If you’ve seen The Dark Knight — and who hasn’t? — then I’m sure you agree with me that the Joker was one of the creepiest, twisted psychological villains ever. From the crazy laughs and that sick smile, you knew that he was a pretty bad ass dude. But it seems that some of the early concepts, before Heath Ledger even signed on, were way creepier, as you can see above.

While I’m happy with the concept that was used in the actual film, can you imagine how much darker the film might have been with one of these concepts? They were definitely trying to take the Joker to another level. No longer the overly made up face that Jack Nicholson’s Joker portrayed, but a scarred, sadistic looking one. I’m likin’ these concepts!

If you’re looking for more, it can be found in the book The Art of the Dark Knight. I’m sure it’s got plenty of other concepts that we never even imagined. What crazy things possibly weren’t in the movie?

Do you think any of these creepy concepts would have been better than the one they ended up using?

For more, check out the other photos over at /Film.