Reggie’s shoulder to offer constructive criticism on the vigilante’s savage attack on Ozymandias. Reggie, though, wasn’t too keen about being touched and turned his bloodlust onto the Joker. Reggie then proceeded to beat the Joker to a bloody pulp.

6) Wonder Woman

The Joker and Wonder Woman have fought several times over the years, with the Princess of Themyscira often winning. One of their most well-known fights was in the storyline “Joker’s Holiday.” The Joker wears a suicide vest and paralyzes the heroine with venom. Wonder Woman decides to fight fire with fire by mentally learning the ways of madness from the Greek God Pan. Through Pan’s teachings, Wonder Woman turns as crazed as the Joker himself and becomes immune to the venom. She then defeats the Joker by purposefully setting off the bomb strapped to his chest. While the Joker survived the explosion, it was still one of the few times he fought someone as crazy as him.

5) Robin

After the Joker killed the second Robin, Jason Todd, Tim Drake became the new Boy Wonder and sought to avenge the fallen hero. Impressively, Tim managed to defeat the maniacal clown single-handedly during one of his very first outings as a vigilante. When Batman was out of town, Tim took it upon himself to apprehend a recently escaped Joker. After luring the Joker into a trap, Tim fought the villain and knocked him into a sewage treatment vat. This victory helped to solidify Tim’s new role as the latest Robin and gave the Joker one of his most embarrassing defeats.

4) Batgirl

Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, was one of the Joker’s most well-known victims. The Joker famously shot and paralyzed Barbara, causing her to need a wheelchair and give up the Batgirl identity. Barbara would eventually recover from her injury, thanks to an implant in her spine, but the Joker uses that to his advantage during “The Joker War.” Attacking Barbara in her home, the Joker uses a device that gave him control of her legs. Through sheer willpower, Barbara uses a piece of shrapnel to dig the implant out of her spine. Free of the Joker’s control but paralyzed once again, Barbara threw a pipe at the villain. The pipe impaled the Joker’s spine, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

3) Martian Manhunter

With his numerous abilities, Martian Manhunter is one of the strongest members of the Justice League. During the events of Rock of Ages, the Martian hero uniquely bested the Joker. When the Joker obtained the Philosopher Stone, the villain used its reality-warping power to cause untold devastation. However, before the Joker could cause any destruction, Martian Manhunter used his telepathy to make the psychotic clown temporarily sane. Suddenly overcome with empathy and guilt, the Joker immediately undid all the damage he had caused and gave the Philosopher Stone to the Justice League. Unfortunately, Martian Manhunter could only keep the Joker sane for so long, and the villain’s mind reverted to its twisted self. Still, the Joker was defeated and taken into custody.

2) Red Hood

One of the Joker’s most infamous crimes was murdering the second Robin, Jason Todd. When Jason came back from the dead as the ruthless anti-hero Red Hood, he swore to kill the man who took everything from him. In the story “Under the Red Hood,” Jason kidnapped the Joker, savagely beating him with a crowbar, just as like the villain had done to him before killing him. Although Jason didn’t get the chance to kill him then, he finally achieved his goal in the later storyline, Three Jokers, which featured three Jokers wreaking havoc. During the storyline, one of the Joker’s mocked Jason, claiming to be the one who had killed him. In response, Jason finally put a bullet in the head of the madman.

1) Superman

Despite what’s depicted in the Injustice universe, Superman doesn’t need lethal force to stop the Joker. When the two first met in “The Sound of One Hand Clapping,” Superman’s overwhelming power and refusal to play the Joker’s sick games made the villain so scared that he surrendered without a fight. Another instance occurred during the Emperor Joker storyline, when the Joker stole Mr. Mxyzptlk’s omnipotent power and reshaped the world in his image. However, Superman cleverly exploited the villain’s obsession with Batman. He pointed out that –even with his god-like abilities– the Joker could never bring himself to kill the Dark Knight for good. The joker snapped, lost control, and inadvertently gave up his powers. No wonder the Joker stays out of Metropolis!

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