Is this a joke? No – Joker, Batman’s traditional archenemy, has been named by Pubity fans as their favourite villain of all time in a new poll.
Yeah, heroes are good, but there is just something about a villain that most of us love – or at least love to hate.
Pubity’s legion of Instagram followers have been voting for their favourite villain in the latest ‘you decide’ knockout competition and Batman’s traditional nemesis, Joker, has come out on top.
It was a heavyweight competition featuring 32 of the most iconic villains from over the decades from the small and big screens. As usual, they were draw in 1v1 face-offs, where Pubity’s fans would vote for their favourite on Instagram. The winner progressed to the next round and next opponent, until just two were left.
The votes flooded in and here are the results. Do you agree?
Winner – Joker
Batman’s traditional nemesis has been terrorizing Gotham City for decades in comics, on TV, in animation and in movies. In recent years, the late Heath Ledger delivered a generational performance as Joker in The Dark Knight in 2008. In that, Joker was portrayed as a psychopathic criminal mastermind with a warped sense of humour, who tested the Batman by targeting his allies.
Runner-up – Pennywise
Pennywise has an advantage from the start being a clown, which are just freaky anyway. But as the terrifying villain of the horror movie IT and its sequels and prequels. The character, a transdimensional entity can manipulate reality and turn into whatever scares its target most. Pennywise targets children (and occasionally adults) in the town of Derry, Maine every 27 years.
Semi-finalists – Thanos and Freddy Kruger
You might think that clicking half of the universe out of existence in a second might have got Thanos to at least the final, but no. The Mad Titan has been causing chaos in the Marvel comics since the 70s, but came to a wider audience in the MCU films, where he did indeed wipe out half of humanity, until Tony Stark/Ironman intervened in Avengers: Endgame.
Freddy Kruger, the stuff of nightmares, on Elm Street and in the homes of many people who have watched the movies, made it all the way to the semi-finals, proving that one of the old-school can still be one of the best villains.
Quarter-finalists – Lord Voldemort, Michael Myers, Loki, Hans Landa
The last eight were a diverse mix. Lord Voldemort was certainly a terrifying presence in the Harry Potter movies, but perhaps his eventual defeat stopped him going any further here.
Michael Myers got to the last eight, but possibly fell at this round because he’s been chasing Jamie Lee Curtis around for more than 45 years and still hasn’t managed to kill her.
Loki is a Marvel favourite, and has had some memorable turns in the MCU films and in his own self-titled show. Tom Hiddleston has played the character with a mix of wit, charm and malice to become a firm fan favourite.
Hans Landa was a memorable villain in Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 movie Inglorious Barsterds. The Nazi nicknamed The Jew Hunter cut an amoral figure throughout, but did have a redemption of sorts by (spoiler alert) helping to kill Hitler.
Second round
The last 16 was where the first of the big beast baddies started to fall. The Star Wars universe was hit hard, with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine falling – evidently the force wasn’t with them. Elsewhere, the Xenomorph may have been terrifying movie-goers for 45 years but, wasn’t bad enough for Pubity fans. Sauron, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, also fell. Tony Montana, the gangster in Scarface, was unsettling, but not enough to get through. Another psychopath to fall was No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh, often described as one of the most accurate movie portrayals of a psychopath. Meanwhile serial killers Leatherface and Hannibal Lecter also bowed out, possibly because they haven’t appeared in a movie or series for years.
First round
Then there were those who weren’t bad enough to get out of the first round. Fallers at the first hurdle included Sid Phillips (from Toy Story), Darla, Green Goblin, Scar, Rumpelstiltskin, Count Orlok, Norman Bates, John Doe, Gollum, T-1000, Agent Smith, Alonzo Harris, Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched, Amon Goth and Killmonger.
