Superman’s 10 Strongest Underrated Villains, Ranked

Superman is the original superhero, having pioneered main pillars of the genre like the secret identity, colorful costume, and villain-hero dynamic. Superman’s first supervillain was the Ultra-Humanite, who was quickly followed by Lex Luthor, who set the community on fire with his instant popularity. Over time, Superman would gain dozens of great villains that became nearly as iconic as he is. There’s Brainiac, General Zod, and Doomsday, to name but a few. His rogues gallery might not be as famous as Batman’s, but Superman has more than his fair share of interesting and lovingly-hated villains. However, a lot of these fantastic villains fly under the radar.

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Considering how classic villains like Lex Luthor and Brainiac are, it’s only natural that they get more panel time than lesser-known villains. Still, that is a major shame, because many, many more Superman villains deserve their own time in the spotlight. Today, we’re going to be taking a look at ten of Superman’s most underrated villains and ranking them by how dangerous they are to the Man of Steel in a direct fight. Trust me, the context for some of these villains makes them even cooler than they sound. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

10) The Invisible Mafia

Debuted in Action Comics #1001.

Brian Michael Bendis is a legendary comic book writer, but his run on Superman is remembered in infamy. Not only did he age up Jon Kent in one of the single-most hated status quo updates of the century so far, but the villains he employed weren’t interesting in the slightest. Rogol Zaar and Jor-El just dragged the story down. However, one original concept rose to the top with a lot of potential. The Invisible Mafia is a Metropolis-based crime syndicate that specializes in staying out of sight and earshot, even from the likes of Superman.

The idea of a mafia that focused primarily on metahuman-related crimes and remaining hidden even from Superman is very interesting. The comic went into detail about how they did so, such as never saying specific words or phrases likely to ping Superman’s attention, like Kryptonite. Still, as interesting as they are, their only known metahuman combatant was a man named Red Cloud, who could transform himself into a toxic mist. He’s certainly dangerous, but the rest of the people on this list pose far more of a direct threat to the Man of Steel.

9) Titano

Debuted in Superman (1939) #127.

Titano the Super-Ape was once an ordinary chimpanzee named Toto, but mutated after being exposed to Kryptonite. He grew to gargantuan, King Kong-sized height, and proportional strength to match. To make matters even worse, the exposure to Green-K had the massive ape develop Kryptonite eye-lasers, which he could use to disable Superman with nothing more than a glance. Titano is definitely one of Superman’s biggest threats in terms of sheer bulk, and his lasers are something that the Man of Steel has to always be on the lookout for. The only thing holding Titano back from being an even bigger threat is that he’s only as smart as the average chimpanzee. If you want to see more of the Super-Ape, check out Supergirl (2025)!

8) Subjekt-17

Debuted in Superman #655.

In many ways, Subjekt-17’s origin mirrors Superman’s. His parents crashlanded on Earth from somewhere deep in outer space. His father died on impact, and his mother died soon after giving birth to him. Instead of kindly farmers, the alien orphan was taken in by the Soviet Union, which trapped and tortured him in a lab for decades. Eventually, Subjekt-17 broke out and went on a murder spree, intent on nothing other than wiping humanity out for revenge. He shared many of Superman’s powers, including flight, strength, x-ray vision, and invulnerability, alongside telepathy, telekinesis, and sonic screams. He’s a dark reflection of what Superman could have been if the Kents hadn’t found him, and definitely a cosmic powerhouse on his own.

7) Chemo

Debuted in Showcase #39.

Chemo is a gargantuan, semi-alive plastic container filled with the deadliest mix of chemicals any mad scientist can imagine. He’s a walking bundle of radiation and toxic waste and is more than willing to infect any area with enough people. His size varies anywhere from twenty-five to a hundred feet. Chemo is deadly enough when he’s trying to smash everything, but he was once used as a literal nuclear bomb equivalent to destroy most of Blüdhaven, which is made worse by the fact that he can regenerate from almost nothing. Chemo is a serious threat to people and the environment alike, and only people like Superman or the Metal Men stand a chance at stopping him and living to talk about it.

6) Hfuhruhurr the Word Bringer

Debuted in Adventures of Superman Annual #1.

Hfuhruhurr is one of Superman’s most horrific foes, and definitely the one with the hardest-to-pronounce name. The Word Bringer traversed the universe for thousands of years, collecting the still-living brains of millions of sentient beings to create a psychic hivemind he called the Union. He worshiped the idea of the Union with a religious zeal, and once tried to convert an entire town in South Dakota to his project. He only appeared a few times, but between his incredible telekinetic might and his staunch, unholy desire to create the Union, he can push Superman to an edge that few other villains can.

5) Emperor Super-Man

Debuted in Superman (2011) #51.

Also called Super-Man Zero, this character was the Chinese government’s first attempt at creating their own version of Superman. He was once a normal man, but was infused with the Qi of the New 52 Superman, following his death. This infusion granted Emperor Super-Man all of the same powers as the Man of Tomorrow, from his unmatched strength to his invulnerability. His power was only augmented further once he was infected with the Doomsday Virus, which transformed him into a monster with all of Doomsday’s power on top of Superman’s. That is one of the deadliest combinations anyone can imagine, and definitely makes the Emperor a major threat all on his own.

4) Brainiac 13

Debuted in Superman: Y2K.

This mechanical menace is the descendant of Brainiac from the 64th Century. He’s the most advanced version of the villain that Superman has ever faced, and more than proved it with his capabilities. The regular Brainiac is already one of Superman’s deadliest foes, combining an unparalleled intellect and a font of knowledge with physical might and technology that puts him on par with the Man of Steel. Brainiac 13 is everything Brainiac is dialed up to the next level, bringing technology and tactics so far advanced they’re indistinguishable from magic. This version of the character nearly succeeded in destroying everything numerous times, and forced his ancestor, Lex Luthor, and Superman to team up to stop him.

3) Kryl-Ux

Debuted in Action Comics #1030.

Kryl-Ux is one of Superman’s newest villains and has already shown that he is one of his most dangerous. He is a Phaelosian, an offshoot of Kryptonians, who was confined to Warworld’s gladiator pits, meaning he has all the same powers as Superman and an ever-burning rage. However, he’s really elevated because he recently combined with at least one of the God-Aspects of Olgrun, the eldest and most powerful Old God. This power let him lay siege to Earth and lord over the entire galaxy for nearly a thousand years. He flung Superman into the far future with his mastery over time and space, and is set to only become more powerful if he manages to absorb more God-Aspects.

2) Dominus

Debuted in Action Comics #747.

Dominus is a Lord of Order, the same category of magical beings that Doctor Fate’s Nabu belongs to. Lords of Order possess seemingly unlimited magical power, able to shake the very foundations of reality with their might. Dominus is no different, although he is limited. He can alter reality on a fundamental scale, once taking the nightmares from Superman’s mind and turning them real, and another time switching places with the Man of Steel and taking over the world with his power. However, while Dominus can make virtually anything real or cease to exist, his power requires another mind to imagine for him, as he lacks a body and mind to create with.

Still, even with these limitations, Dominus is one of the most dangerous and successful foes that Superman has ever faced. After all, he managed to convince the entire world that Superman went off the deep end and became an evil tyrant in Superman: King of the World.

1) Imperiex-Prime

Debuted in Superman (1987) #153.

Imperiex-Prime is Superman’s very own version of Galactus. He is the literal embodiment of entropy contained within a colossal suit of armor and is intent on resetting the entire universe. He’s existed since the dawn of time, and is called the Destroyer of Galaxies. He endlessly destroys worlds in an attempt to recreate the Big Bang, saying there was an imperfection in the creation of the universe that must be corrected. Imperiex is so insanely overpowered that fighting him necessitated an alliance between Superman, the world’s heroes, Lex Luthor, Maxima, the Daxamites, Brainiac-13, and Darkseid. Even with all of them working together, this battle was hard-won. Imperiex is one of Superman’s deadliest ever foes, and if he ever returns, everyone would be in for a bad time.

So there we have ten of Superman’s most underrated villains, ranked by their sheer power. Which underrated Superman foe do you think deserves a spot on this list, and where would you place them in relation to some of these powerhouses?

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