The evil lair is a classic trope used by many criminal masterminds who want to work on their plans for world or universal domination without fear of being discovered by superheroes. In both DC and Marvel Comics, supervillains have headquarters to store their weapons, to manage their minions, and to rest after spending all day running from the law. While some criminals are content to use basic warehouses as hideouts, others put far more time and effort into creating extravagant, iconic fortresses with numerous guards and death traps. Some lairs are placed far away from human civilization so that no one can find them. In contrast, others are hidden in plain sight, masquerading as seemingly legitimate businesses.
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Every villain needs a place where they can take off their mask, relax and make evil plans, and these terrifying headquarters of death are where they call home.
10) Amusement Mile
For the Clown Prince of Crime, an abandoned amusement park is the perfect place to lay low and build gag-based weapons of mass destruction. Amusement Mile has been left to rot for decades, and despite numerous plans to revitalize the park, they always fall through thanks to Gotham’s countless supervillain attacks. The Joker often traps the remnants of Amusement Mile with deadly booby traps, ensuring that the Dynamic Duo must watch their every step when they enter. Amusement Mile has been the site of many of the Joker’s battles with Batman and the rest of the Bat-Family, with the Clown Prince of Crime using the environment of various rundown attractions to his advantage.
9) Murderworld
The headquarters of the psychopathic X-Men villain Arcade, Murderworld is a customizable amusement-park-themed deathtrap. A villain for hire, Arcade will trap any hero in a Murderworld for the right price or if he thinks it will be fun. From his control center, Arcade gleefully oversees the various holograms and killer robots that plague the heroes stuck in Murderworld. These lairs take on all different shapes and sizes, including one that looked like a gigantic pinball machine. The most twisted version of Murderworld was an entire secret island that Arcade had turned into an arena where 16 teenage superheroes were forced to fight each other to the death. Even more sadistically, the battles were livestreamed for the world to see.
8) Karnak
From his secret headquarters called Karnak in Antarctica, the hero-turned villain Ozymandias of the Watchmen Universe watched the world burn. As a building designed by the world’s smartest man, Karnak is the pinnacle of architectural innovation. Karnak contains a greenhouse, a pool, a lab, a gym, a meditation chamber, and a wall adorned with countless TV monitors so that Ozymandias can know everything that’s happening in the world. Impressively, Karnak is outfitted with eight tachyon generators that interfere with the omnipotent Doctor Manhattan’s precognitive abilities, making it so he can’t foresee Ozymandias’s evil plan. And Ozymandias witnessed from his innumerable monitors the fruition of his plan to unite the world under the pretense of a fake alien invasion.
7) Ship
Created by the ancient, god-like alien race known as the Celestials, Ship is a sentient spacecraft that crash-landed on Earth and was retooled by the mutant villain Apocalypse to further his goal of world domination. Initially, Apocalypse couldn’t control Ship. However, that changed when he became infected with a technorganic virus which gave him the ability to manipulate all forms of technology. Even Ship, with its powerful AI and Celestial technology, found itself the unwilling servant of Apocalypse. Ship operates as Apocalypse’s mobile headquarters and warship, where he plots his next schemes and uses the Celestial Death Seed to turn powerful mutants into his loyal Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Eventually breaking free from Apocalypse’s control, Ship is the only evil lair that has rebelled against its owner.
6) Iceberg Lounge
When Batman’s enemy, the Penguin, first appeared in comics, he was an outlandish villain who mostly operated in abandoned warehouses and sewers. However, over time, the character evolved into a more realistic crime lord. He now uses the hip nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge as the front for his operations. Behind the glitz, glamour, and Antarctic-themed design, the Iceberg Lounge is a hotspot for Gotham City’s criminal underworld. While guests party on the upper floors, the Penguin plots intricate schemes and murders anyone who crosses him. The Iceberg Lounge represents the Penguin becoming a more intelligent and grounded threat for the Dark Knight.
5) LexCorp Tower
Where Superman has his Fortress of Solitude in the barren Arctic landscape, Lex Luthor has his home base standing tall in the middle of Metropolis for all to see. This 96-story skyscraper is the headquarters of the multinational corporation LexCorp, which focuses on advanced technology. Of course, within the walls of LexCorp Tower, the company’s resources are mostly spent on increasing Luthor’s power and finding ways to kill the Man of Steel. LexCorp Tower holds Luthor’s extensive arsenal of armors, weapons, and laboratories that conduct human experiments. Fortunately for Luthor, he has so many lawyers and political connections that there’s no way for law enforcement to get a warrant to uncover all the illegal operations Luthor is conducting right in the midst of Metropolis.
4) Asteroid M
In one of his most incredible feats, Magneto used his mastery of magnetism to create an entire space station that orbits the Earth so that neither humanity nor the X-Men could reach him. Like an evil version of the Justice League’s Watchtower, Asteroid M has acted as the home base for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the Acolytes. And despite some versions being over a cubic mile in size, Asteroid M’s defense systems ensure that it’s undetectable by conventional instruments. Of course, despite Asteroid M’s high altitude and heavy defenses, it has been sent plummeting to Earth multiple times. Still, no matter how many times Asteroid M is destroyed, Magneto can whip up a new one with his magnetic powers.
3) Castle Doom
From his foreboding 16th-century castle, Doctor Doom rules over the country of Latveria with an iron fist and schemes to conquer the rest of the world. Like Doctor Doom himself, Castle Doom is a combination of medieval designs with state-of-the-art technology and it has become an impenetrable fortress. Located high on a mountaintop overlooking Doom’s homeland, Castle Doom is patrolled by an army of Doombots. Castle Doom has over a hundred rooms, including a throne room, two ballrooms, numerous laboratories, a library, and even a museum dedicated to Latveria’s history and relics. And even though Castle Doom is rumored to be haunted by ghosts, the true danger within its walls will always be Doctor Doom himself.
2) Hall of Doom
The headquarters of the Legion of Doom, the Hall of Doom, is where DC Comics’ most nefarious villains plot to destroy the Justice League. Just like the Hall of Justice, the Hall of Doom made its first appearance in the Super Friends cartoon. Hidden in Slaughter Swamp just outside Gotham City, the Hall of Doom can sink beneath the water to avoid detection. On top of a massive meeting room, the Hall of Doom has a prison where they incarcerate and torture superheroes. The Hall of Doom is heavily fortified, and its defenses include lasers guns, along with rockets that can jettison the lair into outer space. Additionally, the Hall of Doom houses a Time Conveyor machine that lets the base travel through time and dimensions.
1) Apokolips
Only Darkseid, the God of Evil, could operate an entire planet like an evil fortress. With ever-burning Fire Pits fueling this engine of a planet, Darkseid oversees the production of countless Parademons and war machines. Darkseid rules his planet from his palace, which resides in the center of Apokolips’ only city, Armagetto. Most of Apokolips’ population are slaves called Lowlies who have had their spirits broken and view Darkseid as their one true god. The stronger residents of Apokolips are tortured and brainwashed in Granny Goodness’s Orphanage to become elite soldiers of Darkseid. Every resource and resident on this hellish planet are for Darkseid to exploit in his eternal campaign to conquer all life in the multiverse.
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