Joker falling off a building

[publiusr]

The Joker, Lazarus and Gerald Ford hop on an escalator....

 

[Greg Cox]

like, say, being buried to death under a mountain of bat-guano

Bond reference!

You know, I was wondering if anyone was going to get that . . . .

 

[Dj Synge]

I admit that I am not super familiar with the comics. Most of my superhero knowledge comes from movies, cartoons, and video games.

There is one thing I've noticed, though, that I was wondering about. Why is Joker always falling off of buildings?

In Michael Keaton's Batman movie, Joker falls off a building to his death, and we hear him laughing.

In The Dark Knight, Joker falls off a building, and it would have been to his death had Batman not saved him.

I've been playing the new game Arkham Origins, and there's a scene where Joker falls off a building, and once again Batman saves him.

It seems to be a recurring theme, and I was wondering if all of these scenes were paying an homage to something from the comics.

 

[thribs]

You know, I was wondering if anyone was going to get that . . . .

Dr No
It was mentioned in QI.

 

[Dj Synge]

You're not the only one who is curious, I've noticed this as well. All the movies, video games, and now on TV as well. On the show Gotham they recreated the classic 1989 Joker death with Jerome falling off a building. It seems that this is DC's favorite way of killing him in live media.
Here are some other ways he's died:
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.denofgeek.com/us/books/the-joker/264384/the-many-deaths-of-the-joker

 

[Gov Kodos]

In before the necromantic lock.

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[Silvercrest]

It's kind of a shock to get fresh "likes" from things I don't remember writing.

 

[Christopher]

In the years since this thread was new, I've read a number of collections of Golden Age (late '30s/early '40s) Batman comics, and it was quite common from the start for a villain (most frequently the Joker or Hugo Strange) to fall to their apparent death, either through their own misfortune or by Batman "accidentally" kicking them off a cliff/into a pit/etc. It was the handiest way to make them appear dead at the end of a story while making it easy for them to return later.

 

[Gov Kodos]

It was the handiest way to make them appear dead at the end of a story while making it easy for them to return later.

Sometimes, your audience won't let the characters stay dead, just ask Conan Doyle.

 

[Mudd]

Batman and his villains also seem to spend a lot of time on rooftops and upper floors of buildings, so it makes sense that people would fall off of them a lot.

This is the correct answer.

People do a lot of falling in Spider-Man comics, too. Comes with the beat.

 

[The Realist]

You know, I was wondering if anyone was going to get that . . . .

Speaking of, the Bond movies have had some great villains-falling-to-their-death moments. Bond being Bond, though, it's rarely accidental.

"For England, James?"

"No. For me."

Spoiler

All right, technically Trevelyan survives the fall, at least long enough to get crushed by the burning satellite dish instead. Picky, picky.

 

[Christopher]

Sometimes, your audience won't let the characters stay dead, just ask Conan Doyle.

Yeah, well, I think if Doyle had really been determined to kill off Holmes forever, he wouldn't have written a story in which the putative death had no witnesses and was only inferred by Watson after the fact. It's pretty obvious that he intentionally left himself an easy out in case he changed his mind.

 

[Silvercrest]

Yeah, I don't think it's particularly specific to the Joker. Like Christopher said, it's just a dramatic way to dispose of a villain, especially if you think you might want to bring him back someday.

And like Christopher said, it's clearly not limited to the villains.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

There's also a part of censorship being an issue- The animated shows, of course, had to be suitable for children, so there were some rules restricting the use of violence. Having a villain fall to their death allowed for the death to be less violent (as in, not directly caused by violence), and also the actual death happened off-screen, making it less graphic. Greg Weisman said as much in the commentary for the Gargoyles DVDs.

 

[CaptainMurdock]

Speaking of, the Bond movies have had some great villains-falling-to-their-death moments. Bond being Bond, though, it's rarely accidental.

"For England, James?"

"No. For me."

Spoiler

All right, technically Trevelyan survives the fall, at least long enough to get crushed by the burning satellite dish instead. Picky, picky.

GoldenEye, my favorite Bond movie.

 

[The Realist]

GoldenEye, my favorite Bond movie.

Not quite my favorite (that would probably be The Living Daylights), but it's definitely up there.