5 Underrated DC Anti-Heroes Who Need More Attention

DC Comics has some of the most notable pure-good heroes and irredeemably evil villains in the superhero genre. Still, several of the company’s most popular characters fall into a morally gray area. Anti-heroes like Red Hood, John Constantine, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn might save the day, but their methods are often questionable at best. While they may be willing to kill their enemies or engage in other immoral actions, their moral complexity and fights against irredeemable villains have made them undeniable icons. Yet, plenty of underrated anti-heroes throughout the DC Universe have been unfairly forgotten, despite having the potential to be among the greats.

DC Comics is full of brutal anti-heroes who walk the fine line between hero and villain. These characters add a whole new side to the debate over superhero antics and vigilantism. If these anti-heroes got more recognition, they would quickly become fan favorites.

5) Clownhunter

Given the thousands of people the Joker has killed, it was only a matter of time before one of his victims sought revenge on the Clown Prince of Crime. When the Joker murdered Bao Pham’s parents, the young boy could only watch and seethe as Batman repeatedly refused to take the villain’s life. And as the Joker kept on killing people, Bao’s rage festered. When the “Joker War” began, the Killer Clown caused mass panic and devastation with his army of goons, and Bao finally had enough. Tying a Batarang to a bat, Bao became the Clownhunter and began killing the Joker’s henchmen, with the end goal of killing the Harlequin of Hate himself. Naturally, this crusade led Clownhunter to cross paths with Batman, who desperately tries to dissuade him from further killing. Clownhunter personifies every average Gotham citizen who has been a victim of Batman’s rogues’ gallery, giving him untapped narrative potential that DC has yet to exploit.

4) Hitman

Where other DC characters fight crime out of a sense of justice, Tommy Monaghan, aka Hitman, does so for the cash. Tommy’s a Gulf War veteran who, upon returning to the United States, decided to use his lethal skills to become an assassin in Gotham City. And after being bitten by an alien parasite, Tommy developed X-ray vision and mild telepathic abilities, making him an even more proficient firearms expert and killer. Despite his profession and insanely high body count, Hitman does live by a strict, if somewhat twisted, moral code. Hitman refuses to take jobs that involve hurting or killing innocent people. Hitman only takes contracts that ensure that he’ll only slay bad people like gangsters, corrupt officials, and supervillains. Hitman has more than a few run-ins with other heroes like Batman and Superman, and even once tried to kill the Joker. Hitman was a huge staple of 1990s DC Comics, and it is far past time he returns to slaughtering Gotham’s worst criminals.

3) Mother Panic

In 2016, DC Comics created a short-lived imprint called Young Animals that centered on telling mature stories with lesser-known characters. One of the best characters created from this imprint was Violet Page, aka Mother Panic. While on a hunting trip with her father, Violet discovered that he was planning to sell her, so she shot him with a gun and claimed it was a hunting accident. Soon afterward, Violet was shipped off to the Gather House boarding school, where she, along with her classmates, was subjected to inhumane experiments and cybernetic augmentations. Once the experiments were complete, Violet became a superhumanly strong and fast killing machine. After escaping, Violet became the Gotham vigilante Mother Panic and has dedicated her life to hunting down and killing everyone responsible for the Gather House. Instead of fighting to protect the innocent, Mother Panic’s vengeance-driven motivation makes her a unique and compelling anti-hero who will frequently work with and against the Bat-Family.

2) Wild Dog

As DC Comics’ answer to the Punisher, Jack Wheeler, aka Wild Dog, lacks powers but makes up for it with tenacity, heedless bravery, and a vast arsenal. After losing his football scholarship when he injured his knee, Jack became a Marine and then a mechanic. When mobsters gunned down his girlfriend, Jack swore revenge and donned a hockey mask and his old football jersey with his college’s laughing dog mascot on his chest to become Wild Dog. Wielding an assortment of deadly firearms, Wild Dog hunts down domestic terrorists and takes them down before they can enact their evil plans. A headstrong, hot-headed vigilante, Wild Dog’s main method of attack is to charge head-first into danger and riddle his enemies with bullets. Although Wild Dog has made only a handful of appearances, his tragic backstory and untapped narrative potential around lethal vigilantism make him an anti-hero worthy of a comeback.

1) Creeper

In Gotham City, the rooftops are stalked by a maniacal anti-hero whose cackle strikes terror into the hearts of all criminals: the Creeper. By day, Jack Ryder is a popular yet controversial journalist. But by night, whether thanks to a costume, nanobots, an Oni demon, or his own repressed dissociative identity disorder, he transforms into the yellow-skinned madman known as the Creeper. When the insane Creeper persona takes over Jack’s body, he develops superhuman strength, speed, agility, and regeneration. Not only that, but the Creeper laughs so loudly and unsettlingly that those who hear it become overwhelmed with pain. The Creeper’s erratic, archaic mannerisms and brutal fighting style have made him an outcast in the superhero community. Still, while he balances on the tightrope between hero and villain, he ultimately uses his lunacy to help save the day. With his engaging Jekyll-and-Hyde-type character, the Creeper is an awesome anti-hero who acts as a heroic version of the Joker.

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