I don't mean to say the Joker wasn't devious in his own right, but a lot of that stuff he pulled was more daring than anything else. The fat guy was complaining about his stomach pains and the guards chose to ignore him. Had they chose to help their fate would have been much different, I'm sure. The boat bombs were also pretty daring in that he left ample time for someone to out think him rather than just do it.

I like the word you used though, elaborate. That's what it all boils down to for the Joker. Do something people will notice. It wasn't a guarantee that any of his plans would work, there was certainly a chance that someone would have found the cell phone bomb before he had time to activate it. He only did it to see if he could get away with it, this stuff is fun for him. The Joker's insane, it makes more sense to incarcerate him because there's always that chance he could be saved. Ra's was set in his ways, and even threatened to keep coming back until the job's done. That's not out of your mind battit crazy, that's determined, and I think the admission to having some small part in Bruce's parent's murders probably fueled the choice to let him die.

It all goes back to story though. Joker v Batman has been a feud for the ages. It's a dance, Batman catches Joker, Joker escapes, rinse, repeat. Ra's is immortal, as a legacy in the movie, literally in the comics. His death was meaningful to the story as a whole, whereas the Joker's wouldn't have been.

But this isn't the topic and I'm just falling further away from my original point, which I still don't remember. :/ Heroes are just... meant to be held to a higher standard. To kill for a greater good is good and all, I guess, but they wouldn't be any kind of role model that way. How can you fight for justice if you're a vigilante?