Why do people think Heath Ledger was the best Joker?

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I mean, I loved his performance in The Dark Knight, but I don't understand everyone thinks he's the best. I actually prefer Jack Nicholson and Mark Hamill (I know he only did the voice, but it still counts) as the Joker. Why is his role considered the best?

Heath Ledger's Joker was the most realistic and the most successful in terms of actually creeping out the audience. He acted a bit different from the animated Joker that everyone's most likely familiar with, but still the same. What I mean by that is that Joker just seemed to want to raise hell for his own entertainment, but when things start to go wrong he instantly changes personalities to an aggressive, murdering maniac. Unlike Nicholson's Joker, who was just fun and games, Ledger's Joker stuck a bit closer to the comics, where Joker would challenge Batman again and again to break his rule of not killing anyone. If Batman ever killed Joker, the Joker would still win because his point of everyone being corrupt would be proven right. However, if Batman kept him alive, he would continue to show the Joker that he can't be forced to break his rule and become corrupted, which only fuels the Joker's motivation to try harder next time until he finally gets Batman to snap. I feel that Nolan hit this idea from the comics right on the head in the Dark Knight.
Mark Hamill does an excellent job at the same thing, switching Joker's personality from sickly hilarious hellraiser to pissed off psychopath. I grew up with Mark Hamill's Joker in the animated series, and I noticed when I got older that a recurring theme was Joker testing Batman's ability to restrain himself, no matter how bad things got. He constantly orchestrated situations where Batman would have to choose between killing Joker in order to save someone's life or let Joker live and let the victim die to remain true to his golden rule. Of course, Batman would overcome this situation every time by saving both lives, which would only further motivate him to create a flawless scenario that would force Batman to finally kill him, or someone else.
All Nicholson's Joker really did was try to get revenge on Batman and flirt with Vicky Vale. While in the climax in the belltower he did try to get Batman to let him go or let Vicky die, he did it in a pretty dumb un-Joker-like way (I can't remember the movie too well but I think that's how it happened, just the classic hostage situation) without a back-up plan or trap to spring on Batman.
Anyway, those're my two cents. I like them all, but I feel that Hamill and Ledger were the best.

When the 1989 Batman came out Nicholson's performance was popularly acclaimed. It was the talk of that movie, really. I can't help but think that Ledger's untimely demise helped cement the whole mystique surrounding his own performance.

I don't think people think that the Heath Ledger Joker was the best so much as they just like Heath Ledger in general, and his death just prior to the release made him even more popular.

I personally think the Mark Hamil Joker is the best.

Cesar Romero was the best joker, imo, with Jack Nicholson running a close second.

A lot of it has to do with the tone of the films Christopher Nolan was going for, and how well Heath Ledger's performance fit in with that. I would say its not really interchangeable with any other Joker or any other version of the Batman films, Heath Ledger's Joker would feel out of place in Tim Burton's Batman same as Jack Nicholson's Joker would feel out of place in The Dark Knight. But for fitting in with the style Nolan was going for, Heath Ledger without a doubt nailed it.

I disagree about Michael Jackson, but I do agree about your sentiment, DerStadtschutz.

But I also think that a lot has to go to not just Heath Ledger's performance as an actor, but also to the screenwriters. It should be kept in mind as well that I haven't seen much of Batman: The Animated Series, while I have seen the original Tim Burton Batman several times. And it should never be said that Jack Nicholson is not a great Joker, nor Mark Hamill for that matter. It's like comparing the actors who played the Doctor from Doctor Who. While there are certainly favourites, it is hard not to do a good job as the Doctor.

Well when Michael Jackson was alive, sure people talked about his weird behavior and the accusations of child molestation, but even then most would agree that he was incredibly talented when it came to music. After his death, his music is what will live on now that he will no longer show up in the evening news or tabloids.

heath ledger as the joker was convincingly terrifying and real. thats what made him so good

Mark Hamill is the best Joker. Heath Ledger did a great job, but honestly, that was not the Joker. He made a new character loosely based on the Joker, which is great, but still no Joker. Nicholson was an excellent Joker, but he overdid the clown part and was not as creepy as he should.

As GoonSquad said, Hamill is the perfect blend of clown and monster; he could make the whole city terrified just in order to make a harmless prank (like in Christmas with the Joker) or he could go over the edge and do something so terrible that even the stoic Batman would react strongly to it (like what he did to Robin in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etst4t3ES8Y[/youtube]

^^^ Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is the best Joker story on film.