User blog comment:BeholderofStuff/Joker (2008 Graphic Novel) a CM or Not?/@comment-2059440-20150427230132

the problem with Joker in any incarnation is he is so insane any emotional outbursts must be taken with a grain of salt and his "tragedy" is always outshone by his incredible, near limitless, sociopathy..

many Complete Monsters do have tragedy, otherwise they'd be very 2-dimensional and more in line with the guys that used to tie women to train tracks (Outright Villains (who we tend to find humorous these days due to being so unrealistic).. Joker is no exception but we must always remember there comes a point where NO tragic, no matter how large, can excuse an action.

for example.. if a character is horribly abused or made to feel inferior they are by default tragic but if that character then, for example, decided to commit genocide on an entire group of people (women, children etc) the sheer evil of that act outweighs the tragedy they may of suffered and they become a CM.

Joker is, let's not forget, a very unstable man.. he is literally criminally insane.. however he is far too chaotic and cruel and above all else unpredictable for any tragic moment to really save him from CM status.