7 Most Powerful Versions of the Joker, Ranked

The Clown Prince of Crime and Batman’s archenemy, the Joker, is the most iconic supervillain of all time. With his genius intellect, lethal gag-based weapons, elaborate schemes, and unrivalled sadism, the Joker is a terrifying force of chaos. Yet despite the significant danger he poses and the hundreds of deaths he has caused, the Joker, like Batman, is just human and doesn’t have any powers. However, there have been numerous instances, both in the main DC Comics continuity and across the multiverse, where the Joker acquires incredible powers that he gleefully uses to cause even more pain and destruction.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Through the ages and across various alternate universes, the Joker has developed devastating abilities that have allowed him to plunge the world into anarchy.

7) Absolute Joker

In a universe dominated by evil, the Absolute Universe presents one of the scariest and most cunning versions of the Joker ever created. While most of his history is purposefully hidden, what is known about the Joker is that he’s lived for hundreds of years and become one of the wealthiest people on Earth. On top of having enough political influence and resources to nuke an island country, the Absolute Joker also hides a terrifying form. At first seeming a handsome and athletic man, the Absolute Joker’s true appearance is that of a massive demon-like monster with razor-sharp claws and rows of teeth. With his wealth, centuries of life, and nightmarish transformation, the Absolute Joker stands as one of the most dangerous villains in the Absolute Universe.

6) Deimos Joker

To gain favor with their father Ares, the gods Eris, Phobos, and Deimos sought to spread chaos by possessing the bodies of Gotham’s villains. While Eris chose Poison Ivy and Phobos chose Scarecrow, the God of Terror, Deimos, possessed the Joker. The Clown Prince of Crime then transformed into a monster with a serpentine tail and hair that could extend and ensnare heroes like Wonder Woman. And since the God of Terror possessed him, the Joker could force his victims to experience overwhelming fear and panic. Although Deimos and the Joker fought for control of the body, both wanted to unleash untold destruction. However, Ares was disgusted by his children inhabiting mortals. Ares freed the Joker from his possession when Deimos was exorcised from his body.

5) Green Man

In the medieval fantasy universe of Dark Knights of Steel, lives a terrifying amalgamation of Lex Luthor and the Joker, empowered by a Green Lantern Ring. Alexander Luthor, aka the Green Man, was a disgraced and banished royal advisor who found a magic ring. The ring gave him incredible power as the Green Man but also drove him mad and bleached his skin. With the ring commanding him, the Green Man murdered King Thomas and Queen Martha Wayne. He also enchanted an arrow which was used to kill King Jor-El. Green Man’s ring grants him the power to incinerate legions of knights and overpower the witch Poison Ivy. However, the commands of the ring originated from the evil White Martians, who killed the Green Man once he outlived his usefulness.

4) Joker-Lex

Joker-Lex was accidentally created when the two villains planned a heist. Soon after Lex Luthor and the Joker stole an alien artifact called the Absorbascon that grants the wearer infinite knowledge, they started fighting over it. The scuffle over the device released a burst of energy that merged the two villains into Joker-Lex. In this form, Joker-Lex could fire deadly Kryptonite lasers. Even when Superman and Batman fused to fight him, Lex-Joker’s speed and strength matched the amalgamated hero. The Absorbascon let Joker-Lex predict his opponents’ movements, learn the secret identities of Superman and Batman, and lower humanity’s intelligence. Luckily, while Joker-Lex was distracted fighting the Superman and Batman amalgam, Atom and Flash made a device to reverse the effects of the fusion, and the two villains separated.

3) Lord of Chaos Joker

Before his inevitable demise in the Injustice Universe at the hands of Superman, the Joker obtained a mystical artifact that made him as powerful as the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Fate. While Doctor Fate draws his sorcery from the Helmet of Fate, empowered by the Lords of Order, the Joker gained his mystical powers from the Chaos Helmet. By donning the helmet, Joker became the champion of the Lords of Chaos and gained all manner of powerful spells. In this form, the Joker blew up the Hall of Justice, teleported most of the Justice Society to an unknown universe, knocked Wonder Woman unconscious, and brainwashed Superman. Luckily, Superman eventually managed to overpower the Joker’s mind control and destroy the artifact that gave the Joker his power.

2) Spectre Joker

The Spectre is the all-powerful manifestation of God’s wrath, so it’s unsurprising that he would try to punish the Clown Prince of Crime for his countless atrocities. Shockingly, when the Spectre entered the Joker’s soul to find out what had created such a monster, things went horribly wrong. The villain’s soul proved to be so twisted that it overpowered the Spectre, allowing the Joker to take the Angel of Vengeance’s omnipotent power for himself. With his god-like abilities, the Joker grows to tower over the surrounding buildings and terrorizes Batman. The madman turns police cars into rapid monsters and summons a giant mallet to crush buildings. However, the Spectre soon wrests control back and forces the Joker to feel unbearable guilt for all the people he had hurt.

1) Emperor Joker

The Fifth Dimensional Imp Mr. Mxyzptlk can reshape all of existence, and the Joker took that power for himself. Out of curiosity, Mr. Mxyzptlk gave the Joker 1% of his power to see what he would do with it. The answer is that the Clown Prince of Crime would use it to trick Mr. Mxyzptlk into giving him the other 99% as well. The Joker then became an unstoppable god. With the power to warp reality, Emperor Joker consumed China’s entire population, destroyed Earth with the flick of the finger, brainwashed Darkseid and the Spectre, and trapped Batman in a never-ending death loop. Emperor Joker even threatened to destroy the infinite multiverse. Only by Superman cleverly using Emperor Joker’s obsession with Batman did the villain accidentally relinquish Mr. Mxyzptlk’s power.

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!