Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

well said @phantom3030, beginns was great but dk somewhat killed the halloween style of it, and jokers a more happy light and lee scary figure,

haha nice i dressed up as the Nicholson joker too.

I thoughht Heath Ledger was great as well, but he was just way too menacing for me. He hardly laughed and had none of the traditional Joker qualities. My three top Jokers are Nicholson and how he was portrayed in the Batman animated series and the more recent "Batman: Arkham Asylum."

Heath was fantastic, i just wish the world he was set up in was good enough to complement his performance. TDK was good, but it made the world of batman so realistc that we lost some of the fantasy aspects from the comics and first two films by Tim Burton that made Batman so iconic. The only thing wrong with the old series was that it did not stop after Batman Returns.

But regardless of my opinion, Heath did a good job playing his character although I prefer something more traditional. TDK in general was enjoyable and it really brought Batamn back from the dead after having to suffer through Batman & Robin lol.

I'm a big fan of the comics also I just think Jack's joker looked too ridiculous. Appearance wise. Obviously Jack's joker's origins were closer to the comics but I think in any film trying to create a comic book joker the character comes off looking a little hokey.

Ironically the best Jokers are only seen in cartoons or video games, though not taking anything away from Nicholson or Ledger.  If you played Batman Arkham Asylum game that was released a few months ago.... that is the kind of Joker I would LOVE to see in the next generation of Batman films in the future.

Exactly. I totally agree.

Well in my opinion, like many of the traditional Batman fans, I rather preferred something that was true to the comics but done in a realistic way, such as in Tim Burton's Batman. It just seems more proper rather than rewritting a character completely just for a film. I always liked the Joker for his pranks, the crazy shit he would say.... he really made you think he belonged in Arkham Asylum while Heath's Joker felt like a toned down character that wasn't as deep as I personally expected.

Well when it comes down to it, it depends what kind of Joker you rather prefer. I grew up knowing and enjoying the traditional Joker since I was a kid so naturally I rather prefer the Nicholson Joker.