5 Supervillains Who Made Heroic Sacrifices

In DC and Marvel Comics, many superheroes must sacrifice their lives to save innocent people and stop supervillains’ evil plans. However, there are a few times when it’s the supervillains themselves who give their lives for the greater good. After spending lifetimes hurting others for their own selfish motives, sometimes villains have a moment of clarity and realize what they’re doing is wrong. Some evildoers will die trying to stop an even bigger threat from destroying the universe. Other times, they will give their lives to stop their own evil plans that have gotten out of control. Moments like these reinforce the idea that anyone can find redemption.

Even though death is rarely permanent in comics, the actions of these villains are still commendable. Although some of them later return to a life of crime after coming back from the dead, these heroic demises still prove that there’s some good in them.

5) Starro

One of the most feared beings in the universe, Starro the Conqueror, lived to see all life in the universe under his control. However, even a giant tyrannical starfish can be a hero. In Justice League: No Justice, heroes and villains alike join forces to defeat all-powerful cosmic entities known as the Omega Titans. After some motivation from Martian Manhunter, Starro uses his telepathy to help calm down billions of lifeforms as they were being evacuated. Once all the people were safe, Starro tried to grab onto the face of one of the Omega Titans to force it to stop its rampage. Unfortunately, the Omega Titan proved to be too powerful as it ripped Starro apart. Although it was unsuccessful, Starro died protecting others.

4) Doctor Octopus

In one of the best Spider-Man stories in recent memory, Superior Spider-Man saw Doctor Octopus swap minds with the Wallcrawler, leaving the hero to die in his failing body. However, Doc Ock decided to honor the hero’s death by becoming the new protector of New York City. As the new Spider-Man, Doc Ock was a ruthless vigilante. It would eventually be revealed that a piece of Peter Parker’s mind still resided within his original body, suppressed into Doc Ock’s subconscious. Although initially resistant to giving Peter back control of his body, Doc Ock realized that only the original Wallcrawler could defeat the newly formed Goblin Nation. To give Peter back control, Doc Ock, in a noble sacrifice, allowed his own mind to fade into nothingness.

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3) Loki

During Siege, Loki realized that he had gone too far. When Asgard set itself up above Oklahoma, Loki manipulated the head of the Superhuman Defense Initiative, Norman Osborn, into attacking Asgard with his Dark Avengers. Although Loki had intended the attack to motivate the Asgardians to move back to their rightful home in the Nine Realms, he underestimated the destructive power of the Dark Avengers’ member, Sentry. The Sentry’s evil split personality, the Void, began to emerge and threaten not only Asgard but the entire universe. Loki tried to use his magic to help the real Avengers battle the Void, but the villain ultimately atomized him. This version of Loki would remain permanently dead, replaced by a younger, more heroic version of the God of Mischief.

2) Doomsday

Out of all DC characters, the unstoppable and bloodthirsty Doomsday seems like the last person capable of redemption. However, in recent years, it’s been revealed that a future version of Doomsday had evolved to the point where he became a hyper-intelligent master of time known as the Time Trapper. When Darkseid threatens the multiverse in DC K.O., Doomsday helps the heroes of Earth prepare for the villain’s invasion. Unfortunately, Superman is killed in the battle, and all is seemingly lost. To save the multiverse, Doomsday uses his resurrection ability to bring Superman back to life at the expense of his own. Once reborn, Superman defeats Darkseid. Once only known as Superman’s killer, Doomsday dies one last time so that Superman and all of existence could live.

1) Executioner

After spending a lifetime as a mere henchman for the villain Enchantress, Skurge, aka the Executioner, died as a noble warrior. In “Like a Bat Out of Hel,” Executioner decided to redeem himself by joining Thor and several Viking warriors on a mission to save innocent souls trapped in the pits of Hel. When the souls were rescued, the goddess Hela unleashed her undead army to kill the intruders before they could escape over the Gjallerbru bridge. Thor offered to stay behind and cover their escape, but Executioner knocked him out and sacrificed himself instead. Armed with only two machine guns, Executioner bravely held back the undead army until the heroes could escape. After he died, Executioner was granted access to Valhalla for his bravery.

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