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dc - Has anyone ever tried to execute the Joker?


Everyone knows the eternal question, "Why doesn't Batman just kill the Joker?" Writers and fans have debated it for decades, and plenty of answers (believable and not) have been established that now we at least can accept the idea that Batman won't be the one to do it.


But I was recently reading the Endgame arc, and an interesting scene occurs:



Gordon shoots the Joker in the chest. This ultimately doesn't kill him, but for a few panels Gordon believes he has killed the Joker. There are literally tears of joy in his eyes as he tells Batman what he did, and that the world is finally free of the Joker.



This led me to wonder, has anyone other than Batman ever tried to kill the Joker? There have been plenty of opportunities where someone could, or at least could make an attempt. We, as the audience, know it probably wouldn't work, but if I was a security guard at Arkham with a taser and a dead sister, and the Joker was strapped to a gurney in front of me, I might give it a yeoman's try...


The Joker is no stranger to straight jackets and prison cells, handcuffs and restraints, any one of which would be an opening for someone to try to take him out. Hell, he spends months or years at a time in a single cell in a known location, it wouldn't be hard to track him down for capital punishment, or just a little personal revenge.


Has this ever happened in the comics? To be clear, I'm less interested in self-defense during a fight (like in the spoilers above), and more in deliberate choices to rid the world of this utter psychopath.


Has anyone ever tried to execute the Joker?




Answer



This answer will, by necessity, contain spoilers for the mentioned story arcs:



In the comics, there were several attempts on the life of The Joker, usually unsuccessful ones planned by other DC villains. However, there were several cases (in various media) where The Joker was actually killed:


Comics


In the ground-breaking Kingdom Come series, The Joker traveled to Metropolis and used his poison gas to kill everyone in the Daily Planet (including Lois Lane). While he was later surrendering to the police, a vigilante named Magog rushed up to the scene and summarily executed The Joker on the spot in front of a shocked Superman. Magog's acquittal for the act was the event that caused Superman to leave Metropolis and enter a self-imposed exile at the Fortress of Solitude.


In the classic Detective Comics #42 story "The Joker Walks the Last Mile" (1942), the villain surrenders of his own accord and is actually executed for his crimes by the court system. He is later revived, however, so that one may not count. This story was later re-used in Batman #5.


Video Games


In the parallel Earth of Injustice: Gods Among Us, an enraged Superman killed The Joker with his bare hands after the villain taunted him about killing his wife and son. After crossing a line he swore he'd never again cross, Superman then gave up on his principles altogether and swore to make the world safe by killing ALL villains.


In Batman: Arkham City, Joker is revealed to be dying from his previous exposure to the Titan formula, and exposes Batman to the same disease. After obtaining and using the cure, Batman debated whether or not to cure Joker with it. The vial was destroyed when Joker attacked Batman, so technically it was his own actions that caused his death. However, the fact that Batman had the cure at hand and didn't use it could count as being implicit in the death. (Thanks to @MissouriSpartan for the update.)



Cartoons/Film


In the un-edited version of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, it is revealed via flashback that The Joker was shot dead by Tim Drake. This was a direct result of the torture, brainwashing, and general horror that the villain had put him through during his capture days before the event. In the edited release of the film, young Drake instead pushes The Joker into an electrical panel, thus electrocuting him (thanks to @Axelrod for the update).


Executions by Batman


Also, in addition to the one you mentioned in your question, there are at least two other instances in which Batman himself decided to finally do something about The Joker:


In the Elseworlds arc JLA: The Nail, Batman himself finally decided to end the villain's career and savagely beat him to death before breaking his neck. This may have been a nod to the events of The Dark Knight Returns, in which Batman made the same decision, beat The Joker savagely, yet stopped himself after partially breaking the villain's neck. A spiteful Joker then finished twisting his own neck in order to frame Batman for the killing.


In the 1989 live-action film, The Joker plummeted to his death after Batman anchored his leg to a stone gargoyle using steel cable. It's debatable, however, whether or not Batman actually intended to kill him or simply sought to prevent him from escaping.


Conclusion


Obviously this list isn't exhaustive, as there are likely numerous other examples where the Joker was killed by the actions or inactions of someone in the name of justice. However, as you can see, such examples definitely DO exist.


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