Joker is the best Batman villain, but in my opinion, they need to go back to the early comics for their source material, because lately he's been getting a little too one-dimensional. Even the Silver Age comics may have material they could add to the villain to make him more interesting. If Batman is Sherlock Holmes in a cape and cowl; the Joker is Professor Moriaty in clown face, but it looks like the comic book writers haven't been taking advantage of that. The Joker's killer pranks have always provided Batman with a hefty challenge. Plus, he's closer to Batman than almost any of his other villains; he knows he's Bruce Wayne and is kind enough not to spill the secret, and was even responsible for brainwashing Catwoman to return her to villain status (Joker, unlike many of Batman's other villains, has a serious habit of messing with Batman's personal life, as evidenced in the Killing Joke, Batman and Robin Must Die, Under the Red Hood, and Death of the Family.). In earlier comics, he kind of treated Batman like an annoying little brother (in an animated version, he tells Batman that no one is allowed to kill him but him, and he's defended him on at least one occasion, such as in Batman and Robin Must Die), and sometimes he even teams up with Batman, although that hasn't been happening much in these more recent comics. Plus, he's always at least one step ahead of everyone else--Red Hood, Red Robin, Robin, Nightwing, the whole bat family, and Batman. In Emperor Joker, he even defeated Batman and killed him over and over again until he was finally stopped. I mean that's gruesome, but he still beat Batman. I don't think any of Batman's other villains can say they successfully killed him, but the Joker can, even though it wasn't permanent. Even in the new 52, Joker is too slick to touch. Batman can't even figure out his secret identity after being granted the power of a god!
The second best would probably be the Riddler. Edward Nygma could be a good super villain, but he's a little too predictable, like most of Batman's other villains (if Hush counts, though, he did a good job with that scheme). His elaborate traps and puzzles do make for interesting situations, though. I would kind of like to see an episode where Batman and Joker team up to stop the Riddler (maybe not knowing that it's Eddie but suspecting someone else). Of course after Joker finds out it's his pal Eddie, he would probably side with him against Batman (or maybe just run away). Plus, Batman has teamed up with Joker and Riddler on more than one occasion in the comics. Riddler though, is more of a common super villain and doesn't share that special connection Joker and Batman seem to have. For instance, when Riddler found out that Batman was Bruce Wayne (a secret the Joker knew for a while) he threatened him with it, a poor move for a supposed genius.
Yeah, Harley Quinn would be up there, too, if she were still a villain, but I don't think she is. I don't understand why they are redeeming her but chose to leave Joker out in the cold. I get that he's an obsessive narcissistic psychopath and probably not a good mate for her, but why can't they at least still be friends? Harley and Joker went through a lot together, after all. You would think that if a guy would let you stay with him that long, regardless of the circumstances, you would feel some bit of loyalty. I mean, it's the Joker we're talking about. We found out in one story that he even kills his henchmen. Harley must have been someone special to him just for him to continue to let her live, let alone claim the title of queen in Gotham.
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