6 Supervillains Who Were Actually OK Guys

[Teto 2609]

:/ I don't think you fully understand, Aethix.

[Duke Abercrombie 0]

How about Zeromus from FFIV? Well probably he wouldn't be considered as a "supervillan" but he did evil things because he wanted his people (the Lunarians) to live in the Blue Planet and be happy. Or so they say.

[Padraig! 103]

The Joker has no definitive origin, he was a villain named Red Hood who fell into a vat of chemicals after a fight with Batman, the chemicals drastically changed him both physically and mentally.

WRONG

[Otis McNutt 395]

WRONG

"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past... I prefer it be multiple choice HA HA HA!"

Joker from "The Killing Joke"

You just got lawyered.

[Padraig! 103]

"Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past... I prefer it be multiple choice HA HA HA!"

Joker from "The Killing Joke"

You just got lawyered.

nononono.

Look it up.

I've read it.

The joker was a man who couldn't afford to support his pregnant wife (girlfriend IDK). He can't tell a good joke, even though he wants to be a comedian.

He got hired by gangsters to wear a red hood and sabotage some chemical place, but then he fell into a vat, after BATMAN (NANANANANA BATMAN!) scared him.

He came out as dah jokah.

look it up.

You just got lawyered.

[Otis McNutt 395]

nononono.

Look it up.

I've read it.

The joker was a man who couldn't afford to support his pregnant wife (girlfriend IDK). He can't tell a good joke, even though he wants to be a comedian.

He got hired by gangsters to wear a red hood and sabotage some chemical place, but then he fell into a vat, after BATMAN (NANANANANA BATMAN!) scared him.

He came out as dah jokah.

look it up.

You just got lawyered.

An Phoenix Wright says so often OBJECTION!!!!!

Though many have been related, a definitive back-story has never been established for the Joker in the comics, and his real name has never been confirmed. He himself is confused as to what actually happened. As he says in The Killing Joke, "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!" In Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth written by Grant Morrison, it is said that the Joker may not be insane, but has some sort of "super-sanity" in which he re-creates himself each day to cope with the chaotic flow of modern urban life.

The first origin account, Detective Comics #168, revealed that the Joker had once been a criminal known as the Red Hood. In the story, he was a scientist looking to steal from the company that employs him and adopts the persona of Red Hood. After committing the theft, which Batman thwarts, Red Hood falls into a vat of chemical waste. He emerges with bleached white skin, red lips, green hair and a permanent grin.

The most widely cited backstory, which the official DC Comics publication, Who's Who in the DC Universe, credits as the most widely believed account, can be seen in The Killing Joke. It depicts him as originally being an engineer at a chemical plant who quits his job to become a stand-up comedian, only to fail miserably. Desperate to support his pregnant wife, Jeannie, the man agrees to help two criminals break into the plant where he was formerly employed to get to the card company next door. In this version of the story, the Red Hood persona is given to the inside man of every job (thus it is never the same man twice); this makes the man appear to be the ringleader, allowing the two criminals to escape. During the planning, police contact him and inform him that his wife and unborn child have died in a household accident.

Stricken with grief, he attempts to back out of the plan, but the criminals strong-arm him into keeping his promise. As soon as they enter the plant, however, they are immediately caught by security and a shoot-out ensues, in which the two criminals are killed. As the engineer tries to escape, he is confronted by Batman, who is investigating the disturbance. Terrified, the engineer leaps over a rail and plummets into a vat of chemicals. When he surfaces in the nearby reservoir, he removes the hood and sees his reflection: bleached chalk-white skin, ruby-red lips, and bright green hair. These events, coupled with his other misfortunes that day, drive the engineer completely insane, resulting in the birth of the Joker. The authenticity of this background story is somewhat dubious however as the Joker claimed he has conflicting memories about his past and what drove him to madness.

The story "Pushback" (Batman: Gotham Knights # 50-55) supports part of this version of the Joker's origin story. In it, a witness (who coincidentally turns out to be Edward Nigma) recounts that the Joker's wife was kidnapped and murdered by the criminals in order to force the engineer into performing the crime. In this version, the pre-accident Joker is called Jack.

The Paul Dini-Alex Ross story "Case Study" proposes a far different theory. This story suggests that the Joker was a sadistic gangster who worked his way up Gotham's criminal food chain until he was the leader of a powerful mob. Still seeking the thrills that dirty work allowed, he created the Red Hood identity for himself so that he could commit small-time crimes. Eventually, he had his fateful first meeting with Batman, resulting in his disfigurement. However, the story suggests that the Joker retained his sanity, and researched his crimes to look like the work of a sick mind in order to pursue his vendetta against Batman. Unfortunately, the written report found explaining this theory is discovered to have been written by Dr. Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, the insane sidekick/lover of the Joker, which invalidates any credibility the report could have in court.

The most recent origin retelling is featured in the second arc of Batman Confidential (#7-12), which re-imagines him as a gifted hitman. This origin once more states his name as Jack, and eliminates the Red Hood identity. Bored with his work, Jack becomes obsessed with Batman, and crashes a museum ball to attract his attention. In doing so, he badly injures Lorna Shore (whom Bruce Wayne is dating). An enraged Batman disfigures his face with a batarang as he escapes. In retaliation, a furious Batman sells Jack out to mobsters whom he had crossed, who torture Jack in a disused chemical plant. Turning the tables, Jack kills several of his assailants, but falls into an empty vat. Wild gunfire punctures the chemical tanks above him, and the resultant flood of toxins alters his appearance to that of the Joker or a clown.

[Sahaqiel 1232]

Uhh, Ganondorf anyone?

My country lay within a vast desert.

When the sun rose into the sky, a burning

wind punished my lands, searing the world.

And when the moon climbed into the dark

of night, a frigid gale pierced our homes.

No matter when it came, the wind carried

the same thing... Death.

But the winds that blew across the green

fields of Hyrule brought something other

than suffering and ruin.

I coveted that wind, I suppose.

And Alma from F.E.A.R.

She was psychic from birth, and this often caused her to have twisted, horrifying nightmares and hallucinations,

This caused a project to be started, with Alma as the test subject,

She was deemed too dangerous to continue regular life anyway,

She was stuck in a giant containment chamber two days before her eighth birthday, (By her father)

She woke up only twice, to give birth to two children who were planted in her,

The first birth was at fifteen years old,

The second birth was at sixteen years old,

The babies were taken from her, and she never got to hold them,

While they took the babies, she screamed violently for their return, but was put back into her coma,

When she was twenty-six, the program supporting her was shut down, and she drowned in her own life support fluid six days later.

Later, her first son she desperately wanted to hold tried to destroy her by basically setting a nuke off on her.

So her psychic signature remains, killing people and wreaking revenge upon people.

She does melt the flesh off people, but who here wouldn't be pissed off?

Seriously.

Despite this, though, she has a playful personality and seems to just want to be loved. (:

At least, this is how I see it.

Sahaqiel

Edited 8 May 2009 by Sahaqiel (see edit history)