Quote:
Originally Posted by The Flayed One
The Joker. He is evil just because there is evil to be had. I don't even know if he considers it fun; he is just bad for the sake of bad.
Most villains have a reason. Whether they were abused as a child, some kind of gain or vengeance. Even most religious villains have valid reasons. The Joker needs no reason. As far as we know, he is what he is for no other good reason than he knows nothing else. He wasn't raised or even born that way; he doesn't do what he does because that's all that's inside him, or he hasn't been taught another way. He is chaos incarnate. There is no other way for him to be. You can't change a rock into an orange. The Joker is evil because he is evil. There is no other way for him to be, nor has there ever been. Heaths award winning performance aside, the character itself embodies the epitome of what bad is. He's not the biggest bastard in the world, like Tim Roth's character in Rob Roy. He's not a completely vile killer like Henry. He's just evil in every single aspect of the word with no excuse and no redeeming qualities.
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I think you make a good argument, Wolfie, but I disagree with you on some points and I'm going to have to go with
Erik on this one.
With Erik, he is a pure tragic figure. He did not choose his fate; his fate was written upon him on birth and he spent an entire life of dejection, finding solitude within the old Opera House. While the Joker has the
choice to live amongst the citizens of Gotham, he
chooses not to; for Erik, he is a pure outcast, reaching into the depths of his black soul for any way that he can possibly overpower his foes - through haunting, through extortion - so much more subtle than our Joker friend; no need for pomp and pizazz in his evil doings. He is a Villainous
Icon though the annuls of cinema and literary history... Portrayed by thespian icons from Lon Chaney to Claude Rains - The Joker is just a
fad - a passing phase bolstered by the single surprising performance of a young up-and-coming Aussie (God rest his soul)... But Erik - The Phantom is
eternal.