Well my friends the time has come. I said last time I would do my
favorite villains, so here we go. Problem is, this is ten times harder.
Heroes tend to always be basically the same. Oh sure the gimmicks my
change but heroes are always heroes. Villains are another story!
Villains have to be interesting, engaging, menacing, even scary to keep
readers coming back. The amazing thing about Batman’s villains for
instance isn’t how many of them are, it’s the fact that each and every
one has something unique and special about them.
So whittling down this list was not easy. You’ll see that a lot of the villains bare a close resemblance to my favorite story lines ever. But without a good villain you can’t have good stories. But here we go, my ten favorite villains. And this is based only on the comic books, not on any TV, cartoon, or movie versions. Again, that would be a different list.
#10.Monarch
This one is hard to justify since DC botched this character. You have to believe me, this is a personal choice. It’s a long story but in 1991 DC Comics had an event called Armageddon 2001 where a hero was supposed to be a villain. Yeah it turned out to be Hawk which was really lame, but I liked Monarch. He was a real bad ass. So much so that when I would write silly fan fiction as a kid he was the main villain. Well there were two others but they aren’t worth mentioning here. So I am cheating a little here since I said they had to come from the comics, but he was a cool there too and if DC had gone with their original plans the character would have been better.
#9.Catwoman
Selina Kyle, what else can I say? The thing about Catwoman that I like isn’t that she’s a good villain. It’s the chemistry between her and Batman. It’s a chemistry almost all versions of Batman have carried over successfully. She’s one of the few villains who would get her own series and have it be successful (another example is further on the list). At one point she was the mother of the Huntress but that got changed after the Crisis event. She has many changes to her design, and to her backstory, but she always remains one feisty feline you don’t want to mess with. And not matter what she always has her eyes on Batman.
#8.Killer Frost/Dr.Light
I couldn’t decide so I use them both. Most of the villains that Firestorm faced were on the goofy side. And that was fine, it was a lighter comic. I mean in many issues Firestorm battled mafia hit men. Yay, big thrills. Killer Frost was a big exception. Besides I needed at least one more female villain on here. Her freeze powers were awesome but was really different with her was her cold, black heart. She hated all men, and she could kind of scary. Dr.Light was a serious threat, the JLA considered him a smart and dangerous villain who you don’t mess with. Then he started to get a bad reputation as a goofball loser. This was later retconned in the Identity Crisis story. And I hate to say it but….that retcon kind of makes sense form Dr.Light’s perspective. I’ve read those stories, and it always seemed odd how in one story even Batman had respect for him as a serious villain, and then with The Titans he was suddenly a loser. It would have been nice if the retcon didn’t involve rape, that was unnecessary, but putting that side the retcom made a bit of sense. Light was one of the earliest foes the JLA fought..and he won!
#7.Sinestro
I first grew fond of Sinestro in the Superfriends cartoon, he was one of the few villains done justice. And this is not a cheat, since I also liked him as a villain in the comics. Sinestro is basically the exact opposite of Hal Jordan. He was the best until he decided to turn to evil, and became the ultimate villain for the Green Lantern’s. The thing about Sinestro is that he knows how the Green Lantern’s operate, and can use that against them. He also has no mercy, and I guess in recent years has been a true menace even more than he was in the old days.
#6.Deathstroke, The Terminator
Terminator as a character was pretty cool, being a badass who could do all kinds of things with no real powers. Just heightened natural abilities. But the Judas Contract story line in New Teen Titans worked so well because of his role with the sociopath Terra. Terminator has one of those rare things, an interesting backstory that makes sense! Yeah in that Judas Contract story they give his backstory, and it may be the best part of the comic! Terminator is a bad ass mercenary and actually tends to flip for good to evil, almost negating him from this list. But my favorite stories with him he was definitely a bad guy, so it counts.
#5.Reverse Flash
This was a tough one, because I never really read the stuff he was in. I did finally read the Trial of the Flash a whole two years ago. But one of my favorite story lines from the Wally West era was a story line called “The Return of Barry Allen”. Long story short, it was really Professor Zoom here. The truth is most of the Flash villains were goofy or silly, none were really menacing. They’d rob banks for pete’s sake! This one was the exception. Not only did he want to flat out murder Barry Allen, but he killed his wife Iris! Well not really in the end but I’m not getting in that story now. It seems like an obvious idea, just reverse the colors and viola…villain! But his back story, from the future, and character are so well done that the color of his uniform is the last thing you remember hin for!
#4.Darkseid
This was the big badass I always loved when I was a kid. It seemed like every time the heroes of Earth were really tested, Darkseid was the one behind it. Coming from the hell hole Apokolips, he was the master of that world and ruled it like a slum. His servants were loyal to him only because that knew he would eliminate them instantly. His quest was for something called the anti-life equation and would do whatever he could to obtain that. He has lately become more of a Superman villain, but to me he is to big for that. In fact the only Legion story I ever read was The Great Darkness Saga. Guess who the villain was? He was very strong and powerful, even defeating Doomsday (albeit just barely). Oh sure sometimes he does goofy things like playing with action fingers, sending out war hounds to attack heroes, and enjoying a nice martini on a comfy sofa…but the truth is he is one of the most dangerous beings in the universe and everyone fears his name.
#3.Lex Luthor
Luthor is simply the perfect villain for Superman. He is cunning, smart, and believes that everyone is beneath him. Of course he hates Superman! Superman uses his powers for good and to help people..Luthor could never accept that! Honestly he was a one note villain in the old days, until Marv Wolfman recreated him and gave him a backstory that made sense. In the old days Luthor hated Superboy for no good reason honestly (how dare you save my life! I will spend the rest of my days getting vengeance with over the top, stupid inventions!!). He is one of the few villains who can carry a story all by himself, now that’s pretty cool! He has been through a lot of changes, including being president for a time, but it was the businessman version I thought made the most sense. He knew what he wanted and did whatever he could to get it, even if it meant hurting and even killing. When he got kryptonite he could have killed Superman, but decided to draw the game out and torment the hero. And no matter what he did, or who he hurt, he always came out looking like some humanitarian to the general populace.
#2.The Joker
I wasn’t the biggest fan of this guy at first to be honest. In the old days he was more goofy then deadly serious. But then two things made me change my mind. Well, three things. One was the Batman movie when Jack Nicholson fleshed him out a bit. Second was The Killing Joke, what an amazing story that was. That led to a TPB called The Greatest Joker Stories Ever Told. The thing with the Joker I think is you have to realize the character is a real tragedy. While we never know his origin (even in The Killing Joke we get flashbacks only to have Joker admit his backstory changes in his mind) we know he’s someone who went way over the deep end…..but he’s still smart enough to be Batman’s biggest rival. The Joker simply is evil. He kills without hesitation or remorse, and for no real reason either. Batman has fought him time and time again. The best Joker story (aside from the Alan Moore one) was when he killed Jason Todd. That was the thing which made Batman say enough was enough, and in the end he still got away.
#1.Cyborg Superman
Why is this guy #1? I mean he’s certainly a bad ass villain but what about him makes him bigger than Luthor in my mind? When the Return of Superman was playing out, I had no idea he would be the villain. And was very surprised to see that page when Mongul bows down to him! WTF? Then his secret identity was revealed as Hank Henshaw. Long story there if you don’t know it…but HOW DID I NOT SEE THAT COMING?? Yeah they fooled me and surprised me. And it made sense! Oh, and did I mention how this bastard BLEW UP AN ENTIRE CITY! I mean villains in comic books kill people, but not like that! Usually if they do it’s an alien planet so the reader wont care. This was DC Comics version of LOS ANGELES! He is a total loon but also a very cunning not to mention nearly unstoppable villain, and it was nice for once to read a story where the villain was an honest to god surprise that did not disappoint! Yes I know he has appeared since then and all, but i haven’t read most of those stories.
Yeah the honorable mention list could go on all day. General Zod? Am I the only to never care about this character? Bane? Eh. Two-Face? Sorry to say it took me a long time to really get that character, thank you Christopher Nolan. Cheetah? Was lame until her George Perez make over made her badass. Brainiac? Yeah tough call on that one, just ran out of room. Doomsday? There really isn’t much to him to like as a character. Time Trapper from Legion of Superheroes almost made it on here. The Anti-Monitor? A little to obvious.
Ok comment and let me know who you think I should have on here, I am sure there are plenty more I missed.
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