Luthor-Joker Team-Ups

[johnreiter902]

This is a philosophical question, and I do not have a clear answer for it. I'd appreciate a lot of discussion.

Superman and Batman team up regularly. Despite the fact that many would call them polar opposites, they complement each other well in battle for good.

Lex Luthor and the Joker, their archenemies, also are total opposites of each other. Yet, they only teamed up 3 times in the history of Earth-1.

So, why is it that Superman and Batman make the perfect team, while Joker and Luthor can barely stand each other?

[DocQuantum]

Luthor and the Joker have massive egos. They don't like sharing the spotlight. And they never became friends like Superman and Batman have been for many years.

That said, I enjoy the few Luthor-Joker team-ups we have, and wouldn't mind another if a good reason can be made for it.

[redsycorax]

Probably because Luthor has a brilliant, highly disciplined intellect and believes that it entitles him to dominate any partnership or organisation to which they are affiliated. By contrast, the Joker is clinically insane. While being a psychopath doesn't necessarily rule out high intellectual development, the Joker may have schizophrenia and this would be anathema to Luthor's methodical and analytical mind. The two villains also have contrasting styles. Luthor relies on his intellect for vengeance against Superman on numerous occasions, while the Joker's tactics are more whimsical. Added to which, the Earth-One Luthor has moral scruples- witness his self-loathing and reproach when he realised that he'd stopped Superboy from saving Abraham Lincoln, or his unease at Alexei Luthor's psychopathic streak when he met his Earth-Two counterpart. As well as that, he even became a hero on Lexor before its destruction. He would never intentionally kill someone. That doesn't describe the Joker, who is not above using instrumental violence and even murder to achieve his objectives. Luthor isn't completely beyond redemption, but the Joker is. Which is probably why, despite their enmity, Luthor and Superman never kill one another, but it's quite conceivable that in a no-holds-bar fight against each other, only one of the Batman or Joker would walk away. Which may explain why their partnerships fail in the end.

[dans]

Jokey might decide that Lex thinks too much like Batman for him. Lex is probably not amused by the Joker's sense of humor. Plus, the Joker might decide it would be a good joke to kill Lex, and Lex likely senses this.

But... Lex might analyze all his failures and come to the conclusion that he is too predictable, and that adding the Joker as his partner might introduce a random element into his schemes that make them harder to anticipate and counter.

[redsycorax]

Lex might well analyse his failures, but whether he would conclude that adding the Joker as an asset or no would depend on the situation that they're in. And the question is, is the Joker's madness predictable to someone like Batman, who always seems to end up defeating the Joker anyway? Presumably, Batman has studied psychopathology and would have studied the Joker's modus operandi and behaviour, otherwise that would not be the case, which could explain why the Joker has steadily escalated his violent and antisocial behaviour. Batman and Luthor would probably be more evenly matched, which may be why Superman and Batman have resolved to keep the two villains apart. Added to which, Superman has a less extreme version of the Joker in his own rogues gallery, namely the Prankster, and with his intellect, he could extrpolate the possible tactics the Joker might use. The Joker has no inhibitions. Luthor does.