The Justice League is a collection of the greatest heroes in the DC Multiverse. Over the years, the League has been through many different iterations — sometimes teams filled with the greatest heroes and sometimes filled with some lesser good guys — but no matter who’s on the team or what their headquarters are or how the team works, they’ve always saved the day. The Justice League has faced the greatest threats imaginable. Their villains run the gamut from the most dangerous villains on Earth to the cosmic predators that can destroy entire universes. While the Justice League has always kept the universe alive, that doesn’t mean they’ve won every fight.
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The Justice League is in a league (ha ha) of their own, so are there are enemies. The League usually gets their wins back, but they do get trounced. Some villains have been able to take the Justice League down, and these ten villains and teams have been able to beat entire Justice League teams.
10) Deathstroke
So, there’s a few caveats for this one. To begin with, the team that Deathstroke fought in Identity Crisis #3 wasn’t technically the Justice League. One can argue that he didn’t defeat the entire team, but he did beat this entire team of Justice Leaguers. He also eventually lost the fight, but that doesn’t change that he was able to put everyone down, taking out some of the heaviest hitters in the Justice League — Wally West, Kyle Rayner, and Zatanna. I would still count this one as a win over an entire Justice League team, with Deathstroke using his nearly unmatched tactical skills to trump the team and put them down. He made a mistake by not actually knocking out Green Arrow, but nobody’s perfect, not even the Justice League.
9) Jimmy Olsen from JLA: The Nail
JLA: The Nail takes place on a Earth where Superman wasn’t found by the Kents. It’s one of the best ’90s DC stories, and it has one of the most unique villains ever — Jimmy Olsen. Olsen ended up working for Lex Luthor, where he was experimented upon by the villain, his genes spliced with Kryptonian DNA found in Kal-El’s empty rocket. This gives Olsen the power of Superman, while also driving him crazy. He hatches a plot to take over the world because of his newfound belief in Kryptonian superiority, one that breaks the Justice League and the metahuman community. Eventually, the League learns that he’s behind the whole thing and try to fight him. However, the League just can’t stand up to his Kryptonian muscle. Olsen is eventually defeated by the raised by the Amish Kal-El when the battle happens to come to their farm, and Olsen’s body degrades because of the unstable nature of human/Kryptonian DNA hybridization, but he still took out the entire Justice League — Batman, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, the Atom, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter, the Flash, and Green Lantern — completely on his own.
8) Ra’s al Ghul
Ra’s al Ghul is one of Batman’s greatest foes, having spent centuries cementing his power base and coming up with plans to destroy most of humanity. Batman was usually able to beat him, but one day, Ra’s al Ghul decides to go after the Justice League. However, he has a hidden ace in the hole — he was able to get his hands on Batman’s anti-Justice League plans. The Demon’s Head is able to take the Justice League apart, beating each member with plans specifically made to take advantage of their powers. This fight was basically Ra’s al Ghul showing everyone that he was an A-list villain and he could do a tremendous amount of damage to even the Justice League.
7) Doomsday
If a villain is a threat to Superman, then they’re definitely powerful enough to hurt the Justice League. This is what happened during “The Death of Superman”. Doomsday’s attack proved to be too much for Superman and the Justice League got involved. However, this wasn’t the Big Seven League or one of the more powerful versions of the team, this was the Justice League America version of the team — Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Ice, Fire, Guy Gardner, Maxima, and Bloodwynd. Superman and the League did their best against Doomsday, but the monster went to town on the team. The team did what they could, but in the end Doomsday was too much for them. Superman continued the battle against Doomsday himself, and the team wouldn’t recover before Doomsday was able to kill the Man of Steel. That said, it’s doubtful this version of the Justice League would be any help.
6) General Zod and the Phantom Zone Kryptonians
General Zod was Krypton’s greatest soldier, but after planning a coup, he was thrown into the Phantom Zone. Most DC fans know Zod’s story, but the best iteration of Zod come from “Last Son of Krypton”. Zod sends his son Lor-Zod to the Earth, which allows him, his wife Ursa, and Non to escape the Phantom Zone. The three of them go after Superman, and are able to defeat him thanks to the odds. They then use Superman’s Phantom Zone projector to release the other Kryptonians imprisoned there, fielding an army of the greatest Kryptonian criminals and beating the entire metahuman community. The battle between the Justice League and Zod’s army happens between issues of the story, but that doesn’t change that the group was able to defeat not only the Justice League, but also the Justice Society, the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, and basically every extant team on Earth, forcing Superman to team up with Lex Luthor and his Superman Revenge Squad to defeat the invasion.
5) Perpetua
The DC Multiverse is full of overpowered beings, but none of them were as powerful as Perpetua. Perpetua was a Hand, a creator of multiverses, and made the DC Multiverse as a weapon to use against her fellow Hands. She was defeated and thrown out past the Source Wall, but came back after a battle with the Omega Titans broke the Wall. She inspired the return of the Legion of Doom, and would soon join with the group in their battle to tip the balance of the Multiverse from Hope to Doom (yes, there’s a reason why they’re capitalized, as they’re the actual universal forces). Perpetua was able to personally defeat the Justice League on her own every time she showed up, and eventually, with the Batman Who Laughs replacing Lex Luthor as her strong right hand, she was able to defeat the Justice League totally, taking over the Multiverse. She was eventually betrayed by the Batman Who Laughs, who was only able to beat her by taking on the body of Dr. Bathattan, a Batman version of Doctor Manhattan.
4) The Hyperclan
Grant Morrison is an amazing team writer, and was given the reins of the Justice League after years of diminishing returns. Morrison brought back the Big Seven League — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter — and threw an all-new threat at them. The Hyperclan were a new hero team that had come to save the planet, saying that the Justice League’s methods weren’t enough. This eventually led the two teams to come to blows, and the Hyperclan handily defeated the Justice League. Eventually, Batman, who had escaped with the Hyperclan thinking he was dead, figured out that the Hyperclan were White Martians. This helped the League defeat the team, but the Hyperclan will always have a victory over the Justice League.
3) Prometheus
Morrison’s JLA did a fabulous job of creating fierce new Justice League villains, and one of the most underrated of them is Prometheus. Prometheus is basically the exact opposite of Batman — he was raised by criminals who were killed by the police, and used their ill-gotten riches to get training and create technology that would help him destroy anyone who fought for justice. He killed a scrub hero named Retro who was getting the chance to become a League member for the day, and was able to get on the Watchtower. From there, Prometheus set about beating every member of the Justice League one at a time. He was defeated by Catwoman, who also sneaked onto the Watchtower, with a whip shot to the groin. Prometheus almost destroyed the Watchtower, showing how tough he was in his first major attack on the Justice League.
2) The Crime Syndicate
The Crime Syndicate is one of DC’s best multiversal teams. There have been four versions of the team — the pre-Crisis rulers of Earth-Three, the post-Crisis bosses of the antimatter Earth, the New 52 heads of Earth-3, and a post-Death Metal version — but it’s the New 52 version we’re going to talk about today. Earth-3 is attacked by the Anti-Monitor, and the Crime Syndicate is unable to defeat him. They escape to the Prime Earth, and decide that they want to rule this world too. Ultraman, Superwoman, Owl Girl, Johnny Quick, Power Ring, Deathstorm, and Atomika go after the Justice League and the villains are able to defeat the team. They’d eventually get taken down by Lex Luthor and a team of villains, who were able to do what the Justice League couldn’t.
1) Darkseid
Darkseid is the God of Evil, and he’s been able to defeat the Justice League several times over the years. Darkseid is more powerful than Superman, and has been shown smacking around the Justice League numerous times. However, his greatest win over the team come in Grant Morrison’s DC classic Final Crisis. Darkseid and his elites were killed, but their souls make their way to Earth, taking over new bodies. They deploy the Anti-Life Equation, taking over half of the population of the Earth immediately. Darkseid’s plan completely neutered the Justice League, and he was able to sweep the team and most of the metahuman community with his massive army just about flawlessly.
Any villains that I beat the Justice League that I missed? Sound off in the comments below.
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