DC Comics created both the superhero and the supervillain as we know them. While an argument can be made that they don’t have the greatest villains, they birthed many of the villainous tropes that creators have been following ever since. Looking at the history of the publisher, it’s plain to see how much their villains set the rules for comics in the years to come. There are numerous types of villains created by DC, but one of the most popular and useful to creators is the dark mirror villains. These villains exist to show the reflection of the greatest heroes ever, and have become one of the most important types of villains out there.
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They’ve become a very common type of villains over the decades, allowing us to see just how heroic our favorite DC heroes are. There have been many villains of this type, but some of them standout more than the rest. They are the best of the best and these seven DC villains act as the perfect evil reflections of the heroes they battle.
7) The Injustice Society
The Justice Society’s the world first superteam, combining the greatest heroes of the Golden Age into one potent force. Of course, because heroes created the first superteam, it wouldn’t be long before the villains got the same idea and the Injustice Society was born. There have been numerous versions of the team, with villains like Wotan, Solomon Grundy, Johnny Sorrow, Per Degaton, Vandal Savage, Icicle I and II, and some of the team’s greatest foes brought together to bring ruin to the world that JSA protects. The Injustice Society set the stage for every villain team that has come after them, and recently starred in JSA (Vol. 2) #1-12, proving that this almost hundred year old team never gets old.
6) The Legion of Doom
The Justice League has some great villains, enemies powerful enough to challenge the most potent team of heroes ever. Eventually, the greatest enemies of the team members decided to take a page from Injustice Society handbook and formed the Legion of Doom. This team combined the best villains in DC Comics, like Lex Luthor, the Joker, Cheetah, Sinestro, Captain Cold, Reverse Flash, Gorilla Grodd, and numerous others into a potent villainous force. The team has also used the Injustice League and Injustice Gang monikers (the Secret Society of Supervillains isn’t a version of the Legion despite some people thinking so), and are the perfect opposites to the League.
5) Sinestro
Hal Jordan was brought into the Green Lantern Corps because he was fearless, and he was trained by the then-greatest Green Lantern, Sinestro. The two would work together until the truth was revealed about the Korugarian Lantern — he used fear to keep control of his sector. Since then, he has become the perfect mirror for Hal. Jordan doesn’t understand fear and would never use it against people in the way Sinestro will. The alien villain is also a fascist, something Hal will always fight against. The two of them serve as perfect opposites because underneath it all, they have a lot in common. These similarities make their opposite nature even more stark.
4) Ares
Wonder Woman’s villains aren’t always the toughest, but that’s okay because she has Ares. The God of War is the perfect enemy for someone like her. Wonder Woman is all about fighting for peace and truth, whereas Ares is a representation of war and the destruction and lies it’s created by. The two of them make the perfect opposites, their goals and the manner with which they try to meet them completely different. They are two sides of the same coin. There’s a reason creators keep returning to Ares and Wonder Woman battling, and it because of the way their differences show the true heroism of Wonder Woman.
3) Reverse Flash
Barry Allen is one of the greatest heroes of all time. The character is everything good about being a superhero, a diligent, intelligent fighter of injustice who cares deeply about the people around him. That what makes the Reverse Flash such a perfect villain for him. Eobard Thawne is the opposite of everything that Barry is. Where Barry is kind, he is a monster. Barry doesn’t kill, but he kills constantly. He misuses his powers, traveling around time and using them to tailor the world to the terrible vision he has in his head, something Allen would never even think of doing (well, except that one time in Flashpoint). And, of course, there’s his costume, which mirrors that of the Flash. Reverse Flash is everything bad in Barry Allen’s world, and that what makes them such perfect mirrors of each other.
2) The Joker
The Joker and Batman have been locked in a death spiral for years, and their rivalry has gotten so intense because of their opposite natures. The two of them do have some commonalities, but the way they see world is completely opposite. Batman wants to help everyone, to keep them from suffering like he did, and save the world. The Joker wants to hurt everyone and couldn’t care less about anyone other than the Joker. Where the Dark Knight is the exemplification of order, the Joker is pure chaos. These differences have made them one of the greatest hero/villain match-ups in the history of fiction.
1) Lex Luthor
It’s said that Bizarro is the perfect imperfect duplicate of Superman, but everyone knows that Lex Luthor is a better opposite villain to the Man of Steel. Where Kal-El is strong and physically powerful, Lex is mentally powerful. Superman doesn’t want the love and adulation he gets from the people, whereas Lex craves it. Lex doesn’t care about anyone or anything unless it aggrandizes him, which is an attitude that Superman can’t understand. Lex Luthor will do anything to succeed, no matter what the cost for everyone else, something the Last Son of Krypton would never do. All of these and more combined to make Lex a perfect dark mirror for DC’s first superhero.
Who is you favorite dark opposite villain? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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