Enough mayhem to shake a spear at....please, just shoot me.

hey---
matt......i never thought i'd actually see the day when we'd have to discuss some character that comes from a real work of literature. you feelin' alright??? i don't have time to actually post how this would go......i have to go express the momentum theory as a function for lift.....then solve it. i'll be back later. toodles, beyotches.

Ok, im not sure what sparked this literary dispute, seeing as it takes deeper thinking. However I think I know the answer, or at least the answer I would go with. I tend to ramble, so if you don't want to read it all this next line sums it up...Iago wins.
Ok first lets look at his rival, the Joker. Well even though Joker is Batmans archnemesis, we have seen him come up with plan after ingenious plan time and again, that often comes close, but never succeeds. Plus Batman knows Joker is evil which makes him suspect that the Joker will try something.
Now Iago on the otherhand has some advantages over the Joker. One seeing as he is a high ranking officer in the army, that gives him some knowledge of fighting, melee, strategy, military tactics etc..Then lets face it he is the preverbial "smooth criminal". Throughout Shakespears Othello he manages to manipulate everyone to his whim. He even revealed his plans, and yet Othello just respected his honesty. But by being close to everyone and telling them what they wanted to hear he got away with so much. Destroying love, killing someone that filled the position he was suppose to recieve...etc. and he got away with it, cause he had such high charisma he could have sold an eskimo a refrigerator. He could easily get close to Batman, get into Batmans circle, actually, scratch that, the flaw with that is, Batman other than Robin and a few others is pretty much a loner. But seeing as Joker and a few other criminal masterminds such as the peguin, have discovered Batmans true identity(Bruce Wayne-if you didnt know) he would first get into their group, probably manipulating them as a back up. Finding out that Bruce Wayne is the Bat, and then getting into Waynes circle, and slowly manipulating it to his will, crushing Wayne aka Batman from the inside, by manipulating those closest to Bruce or that have the most importance to Bruce. Then if something with that starts to go wrong he would have the criminal masterminds developing some sinister scheme. But, i have a feeling that the primary plan would succeed. One of the few things that would flaw this web of destruction is if being the brilliant man that Bruce/Batman is, he happen to read a copy of Shakespears Othello, then he would recognize immediately who and what Iago was trying to do, and put a stop to him.
I dunno if that is a good explenation or not, but works for me!

I back Iago all the way in this one. Off the bat, (no pun intended) i give all props to joker, i love him, he's great, but he'd lose at this. My reasons:1-Joker is manic. he changes constantly in his moods and ideas, and a lot of times lacks the patience to see a good plan through to the end. yes, he may kill a bunch of people, but he doesn't one up the Bat. 2-Joker hasn't done it yet. Yes, he could eventually pull it off, but since he's tried and failed so many times, odds are against him. 3- The counter to point number 2, Joker doesn't give it his all. As is seen in Dark Knight Returns, Joker is in an almost parasitic relationship with Batman. Without him, he loses all aim and purpose and becomes a husk of his former self. Therefore, at least on some subconscious level, he is never willing to give it his all, he always pulls a few punches because he wants batman to win in the end, to justify his revenge and next plot, thus ensuing the cycle all over again. This is how Joker finds a sense of stability in life, he always knows Batman will be there to thwart him. 4- Iago has no such qualms. when he sets a goal for himself, he pursues it with an insane fervor, willing to go to any length's to achieve it, and at the same time he retains full use of his wits, and is constantly rethinking and revising his plans. He will pursue this goal to the very death if neccessary.
5- back to records. Joker has never succeeded against Batman, in the long run, where Iago did a marvelous job of crushing Othello for life.
well, that's all i've got for now, i'll probably come up with some more points later.
ciao

yeah. we both posted at the same time, if anyone was wondering why we said similar things.
and as for getting into batman's circle, i think he'd probably find the weak link through alfred. bruce is an incredibly paranoid individual, and if iago could start throwing doubt on the wayne's trusted servant, he'd cut batman loose without a reality compass. from there it'd be cake to seclude him from all his other associates until he eventually just ate away at himself. of course, the weakness here is that batman might figure it out, but we're operating under the assumption that one of the two will succeed, it's just a matter of which.

hey---
oh yeah......Iago wins this and then some. i too love the joker, probably way too much, but he ain't got anything on Iago. now if we were saying a fight against batman, neither would win. Bats would stomp on their balls at the same time then disappear without a trace. but this grudge is a contest to see who would destroy batman. joker wouldn't be able to keep his cool in a plot to manipulate people and eventually ruin the bat. nor could he just up and kill batman because he's tried before and can't, or won't as matt points out. Iago on the other hand has successfully ruined multiple lives and enjoyed it. the only flaw is that i doubt bruce would let anyone get close to him......he hardly ever does.(unless you count people like selena kyle......but even the bat needs a booty call every now and then) yeah.....if this doesn't make sense or is just rambling, it is because i just finished a 10 page paper on why The Dark Knight Returns is the greatest comic book ever written. my brain is spent, and so is your mother. peace out.

Tough call. You gotta analyze the nature of the three characters involved. Iago, for one, is certainly an evil bastard. He's also pretty damn manipulative, and possibly a little gay curious. He's gonna try to find a weak spot in the Batman's armor and exploit it. Generally, he'd work his way in close to the bat, and then strike. Personally, I don't think he could do it. Anyone who's read Othello should realize that Iago didn't really do that much. Most of the jealousy that he insited within Othello was already there. Othello was always suspicious of Desdemona, and Iago only had to sit back and whisper. The fact that he relies upon personal flaws makes him weak to Batman. While Bats is kinda weak in some aspects, he is a detective, and doesn't usually jump to conclusions. He'd more likely be able to work his way around Iago's plots and expose the truth. Iago's master plan, Robin's hankerchief planted in Alfred's room, is just a little too superficial for the self aware son of Gotham.
Joker is a little more aware of how to exploit batman and his sence of chivalry, often putting himself in danger to draw in Batman, or putting civilians in the middle of a deathtrap as bait. He is also good at striking at Batman's more human elements, and because he is secure enough to not have to hide it, he can be more violent and sudden in his actions. He does lose out to Iago in that Batman would have to investigate to figure out Iago was behind said trap, but Joker can just do more damage faster, and against the bat, speed is key.
However, I do think that Iago could kill the joker. He's easy pray, he'd just say that Harley did bats, and then while J is busy laughing over the pirahana bath he just gave Harley, *sploot* big fatty dagger in the back.