7 Most Powerful DC Villains Introduced Since the New 52

DC’s comics are constantly running stories. They are designed to run for the foreseeable future, and as such, they tend to fall into somewhat cyclical storylines and plot beats. Status quo is king, as they say. Of course, with characterization practically staying stationary, creative teams have to draw interest through other means. Two of the best ways to draw interest without deviating from the status quo are by introducing new characters and upping the stakes. Fresh faces and bigger stakes than ever before give old storylines a fresh coat of paint in a way that doesn’t feel repetitive when done well. Superheroes and villains, as a whole, tend to grow stronger as the years drag on, and casts are ever-expanding.

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To that end, whenever DC introduces a new villain nowadays, there’s a decent chance that villain will be bigger and badder than most of those who came before them. Especially in recent years, DC has debuted a whole lot of unbelievably powerful villains to test our heroes. With that said, why don’t we take a look at just how strong these new villains are by looking at the seven strongest villains introduced since the dawn of the New 52? These big bads are some of the worst to ever threaten reality, and they all appeared within the last 15 years.

7) Krtl-Ux

Kryl-Ux is a Phaelosian, an offshoot of Kryptonians that share all the same powers as their near-extinct cousins. Being on the same level as Superman and Supergirl is definitely a point in his favor, but Kryl earns a spot on this list because he merged with one of the God-Aspects of Olgrun. Olgrun was the strongest of the Old Gods, the omnipotent rulers of reality who would one day be replaced by the New Gods. Kryl only has one aspect’s worth of power right now, but the one he has already made him strong enough to tear holes in space and rule the cosmos with his army of Promethean Giants. He’s a galactic despot, and still nowhere near the top of this list.

6) Omega Knight

The Omega Knight is the Frankensteinian amalgamation of the four Omega Titans. The Titans were the guardians of the Source Wall and Perpetua’s jailers. They were near-invulnerable beings created from the fundamental forces of the universe, and their combined form carried the strength of their four energies. They would destroy worlds and use their life energy to repair any damage to the Source Wall, and not even the combined heroes and villains of Earth could do anything to slow them down. The Omega Knight was only defeated by harnessing the power from Perpetua’s throne, which means that only the highest tier of powers had any chance of stopping him.

5) Upside-Down Man

The Upside-Down Man is the embodiment of the dark side of magic. When magic first entered reality, the goddess Hecate was created to represent its light, and the Upside-Down Man to show the evil, twisted reflection of what magic could do. As such, he is as powerful as magic itself, meaning that he can do practically anything within the realm of possibility. He’s a concept as much as a being, meaning that he cannot be destroyed, and has shown that he even has enough power to wipe away elemental avatars like Swamp Thing with hardly a thought. Magicians like Zatanna and Doctor Fate are among DC’s most powerful characters, and the Upside-Down Man, by default, can do everything they can do and more.

4) Oblivion

When Kyle Rayner traveled beyond the Source Wall, he inadvertently absorbed the Life Equation. This equation could manipulate the very foundation of the Source itself, letting him bend reality in any way he could imagine. Oblivion was Kyle’s negative emotions subconsciously given form and had all the same powers. Just fighting Oblivion nearly destabilized the universe itself, and not even the combined forces of several Guardians could do anything to him. Theoretically, Oblivion’s power is unlimited, but he only gets fourth because it’s hard to tell how much control he had over the Source. The other characters on this list have much stronger feats, which makes me more comfortable listing them as they are.

3) Barbatos

The World Forger is the being responsible for creating new realities within the Forge of Worlds. Occasionally, unstable worlds made of fears and despair would emerge, and the World Forger would dispatch his dragon, Barbatos, to destroy them. He’s erased billions of universes and could bend the laws of reality to his whim. He created countless dark reflections of the DC Universe, based on people’s fears and regrets. He even claims to be the puppetmaster behind Batman, manipulating everything to make Batman rise through the heroic ranks. Regardless of whether that’s true, Barbatos had sufficient power to defeat the World Forger, Monitor, and Anti-Monitor, though he used sneak attacks. Still, anyone with that rep can only be unfathomably powerful.

2) Perpetua

Perpetua is the creator of the multiverse and the mother of the Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and World Forger. She is one of the Hands, which are builders and designers sent out by the Source itself to construct multiverses in the Greater Omniverse. Perpetua is a monstrous being who stands head and shoulders above even DC’s most feared villains introduced before her. She can wipe away universes with hardly a thought, and was only defeated by the combined efforts of her three children, all of whom are some of DC’s strongest beings. She was unimaginably powerful, but there was exactly one person who surpassed her.

1) The Darkest Knight

When the Batman Who Laughs stole the body of a Bruce who recreated Doctor Manhattan’s experiments and absorbed the Anti-Crisis Energy from the Mobius Chair, he became strong enough to fight Perpetua herself. He defeated her and added her own immeasurable strength to his own, becoming the strongest villain that DC has ever seen. He wiped away the entire multiverse until only his worlds remained, and even almost killed the rest of the Hands before Wonder Woman stopped him. For a time, he was powerful enough to change the course of everything, and if he had not been stopped, he would have erased everything in DC and beyond.

Which overpowered villain do you think is the strongest? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!