The way I did it when I made superheroes/villains as Gestalts was Vivisectionist Alchemist/Bard. Without gestalt, it's hard to argue a multiclass, so it really comes down to what you want out of the class. I'd probably go Bard above alchemist, but alchemist can fit stuff like his joker venom, and other such things.
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Reflavour one of the curses
Perhaps the Tongues curse, but the language is actually just him laughing maniacally?
Great ideas guys, any feats or spells really stand out to you?
The big one that I'd recommend is Hideous Laughter. It's a 1st level spell for the bard (which is a good bargain, as it's a second level spell for other classes, and it's generally regarded as a good one, even at that), and it has a very Jokeresque feel.
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Actually, Investigator from the new batch suits him because:
He is very enthusiastic about poison.
He is not much of a fighter except when he studies his opponent for a vital strike (see his 'pencil trick')
His knowledge skills are through the roof. Even when he fails a check he makes the check. A high level Investigator automatically passes any skill check he attempts, the Joker should too.
Because this is PF, superheroes need spells, mostly, for power reasons. Having a lot of alchemy does this. A little short on illusions for him though.
The major sticking point is charisma. Yu would have to give him non-standard stat points, because the Joker's Cha is 26+, easily.
Gestalting him with Bard gives him illusions and more Cha abuse. That seems to get his flavour right.
EDIT: As Claxon says below, Antipaladin makes sense. If you don't worry about the combat abilities but the Cha, you can make him never fail a save again which is only right.
BTW, I think Batman is some sort of broken high-stat Champion of Irori/Alchemist monstrosity.
Not so much in abilities, but I think an Anti-Paladin would fit the bill.
Chaotic Evil, unrepentantly evil and crazy, his abilities inflict pain and disease on others.
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How about talented rogue/alchemist.
How about talented rogue/alchemist.
This, pretty much.
Also, give him a proficiency in guns. In some of his depictions, he loves those.
I'm not sure why people seem to think Superheroes need to be super-high level with super-high attributes.
I can't think of anything that the Joker does in any comic book that couldn't be done by a particularly skilled normal person. In fact, that's his entire premise. He doesn't have any powers. He isn't "the best" at anything. He's just creative, smart and insane.
You could build the Joker as a 5th level Alchemist or Bard.
A good way to do it might be to keep his level low, but make him a Gestalt Alchemist/Rogue or Alchemist/Bard.
In my head Harley is a Thief Acrobat/Titan Mauler. :)
I picture the Joker falling into the rogue category more than alchemy.
True, the joker uses explosives on many occasions, but the explosives he uses are a far cry from the explosives of your average PF alchemist.
I see a rogue build focusing on sleight of hand, poison, and trap making with his major abilities focusing on Charisma, Intelligence Wisdom and Dexterity.
Despite Heath Ledger's quote, "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?", the Joker's primary strength is that he ALWAYS has a plan. Let's face it, in a one-on-one battle with nearly any even-leveled PC, the Joker would be toast.
That's where the henchmen, tricks and traps come into play. In the grand scheme I would say don't worry so much about his numbers, stats or class. Worry about designing the adventures first, then worry about his stats.
Let's face it though, if there is one thing players absolutely HATE, it's an enemy who escapes over and over again, and unfortunately, that is one of the Joker's specialties.
Oh man, but picture it, the players are at some gala event or grand ball. The host of the event stops everyone for a toast and champagne is handed out by the waitstaff (The joker's own men, of course). After the toast, the crowd finds that their champagne was dosed with <i>hideous laughter</i> or a modified <i>hold person</i> that gives the crowd that sinister joker smile. During the ensuing ruckus, the joker comes out and gives his monologue (thanks to the spell of course), and then kills someone in cold blood with an equally sinister flair. Maybe he shoots a hand crossbow that merely pops out a "twang" flag, only to pull out a dagger and brutally stab the person to death.
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I am going to have to disagree about the Cha dump Zauriel. I may only know one or two types of Jokers from various incarnations, but all of them scream Cha to me.
In general I am even more sure of Bard. You can make just about any type of Joker with the class. He can fascinate, manipulate, confuse, etc. Its all there with Bard.
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I'm going to have to agree with Pan. One of the traits of the Joker that I've seen in several incarnations is his ability to talk people into things and gather minions.
The Dark Night series merely took that ability to its most horrifying conclusion before revealing an area where it is weak.
Vivisectionist Alchemist with maxed out Bluff and Intimidate...
I'm not sure why people seem to think Superheroes need to be super-high level with super-high attributes.
Probably because that is the milieu in which Pathfinder characters swim. You could stat him up as an Expert/Commoner, but the game encourages otherwise. (Dragons he might have to face someday, and what-not.)
Note that ANY character in the game with a level in a PC class is a superhero, comparatively. So why not just go all the way? The character has to level up as the player plays, anyway, right?
I feel like the Joker doesn't convince people, he just maxes out intimidation and scares the **** out of people by showing to what lengths he will go.
+10 points for good grammar.
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I'm not sure why people seem to think Superheroes need to be super-high level with super-high attributes.
Because Pathfinder characters need feats in order to be competent at things, and superheroes tend to be omni-talented at things. As for ability scores, most (powered) superheroes tend to have abilities that far exceed what even high-level Pathfinder heroes are capable of attaining.
Using the Carrying Capacity table, Spider-Man's strength (rated at 10 tons by Marvel, although this seems to have increased by an unspecified amount over the years) is at minimum STR 50. And he only on the lower-middle tier when it comes to strength levels in Marvel...the top tier starts at around 100 tons with guys like Thor and the Hulk (approximately STR 65 or so). If you want to throw DC into the mix, it gets even more ridiculously inflated, as Superman's been know to have his strength measured in QUINTILLIONS of tons from time to time (I'm not even going to bother trying to calcuate out that one, it's beyond the reach of the Pathfinder system to model in any meaningful way).
I'm not sure why people seem to think Superheroes need to be super-high level with super-high attributes.Because Pathfinder characters need feats in order to be competent at things, and superheroes tend to be omni-talented at things. As for ability scores, most (powered) superheroes tend to have abilities that far exceed what even high-level Pathfinder heroes are capable of attaining.
Using the Carrying Capacity table, Spider-Man's strength (rated at 10 tons by Marvel, although this seems to have increased by an unspecified amount over the years) is at minimum STR 50. And he only on the lower-middle tier when it comes to strength levels in Marvel...the top tier starts at around 100 tons with guys like Thor and the Hulk (approximately STR 65 or so). If you want to throw DC into the mix, it gets even more ridiculously inflated, as Superman's been know to have his strength measured in QUINTILLIONS of tons from time to time (I'm not even going to bother trying to calcuate out that one, it's beyond the reach of the Pathfinder system to model in any meaningful way).
It's really easy to get over 100 tons in carrying capacity using mythic rules. Use Display of Strength and Mules Strength. That's it.