There is something about the clowns that is always oddly disconcerting, although i don’t fear them or praise them, i see many people not liking or fearing them – the reason being even the jolliest of them certainly having some flawed disguise or something just not as right as they seem to be. However, to pay homage to sweet, sweet cheesy oppression, we’re counting down the top ten famous badass clowns of all time, since sometimes, it’s good to be bad or perhaps vice versa.
1. John Wayne Gacy
He stands number one because he is for real. John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer also known as the Killer Clown who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Twenty-six of Gacy’s victims were buried in the crawlspace of his home, three others elsewhere on his property and four victims were discarded in a nearby river. Several of the bodies were found with the ligature used to strangle them still knotted around their necks. In other instances, cloth gags were found lodged deep down the victims’ throats, leading the investigators to conclude that thirteen of Gacy’s victims died not of strangulation, but of asphyxiation. Gacy became known as the “Killer Clown” due to his charitable services at fundraising events, parades and children’s parties where he would dress as “Pogo the Clown,” a character he devised himself.
2. The Joker
The Joker has been referred to as the Clown Prince of Crime (or Chaos), the Harlequin of Hate (Havoc), and the Ace of Knaves. Throughout the evolution of the DC Universe, interpretations and incarnations of the Joker have taken two forms. The original and currently dominant image is of a highly intelligent psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. Batman has been given numerous opportunities to put the Joker down once and for all, but has relented at the last minute. As an example, in one story line, Batman threatens to kill the Joker, but stops himself upon realizing that such an act would make him “a killer like yourself!” Conversely, the Joker has given up many chances to kill the Batman because the Joker defines himself by his struggle with his archnemesis.
3. Bob Gray
He, a seemingly friendly clown is a monster that took on the disguise of a clown from Stephen King’s novel It. While It appears mainly as a clown (particularly when stalking children) it also appears as a giant spider. It’s most commonly used name is Bob Gray or Pennywise (at several points in the novel, It claims its true name to be Robert Gray) and is christened “It” by the group of children who later confront It. Likewise, Its true form is never truly comprehended. Its favorite form is that of a clown (with fangs and large claws when It stalks a child) known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and Its final form in the physical realm is that of an enormous female spider, although It is possibly male (or more likely has no gender), the Losers Club considers It female. Its spider form is the closest the human mind can get to approximating Its actual physical form. Its natural form exists in a realm beyond the physical, which It calls the “deadlights.” As such, the deadlights are never seen and Its true form outside the physical realm is never revealed, only described as writhing, destructive orange lights. Coming face to face with the deadlights drives any living being instantly insane.
4. Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1992 to 1995. Since Osborne’s departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special appearances on WWE programming. After making appearances in late 1992 in the crowd and at ringside, playing tricks on the fans and wrestlers, the Doink character made his in-ring debut in the WWF in 1993, originally wrestling as a technically sound but mentally unstable villain. Doink played cruel jokes on both fans and wrestlers in order to amuse himself and put them off guard. Some of his villainous pranks included tripping The Big Boss Man with a trip wire, dumping water on Marty Jannetty and attacking Crush with a loaded prosthetic arm.
5. King Ubu
In a play by Alfred Jarry, premiered in 1896 which is one of the precursors to the Theatre of the Absurd and the greater surrealist art movement of the early twentieth century, the central character is notorious for his infantile engagement with his world. Ubu inhabits a domain of greedy self-gratification.” Jarry’s metaphor for the modern man, he is an antihero — fat, ugly, vulgar, gluttonous, grandiose, dishonest, stupid, jejune, voracious, cruel, cowardly and evil — who grew out of schoolboy legends about the imaginary life of a hated teacher who had been at one point a slave on a Turkish Galley, at another frozen in ice in Norway and at one more the King of Poland. While Ubu may be relentless in his political aspirations, and brutal in his personal relations, he apparently has no measurable effect upon those who inhabit the farcical world which he creates around himself. He thus acts out our most childish rages and desires, in which we seek to gratify ourselves at all cost.
6. Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski
Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofski, better known by the stage name Krusty the Clown, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. Krusty is often portrayed as a cynical, burnt out, addiction-riddled smoker who is made miserable by show business but continues on anyway. He has become one of the most common characters outside of the main Simpson family and has been the focus of several episodes, most of which also spotlight Bart. Krusty is a multi-millionaire who amassed his fortune mostly by licensing his name and image to a variety of sub-standard products and services, from Krusty alarm clocks to Krusty crowd control barriers. And what makes him here on the list is many of these products are potentially dangerous, such as Krusty’s brand of cereal, which in one episode boasted a jagged metal Krusty-O in each box.
7. Punch
Punch or Punchinello in English, is a classical character that originated in the commedia dell’arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. Always dressed in white with a black mask (hence conciliating the opposites of life and death), he stands out thanks to his peculiar voice, whose the sharp and vibrant qualities contribute intense tempo of the show. His traditional temperament is to be mean, vicious, and crafty: his main mode of defense is to pretend to be too stupid to know what’s going on, and his secondary mode is to physically beat people.
8. Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Killer Klowns From Outer Space is a 1988 American comedy horror movie, made by The Chiodo Brothers and starring Grant Cramer. It shows an army of sadistic extraterrestrial life forms who resemble clowns land their circus tent ship in the sleepy American town of Crescent Cove. Cramer and Snyder) a couple out for a romantic evening, encounter the Klowns and barely escape capture, while the remaining teenagers are quickly killed by the aliens. They harvest the unsuspecting population, blasting random victims with a ray gun that cocoons them with cotton candy, with lethal results.
9. Captain Spaulding
Homicidal clown and owner of a gas station/tourist attraction with a serial killer/freak show/horror theme. He enjoys fried chicken and has an African American brother named Charlie Altamont who is a pimp. His violent personality kicks in if someone disrespects clowns. In The Devil’s Rejects he is revealed to be the patriarch of the Firefly clan and the father of Baby Firefly. Throughout The Devil’s Rejects Otis refers to him as “Cutter”, a nickname given to him by Charlie after Spaulding committed his first murder. Spaulding’s real name is Johnny Lee Johns. He is named after Groucho Marx’s character in the film Animal Crackers.
10. Poltergeist Clown
If you have seen the Poltergeist triology, then you would know the cultural impact “the clown” had. Not much information available on the scene in which a young boy is assaulted by his own clown toy but since then Poltergeist clown has been parodied several times.
