https://villains.fandom.com/f/p/3179493162221867404
Another EP from me and its time for me to EP a villain that I proposed for the first time in TV Tropes back in 2017. I actually made a blogpost of it about my EP. But I'll EP him again in this discussion nonetheless and glad that a troper in there, 43110, tries to tidy up and trim my first writeup for this character and I respected him since:
[++What's the Work++]
Kaitou Joker or JOKER as it is known to some, follows the adventures of the Phantom Thief Joker (Real name: Jack Jones) and his apprentice, A ninja called Hachi. Using various tricks and skills, the two match wits with the hapless police department of Tokyo, whose anti-Phantom Thief division is led by Inspector Oniyama, along with his assistants Ginko and Momo. Along the way they also cross paths with rival Phantom Thieves Spade and Queen and the villainous Professor Clover. The series follows Joker and Hachi on their attempts to steal priceless artifacts and other goods with the trying-their-hardest police force at their heels at each turn around the world..
Yes, Before going to this candidate I'm going to be honest with you: Kaitou Joker is a Lighthearted kids show and mostly it's a comedy. However, Just because it's a kids show and a comedy too, that doesn't mean they don't have an ability to push the envelope at times (Oh they really do). Most of the villain in this show are played for laughs. However, There is one villain that is a total standout to others and he's the overaching villain of the show and easily the most vile (Sure, Some of the villain are played seriously but nothing compared to this guy that I will propose). Who is this villain you may ask:
[++Who Is He++]
Professor Clover is the candidate that I'll be proposing today. He's one of the main antagonist of the series. He's a thief like Joker and is a leader of an organization called Clover Faction. However, He is easily the worst of the antagonist and has done worse things than Joker and the other Phantom Thieves. He also holds a grudge towards Joker's mentor, Silver Heart.
[++What has He Done++]
He made his first appearance on Episode 5 in Joker’s flashback. In this episode, Clover wants to steal a treasure that was called Time Telling Goddess Statue that was in Joker’s mansion. He, along with his accomplice, Doubt disguise themselves as Joker’s deceased parents that was presumably killed in Plane Crash (However, Joker doesn’t believe this and still waiting for them returning). When they get into Joker’s home, They pretended to be nice to Joker. However, Joker notices something off about his parents like his parents didn’t know how to make curry or repeatedly insisted that Joker tell them where the key to the safe was. After they got caught by Joker that they’re not the real parents of him, they revealed themselves to Joker and then forces him to gave the key to the safe. However, Joker refuses and as a result, Clover attacks him with his own claw but however, Joker manages to trick and attack them even if the results are futile. After he got cornered by the two, Clover then grabs Joker and then threatens him that if he doesn’t tell where the key is, He would kill him by his claw. Fortunately, Silver Heart stops them and make a promise to them that if Clover got the Time Telling Goddess Statue, He would trade Joker by that. However, After the riddle on how to get the key to the safe was solved and Clover got the treasure, He then orders Doubt to dispose Silver Heart and Joker and Clover attempts to shoot both of them, However, They are stopped thanks to one of Silver Heart tricks but as a result, The treasure got destroyed and Clover and his accomplice flees from the scene.
Well, His first appearance might be look like a standard villainy to you. However, What pushes him over the edge to this territory is his appearance in Season 2 Episode 5. In this episode, Clover imprisoned a general from a certain kingdom─The general’s name is General Basil and the Kingdom’s name is Saffron Kingdom─and he disguised as him so that he could trick the princess of that kingdom to gain the a crystal called Red Sun that could activate Light of Ragnarok─And yes, The Light of Ragnarok is a secret weapon from Saffron Kingdom that is actually a Satellite Cannon that if it got activated, It will wiped the entire city/country in one blast and Clover tries to activate this and doesn’t even care that the country will be destroyed─and he also used his disguise to trick most of the soldiers so that he could destroy Silver Heart's house for taking a Blue Star Jewel for activating that weapon. However, She refuse to cooperate due to she notices something strange with him and as a result, Clover attempts to kill her. Fortunately, Joker and co. Interferes and save the princess. However, Clover manages to trick most of the soldiers and command them to search and capture Joker and co. After Joker and co manages to get back to the castle so that they could destroy the Light of Ragnarok, They’re greeted by Clover disguised as Basil on the rooftop and try to order them to gave the Red Sun gem and attempts to kill them if they refuse to obey him. Joker refused to obey him and as a result, Clover stabs him in the chest and then proceeds to activate the Light of Ragnarok. However, His plan fortunately got thwarted by Joker who actually didn’t die even if he got stabbed by him─Given that he used a juice bottle in his pocket so that it would protect him from harm─ and then he also got exposed by the real General Basil. After Clover got exposed, He then runs away. And yes, The reason why he want to activates the Light of Ragnarok is that he could obtain one of the orbs to power his staff─The staff name is Kairos Staff─and his plan is actually is successful and now he hunts for the last orb and after this episode, He gets worse from there. But, In the first season, He does, However, managed to obtain the first orb thanks to his minion, Shadow Joker, who obtained it from Medusa when he got trapped in a certain temple in Greek for stealing a treasure with Joker. And in this same episode where the Shadow Joker got trapped in this certain temple, Clover manages to trap Silver Heart in his own lair and then tries to kill him by bombing his own lair. However, Silver Heart manages to escape from Clover's own trap. And it's also revealed that he was the one who ordered Shadow to obtain the first orb even though he is aware that he will be dead by the hands of Medusa anyway.
He appears again in Episode 11 of the 2nd season. In which he uses a machine that his minion, Shadow obtained in Episode 7 of the 2nd season called Sigma Drive so that he could obtain the last orb for his staff which was located in Pandora Kingdom. He uses the Sigma Drive so that he could return fifty years in time so that he could finish his own “mission”. And speaking of his mission, Here’s the thing: 50 years ago before the canon events of a story, Clover was an agent of an unknown Federation. He wants to achieve the key from the Queen from a country called Pandora so that the Federation could rule the world. However, The queen refuses to tell and cooperate with Clover but luckily Silver Heart interferes and saved her from danger. But due to Joker and co time traveled to the past by accident, Silver Heart ended up losing the key to Clover and after he got the key, he obtains the secret treasure of Pandora which is the last orb for his staff and Pandora’s ark. He use this treasure to threaten all of the Pandora Kingdom’s civilian that he will destroy the kingdom in five minutes if they didn’t surrender to the Federation. Fortunately, His plans got thwarted by Joker and co and the Young Silver Heart. During the fight, Clover got his arms shot off by Silver Heart and he almost died thanks to Joker (This fight also resulted on Silver Heart losing his one eye). However, He got saved by his future self which I’ll bring this on the mitigating factors. And yes, As a result of this event, Clover changed his name and has a painful memories regarding it. He also have an obsession to researching how to control time itself.
In the last 2 episodes of Season 2. It was revealed that Shadow Joker betrayed him so that he could save his sister, Rose, who was in the deep sleep and being kept in The Statue of Liberty. Shadow tries to talk to her sister by using the Kairos Staff that he stole and tries to talk to her. But unfortunately, He didn’t realize that the Kairos Staff itself was a fake one and as a result, The Professor controls Rose with the real Kairos Staff and then uses her power to injure her brother at the professor’s command as he had no use of Shadow anymore. The Professor then uses Rose and her power to freeze time to steal treasures from all over the world, mainly hourglasses. He also used her power so that he could get revenge on Silver Heart, In which he succeed gravely wounding him. The Second-to-last episode also reveals the flashback that is important to Shadow’s story.
In this flashback, It was revealed that Clover's minions razing an unnamed village to the ground by burning it─It was not the first time we saw Clover's minion raiding a village. It was done the first time in the seventh episode of first season. Although not as bad as this one─ and the elders of the village & the villagers were captured by them. Shadow Joker's sister, Rose wanted to help them but Joker and Rose realized that Clover's minion were in search of Rose. So they ran away from the village only to end up getting surrounded on a bridge.
One of the men grabbed Rose and another shot Jack, giving him a scar across his eye for attempting to save her. At that moment, Cyan─Shadow Joker's real name─arrived finding Jack on the floor and Rose captured. He tried to save her as well but failed and got multiples shots across his body. Rose, enraged for what they did to her brother as he falls into the lake underneath the bridge, uses up all her power to explode the bridge, much to Jack's shock. She then fell into a deep sleep, her whereabouts then unknown. As a result of this flashback, Cyan ended up being founded by Professor Clover and he changes his name to Shadow and then holds a grudge against Joker to the present day and thinks about killing him due to unable to save his own sister and his own village. The sole reason why Clover's minions razing the village to the ground is because Rose herself is a witch that could control time itself and as a result, The village didn't want to name itself to keep the secret safe but it didn't hold well after Clover found out about this village.
In the final episode of the second season, Joker and Shadow reluctantly work together to steal Rose back from Professor Clover, while Queen, Spade and their assistants─Who are also Joker's friends/accomplices btw and Queen and Spade also a Phantom Thiefs too trained by Silver Heart─ settle things with the professor in his ship. However, When they ended up on Professor Clover collection room, Spade saw one of his collections that is from his parents and he ended up being shocked and thought it was Professor Clover who killed his parents in a Shipwreck incident─Yes, In Episode 8 of Season 2, It was revealed that Spade parents was killed in the shipwreck incident when they’re transferring the hourglass for auction purposes so that they could pay a debt to a certain family and as a result of that incident, Spade was adopted by this certain family but ends up being frequently abused by his foster brother as a result─And when they ended up encountering Professor Clover, He spilled the beans and told Spade and Queen that he was the one who kill both of their own parents for obtaining the treasure. Queen was also shocked by this since not only the murder of her parents mentally scar her after she know the truth, It was also destroying the country itself─And yes, I forgot to mention something about Queen. In the first season, She was actually a minion to Clover himself given that he used her parents murder incident and told that Silver Heart was the one who murdered her parents so that he could manipulate her working for his side and as a result of his own manipulation, She ended up wanting to destroy some rare treasures around the world and wanted to kill Silver Heart for this and the people who got in her own way.
Fortunately, Joker stops her and bringing her back to senses that Silver Heart didn't kill her parents and he tried at his best to taking care of Queen and nurture her as a Granddaughter that he has─When Spade and Queen trying to finish Clover off, It was revealed that it wasn’t Professor Clover after all, It was Doubt in disguise and then she proceeds to detonates the ship that nearly killed them both. When the two Jokers reach the torch of the Statue Of Liberty, Shadow tried to remove the clover-shaped gem on Rose's forehead, causing her to wake up and use her power to push Shadow and Joker away. Hachi manages to remove the gem, causing Rose to fall in exhaustion. Shadow catches her, and begs her to recognize him. However, Professor Clover appears and reveals a set-up with acid and chains. The clover gems on Rose's wrists react, and she was sent under the set-up, the chains connecting to the gems on her wrists. The professor takes Rose's soul, and threatens Shadow, Joker and Hachi that if they were to move, the acid would rain down on Rose. Shadow, shocked at his sister's soulless body, begs the professor to spare Rose, and how much he wants to see her smiling again. He also admits that Rose did nothing wrong, and she shouldn't be in the state she is. Joker and Hachi are speechless, and even Rose's soulless body sheds a tear. Spade and Queen appear, and although they try to defeat the professor, Queen, Spade and Hachi end up frozen. The professor then releases the acid on Rose's body, but Shadow uses Bloody Rain on Joker's Shooting Star to tilt the Statue Of Liberty's arm, making the acid in to the professor's direction, thus melting him. Killing him off for good. Shadow uses the Staff Of Kairos to return Rose's soul back to her body, and she wakes up, immediately recognising her brother and Joker, Cyan and Jack respectively. They have a quick reunion before the Statue Of Liberty's arm crumbles and falls off. They escape the statue as Rose and Shadow ride his umbrella away. Rose and her brother decide to have a trip around the world, since that was his dream since he was younger, as the season ends.
[++Freudian Excuse/Mitigating Factors++]
Okay, Let's talk about his Freudian Excuse first. He talks about how he had a painful memory when it comes to Pandora Kingdom and he lost his name thanks to Silver Heart. However, This wasn't played for symphaty at all and he cherised it so that he could get the revenge on Silver Heart himself so that renders his excuse null and void.
And also, Let's talk about the redeeming quality that got me into a severe pause. And that's the scene about how Clover saving his past self in The 11th Episode of the Second Season. I left the dialogue that you guys recently read in this dialogue and yeah, I'll agree that it doesn't come across as mitigating and it's like Boris the Animal talking to his past self. So this redeeming quality at the end of the day got rendered null and void.
And as for the relationship between his underlings like Doubt. He only treats them as what minions do and he has no hesitation to kill them and he doesn't give a damn if his minions died and he doesn't need an entire organization when he got the ultimate power from his staff and Rose.
[++Heinous Standard++]
Alright. I'm going to be honest, Kaitou Joker has a 4 season as for now and it's still ongoing I guess according to wikipedia. However, Clover's arc ended in Season 2 so I'll trim the heinous standard from the first and two season. If we talk about the first two season only regarding the heinous standard..........He's pretty much stand out from it. And let's talk about why Clover stand out from the rest of the villains and heroes:
In this world, The protagonists fell into the Black and Gray Morality since they didn’t find anything wrong with stealing some rare treasures and only find them as a collection purposes. However, Their actions are pale compared to what Clover did as they didn't resort to violent means and use some sneaky tactics on how to steal something. And not only that, Unlike Clover, They're also capable on doing kindness towards each other like Silver Heart raises Joker, Spade and Queen like his own grandson/granddaughter or Joker and Hachi tries to help Hachi's village when they got attacked by an evil ninja and so on.
Oh, And speaking of the most of the villains. They are either played for laughs (Like Mr. Kaneari or an evil warden called Jason. The latter was played for laugh even though he treats the prisoner violently),didn't do anything to stand out (Like some Robbers in the 8th episode of Season 2, While they played seriously they didn't do anything to stand out or the Evil Mutated Lizard that is from the 11th Episode of Season 1 and he doesn't count given that he was released by one of Clover's accomplices, Doubt so that they could distract the scientist who work in some project and Clover wanted to steal that project) or having a redeeming quality (Shadow Joker, Despite his violent methods to steal something and sometimes he was played seriously like Clover does, He loves his sister).
Speaking of Professor Clover's second in command, Doubt. I would say she's as heinous as Clover and she has her own rapsheet like trying to kill Joker with her deadly game or releasing an evil mutated lizard. However, I don't think she counts.......Given that I think she just only follows Clover's orders. And yes, About him razing a village in episode 11 in Season 2, I know most of the minions did the dirty work. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that Clover was utterly responsible for this mess.
So yeah, Clover does stand out from this show. And his crimes includes of theft,murder,attempting to commit a genocide to a certain country just because he wants to obtain a treasure,razing a village to the ground to achieve his own goal,would try to hurt a child and using a murder incident as a manipulation really pushes him over the edge.
[++Final Verdict++]
Your call.