DC Comics is a treasure house of amazing villains. Over the years, villains like the Joker and Lex Luthor have become a huge part of pop culture, and planted the seeds for villains across superhero narratives. DC’s heroes have some of the best rogues gallery in comics, and their most well-known villains have found their way to media outside of comics (although, to be fair, this mostly applies to Batman villains, who are by far the most popular DC villains with non-comic readers). However, one of the great things about DC is its deep bunch of lesser-known characters, with many amazing villains that most fans don’t get to see very much.
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These lesser-known villains are way cooler than they have any right to be. Some of them have been around for decades, and have made numerous appearances, but they just don’t get the credit they deserve despite having some amazing battles against the heroes. These ten DC villains aren’t the most popular, but they’re just as awesome as well-known villains.
10) Kalibak
Darkseid is considered the most dangerous New God, but his son Kalibak gives him a run for that title. Kalibak is a big, dumb muscleman, which has made him one of Darkseid’s most fearsome soldiers. Kalibak is the kind of villain who can take on entire teams of heroes, with his intellectual deficiencies allowing his enemies to have a chance against him. Kalibak is also one of the most fun villains of Apokolips because, while he’s definitely a serious threat, there are a lot of chances for comedy because he’s about as sharp as a rock. Kalibak doesn’t get enough love, and I’d love to see him come back and take on the Titans or another powerful B-list team.
9) Starro
The Justice League faces the most formidable villains in the DC Multiverse. They’ve been taking on potential planet-killers since the beginning, with Starro the Conqueror’s threat bringing the team together. Starro is a part of a species that travels from planet to planet, using its spawn to take control of the people of the worlds it lands on. Now, yes, Starro is a giant starfish, which is definitely silly, but it’s also a chillingly powerful threat, a cosmic horror kaiju for the DC Multiverse. Starro was the main villain of The Suicide Squad, but hasn’t made too many comic appearances in recent years. Hopefully that will change soon, as Starro is a classic Justice League villain (if you want to see why Starro is so cool, hunt down JLA (Vol. 1) 22-23).
8) The Calculator
Once upon a time, Calculator was a low-level Batman villain, one of the scrubs whom Batman would defeat pretty handily around once a month. However, one day, he heard the legend of the Oracle, a secret person who gave information to the heroes. The Calculator decided that this was a smarter way to use his intellect and became the Oracle of evil. Of course, he charges for his services, but he has the same MO that Barbara Gordon did. The Calculator is an awesome villain idea, taking a lame character and making him something special. He got big in the mid ’00s but hasn’t made many appearances recently, which needs to be changed post-haste.
7) The Legion of Supervillains
The Legion of Superheroes is DC’s most complicated team, an army of superheroes from the 31st century. The Legion is quite formidable, so several of their villains took the idea of a legion and ran with it. Lightning Lord, Cosmic King, and Saturn Queen, mirroring Lightning Lad, Cosmic Boy, and Saturn Girl, decided to band together and become the Legion of Supervillains. The Legion of Supervillains is basically any group of villains led by the three of them; they’ve recruited many of the future’s deadliest villains. The three of them have been known to come back in time to fight Superman, but have mostly faded from the DC Multiverse as the Legion has gotten less popular. However, even without the Legion to fight, they’re formidable villains and deserve more time in the sun.
6) Larfleeze
Power rings are the most powerful weapons in DC Comics, with an entire emotional spectrum of energies to control. One of the most powerful is the Orange Lantern of Avarice. Unlike the other Lanterns, there is only one Orange Lantern at a time, as only the greediest beings can hold it and they kill everyone who tries to take it, absorbing them into the Lantern. The current holder of the Orange Lantern is Larfleeze. Larfleeze is a villain who works on multiple levels. He’s supremely dangerous, wielding the power of the Orange Lantern ruthlessly. He’s also greedy to a comical extent, and has a tragic backstory to boot. Larfleeze is a versatile villain, and we all need more of him in our life.
5) Zoom
The Flash mostly battles the Rogues, but there are also many dangerous speedsters that only the Flash can fight. The most unique of these is Zoom. Zoom is easy to confuse with Reverse Flash — they have basically the same costume, with the only difference being their eyes — and basically he’s Wally West’s Reverse Flash, having once worked with Wally. However, he’s not technically a speedster; instead an accident trying to use the Cosmic Treadmill to change his past (which Wally refused to do for him) imbued him with chronal powers, allowing him to control the speed of time around him. Zoom’s speed is temporal in nature, making him a devastatingly powerful villain. Wally has been back for the last few years, so hopefully Zoom will make more appearances in the years to come.
4) The Shadow Thief
Hawkman is DC’s most brutal hero, but he doesn’t really have that big of a rogues gallery. One of the most well-known villains is the Shadow Thief. Carl Sands is a thief who uses the shadow vest to become a living shadow. Eventually, always existing as a living shadow drove him mad, and he became a much more dangerous villain. Shadow Thief is one of those Z-list villains that has mostly appeared in the background of big villain shots. However, he’s an interesting and simple villain that could lend himself well to basically any hero on DC’s Earth. He’s old school cool, and it’s about time he stepped into the light.
3) Prometheus
Prometheus was introduced in the Grant Morrison/Howard Porter run of JLA. He’s basically the evil Batman — his parents were criminals who were killed by the police, and he swore vengeance on justice — and used his skills and technology to almost defeat the entire Justice League. However, after Morrison left JLA, Prometheus bummed around, getting jobbed out before appearing in the panned Cry for Justice. Since then, Prometheus has fallen far from grace. Prometheus is a simple, effective villain and the fact that no one has made him into the most dangerous villain on Earth is a shame. Prometheus has the goods, and he needs to become something besides a background character.
2) Amazo
Amazo was created by Professor Ivo, one of DC’s Silver Age mad scientists. Amazo has the power to copy the abilities of any superhumans that he’s near, and since he usually fights the Justice League, that gives him a variety of amazing powers. Amazo is basically just used as muscle by villains, as every time it’s destroyed, Ivo builds more of them. Amazo isn’t smart and isn’t the kind of villain that usually is the main enemy of a story or story arc, but the villain has the potential to be whatever a creator needs him to be. Amazo is the definition of versatile; he can be used as cannon fodder, a mid-boss type enemy, or can be made into a main villain with very little problem.
1) Ultra-Humanite
Once upon a time, the Ultra-Humanite was Superman’s main villain. He was the prototypical mad comic scientist, and even mastered the art of body jumping, abandoning his bald body to that of actress Dolores Winters. Eventually, he put his brain into an albino gorilla from Gorilla City and has since become one of the most dangerous C-list villains who should be on the A-list around. The Ultra-Humanite is a villain capable of battling heroes like Superman and hold his own, and has been battling the Justice Society for decades. The Ultra-Humanite is a villain who deserves way attention, and hopefully DC will put him a prominent role again in the years to come.
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