Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-2059440-20160506190434/@comment-366087-20160507102609

That's the role of the character in a story. The Joker is still very much a villain even though the focus is on him as the lead character in *a* story. That's what Protagonist Villain/Villain Protagonist labels are for. Mel Gibson's character in Payback is introduced as a villain, a bank robber, left for dead and looking for payback.

In Kill Bill, The Bride (how is she not here?) is an assassin left for dead and looking for payback.

Their settings and narratives tell us they are villains. Without the gimmick of Alternate Realities, for Joker to become a true hero would take a franchise event to set all his crooked straight. Being "the hero of his own story" would not be enough. And not even "gaining his sanity" necessarily means he'd become a hero. Back when he was sane, before his disfiguring origin story, he was still a villain, a mugger, thief, and a murderer.