10 Best DC Characters Who Became Villains Years Later

DC Comics has been giving readers the best characters in the history of comics for decades. Whether they be heroes, villains, or supporting characters, many of them have grown and changed over the years, fueling stories that have kept readers glued to DC Comics for decades. One of the most interesting turns that a story can take is when a character who started one way, let’s say as a heroic character, ends up as a villain. These turns take a character that was going one way and put them on a completely different path, giving readers bold new takes on their favorites.

Over the years, DC has introduced plenty of characters as heroes or friends of heroes and then flipped the script on them. They became villains years of the highest order and gave readers some brilliant stories. These ten DC characters debuted heroic but years later became villains, fueling some of the best DC stories ever.

10) Jason Todd

Jason Todd was introduced as the second Robin and at first was just a Dick Grayson rip-off. Seriously, go and read his pre-Crisis debut; it’s a Dick’s origin pastiche. He didn’t exactly reach the heights of his predecessor, so post-Crisis he was made into the angry mouthy Robin. Fans didn’t like that either, so they voted to kill him off and he was dead for years. “Hush” saw him come back, but it was a bait and switch (that was also later revealed to be a bait and switch; there are layers to this) and he would actually return in “Under the Red Hood” as a villain. He was amazing as the new Red Hood, a perfect villain for Batman. However, he was soon made into the mouthy Bat-Family member all over again and DC hasn’t really known what to do with Jason Todd for years.

9) Hawk

Hank Hall was introduced as Hawk in 1968, co-created by Spider-Man creator Steve Ditko. Hawk and Dove were powered by the Lords of Chaos and Order respectively; Hawk was the violent one and Dove was the peaceful one. Don Hall, the first Dove, died in Crisis and was later replaced by Dawn Granger. They had their fans, but they weren’t super popular. The identity of Armageddon 2001‘s Monarch was leaked to the public in 1991 before it ended and they switched it to Hawk on the fly. Since then, Monarch has become the even more powerful Extant and a non-Monarch/Extant version of the hero -reappeared, establishing that the villainous Hawk was an alternate universe version.

8) Absolute Hawkman

Hawkman is one of DC’s greatest heroes, a founding member of the Justice Society, a Justice Leaguer who brought the Thanagarians into the fold, and a complicated but awesome bruiser in the present (go back and Venditi run from 2018). Joe Kubert did Hawkman stories, which should really say it all about how awesome the character is. The Absolute Universe has been setting the comic industry on fire, giving readers a new DC Universe under the control of Darkseid, giving us a different look at the familiar. In the fantastic Absolute Evil #1, we got introduced to Absolute Hawkman and it’s been awesome. Hawkman has always been played as a conservative, so making him into a fascist fits beautifully. He killed Oliver Queen, brutally ending one of DC’s most storied rivalries, and has battled Superman. He’s an amazing alternate Hawkman and hopefully he’ll be around for a long time (and get to fight the mainline Hawkman).

7) Terra

Once upon a time, the New Teen Titans were DC’s most popular team. Fans loved Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s teen heroes and the book was a license to print money. Issue #26 introduced Terra, a powerful geokinetic who would join the team with issue #30. Fans loved the mouthy loner with a heart of gold… then it was revealed that her heart was merely gold-plated. She was a spy for Deathstroke and tried to destroy her friends, dying in the attempt. DC has tried to bring her back as a hero using alternate universe versions and continuity reboots, but her villain turn is still one of the most shocking moments ever.

6) Obsidian

Obsidian is the son of Alan Scott, him and his twin sister Jade being born from a dalliance with the villain Thorn and adopted by different families. Jade had been born with the Starheart’s power and Obsidian’s abilities connected him to the Shadowlands, allowing him to use the energy of darkness as a weapon. However, his life was much harder than Jade’s – his adoptive family was abusive and he was a closeted gay man – and this combined with the power of darkness saw him fall to villainy. He’s battled his father, sister, and the Justice Society many times over the years, most notably in the amazing “Princes of Darkness”, and has been on the straight narrow since the mid ’00s, although he was recently replaced by Johnny Sorrow, who used Obsidian as a vessel to mess with the Justice Society.

5) Maxwell Lord

DC is the best at building events and Maxwell Lord’s villain turn is an example of this. Lord was introduced as the financier to the post-Crisis Justice League, and was an amazing part or the Justice League International comics. Fans loved the smarmy ’80s businessman but Countdown to Infinite Crisis would reveal the truth behind the character: he was a member of Checkmate keeping tabs on the heroes. Since then, he’s been a great master manipulator, using his telepathic powers against the people who once called him friend.

4) Professor Niles Caulder

Professor Niles Caulder was key to the creations of Robotman, Negative Man, and Elasti-Girl. The Doom Patrol was the world’s weirdest team, but they didn’t know that there was a dark secret behind their accidents – Caulder not only played a role in giving them their new lives, but also set up their accidents so that he could experiment on them. He ended up being one of the biggest villains of Grant Morrison’s run on the team, and while DC has redeemed him to an extent, there’s always the potential to make him an amazing villain again.

3) Alexander Luthor

Alexander Luthor is the son of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor of Earth-Three, launched away from their world by his parents as Crisis destroyed their world. This Superman parallel isn’t exactly subtle, and Luthor was aged up quickly, given anti-matter powers, and made into a weapon in the Monitor’s arsenal against the Anti-Monitor. He insured the destruction of the villain and went to a paradise dimension with Superboy-Prime and Earth-Two’s Superman and Lois Lane, but the darkness of the world they saved spurs him and Prime to decide to change the universe at a fundamental level. They worked against the heroes behind the scenes. He was co-big bad of Infinite Crisis, losing his life at the end of the story, transforming from an amazing hero to the kind of villain he would have fought.

2) Hal Jordan as Parallax

Hal Jordan is one of DC’s greatest heroes, but the destruction of Coast City in the ’90s broke him. It left him open to fear, which allowed the fear entity Parallax to take him over. He destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, stealing its power, and was dispatched by Kyle Rayner. He returned in Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time, revealing that he was the power behind Extant’s schemes in a bid to restore the multiverse for his friends. He stayed a villain until The Final Night, when he decided to give his life to save the Sun. For a couple of years, he was an amazing villain that redefined the DC Universe, adding greatly to the legacy of Hal Jordan.

1) Superboy-Prime

Superboy-Prime is hot as the sun right now, finally living up to the heroism of his early appearances in Crisis on Infinite Earths. He was the Clark Kent of Earth-Prime, our Earth, and joined the battle against the Anti-Monitor. However, much like Alexander Luthor, this one-time comic fan hated what the DC Universe became. He kind of lost his mind for a while, using his powers to kill anyone who stood against him and trying to destroy Superman, the Flashes, the Legion of Superheroes, Captain Marvel, and basically the whole universe. His redemption has been a work in progress for almost 20 years now, making the character even better.

Who’s you favorite DC character turned villain? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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