Batman is widely known for his incredible assortment of bat-themed gadgets that he uses to fight crime in Gotham City, from Batarangs to Shark Repellant. So naturally, the Dark Knight’s archnemesis, the Joker, has his own arsenal of weapons with far more lethal capabilities. For like Batman, the Clown Prince of Crime uses gadgets to make up for his lack of superpowers. The Joker’s numerous gag-based weapons are some of the deadliest and most iconic weapons of any villain in DC Comics. The Joker’s arsenal, in part, is what allows this psychopathic villain to keep the Caped Crusader on his toes. With these gags, no one can ever expect what deadly trick the Clown Prince of Crime has up his sleeve.
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To match Batman’s countless gadgets inside his seemingly endless utility belt, the Joker has built up his own arsenal to oppose his heroic nemesis. While he has no problem using basic weapons like a gun, knife, or crowbar, the Joker is nothing if not one for spectacle when deploying his deadly arsenal of comedic weapons
5) Razor-Sharp Playing Cards
Acting as the perfect counter to Batman’s Batarangs, the Joker carries several decks of playing cards with razor-sharp edges. The Clown Prince of Crime loves leaving “Joker” cards behind as literal calling cards after committing a crime. And on top of providing the Joker with a tool for greater showmanship, he’ll frequently use them as weapons as well. The Joker can throw these nasty cards with pinpoint accuracy like ninja shurikens. These cards can easily slice through flesh and bone, allowing the Joker to kill a person with a single throw. Part of what makes these cards so dangerous is their inconspicuousness. The Joker can easily hide an entire deck in his sleeves, and no one would realize it until it is too late. Even if a person were to avoid one of these cards hitting a vital organ, there’s always a chance that they’re already dead, as the Joker has been known to line some of his playing cards with poison.
4) Electric Joy Buzzer
In typical Joker fashion, he took what was once a harmless gag toy and turned it into a deadly weapon. Unlike a normal joy buzzer that merely vibrates when a person’s hand grabs it, the Joker made it so that his new-and-improved gadget delivered intense electric shocks. Just like the Clown Prince of Crime himself, the effects of his joy buzzer can be incredibly unpredictable. Sometimes, the joy buzzer will act like a normal taser and render a person unconscious. However, other times the buzzer will release so much electricity into a victim’s body that they will be reduced to a crispy skeleton. And if the Joker wants to be even more unpredictable, he will switch out the high voltage of the buzzer and replace it with his signature Joker Venom. The firm handshake of the Joker is never a good idea and the existence of this joyless weapon should make anyone scared to shake hands with Gotham’s most notorious criminal mastermind.
3) Acid Flower
Given the Joker’s clown aesthetic, it makes sense that one of his weapons is based on a staple comedy prop: the gag flower. Normally, these fake flowers harmlessly squirt water at their targets. And while the Joker will sometimes deliver a similar prank to soak people in water, most of the time his decorative flower houses something far deadlier. With the pinch of his fingers, the Clown Prince of Crime with maniacal glee can spray a person down with flesh-melting acid from his bright yellow plastic flower. When the Joker doesn’t feel like melting a person’s face off, he’ll switch out the acid in his flower for knockout gas or Joker Venom. The Acid Flower is the perfect close-quarters weapon to surprise anyone who tries to face him in a straightforward brawl. The Acid Flower is emblematic of the Joker himself: a seemingly harmless, vibrant gag that hides a seriously deadly joke beneath.
2) Bang! Flag Gun
The Joker is no stranger to using firearms to mow down his victims, but his Bang! Flag Gun is easily his favorite. When the Clown Prince of Crime pulls the trigger, a surprise flagpole will pop out and unfurl a sign that displays a message like “Bang!” or “Click! Click! Click!” However, what makes this gun so menacing, and amusing to the Joker, is how it lures a person into a false sense of relief after the initial fright of having a gun pointed at them. Once the person relaxes, the Joker reveals his second surprise. After the first pull of the trigger reveals the sign, the second pull shoots the flagpole out like a harpoon and impales its target. Ironically, the most famous time that this weapon was used was when a Jokerized Tim Drake used the Bang! Flag Gun to kill the Clown Prince of Crime in the animated film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
1) Joker Venom
There are few weapons in comics more iconic or horrifying than Joker Venom. A nightmarish chemical weapon, Joker Venom is the Clown Prince of Crime’s ultimate joke. Within moments of exposure to this gas, a victim only has a few agonizing seconds of life before they succumb to a graphic death. Joker Venom causes a person to laugh uncontrollably until they die of asphyxiation. If being forced to laugh to death wasn’t bad enough, this gas also causes a person’s facial muscles to contort into an unrealistically Joker-like wide grin with bulging eyes. Joker Venom has been the source of some of the Joker’s most widespread and catastrophic massacres. Hundreds of people have died from its effects. Even the versions that don’t kill a person are terrifying. The Joker once made a version of his trademark gas that allowed him to turn the entire Justice League into his maniacal, brainwashed puppets. The Joker is always saying that everyone is one bad day from becoming like him, and Joker Venom is the perfect weapon to convey his philosophy.
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