The Joker vs. Pennywise

The Joker vs Pennywise

Send in the clowns! No, wait, send them back, send them back! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re pitting two of pop culture’s most infamous clowns against each other.

In one corner is the Joker, archenemy of Batman and self-styled Clown Prince of Crime. In the other is the terror of Derry, the ancient and malevolent entity who often takes on the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Which one of these heinous harlequins will emerge victorious? Keep watching to find out.

Round 1: Origins

Joker’s origins are both shrouded in mystery and subject to change depending on the story in question. To quote the man himself: [“If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!”]. In most versions of the character, the Joker began as a small-time crook, sometimes using the mantle of The Red Hood. But a tumble into a vat of chemicals dyed his skin white, his hair green, and drove him insane. Donning a purple suit and arming himself with a variety of trick weapons and chemical agents, he became one of the most feared villains in Gotham City - a demented serial killer with a flair for the theatrical and an ever-increasing bodycount.

Pennywise’s backstory is more on the cosmic side. An ancient entity from the “Macroverse”, the dark void surrounding our universe, he crashed to Earth in prehistoric times, in an event similar to a meteor strike. Years later, the town of Derry, Maine was built over the site, beginning a bloody cycle of death and violence. Every 27-30 years, the shapeshifting creature would wake to devour Derry’s unfortunate children - taking on the forms of their worst fears to “salt the meat”. Even during Its hibernation periods, the town remained tainted by fear.

The Joker’s more grounded backstory is chilling, but how do you even compete with a cosmic origin story about an ageless, malignant entity from beyond the veil of space? You don’t, that’s how. Round one goes to Pennywise.

Winner: Joker 0 / Pennywise 1

Round 2: Enemies

They say you can judge a man by the company he keeps. Well, the same can be said about the enemies he makes. Of course, the Joker’s biggest nemesis by far is Batman, whose commitment to that whole “no killing rule” he’s continually tested over the decades. But you don’t get to be the Joker without making plenty of other goes too. In addition to Batman and Co., Joker has also had run-ins with a number of DC characters, most notably in the “Injustice” franchise. He’s also made enemies of several supervillains as well, usually by throwing a monkey wrench into their plans just for the heck of it. Even his longtime squeeze Harley Quinn turned against him eventually!

Pennywise’s roster of enemies is a bit more humble. His most notable nemeses are the members of the Losers’ Club, who band together both as children and adults to defeat him. Despite the overwhelming odds, this group of friends presents a challenge for Pennywise thanks to the strength and courage they draw from one another. Of course, both the movies and TV miniseries omitted Pennywise’s other major enemy, the ancient entity known as Maturin. Appearing as a giant spaceborne turtle, Maturin is older than the universe itself, and is said to have vomited it up after getting a stomach ache. While largely inactive, Maturin did speak to Bill in the books to offer guidance.

Ancient cosmic space turtles are all well and good, but the sheer width and breadth of Joker’s enemies beats out the Losers’ Club and their turtle friend. Hey, what can we say, it’s hard to compete with Batman! Round 2 goes to Joker.

Winner Joker 1 / Pennywise 1

Round 3: Powers/Abilities

Having no real superpowers of his own, Joker relies on his wits to get by. Despite claiming to be an “Agent of Chaos”, he’s shown a high aptitude for planning and scheming in his elaborate plots against Batman and others. He’s also displayed no small amount of skill with explosives and other instruments of mayhem, in particular his infamous Joker Venom. This chemical concoction, which can be deployed as a gas, causes uncontrollable laughter, which can result in death if the victim isn’t treated quickly. It often leaves corpses with terrifying grins on their faces. Joker has also employed everything from acid-spraying flowers, electric-shock joy buzzers and whatever else his demented mind can cook up.

The supernatural fear-eater from Stephen King’s “It” is capable of a wide variety of feats, most notably the power to change his shape. He’s also displayed powers of telepathy, teleportation, invulnerability and a whole score of others. To keep this quick, we’ll just say that Pennywise can do almost anything. One of his few limitations is that he has to obey the physical laws of whatever he takes the form of. His most terrifying ability may just be his true form, the mysterious Dead Lights. These strange orbs of light transfix whoever sees them, leaving them comatose and ripe for the picking. It’s also implied that his poor victims have their souls imprisoned within them forever.

This one is a hard call, as the abilities of each character really tie in to their overall motif. The Joker is all about criminal, but very much human evil, whereas Pennywise is all about an unknowable, more metaphysical evil beyond our understanding. But in a straight-up fight, Pennywise would pretty obviously win, so he takes this round in the end.

Winner: Joker 1 / Pennywise 2.

Round 4: Movies/Appearances

Being one of Batman’s oldest foes, Joker has made numerous media appearances. Caesar Romero’s portrayal for TV leaned towards the campier side of things, but successfully captured the character’s manic energy. For the big screen, Jack Nicholson combined this energy with a darker, more lethal side. Subsequent actors have played it more straight, with Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix delivering incredible performances of the Joker as a believable killer. Joker’s most iconic voice actor Mark Hamill has managed to find a nice middle ground, being both terrifying and entertaining. Overall, Joker’s appearances have been almost as unpredictable and mercurial as the character himself. Only his purple suit and green hair have remained constant. Why mess with a good thing, after all?

Pennywise has had far fewer depictions, but don’t count him out yet. His first on screen appearance came in the 1990 two-part miniseries, in which he was portrayed by the legendary Tim Curry. In this form, he appeared as a fairly normal looking clown, only turning truly monstrous moments before attacking. In contrast, Bill Skarsgård’s version looks far spookier right from the get-go, with a drab, less colorful costume and sinister smile. Skarsgård really upped the creepiness factor for his turn as Pennywise, bringing a whole new level of “nope!” to Stephen King’s nightmarish creation. And all of that’s not even touching on Pennywise’s other forms, such as the spider-like shape he takes on in the big finale.

We can’t fault the terrific performances that went into realizing Pennywise, but the amount of talent and variety on display in Joker’s appearances is just too much to beat. This round goes to Joker.

Winner: Joker 2 / Pennywise 2.

Round 5: Best Evil Laugh

At the end of the day, a murderous psychotic clown HAS to be judged on their very best evil laugh, and these are two tough contenders when it comes to that category. In many ways, Joker’s laugh is one of his signature moves, with every actor putting their own spin on it - from Caesar Romero’s joyful cackle, to Mark Hamill’s deranged, full-throated laugh. Like the actors who’ve played the character over the years, there’s a ton of variety, and the odds are that at least one variation will succeed in making your blood run cold.

Pennywise, with his more limited number of portrayals, has a smaller variety of laughs to his name. But hey, quality could still beat quantity! Both Tim Curry and Skarsgård gave it their absolute all, with Skarsgård in particular delivering a spine-tingling, hooting laugh when the occasion called for it. It’s hard to walk in the shoes of Tim Curry, himself a master of the evil laugh, but Skarsgård pulled it off handily with his high-pitched, gleeful howl. It’s a laugh that makes you want to run home and crawl into bed with the lights on - not that that would save you anyway!

The deciding round is a tough one to call, but given that Joker’s evil laugh is such an integral part of his character, and the number of stellar laughs that various actors have given us over the years, this final round and the contest goes to Joker.

WINNER: Joker 3 / Pennywise 2

For a lot of us, clowns are always terrifying no matter the context. But when it comes to the two scariest clowns on the block, the legendary comic book villain just narrowly beats out Stephen King’s creation to take the crown.