List of Superman enemies
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This is a list of fictional characters from DC Comics who are or have been enemies of Superman.
Contents |
[edit] Superman's major enemies
In chronological order (with issue and date of first appearance)
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lex Luthor | Action Comics #23 (May 1940) | Superman's nemesis and the consummate evil genius. He continues to play different roles in various Superman comics and media. In his classic Silver Age incarnation, Lex Luthor and Superman were once friends, but a lab accident indirectly caused by Superman (then Superboy) caused Lex's hair completely to fall out. This event causes Luthor to snap and become a dangerous criminal who plots the destruction of Superman.
In the modern era, Luthor was re-envisioned as a wealthy corporate scientist who hides his sociopathic tendencies behind a mask of philanthropy. Although beloved by the people of Metropolis for his many public works, Superman knows the truth. In the mainstream comic series, Luthor eventually manipulates his way to the U.S. Presidency, but is forcibly unseated from office by the Justice League. |
| Prankster | Action Comics #51 (August 1942) | Oswald Loomis, The Prankster's particular gimmick was the use of various practical jokes and gags in committing his crimes. This, coupled with his cartoonish appearance, caused many to write him off as a "joke villain", until the early 2000s, when writers improved upon the character by giving him a more svelte appearance, as well as high tech weaponry that made him a more serious threat. |
| Toyman | Action Comics #64 (September 1943) | The Toyman (Winslow Schott) uses toy-based or toy-themed devices and gimmicks in his various crimes. The Toyman's weapons, while sometimes comical, are also very dangerous. |
| Mister Mxyzptlk | Superman #30 (September 1944) | An imp from the fifth dimension, Mxyzptlk possesses nigh-limitless reality-bending powers, which he often uses to pose challenges to Superman for his own amusement. |
| Brainiac | Action Comics #242 (July 1958) | Though at his core Brainiac (alias Vril Dox) is formless, most incarnations depict him as a bald, green-skinned alien android from the planet Colu, and one of the more dangerous villains in the DC universe, capable of possessing others, creating and manipulating computer systems, and exerting some control over time and space. |
| Bizarro | Superboy #68 (October 1958) | The first Bizarro was created when Superboy was exposed to a "duplicating ray", and was later destroyed in the same story. In a later story, Luthor exposed Kal-El, now Superman, to another duplicating ray, this time creating an adult Bizarro. In accordance with the science fiction concepts of Superman stories of the era, Bizarro relocated to "the Bizarro World," a cubical planet called Htrae (Earth spelled backwards) which operated under "Bizarro logic" (it was a crime to do anything good or right) and which Bizarro populated with inverted versions of Superman’s supporting cast and other DC heroes. Bizarro appeared in Smallville as a criminal released from the Phantom Zone that required a kryptonian body to survive. Bizarro took the form of Clark Kent though his face disfigures in the sun and their strength's and weakness's work in opposite ways.
The 1986 event Crisis on Infinite Earths re-wrote much of DC’s continuity, eliminating Htrae. Since then, two Bizarro characters have appeared, one of them a flawed clone created by Lex Luthor. The second, longer lasting Bizarro, was an idea of the Batman villain the Joker, brought to life by the cosmic trickster Mister Mxyzptlk. |
| Metallo | Action Comics #252 (May 1959) | Former mercenary John Corben was transformed into a powerful cyborg with a heart of kryptonite. He seeks to use this power source as the instrument of Superman's downfall. |
| General Zod | Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961) | General Dru-Zod is one of Superman's more prominent enemies. Once the Military Director of the Kryptonian Space Center, Zod had personally known Jor-El when he was an aspiring scientist. Zod attempted to take over Krypton during a period of turmoil caused by the termination of the space program; He was sentenced to the Phantom Zone for his crimes. Zod was first released by Kal-El (during his Superboy career) when his term of imprisonment was up. However, he attempted to conquer Earth with powers gained under the yellow sun. Zod was sent back into the Phantom Zone, occasionally escaping to target Superman.
Since the history-altering Infinite Crisis, a new version of Zod has debuted, having escaped the Phantom Zone with his allies Ursa and Non. His new objective is to reclaim his son, Lor-Zod, who is currently in Superman and Lois Lane's custody (under the alias of "Chris Kent)." Zod also appeared in the movie Superman 2 after escaping from the phantom zone and hunting down Superman for revenge eventually been defeated. In Smallville, Zod was released from the Phantom Zone by Brainiac and took control of the body of Lex Luthor. Over time he had been returned to the Phantom Zone. |
| Composite Superman | World's Finest Comics #142 (June 1964) | An out of work diver, Joseph Meach gained the combined powers of the Legion of Superheroes after being struck by the energy discharge of their statues while he slept. |
| Parasite | Action Comics #340 (August 1966) | Originally a janitor, the Parasite's alter ego has been identified with two different people. In the original Silver Age comics, his alter ego was Raymond Maxwell Jensen; after the 1986 Superman origin revamp, his alter ego became Rudy Jones.
In either version, the Parasite possesses the power to temporarily absorb the energy and knowledge of whoever he touches, usually leaving his victims in a weakened state. Given this ability, the Parasite often desires to absorb the Man of Steel's powers for himself. |
| Darkseid | Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (November 1970) | Uxas, Son of Heggra, alien dictator of the planet Apokolips. As with gods in other mythologies, Darkseid is incredibly powerful, but cannot escape his ultimate destiny. It has been foretold that Darkseid will meet his final defeat at the hands of his son, Orion, in a cataclysmic battle in the fiery Armaghetto of Apokolips.
Presumably this outcome would occur at the climax of the New Gods series, but the title's unforeseen cancellation instead brought Darkseid's story arc to an unceremonious end, and both he and Orion were brought into the mainstream DC Universe, while Jack Kirby moved on to other projects. According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modeled Darkseid on actor Jack Palance. |
| Mongul | DC Comics Presents #27 (November 1980) | Ruler of the gladiatorial planet Warworld, Mongul's strength rivals that of Superman and he has often attempted to break the Man of Steel. Though slain by the demon Neron, Mongul's son has since taken up the mantle, as has his daughter Mongal. |
| Eradicator | Action Comics Annual #2 (1989) | A powerful artificial intelligence from Krypton, the Eradicator program initially sought to transform and terraform Earth into a New Krypton. Since then, it has merged with human scientist David Conner, serving as a replacement Superman after the Man of Steel's apparent death and later as an ally to Superman himself. |
| Cyborg Superman | Adventures of Superman #466 (May 1990) | Formerly known as Hank Henshaw, an astronaut who died as a result of a doomed mission onboard space shuttle Excaliber. Because Superman failed to save him, Henshaw blames him for the loss of his original body, as well the death of his wife. Reduced to a formless entity that inhabits mechanical bodies, the Cyborg desires to cause Superman equal pain. He masqueraded as a reincarnated Superman after the hero's apparent death, claiming to the result of Superman's remains being reconstructed into cybernetic form. The ruse was a tremendous success, even earning the Cyborg an endorsement from the U.S. President as the "true" Superman. The Cyborg betrayed those whose lives he was entrusted with when he obliterated Coast City with the help of Mongul; this event led to Green Lantern Hal Jordan's mental breakdown and later transformation into Parallax. Henshaw is currently a member of the Sinestro Corps, and continues to mockingly bear Superman's insignia. |
| Doomsday | Superman: The Man of Steel #17 (November 1992) | The creature who killed Superman in a titanic battle that also resulted in Doomsday's death, although Doomsday comes back to life every time he dies, albeit more powerful. Created by an ancient genetic experiment on Krypton. |
| Gog | The Kingdom (1999) | In a possible future timeline, a boy called William was the sole survivor of the destruction of Kansas in a nuclear blast. Saved by Superman, he came to view the Man of Steel as a savior and became a minister of a church devoted to him. When Superman tried to correct this misguided view, William came to see him as instead a demon whose failure led to Kansas' destruction. Empowered by the cosmic beings known as the Quintessence, Gog has traveled across the dimensions of Hypertime, slaying versions of Superman wherever he finds them. |
[edit] The list
- Amalak
- Amazing Grace
- Anomaly
- Archer
- Atomic Skull
- Baron Sunday A villain who uses Voodoo Magic against the Man Of Steel.
- Barrage
- Bizarro: An imperfect duplicate of Superman. Pre-Crisis, Bizarro was created by an imperfect duplicator ray, and later reappeared as a warped version of Superman from the twisted "Bizarro-World"; post-Crisis, he originally was a failed experiment of Lex Luthor's. More recently, a newer version similar to the pre-Crisis version was reintroduced.
- Blackrock
- Blaze
- Bloodsport
- Bloodthirst
- Brainiac: An alien scientist from the planet Colu, intent on conquring Earth; pre-Crisis, Brainiac was portrayed as being an android. Post-Crisis, he was portrayed as a circus mentalist named Milton Fine who was possessed by the intelligence of Coluan scientist Vril Dox. During The Doomsday Wars storyline, however, Fine's body was destroyed and Brainiac once more inhabited a robotic body.
- Brawl
- Colonel Future
- Conduit: A good friend of Clark Kent's while growing up, he was exposed to Kryptonite Radiation as a baby and so became a living Kryptonite battery. Obsessed with coming in second to Clark and killing both Clark and Superman; has learned they are one and the same. He is currently deceased.
- The Cyborg Superman: A reanimated astronaut cyborg who briefly impersonated Superman after his death, and also destroyed Green Lantern Hal Jordan's home of Coast City.
- Dabney Donovan
- Darkseid: A cruel and merciless alien who rules the planet Apokolips and only deals with Superman when it benefits his own agenda. Not originally created as a Superman villain, but by Jack Kirby for his New Gods series. Actors portraying Darkseid have included Frank Welker and Michael Ironside.
- Deathtrap: Carl Draper, a master trapmaker, was hired to build a trap to contain the Parasite. However, when his daughter challenges him to trap Superman, he wholeheartedly accepted it. He would appear to Superman as a hologram and challenge him to escape the traps he created (A post-Crisis version of Master Jailer). Currently works for Checkmate.
- Demolitia
- Dev-Em
- Doomsday: A mindless, impossibly powerful, raging monster that killed Superman during the Death of Superman storyline. During the Last Laugh storyline, a "jokerized" Doomsday that had been reengineered with changes from Superman's DNA attained intelligence; Darkseid and Luthor apparently had a deal to make clones of Doomsday. A version of Doomsday seen recently attained more than just the ability to talk, but the ability to reason and experience emotion, which ultimately turned him from an evil monster to a hero that saved Superman in the present and in an alternate future.
- Dreadnaught: See Psi Phon and Dreadnaught.
- Effron the Sorcerer: A sorcerer who came from the magic kingdom of Veliathan and controlled a faceless puppet army.
- Equus
- La Encantadora
- Faora
- Funny Face
- Galactic Golem
- General Zod: Pre-Crisis, Zod was one of the main Phantom Zone criminals that fought with Superman. Post-Crisis, Zod was first depicted as a Phantom Zone criminal that Superman encountered in an alternate dimension; who powers far outmatched the Post-Crisis Superman's in terms of being altered by the Time Trapper in relation to Superman's powers, who created the Pocket Universe Kryptonians to be more powerful as was the Superboy of that Pocket Universe who could fly faster than the 'speed of light' and move planets under his own physical power levels. Eventually, this General Zod along with his two allies Zaora (*See Faora) and Quex-Ul were killed by Superman with Green Kryptonite (which Superman wasn't effected by in the Pocket Universe, perhaps due to the Time Trapper's medding). Superman went into exile from Earth after his actions and became terribly remorseful over making such a hard decision, but later returned to Earth once he dealt with his guilt over the actions he felt were necessary to stop such a powerful and terrible force from invading his world. Another return appearance of this General Zod did appear alongside Zaora and Quex-Ul again to Superman, however the 3 of them, turned out to be mere mystical creations of the wizard and sorcerer Felix Faust during the DC Comics 'Ghosts' storyline. A Second 'True' incarnation version of General Zod was later introduced as a product of Brainiac 13 in the 4 part; Return To Krypton storyline, wearing a similar black version of his Pre-Crisis uniform, he was defeated by Superman in personal combat. A Third version was a Soviet Cosmonaut who was genetically engineered, surgically altered to mimic Superman, this version of Zod wore a mysterious 'Red' battle-suit along with a red helmet and cape. Who's identity was a quite a mystery to the man of steel for much a time, also became known for breaking Superman's jaw after taking a drop from Earth's orbit and flew into Superman face with a 'killer' Earth shattering knockout punch! Took over a small nation of Pokolistan and commanded an huge army, allied with Earth superheroes against Imperiex for a short while but generally out of for his own ends, and once kidnapped Bizarro and used him as a glorified 'punching bag' to prepare to face Superman once again in combat. This Third Zod was also, shockingly aware of the death of the first Zod, Superman executed years earlier in the Pocket Universe, maybe due to the spirit of the Pocket Universe General that had supposedly spoken to this version of Zod. He died when he lost his powers from which he gained under a Red Sun that was Earth for a while, that he had altered to gain powers outside his Red battle-suit, that turned back to yellow during a battle with Superman, where the third Zod, flew into Superman's invulnerable back, upon where he crushed himself to death accidentally. A Fourth version who was much older than previous Zod's and was balding with grey hair, wore a black armor with a big red 'Z' as opposed to Superman's 'S'. Was introduced as a Phantom Zone criminal after the 'Birthright' story in the Superman 'For Tomorrow' storylines. Last seen clinging to an asteroid rock chunk, in the Phantom Zone laughing after refusing Superman's assistance to be rescued from his apparently doomed fate. A fifth and currently running version in Action Comics is written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. Features General Zod with a goatee and a pair of yellow goggles/shades, wearing a dark gray uniform, cloak and comes along with a long hood. Alongside similarly dressed fellow Phantom Zone Cohorts; Ursa and Non. This General Zod version, has had a son with Ursa in the Phantom Zone, named Christopher Kent.
- Gog: A human from the future who masters time travel, and hates Superman for allowing his parents to die.
- High-Tech
- Host
- Ignition
- Imperiex: An all-powerful force of nature whose purpose is destroying galaxies. Eventually, Superman, Steel, and Darkseid stopped Imperiex by using Doomsday as an ally, along with a powerful weapon called the Entropy Aegis.
- Inkling
- Intergang: A nationwide organized crime syndicate armed with weapons supplied in part by Darkseid. Led by Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim
- J. Wilbur Wolfingham
- Jackal
- Jax-Ur: Pre-Crisis
Jax-Ur was an amoral, and criminally deviant scientist on the planet Krypton. He was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for destroying Wegthor, one of the Krypton's inhabited (Population: 500) moons while experimenting with a nuclear warhead-equipped rocket. Jax-Ur's intention was to launch and test-fire it against a passing space rock. If this test proved successful, Jax-Ur would then commence the build-up of a massive, privately-held nuclear arsenal which he would overthrow the Kryptonian government, and place the entire planet under his dominion. (In the World of Krypton miniseries, he is shown test-launching a nuclear missile, intended to destroy a space rock, but a collision with a spaceship piloted by Jor-El sent it off-course.) Because of this, space travel was forbidden. He calls himself "the worst criminal in the Phantom Zone". His sentence for his act of mass murder is life imprisonment. In his first appearance (in Adventure Comics #289), he managed to escape from the Phantom Zone, and posed as a super-powered version of Jonathan Kent. Superboy eventually sent Jax-Ur back to the Phantom Zone. Most of his later Silver Age appearances show him in his ghostly Phantom Zone form. Jax-Ur did not appear after the Crisis on Infinite Earths for some time, as until the recent appearance of Supergirl there was a rule that no Kryptonians survived except Superman. On the occasions that a pseudo-Kryptonian villain was required, writers have usually gone for General Zod.
Jax-Ur's first post-Crisis appearance is in Action Comics #846, written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner. He is one of the criminals unleashed from the Phantom Zone by Zod. In the current continuity, Jax-Ur destroyed Krypton's moon during an attempt at interstellar space travel. When the moon was destroyed, Kandor was lost as well, though the city appears to have been shown in recent months as a bottled city Superman keeps in his Fortress of Solitude. It was later revealed that the bottled Kandor was not actually the Kryptonian Kandor. The true fate of the Kryptonian Kandor has yet to be shown. Jax-Ur subsequently became the first prisoner banished to the Phantom Zone. Jax-Ur appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, where he was voiced by Ron Perlman. He was portrayed as closer to Zod; a military genius who had attempted to overthrow the Science Council. His co-conspirator, and possible lover, is a beautiful Kryptonian female with long white hair named Mala (based on Ursa and Faora).
- Kalibak
- Kancer
- Kirchitan
- Kru-El
- Lashina
- Lex Luthor: Superman's most well-known enemy. Pre-Crisis, Luthor was a rogue scientific genius with a personal vendetta against Superman, using his scientific prowess to destroy the Man of Steel by any means possible. Post-Crisis, Luthor is portrayed as a powerful but corrupt CEO of a conglomerate called LexCorp, but still has the same hatred of Superman. Recently, his public downfall has resulted in him returning more to his pre-Crisis persona. Actors who have portrayed Lex have included Lyle Talbot, Gene Hackman, Stan Jones (voice), Michael Bell (voice), Scott James Wells, Sherman Howard, John Shea, Clancy Brown (voice), Michael Rosenbaum, Powers Boothe (voice), Kevin Spacey, and James Marsters (voice).
- Livewire: A woman who can control electricity. She first appeared in the animated series, and has recently been added into the comics.
- Lobo
- Lord Satanis (pre-Crisis)
- Lord Satanus The Demon War storyline introduced Blaze's brother Lord Satanus (possibly named after pre-Crisis magician/villain Lord Satanis). Lord Satanus also resembled a traditional demon, save that he wore a heavy Roman-style helmet, and either had black skin or the helmet buried his face in shadow. They fought for possession of Blaze's domain, using Superman as a pawn. At the end of the story it was revealed that Satanus was disguised as 'Colin Thornton', the publisher of Newstime magazine, who first appeared in Nov 1989, and had previously hired Clark Kent as editor.
- Magpie
- Malleable Man
- Manchester Black
- Massacre He died during the Our Worlds at War crossover.
- Master Jailer
- Maxima: The princess of Almerac. She came to Earth, looking for Superman as a potential mate, but he turned her down. She has been both a friend and enemy to Superman. She died during the Our Worlds at War crossover.
- Metallo: A cyborg criminal who prefers using kryptonite as his power source, which makes him a deadly threat to Superman.
- Mr. Mxyzptlk: A being from the fifth dimension with magical powers who delights in tormenting Superman and traditionally could only be made to return to his native dimension by being made to say or spell his own name backwards.
- Mokkari: See Simyan and Mokkari
- Mongal
- Mongul: An alien tyrant, notable as one of the few villains to be as strong as Superman. Mongul aided the Cyborg Superman in his attempt to turn Earth into a new Warworld.
- Morgan Edge
- Mr Z
- Neutron: Nathaniel Tryon was a petty thug and a member of the TNT trio before an accident transformed him into living nuclear energy.
- Nzykmulk : Pre-Crisis
Mr Mxyzptlk's deranged cousin from the same fifth dimension with magical powers suppasing even Mr Mxyzptlk's own. Although through human eyes looks identical to Mr Mxyzptlk, according to Mxyzptlk that's far from the truth. Nzykmulk's greater 5th dimension powers stems from several more years of experience in comparison to his cousin, 42-Joljo's (years?) difference with his greater age. Appeared only once during the last Pre-Crisis era days to cause Superman and Mxyzptlk problems while trapping them both in the fifth dimension.
- Parasite: A janitor (Raymond Maxwell Jensen pre-Crisis; Rudy Jones post-Crisis) who had been mutated into a super-powered man who could absorb the powers, strength, and memories of any organic being, and wanted Superman's power for himself.
- Phantom Zone criminals: Pre-Crisis, these were Kryptonian criminals imprisoned in a dimension called the "Phantom Zone", in which they only existed in a ghostlike form; this allowed them to survive the destruction of Krypton. Various such criminals would sometimes escape and attack Superman.
- The Prankster: A villain who uses various practical jokes as a motif in his crimes. His real name is Oswald Loomis.
- Preus: Formerly a law enforcement officer from the bottle city of Kandor, he escaped the city and hunts Superman.
- Psi-Phon and Dreadnaught
- Puzzler
- Quex-Ul
- Remnant: A villain whose identity is still a mystery. He holds Superman responsible for the tragedies that resulted from his first battle with Doomsday. Even though he looks like a supernatural wraith, Superman deduced the villain is an ordinary human with advance illusionary technologies, that even the Man of Steel had difficulty of whether he was seeing was real or illusions, despite of his enhance senses of sight and hearing.
- Riot
- Rock
- Shockwave
- Silver Banshee
- Simyan and Mokkari
- Skyhook
- Sleez, an evil schemer from Apokolips.
- Sodom and Gomorrah: A husband and wife team that have the ability to fire blasts when touching each other's hand. The blast on impact turns whatever it hits into salt.
- Solomon Grundy
- Superboy-Prime
- Superman Revenge Squad
- Superwoman
- Thaddeus Killgrave
- Terra-Man: Pre-Crisis, a cowboy-dressed villain who uses various high-tech weapons disguised as those of the American Old West. Post-Crisis: A cowboy-dressed ecoterrorist.
- Titano
- Toyman: An insane criminal who uses special equipment and weapons based on toys.
- Ultra-Humanite
- Ultraman: An evil counterpart of Superman from an alternate Earth, Ultraman possesses powers similar to Superman's. Post-Crisis, Ultraman's power source is through exposure to Anti-Kryptonite instead of his Earth's yellow sun. Ultraman is a member of the Crime Syndicate of America, a villainous version of the Justice League indigenous to his universe. His power levels are equal to Superman's long as his exposure to Anti-Kryptonite is regularly maintained, away from them for too long causes his power levels to drop and lessen!
- Va-Kox
- Vartox (also ally)
- Xviar
- Zaora
[edit] Enemies created for other media
Superman villains created in other media, with no appearances in previous comics. Of those listed, only Live Wire has as yet made any appearances in subsequent comics.
| Villain | Media | Actor/Actress |
| Wicked Warlock | The New Adventures of Superman | ??? |
| Tempus | Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Lane Davies |
| Live Wire | Superman: The Animated Series | Lori Petty |
| Big Susan and Lizzie | Superman: The Animated Series | Valri Bromfield (Big Susan) Laurie Fraser (Lizzie) |
| Detective Bowman | Superman: The Animated Series | Eddie Barth |
| Karkull | Superman: The Animated Series | Ted Levine |
| Evan Garver | Superman: The Animated Series | Brian Cox |
| Luminus | Superman: The Animated Series | Robert Hays |
| Prometheon Creature | Superman: The Animated Series | Frank Welker |
| Sgt. Corey Mills | Superman: The Animated Series | Xander Berkeley |
| Unity | Superman: The Animated Series | Stephen Root |
| Volcana | Superman: The Animated Series | Peri Gilpin |
[edit] Villains from comics in other media
A number of villains from the comic books have made an appearance, or appearances, in Superman live-action media.
[edit] See also
- List of Batman enemies
- List of Wonder Woman enemies
- List of Flash enemies
- List of Green Lantern enemies
- List of Aquaman enemies
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