5 DC Heroes and Villains With the Best Fighting Techniques (That Aren’t the Trinity)

DC Comics has been telling stories of superheroism and villainy since 1938, introducing the world to some of the most formidable characters in pop culture. The DC Multiverse is a vast place and the power levels are sky high. Many of DC’s toughest characters, heroes and villains, are supremely powerful or they’re like Batman, so well-equipped and trained that they are basically as powerful as the most potent characters. There are many different kinds of combatants in the multiverse and all of them have built up their own fighting skills, taking everything they know, everything they can do, and their own personal MOs to create styles that have allowed them to triumph against all kinds of foes. The Trinity are a perfect example of this – Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman are all masters of combat in completely different ways, creating unique fighting styles from disparate sources.

Some of them have mastered martial arts, training their bodies and minds to perfection. Some of them have taken from numerous styles to create a unique fighting style that throws their enemies for a loop. Heroes and villains alike can have amazing fighting techniques, allowing these heroes to punch way higher than their weight class. These five DC heroes and villains who aren’t the Trinity have the best fighting techniques, becoming some of the most formidable fighters out there.

5) Nightwing

Nightwing is one of DC’s greatest heroes. He’s been there since almost the beginning, teaming up with Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Teen Titans for years as Robin, growing into one of the trusted members of the superhero community. Dick Grayson was trained by Batman, learning aspects of various martial arts. He added his upbringing as a trapeze artist to this and created one of the best fighting styles ever. Grayson never stops moving, using momentum and the laws of physics to make his already hard shots ever harder. He’s not a master of any one martial art, but has created a style that uses parts of many of them, all wedded together by the kind of speed and agility that you can only get from someone like him. His escrima sticks are the perfect weapon; equipped with grapnels, a taser function, and various other features, giving him an extremely versatile weapon. He’s gotten so good at throwing them that he can bounce them around, hitting numerous targets. He’s been fighting the toughest villains ever with these skills, able to hang with the most powerful heroes and villains in combat.

4) Deathstroke

Slade Wilson joined the military and became the perfect soldier. He was selected for a supersoldier program and dosed with a serum that enhanced all of his attributes to superhuman levels, including his intelligence. He became the mercenary Deathstroke, one of the most feared humans on the planet. Deathstroke is all about getting the job done; he carries a good variety of weapons, which allow him to go up against enemies running the gamut of Green Arrow to the Justice League. He’s a master of hand to hand combat, an expert swordsman and marksman, and a master of numerous weapons, from the conventional to the bleeding edge of tech. Deathstroke’s greatest weapon is his mind, though. He’s a master strategist, able to come up with a plan for any situation. He can turn these plans on a dime, changing to meet the new challenges of the battle. Over the years, many people have underestimated Deathstroke, thinking that because his power levels were so low, they can take him. All of them have paid a rather painful price for their pride. Some have paid with their life.

3) Cassandra Cain

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of two of the greatest killers on the planet, Lady Shiva and David Cain. Cain raised her to be the ultimate assassin, training her to read the bodies of her foes in combat, allowing her to predict everything they’re going to do. However, he also never spoke to her, forcing her to rely on her ability to read body language in order to understand the people around her and making it impossible for her to have any kind of social life. She’d eventually escape him and ended up becoming Batgirl, fighting alongside Batman and Barbara Gordon. Since then, she’s finally learned how to speak and has developed relationships with others, hanging with Stephanie Brown and fighting crime alongside the Bat-Family. She’s easily the toughest Batgirl and is the best fighter in the Bat-Family. Her upbringing was terrible, but it made her into the greatest combatant you can imagine. She’s even been able to beat Batman in a fight. She’s perfect in motion, a whirling dervish of attacks who is much, much stronger than she looks. She’s the best of the best.

2) Lady Shiva

Once upon a time, Lady Shiva was introduced as a member of the League of Assassins. She didn’t seem all that important back then, with readers not knowing that they had just been introduced to the most dangerous woman on Earth. Shiva is a master martial artist, specializing in numerous disciplines. She’s the kind of character who is such a good martial artist that she’s basically a superhuman. This is a woman who outfights Batman like it’s not a big deal. She’s faced off against all of the great fighters and has showed all of them just how good she is. She’s a master of numerous martial arts, allowing her to link together moves that no one else would. Shiva doesn’t really use weapons all that; it’s not that she doesn’t know how, it’s just that she’s never really needed them. She’s a living weapon, a cliche that fits her perfectly. There are few out there who could guarantee a victory against her without overwhelming power and even some of them would be surprised by her skill.

1) Karate Kid

Batman isn’t the greatest fighter in the DC Universe, no matter how much his fans try to make you think so. The real best fighter in DC is the man from the future, the Legion of Superheroes’ own Karate Kid. Yes, he debuted before the movie. Val Armorr mastered every martial art on Earth and numerous aliens ones, becoming the greatest combatant of the future. Val is considered a level 15 fighter, whereas Batman is a 12. He’s great with weapons, but he doesn’t really use them. However, he’s masterfully incorporated his Legion flight wing into his repertoire, allowing him to surprise his foes and add some much needed momentum to his attacks. Karate Kid has faced off against the best fighters of the past, present, and future, using his martial arts skill to become the most formidable fighter of his time. Batman has been able to beat him, but that was only because he cheated, showing just how potent Armorr’s skills really are (and that Batman is a cheater, but he’s a billionaire; of course he cheats).

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