Heath Ledger as the Joker in TDK and Jack Nicolson asthe Joker in Batman 1989 both play the antagonist, wanting to take overGotham city. This is the only similarity between them as their portrayals ofthe character and the techniques used are very different. This brings us to thequestion of who played the best joker. Heath Ledger’s representation of the Joker in The DarkKnight was an iconic performance and set a difficult standard for all Jokeractors to follow. Heath Ledger’s Joker is seen as a terrorist who wants towatch the world burn.

Ledger is very mysterious and the audience is never surewhat his motivations are. The best villains are usually mysterious and chaoticin which Heath Ledger did exactly that. Jack Nicolson’s version of the Joker isvery cartoony and over the top and not seen as a typical villain.  Heath Ledgers version of the Joker scared the audience to death.There was nothing comical about this joker and the majority of his jokes werejust evil actions such as: he blew up a hospital while wearing a nurse outfit,he threatened to keep killing innocent people unless Batman revealed hisidentity etc.

Ledgers purpose in the film is evident and people can take himseriously because of how the other characters react to him as well .whereas theaudience would tend to laugh at Nicolson’s version of the joker and couldn’t takehim seriously, because of his extreme absurdity and how he was whimsical in hisacting The joker in 1989, his costume is very cartoony like a dressup costume, and the colours associated with the outfit are very bright colourswhich are another reason why many people wouldn’t take him seriously as a villain.Heath Ledger doesn’t have a costume the character wears normal clothes of muchpaler colours which makes him look more creepy. What makes, Ledger different ishis wild green hair and his whimsical makeup on his face. I would definitely say that the Joker in Batman 1989is a better character in terms of being an antagonist and the way he representshimself as the Joker