Supergirl: Season One’s Top Five Villains

There’s an old saying that a hero is defined by their villains and Supergirl had plenty of great villains to fight throughout her first season on television. Supergirl had her hands full this season, fighting old Superman villains, extraterrestrial convicts and threats lurking far closer than home. Some of Supergirl’s enemies were supervillains pulled straight out of the comics, while others were radical re-imaginings, but each tested Supergirl in surprising ways. However, the one common threat that links all of Supergirl’s villains together is that Kara managed to stop them all, sometimes with a little help from her friends.

Since Supergirl is now on its break, let’s take a look at five of the Girl of Steel’s biggest threats this year:

Non and Astra

Fights among family can often turn nasty in a hurry, as shown by the season long battle between Supergirl and her aunt and uncle Non and Astra.  Astra was a respected general on Krypton before her sister (and Kara’s mother) Alura imprisoned her and Non for plotting to take over Krypton with the mind control device Myriad. Ironically, Non and Alura’s hope was to use Myriad to prevent Krypton’s imminent destruction, a fate they escaped from during their imprisonment. When Fort Rozz fell to Earth thanks to Kara’s rocket, Astra and Non rallied their forces to utilize Myriad to prevent their second home from suffering the same fate as Krypton.

Astra’s group stayed hidden until Supergirl went public with her powers and began working with the DEO, which hunted escaped Fort Rozz prisoners. While Supergirl, Astra and Non had several confrontations throughout the first part of the season, there was a line neither side wanted to cross…largely because they were family after all.  That all changed when Non and Astra made their final move to implement Myriad. During an excursion to plant Myriad technology within National City’s power grid, Alex (Kara’s adopted sister) killed Astra with a kryptonite sword before the Kryptonian could kill J’onn J’onnz.  Meanwhile, Non and Supergirl’s fought in a brutal beatdown as Supergirl wanted revenge for Non planting a Black Mercy in her apartment, leaving her in a dream-like state where she thought she was back on Krypton and reunited with her family.  

Non and Supergirl’s grudge continued after Astra’s death, as Non promised he would kill Supergirl and finish his wife’s plan. Non successfully implemented Myriad, but Supergirl reversed its mind controlling properties by broadcasting a message of hope to the city. She then convincingly beat her uncle in a final confrontation outside of Fort Rozz, overpowering his heat vision and possibly burning out his eyes in the process. It looks like Non survived his battle with Supergirl, but we won’t know what state he’s in until next season. 

Red Tornado

A longtime DC superhero in the comics, Supergirl producers re-imagined Red Tornado as one of Supergirl’s first major threats. Professor T.O. Morrow created Red Tornado as a “Kryptonian Killer”, an android designed to fight Superman and Supergirl to a standstill. Armed with missiles, super-strong armor and technology that could create tornados, Red Tornado fought Supergirl at the behest of General Sam Lane, who wanted to test the robot’s abilities.  Supergirl got the upper hand on the robot during its first encounter, but it escaped and went rogue.  

Red Tornado started attacking Lane and his daughter, although the DEO learned that the android was still under the control of Morrow, who didn’t want to lose his years of hard work.  After Alex killed Morrow while he was linked to Red Tornado, the android went rogue and almost killed Supergirl.  With no other option, Supergirl unleashed her solar flare ability and incinerated the robot with a superpowered blast of heat vision. However, her battle with the robot left her totally drained of energy and powerless for several days. 

Indigo

Played by ex-Supergirl Laura Vandervoort, Indigo was one of the more unique and dangerous threats Kara and her friends faced this season. While Indigo had the requisite superstrength that most of Supergirl’s enemies had, she also has a sadistic personality, the ability to transmute her body and travel through any computer.

Indigo first appeared when she crippled National City with a cyber attack, hoping to cause enough distraction to take over a nuclear missile base. Indigo managed to launch one missile, but Supergirl diverted it while Winn crippled the Coluan with a supervirus.

Unfortunately for Supergirl, Indigo was more than just a “villain of the week”, she was also Non’s ex-lover and the reason both Supergirl and the Fort Rozz prisoners were on Earth. Indigo had hacked Kara’s rocket while it was in the Phantom Zone and used it to push Fort Rozz towards Earth.  After her first encounter with Supergirl, Indigo became Non’s lieutenant when he unleashed Myriad upon National City. Indigo pushed Non towards eliminating the entire human race, but met a gruesome end when she was literally ripped in half by J’onn Jonzz.

Jemm

Another DC superhero re-imagined as a villain, Jemm helped bring the mystery of who Hank Henshaw really was to a startling end. A prisoner at the DEO, Jemm escaped when an earthquake struck National City. With Supergirl powerless after she used her solar flare ability, the DEO went on lock down as Jemm prowled the underground bunker looking for blood. With formidable psychic abilities and superstrength, Jemm was more powerful for any DEO agent…at least any human DEO agent.

When Jemm went after Alex, Hank finally revealed his own abilities and fought the Last Son of Saturn to a standstill. When Hank broke the alien’s neck, Alex realized that Hank wasn’t human, leading to one of the biggest moments of the first season.  

White Martian

In terms of brute strength, the White Martian was one of the biggest threats Supergirl faced all season.  The White Martians had the same powers as Green Martians: shapeshifting, telepathy, and superstrength, but with a far more predatory and dangerous attitude.  On Mars, the White Martians exterminated J’onn’s entire race, leaving him as his species’ last survivor.

J’onn and Supergirl learned the White Martians had arrived on Earth when one attacked a rally held by Senator Miranda Crane, a politician known for her anti-alien sentiments. It turned out that the White Martian had sensed J’onn’s presence and wanted to lure him out.  The White Martian’s plan worked…somewhat, although it wasn’t prepared to fight both J’onn and Supergirl. The two captured the White Martian and imprisoned it inside the DEO, but it looks like the White Martian threat might be more than a one episode problem.