13 Terrifying Killer Clowns

While Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Batman’s clown-faced gangster nemesis in 1989’s Batman deserves high marks, Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the anarchic villain is another beast entirely. The Joker’s look in the Batman comics is based on Conrad Veidt’s character in the 1928 film The Man Who Laughs—a nobleman’s son who, after offending King James II, has a permanent rictus grin carved into his face as punishment. Ledger’s Joker, clad in a raggedy purple suit, sporting cracked clown makeup, and cackling like a hyena, was described by the late actor as a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” The anarchic villain can also do circus tricks, like … making a pencil disappear.