From evil geniuses to mechanical monsters and intergalactic despots, Superman has his hands full protecting Metropolis, and indeed the entire Earth, from villains looking to destroy him, hurt the ones he loves, or take over the world. But who ranks as Superman’s deadlist villain? Here is our list of the Top 10 best Superman villains…
No. 10 – Metallo: Metallo first appeared in “Action Comics #252” (May 1959). The man with a kryptonite heart. John Corben is a cyborg who detests Superman. Metallo’s strength level is augmented by his cybernetic components. His lack of creativity, pettiness, temper and sheer ego often result in his downfall.
No. 9 – Parasite: The first Parasite appeared in “Action Comics #340” (August 1966). However the most commonly known version of the Parasite is Rudy Jones, a janitor who was tricked in to opening a container filled with strange radiation. The exposure lead to him gaining the ability to sap the power of others to give himself strength, becoming a purple villain who menaces Metropolis.
No. 8 – Mr. Mxyzptlk: First appearing in “Superman #30” (Sept/Oct 1944), Mxyzptlk is a magical imp from the 5th dimension who plagues Superman every 90 days with pranks and insight. Usually the only way Mxy can be defeated is by tricking him into saying his name backwards.
No. 7 – Bizarro: First appearing in “Superboy #68” (October 1958), Bizarro is an imperfect duplicate of Superman. Often misunderstood rather than villanous, Bizarro is known for speaking in opposites – up is down, bad is good, he says hello when he leaves and goodbye when he arrives.
No. 6 – Cyborg Superman: First appearing in “Adventures of Superman #466” (May 1990), Hank Henshaw, a former astronaut, was imbued with radiation along with his family of space travelers during a space shuttle flight. The radiation slowly killed them all and drove Henshaw mad. Able to control and manipulate cybernetics and metals, Henshaw’s disembodied self found and assimilated with Kryptonian metals and Superman’s DNA to become the Cyborg Superman.
No. 5 – Doomsday: Making his first full appearance within the pages of “Superman: The Man of Steel #18” (December 1992), Doomsday is a genetic killing machine built on ancient Krypton. Doomsday returns to life after dying, having adapted to the thing that killed him, making him nearly invulnerable. Doomsday is infamous for having killed Superman.
No. 4 – General Zod: First appearing in “Adventure Comics #283” (April 1961), General Zod was the leader of Krypton’s military guild who was sent to the Phantom Zone for attempting to take over Krypton. Escaping that prison, Zod often uses politics as a weapon as well as muscle. A devious, intellectual leader with Kryptonian powers.
No. 3 – Brainiac: First appearing in “Action Comics #242” (July 1958), Brainiac is a sentient alien machine created on the planet Colu whose sole goal is the accumulation of all information in the universe. Virtually as powerful as the Man of Steel, being a machine, Brainiac is cold and emotionless and often uses Superman’s emotions against him.
No. 2 – Darkseid: First appearing in “Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134” (December 1970), Darkseid is the all-powerful ruler of Apokolips. A fascist despot who craves only power, on a power level similar to Superman’s. Darkseid’s Omega Beams are capable of reducing most enemies to a cinder.
No. 1 – Lex Luthor: First appearing in “Action Comics #23” (April 1940), Lex Luthor is the greatest criminal mind of our time. Bent on world domination with an extremely high IQ, Lex fights a never ending personal, public, and political battle against the Man of Steel. Lex Luthor is Superman’s greatest enemy.
There you have it, that is our list of the Top 10 best Superman villains.
I really like this list. My personal favorites are Brainiac, Parasite, and General Zod. I’m holding out hope that we will eventually see Brainiac on the big screen at some point.