It’s often said that “Superman doesn’t have good villains” but I don’t think that’s right. Superman’s Rogue’s Gallery is actually one of the better ones in comics. The problem is because of the movies. The more casual fans think it’s just Lex Luthor and General Zod (who only ever does one thing in the comics and thats die).
15 The Ambush Bug
More nuisance than menace the 4th wall breaker had his whole gimmick stolen by Deadpool (complete with teleportation). Ambush Bug’s whole motivation was he wanted his own series and would annoy the Man of Steel to get a fanbase. DC’s biggest mistake was not promoting this character further, predating the Merc with the Mouth’s meta stories by a whole decade. Ambush Bug should be more popular but, no, he’s an obscure character who only gets mentioned by “Holier than thou” fans when Deadpool is mentioned.
14 Mongul
Intergalactic tyrant and war-lord Mongul makes the 14th spot. Forcing mortal-men to fight for his amusement and then crushing any who oppose him with his bare hands. Mongul is ruthless and works equally well as an antagonist for the Green Lantern Corp.
13 The Intergang
Who are the Integang? Nobody actually knows. A mysterious organisation dedicated to crime. Known members include Morgan Edge (the DC Universe’s version of Rupert Murdoch). This secret organisation is devoted to Darkseid and his goals to make earth a second Apokolips and to find the Anti-Life Equation (a formula to remove free will from all living beings in the universe)
12 Silver Banshee
An ancient Irish curse, The Silver Banshee as the name suggests has amazing screaming abilities. But more deadly is her other magical abilities including the ability to kill somebody by touching them but only if she knows their real name. Keeping a secret identity has saved Superman many times, leading her to search for his real name. Silver Banshee is quite low on the list because she’s often used more as Supergirl’s enemy.
11 Titano
He’s a Giant Ape with laser beams that shoot out of his eyes. What’s not to like?
10 The Prankster
The Distraction for hire, The Prankster makes a great second banana to any super villain scheme. He may never be a great lead villain but causing distractions for Superman to have to deal with while the other villain carries out a bigger scheme.
9 Maxima
DC has rules about female villains… So DC publication keep ruining this character. The selfish tyrant warrior queen of the planet Almeric. Maxima believes only one man is worthy of fathering her heirs and that’s Superman. Really the archenemy of Lois Lane Maxima’s unique motivations for antagonising The Man of Tomorrow is under-utilised especially as Superman has “No interesting in fathering Despots”. DC Editorial keep trying to make Maxima a hero, but it doesn’t work. She ends up as just a generic super-being.
8 The Parasite
He lives up to his name, craving power at any cost. The Parasite is a superpowered junkie wanting to feed off life-force and power. The more powerful the more he wants to feed and the more he feeds the stronger he becomes. DC have tried to make him a joke (for reasons that only make sense to them) but he makes Doomsday entirely redundant as the more you fight the Parasite the weaker you become and the stronger he is. Parasite is unrealised potential as his best stories are the second Superman/Spider-man intracompany crossover and an issue of Green Arrow (which dealt with the parasite’s inability to control himself and his constant pain wanting to feed off super beings).
7 The Toyman
There have been multiple Toymen but Winslow Schott is the best one (when done right). Winslow is a luddite hating progress (making him an obvious antagonist for the man of tomorrow). But also tragic; he’s obsessed with Toys and wants to be known as the world’s greatest toy-maker. His obsession with toys comes from his previous employment as a toy designer but he also became obsessed with clock-work robotics after the death of his son. While this obsession with automatons is a ret-con to remove the other Toymen from continuity it was a rare one that fixed a problem (Thank YOU Geoff Johns), making Schott Jr a mistake that killed Cat Grant’s son (some self awareness there).
6 Metallo
Have you ever hated someone so much that you’d transform yourself into a machine-man powered by Kryptonite? If so you’re Metallo. He’s that single-minded more so than Lex Luthor you wonder how he’d even get out of bed if Superman died.
5 Mr Mxyzptlk
The power to shape all of reality to your whims and how do you spend your days? Trying to make Superman look silly. With an unpronounceable name and one that’s harder to spell. Official DC properties can’t decide sometimes Mixell-plix, Mixer-Spit-Licks, Mixi-Spitter-Licks and any variant between them, (Ra’s Al Ghul pronunciation debate has nothing on this 5th Dimension Imp).
4 Darkseid
IT’S PRONOUNCED DARK SIDE! The living avatar of hatred, hatred feeds him and makes him stronger. You can not defeat Darkseid, he is hatred itself reborn. Darkseid is pain, Darkseid is suffering. The tyrant only wants the universe to worship him and will use the Anti-Life equation to purify his hatred for all things. Some may argue that Darkseid is not a Superman villain but Darkseid is. Superman may not be Darkseid’s archenemy but no hero has fought Darkseid more than the Man of Steel.
3 Bizarro
HiM Am BiZArRo! A distorted parody of Superman that is Bizarro. He’s often called the opposite of Superman but, as Seinfeld pointed out, he can’t be. Bizarro is an illogical version of the Hero. No one understands Bizarro but that’s what makes his clashes with Superman so interesting he’s unpredictable not the logical thinker of his counterpart.
2 Lex Luthor
Inevitable really Superman’s most famous enemy, a self centred billionaire. Lex Luthor never does anything that doesn’t benefit him, he’s a selfish manipulator. At times unredeemable he’s completely amoral and can’t stand the fact he’s not as loved as Superman. Lex Luthor often uses the excuse that he could do unselfish things but Superman stops him but this is an excuse. Superman never forced him to try and buy women. Luthor is obsessed with Lois Lane because she rejects him. He can’t stand the idea of not having something and the more of a challenge the more he wants it. Cold and cruel lacking any empathy or humanity Luthor is almost the perfect counterpoint to Superman.
The problem with Lex Luthor is he’s best used sparingly, as a looming threat too much and he becomes cartoonish and too many schemes undermine his genius.
1 Brainiac
If done right Brainiac is Superman’s greatest enemy because he is his greatest dark mirror. Brainiac like Superman wants to save things but Brainiac wants to save them by removing their freedom keeping them in jars to be studied. Brainiac is a bad omen, your world is doomed as Superman’s goal is to save the earth and prevent it from turning into another Krypton. This works better than the lazier versions that have Brainiac destroy planets.
Both Superman and Brainiac perform experiments but Brainiac has no compassion only logic and curiosity. Their feud continues because Brainiac’s collection is incomplete since Superman stole the bottled city of Kandor and Brainiac will do anything to get it back including blowing up another potential piece of his collection.
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