Comics are one of those types of fiction where the suffering is a massive part of the storytelling. Marvel and DC Comics have told amazing, uplifting stories over the years, but they’ve often built up to those stories by putting character through the most insane amounts of suffering you can imagine. There are some characters out there, hero and villain both, that have been put through the wringer both physically and mentally. Now, this makes their eventual triumph, for the heroes at least, that much better but it can get exhausting for fans at times. However, it also make us love our favorites even more, as we can empathize with them and want to see them not suffer.
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Over the years, we’ve watched our favorite characters go through some terrible things and always bounce back. There’s something immensely hopeful about that — that they can keep going even when the entire universe is dumping the most traumatic experiences on them. These ten characters have experienced suffering at horrible levels and yet they keep moving forward, their example heartening us all.
10) Jessica Cruz
Jessica Cruz suffered from crippling anxiety for years. Her anxiety was so bad that she couldn’t leave her apartment. This is why the Ring of Volthoom went to her; she was quite literally the most scared person it could find. Now, obviously, she’s been able to leave home to become a Green Lantern, but anyone who lives with extreme anxiety knows that what she’s doing isn’t anywhere near easy. Jessica has levels of anxiety that most people can’t imagine, and even though she’s learned to fight it, that doesn’t mean that it’s gone. While it’s definitely awesome that she’s been able to fight her anxiety, the fact of the matter that she’s constantly having to fight against her mind to be able to do anything at all. Her mental state is one of constant anguish and yet she still goes out to be a superhero. Jessica Cruz’s ability to persevere in the face of the kind of anxiety that kept her in her apartment for years that shows how amazing of a person she really is.
9) Solomon Grundy
Most people don’t think of Solomon Grundy as a character who suffers at all, but those are people who have never read Starman in the ’90s or Justice League of America (Vol. 2) #1-6. Starman revealed that Grundy wasn’t always an evil zombie Hulk, but would sometimes come out of Slaughter Swamp as good person or, in some cases, an intelligent person. The intelligent Grundy in “The Tornado’s Path” revealed that he remembered all of the pain that the heroes had inflicted upon him over the years. He knew the anguish of being unintelligent and manipulated into fighting for the other villains. He was cognizant of his years of torment, and did everything that he could to not die, enacting a plot to steal Red Tornado’s body to make it into Amazo armor that would help him survive anything thrown at him, so he would never have to become dumb again. There was something tragic about his death in his story, as we finally got a look into the tormented soul of Solomon Grundy. This story was an entirely different look at Solomon Grundy, and showed just how terrible his unending existence is.
8) Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom has made suffering into an art form. So, to begin with, Doom was raised in a Latveria that wanted to destroy him and his Romani people, who were constantly on the run from the Baron. His mother was taken away from him, pulled to Hell while using her magic to try to make the lives of her people better. Doom’s father died saving him from the Baron’s forces (in the excellent Books of Doom, it’s revealed that his father froze to death while holding him and keeping him warm; it’s terrifying and heartbreaking). Doom grew up with a yawning need for aggrandizement, and that’s where a massive amount of his current suffering comes from. Doom has a megalomaniacal amount of arrogance, but anyone as arrogant as Doom also suffers from extreme negative self-esteem. Doom’s mind is almost certainly a broken landscape of every painful moment in his life screaming at him that he was never good enough to save his parents or his people. Every failure is magnified in Doom’s mind, constantly gnawing at him. His hatred for Reed Richards comes from the fact that while Reed exists, he’s always going to be second best. Doom is constantly in a state of mental anguish, his arrogance constantly at war with the little voice in his that says he will never be good enough.
7) Magneto
Magneto’s suffering is well known by now. Max Eisenhardt was a Jewish boy at the exact wrong time to be a Jewish boy. As a child he fell in love with his future wife Magda, winning a javelin contest to impress her, then being accused of cheating because he beat the superior Aryans. He was forced to try again with a “regulation” javelin, and when he won again, they beat him savagely. He watched as his uncle was beaten because he “tainted” a German woman. His family escaped Germany but were caught, and he was forced to help dig the graves for him and his fellow Jews. When the Nazis opened fire, Magneto was spared, but had to dig his way out of the mass grave he and his people were put in. He was eventually sent to Auschwitz, where he watched his people brutally exterminated by the Nazis. He survived the Holocaust and was able to finally marry Magda. His first child Anya was killed by the mob because he was a mutant and he lost it, killing them all, which caused Magda to leave him. Now, if that was all that happened to him, Magneto’s suffering level would have easily kept him on this list, but we’re not done there. Magneto’s life as a mutant has also been full of pain. He feels the suffering of his people acutely, and has had to watch multiple times as his people were nearly exterminated again. Magneto’s life is suffering and it has made him into the person he is today.
6) Martian Manhunter
Martian Manhunter is the last Green Martian. J’onn J’onnz had a pretty good life on Mars, a wife and child that he loved, and a job protecting his people. However, his brother Ma’alefa’ak would unleash H’Ronmeer’s Curse on Mars, destroying their entire race. He was pulled to Earth, where he was forced to change his form to fit in. Martian Manhunter has to live with the fact that his family and people are gone because of his own brother. He’s completely alone in the universe, with the only Martians left the evil, warlike White Martians. He is truly alone in the universe in a way that no one else can fathom. His entire existence is pain, and while he has little things that he enjoys — basically just Choco’s — the terrible loneliness of Martian Manhunter would cripple anyone else.
5) Deadpool
Wade Wilson was a soldier, and then he got terrible cancer. The pain was unfathomable, and he joined Canada’s Project K in the vain hope that it would work and heal him. Deadpool did get his healing factor, but basically become a walking tumor. His healing factor is constantly regenerating every bit of his body, including his brain, and this is where his immense mental anguish comes from. Deadpool uses humor as a way to keep himself from going completely mad with rage. So, Deadpool constantly has terrible mental issues, something that is compounded by the physical pain he goes through. Deadpool’s healing factor allows him to survive anything, but he still feels immeasurable pain. It keeps him alive though blows that would kill anyone else, but he can never escape the pain. On top of all of that, there’s also the fact that his personal life is marked by loss, as basically everyone he’s ever loved has either died or found ways to hurt him. Finally, there’s the fact that he wants to be a hero on the level of someone like Captain America or Spider-Man, but his past and mental issues make that impossible. Deadpool’s life is basically endless suffering on every level you can imagine.
4) Daredevil
Daredevil’s suffering began as a child. His father was crooked boxer, and the one time he decided to not take the fall, he was killed by the mob. He never knew his mother and worked through grinding poverty to become a lawyer. He met and fell in love with Elektra, but after the death of her father, she abandoned him to train herself for revenge. Daredevil would use his radar sense and the training he got from Stick to become a superhero, and he was dropped into a life where suffering was the name of the game. Daredevil has basically lost everyone he loved, their lives destroyed by him putting on the costume. Kingpin was able to destroy his life, and everything would be upended when his identity was revealed. That’s before we get to the physical pain that he’s been though. Daredevil is a perfect example of the suffering Catholic trope.
3) Wolverine
Wolverine started life pretty well, other than being sickly, but then one night watched his biological father kill the man he thought was his father. His mutant powers kicked in and he killed his father and scarred his brother for his life, making him hate Wolverine. His mother killed herself because of that night, which he blamed on himself. The first woman he loved, his nursemaid Rose, never loved him back and he killed her in a berseker rage. Sabretooth killed Silver Fox on Wolverine’s birthday and he was nearly killed by the murderer. He fought in multiple wars, his healing factor keeping him alive, but feeling every bit of the pain. He married Itsu, but she was killed because of his actions by the Winter Soldier. The Weapon X program tried to transform him into a weapon by taking away his humanity and the adamantium bonding process was immensely painful. Wolverine became an amazing superhero, but his entire superheroic career has been defined by suffering. He’s watched people he loved get killed because of who he is, has been betrayed by friends, and has watched the mutant race almost die out several times. Wolverine is defined by his suffering, and it’s seemingly never going to end.
2) Spider-Man
Spider-Man is Marvel’s most relatable hero, but the only way that Spider-Man is relatable to you is if your life has been completely terrible. He lost his parents at a young age, and was raised by his loving aunt and uncle. He was constantly mocked in school, and while he eventually gained superpowers, his Uncle Ben died because of him. Since then, his life has been a cycle of suffering — losing loved ones and friends, being on the edge of poverty often, building a life for himself and then losing it, having a major metropolitan newspaper call him a monster while he was a teenager, and so, so much more. Spider-Man is all about the suffering, and his sense of humor is the only thing that allows him deflect the true pain of his life.
1) Batman
Batman is the king of superhero suffering. Batman had a good life until the night he watched his parents killed in Crime Alley, watching them bleed out because of a pearl necklace. Since then, Batman’s life has been defined by suffering. Don’t let the bright and shiny adventures of Silver Age Batman fool you. At this point, it’s easier to list the things that went well for Batman than it is to list all of the things that went wrong. Dating Batman is a surefire way to get killed. He’s lost several of his sidekicks to his battle against crime, as well as the man who raised him, Alfred. He’s had to live through seeing his best friends like Superman killed more than once over the years, and his relationship with the woman he loves the most, Catwoman, is constantly destroyed by his chosen lifestyle. That’s before we even get to the physical anguish he goes through every night. Batman’s life is objectively horrible and the fact that he hasn’t snapped is amazing.
What characters do you think have suffered the most? Sound off in the comments below.
