This seems like a confusing topic to me. Some people view him as an insane criminal with average intelligence; some think of him as a demented man with slightly above average intelligence; some say he's super sane and his a genius?

How smart is the Joker, really? Where does his true intelligence rank when compared to other comic book characters? Is it possible that he is a super genius (like Lex, Reed, Tony, etc.) who's extremely high intelligence resulted in his madness?

Joker intelligence feats and scans are welcomed. :)

He seems to be knowledgeable on chemistry and psychology. He's slightly above average to genius level. He certainly isn't anywhere near anyone as smart as tony or reed.

I think he is a genius. Yeah he doesn't have the "book smarts" or say Tony or reed. But you have to be smart to think up the stuff he does. The schemes, the jokes, the traps. Not to mention his ability to manipulate and trick.

Also, wouldn't someone presumably super sane like the Joker have a habit of hiding their true intelligence?

@eyedcyou: it is such a hard question to gauge. In arkham Asylum: a serious house on serious earth he is said to have what is believed to be super sanity, with his ego and personality constantly changing to fit his mood or whatever the day throws at him... so sometimes he can be a mastermind who can ever out maneuver batman... yet somedays he will slip on a banana peal...

sometimes he is mastermind and sometimes he is just a clown there is no way of telling how smart he actually is.

I'd say average intelligence. Everything he does is written by guys of average intelligence as far as I know. He's just very creative and great at planning and thinking on his feet.

His insanity gives him a certain clarity. I wouldn't call him super intelligent, but he sees things in a completely different manner than us, allowing him to do things we perceive as genius, but he can simply do effortlessly.

Genius level intelligence probably.

Smart enough to know that he can get away with whatever he wants without being killed.

Takes some smarts to create your own venom.

He's definitely a genius when it comes to social engineering.

Smart, or completely insane...

also all the traps and hurdles he placed in the way of the Bat Family in "Death of the Family" recently. You'd need some serious planning skills at the bare minimum to set that up.

Assuming he doesn't "subcontract out" the construction of his traps, venom, etc. he'd have to be pretty damn smart.

But he's still a complete psychopath.

He's.... insanely clever!

huehuehuehue

Smart enough to f*ck with batman on a regular basis, and dumb enough to f*ck with batman on a regular basis.

This thread was somewhat inspired by a post on a website I saw a while back that claimed that the Joker's true origins were that off a super genius (hence his super sanity) on par with people like Reed, Tony, Banner, etc. who became bored being so vastly smarter than the people around him, which is why he used madness as an "emergency exit". The post also claimed that the Joker was so delighted to meet the Batman because he had finally found someone who could compete with him on an intellectual level.

How plausible is that?

BUMP

He's probably a genius but not the type of genius that Reed is. More like good psychological warfare

That's not what makes him so dangerous though, it's his unpredictability

He is genius level he is skilled in the fields of chemistry and engineering, as well an expert with explosives has at times even acknowledged he is a comic character. Most people ignore this, due to the fact that he is criminally insane. He is capable of hijacking broadcasts - usually news programs - of both the television and radio varieties. He has great tactical skills as well.

I guess his intelligence is mitigated by his mental issues.
Variable then.

He's so smart he's crazy, and he's so crazy he's smart.

smart and insane, he's a great tactical thinker, and chemist

and once the spectre couldn't turn his vengeance on joker, since batman(and others) convinced him it wasn't really jokers fault and he's just insane

Very smart. And not to brag, but it's hereditary.

Smarter than 5th dimensional imp mxy

@kidd_punn: Not completely, no, and what does that have to do with anything? We don't even know his real backstory.

Very high intelligence . Enough to bug Batman

@kramotz: he's saying that he's also smart, because he's Joker's son

True.
In my opinion, he's kinda the ultimate terrorist because he wants to destroy every belief that anybody have and has no limits, not even self-preservation.

I feel as though that Joker is much smarter then the average person. Joker has shown that he was incredibly smart before even becoming the Joker. We see this in Under The Redhood. He sees the world in such a different way that we can only classify him as a genius. Being in the chemical acid not only damaged him face but caused him to forget who he even was. This and other things could of easily drove him to insanity. So I think its a safe bet to say he has an IQ well above 140.

I honestly think he's super smart. Not as smart as Reed or Tony, but the fact that he can outwit batman and formulate great plans just makes me realize how much people underestimate him

He is a genius.

But always a step behind Batman!

Double Jeopardy: Insert Philosophy

The origins of the Joker always interest comic book fans, since his special attitude towards the 'buoyancy of crime' (the unpredictability of human temptation) is perhaps what makes him eerily smile. Batman fights crime to soothe his demons, but the Joker creates crime to tickle his own demons.

When you think of Joker, you think of anarchism (but not necessarily terrorism). This is why the Clown Prince of Crime can be thought of as the Mad Libs artist of Gotham, inserting puns and gags about policework troubles and driving Batman batty.

The Joker often gets quirky lines about criminality too --- i.e., "Harley, let's go to the policemen's ball and see if Bruce Wayne shows up with his titanic pocketbook!"

The Joker is like the evil Alex Trebek, and with Harley Quinn, it's all Double Jeopardy round.

Anarchy

Mad Libs

Metrics: Marginal Malady

We could look at this question backwards: how much does our paranoia about crime raise the Joker to the level of prophet?

After all, the Joker is a trickster/anarchist who believes that jurisprudence frailties warrant a sarcastic attitude towards cops.

How much do we sane people fear crime? How much do we trust the cops? How paranoid are we about urban crime and corruption? If our answers to such questions are, "We're not sure," then the Joker's absurdist attitude towards civics takes on 'sane' proportions.

This may be the best meter for Joker-IQ evaluation.

Maybe the Joker is a by-product of human arrogance.

Paranoia (Wikipedia)

I say he is super insane and genius

He ingenious. He's so smart that it's probably why he's so crazy. His intellect rivals Batman's but he is too random to use his brains to their fullest potential. Sometimes he is the ultimate criminal mastermind, sometimes he just another bumbling Batman villain.

@jayc1324: so does that make reed and batman, hell omniscient beings have average Intelligence too