7 Most Powerful DC Villains and Their Greatest Weakness

DC Comics has made creating supervillains into a science. They created the first real supervillains, like Ultra-Humanite, Lex Luthor, the Joker, and many more, and these villains became the groundwork for every one that came after. DC villains have always been something special. They created the gimmick villain, the mad scientist villain (although they just adapted that to comics, since it had existed since Frankenstein), the evil opposite villain, and so many other types. They set the bar and then have spent decades constantly raising it. If you love supervillains, you have DC to thank for them. The publisher has created some of the most powerful villains ever.

These powerful villains are often pretty hard to beat in a straight up fight, but all of them have some kind of weakness that allows their foes to take them down. Sometimes, these weaknesses are material things and other times they are parts of what makes them who they are. These seven DC villains are extremely powerful but they have weaknesses that have sabotaged their missions.

7) Eclipso

Eclipso was once the Spirit of God’s Wrath, a job he lost because he loved killing humans so much. While he lost some of his power, he can still take down the most powerful teams in the DC Multiverse. However, he does a few weaknesses that can be easily exploited. First of all, there’s sunshine, which is why so many of his schemes have involved creating eclipses (like in the best of all time JSA story “Princes of Darkness” or the forgotten DC event “Eclipso: The Darkness Within”). Then, there is the Heart of Darkness, a black diamond that can hold his power and keep him from escaping. Finally, we found out that there were certain magical tattoos that could stop him from taking over a host body’s mind.

6) The Batman Who Laughs

The Batman Who Laughs is one of DC’s most overpowered villains, and has a rather bad reputation among fans. He was overexposed according to many, and he basically always won. Sort of like he was a Batman. However, his weaknesses have always been rather easy to see. So, the Batman Who Laughs always won, and believed in that ability. He was arrogant (something he had earned, judging by his victories) and that arrogance led to his downfall. However, just as important was the way the Joker toxin made him overlook human goodness. He couldn’t fathom how far Wonder Woman would go to win because he had forgotten who he once was. The thing that made him a monster made one that could be beaten.

5) The Reverse Flash

Eobard Thawne loved Barry Allen, and that love turned into the most toxic of hate. He gained the power of super speed trying to become his idol and became the master of the Negative Speed Force. He is one of the most dangerous villains out there, with a power that makes him deadly to just about any superhero he faces off against. However, his greatest weakness is the thing that defines him: his hatred of Barry Allen. He will ignore everything and just make a beeline for the second Scarlet Speedster, opening him up to attack. Barry can play him like a fiddle, using his hate against him.

4) Brainiac

Brainiac is one of the most intelligent beings in the entire multiverse. The Coluan cyborg has traveled the universe, stealing planets, committing genocide, and learning everything he could. Like many villains of his ilk, his arrogance is a huge weakness, but what really cinches it is his lack of imagination. He believes that he knows everything, and he has blind spots when it comes to foes who can improvise. He thinks that he’s so intelligent he can’t make mistakes, but this in itself is a massive mistake. His mind is bounded by the things he knows, and that has allowed his enemies to take him down.

3) General Zod

General Zod is a Kryptonian, so he has amazing powers and numerous tangible weaknesses. There’s Kryptonite and red sunlight, which both take away his powers, and magic, which doesn’t take his powers but can hurt him. However, he also has some major psychological weaknesses. His belief in Kryptonian supremacy has allowed those he looks at as lesser to take advantage of his weaknesses, and his lack of care for others have seen him make major mistakes. He believes so much in his own legend that his enemies have been able to make him do stupid things that lead to his downfall.

2) Darkseid

Darkseid is considered DC’s greatest villain and he’s superlatively powerful. He can beat on fully-powered Kryptonians, and can one-shot kill all but the most powerful beings in the multiverse. He does have tangible weaknesses in the form of radion, an element that can actually hurt gods, and music, which is anathema to him as a being; it’s beautiful and chaotic whereas he is the personification of ugly order. However, his greatest weakness has always been who he is. He is the God of Evil, and that has its limits. He doesn’t understand kindness or love, and this has allowed the heroes to beat him every time. He can’t understand why they fight him, and that leaves a massive easily exploitable weakness in him.

1) Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is the ultimate unhinged genius, and has been using that against the heroes of the world to get his way for ages. Luthor has several major weaknesses, but the biggest is easily the thing that defines him: his extreme belief in himself. Luthor believes that he is the pinnacle of humanity, and his intellect is the greatest weapon on Earth. He looks down on others as being less than him, and this has allowed everyone to beat him. Lex is dangerous, yes, but the way he thinks of himself has always been his greatest downfall. He can never be wrong and always has to be the best person in the room, and the moment it’s implied that he’s not, he gets so angry that he gets stupid.

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