DC Comics has amazing heroes, and the reason they’ve reached that level is because of the quality of their villains. DC has created the most important antagonists in comics. Without characters like the Ultra-Humanite, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Two-Face, Reverse-Flash, Sinestro, Gorilla Grodd, Brainiac, and many more, supervillains in comics would look very different. Each hero has their own group of villains, each of them tailor made to the face off against their heroic enemy. Sometimes, they work together, trying to use numbers to take down the most formidable heroes ever, and other times they go solo, their powers and abilities allowing them to fight against the most formidable heroes around.
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These rogues gallery run the gamut from street-level to cosmic depending on the hero they face, sometimes outsmarting their foes and others using brute force. However, regardless of their power level, the worst of them are some of the most terrifying groups of villains you can imagine. They can freeze the blood of any hero out there; more often than not, they would run through any hero they face that isn’t theirs. These five DC rogues galleries are some of the most terrifying around, and one of them can destroy everything if they tried.
5) The Flash’s
The Flash’s enemies are superlatively powerful, mostly because they have to be. The Flashes are some of the most formidable heroes out there, so anyone that fights them needs to be potent. Because of this, many of his villains have teamed together as the Rogues. This group of gimmick villains is ridiculously skilled; they fight the fastest hero ever and they have to be smart and skilled to survive against someone who can move at the speed of light. They can do a lot of damage, but they aren’t the scariest of the Scarlet Speedster’s foes. There’s Gorilla Grodd, a monstrous man-eater with powerful telepathic powers and an army of enraged super strong gorillas most of the time. There’s Reverse Flash, who will do anything to hurt Barry Allen, messing with time itself. Godspeed and Savitar are both ridiculously powerful speedsters and Zoom uses time control to be faster than just about anyone you can imagine. If they all decided to work together and attack the world, they would do immeasurable damage, a powerful, skilled group of enemies who should never be underestimated.
4) John Constantine’s
John Constantine is one of the most powerful and skilled magic users on the planet. The former punk rocker from Liverpool has been walking the night and protecting the day from the worst magical threats. While he doesn’t really have a traditional rogues gallery – his enemies don’t usually stay around long enough to become big names. He usually ends up fighting the demons of Hell, evil spirits of all kinds, dark gods, and the like. He battles against the worst things in the night, enemies that can only be defeated by someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to win. If some superheroes lose, a bank might get robbed. There might be a few deaths. If John fails, the legions of the night will come ever closer to unleashing Hell on Earth. Sometimes, heroes can fight the villains of their fellows and win, but that’s not the case with Constantine. Even other magical heroes don’t want to deal with his foes, because the meanest demons in Hell are always following him.
3) Green Lantern’s
There have been numerous Green Lanterns over the years, but the one who has developed the greatest rogues gallery is easily Hal Jordan. He spent the most time as the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, battling enemies like Sinestro, Star Sapphire, Black Hand, Evil Star, Krona, and more. Then, of course, there’s the Sinestro Corps, the Red Lantern Corps, Larfleeze, Nekron and the Black Lanterns, the Third Army, Volthoom, the Manhunters, the demons of Ryut, the Blackstars, the Controllers, and the Zamorans. Hal’s enemies are sometimes solitary alien conquerors, sometimes members of the various Lantern Corps, intergalactic criminals, and evil forces of nature like Parallax. Some of them can shake the very universe itself. Hal has been thrown into battle with the worst enemies you can imagine throughout the universe. They are the worst of the worst, the monsters who threaten entire solar systems. It’s a good thing that Hal is able to overcome great fear; he faces the scariest forces in the universe (and also the embodiment of the energy of fear).
2) Superman’s
Superman is the greatest hero in the universe and he faces off against the most powerful enemies you can imagine. There’s the various Kryptonians like Zod, Ursa, Non, Jax-Ur, and the Phantom Zone Criminals. There’s the Parasite, Metallo, and Mongul, all powerful enemies who can fight him to a standstill. There’s the monster Doomsday, the Cyborg Superman, Atomic Skull, Silver Banshee, the Ultra-Humanite, Mister Mxyzptlk, Manchester Black, and many more. Then, of course, there’s bad guys like Lex Luthor and Brainac, two of the most dangerous geniuses in the universe. Many people would include Darkseid in that number, like the above picture, but even without him, there are still powerful villains that could devastate all of creation. If Superman’s enemies ever got together and decided to work as a group (if Lex, Brainiac, and the Ultra-Humanite don’t betray everyone at least once a piece), the entire DC Multiverse could easily fall to them. Superman doesn’t really get scared all that often, but these are the foes that flap even him.
1) Batman’s
Batman is an interesting case of a hero. Outside of Gotham City, he’s always one of the most formidable heroes out there. He has plans to beat just about anyone and uses resources that he doesn’t really get to use against his own enemies. He’s been the key to some of the greatest victories in the Justice League history and he’s constantly outsmarting every enemy out there. However, in Gotham, his enemies are constantly outclassing him. Batman faces the most dangerous enemies you can imagine; sure, the Joker doesn’t have any powers, but he’s a man for whom death is like breathing. Ra’s al Ghul has an army of assassins and pools that bring him back to life. Bane has broken him numerous times. Two-Face, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Black Mask, Zsasz, and many more have all almost killed the Dark Knight numerous times. Everyone is scared of Batman’s enemies; these are villains who outsmart and outfight the one hero that everyone is afraid of.
What’s your favorite DC rogues gallery? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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