The Top 20 Comic Book Villains: 10-1

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#10: Carnage (Marvel Comics)

• Evil Symbiote from space
• Took over Cletus Kasady, a literal serial killer
• Powered by his own blood
• Carnage Rules

I know that a lot of people think that Venom is Spider-Man's ultimate rival and the parallel to everything he represents, I personally think that Carnage is a must better villain to both Spider-Man AND Venom. Yeah, Carnage is so evil that even bad guys think he's too unstable.

Carnage is actually a Symbiote in the same vein as Venom, but instead of the Symbiote grafting itself onto someone like Eddie Brock, a general jerk but a rational human being, it instead grafted itself onto a man named Cletus Kasady, a psychopath before he merged with the Symbiote. And once he did merge with the Symbiote, he pretty much became a nearly unstoppable force. He's stronger than both Venom and Spidey to the point where he can regenerate, has an enhanced Spider Sense, more physical strength, and can regenerate his suit as long as he has access to his own blood. That's pretty metal if you ask me.

Whenever Carnage gets loose, it always takes a few heroes to try and stop him. All you need do to is read "Maximum Carnage", an surprisingly good Spider-Man stories from the 90's that isn't related to the Clone Saga! In it, Carnage is able to assemble a team of super villains and cause all sorts of havoc in New York to the point where even normal civilians have picked up his murderous tendencies. And how is Carnage defeated? With the power of love. It's stupid, but whenever Carnage is left to be Carnage, it's amazing. He's an incredibly strong and chaotic villain that is evil because he believes it's the only way to live. It's twisted, but it works.

Unfortunately, since his debut, Carnage hasn't had the same impact as in previous renditions. Whenever he appears, he's either played as a henchman to a bigger villain or destroys things because he's just all about destruction. To be fair, his character is all about chaos and destruction, but it always had a purpose to it. Why would Carnage ever go to Houston to cause chaos there when he could have attacked any other city on the way there? Gripes aside, Carnage is a classic Spidey villain, but not the best Spidey villain...

#9: Doc Ock (Marvel Comics)

• An honorable mad scientist
• Has 4 robotic claws to do his bidding
• Nearly beat Black Cat to death
• Actually became Spider-Man!

Now here is Spider-Man's greatest villain! When push comes to shove, no villain has had quite the impact on Spider-Man's life than Otto Octavious, aka Doc Ock. He was always somewhat of a grumpy man, and after gaining the ability to control four mechanical limbs because... radiation, Doc Ock became one hell of a foe to Spider-Man. He founded the Sinister Six, the group of villains always fighting against Spider-Man, and he even beat Spider-Man on a handful of occasions, most famously when he was overcoming his fear of arachnophobia that Spider-Man gave him by nearly beating him to death. But Doc Ock really became Spidey's #1 villain when he was about to die, and I mean actually die.

Doc Ock was slowly dying, and in a bid to give himself a legacy, tried even more outlandish schemes to take control of New York City. He constantly failed, until he was able to successfully swipe his mind with Peter's so that Peter was stuck in his deteriorating and dead body. With Peter now dead in Doc Ock's body, Doc Ock became Spider-Man after permanently taking control of Peter's body, but still retaining his memories. That's why Doc Ock vowed to become the Superior Spider-Man, someone who was better than Peter could ever be.

Oh sure, he may have been a hero, but never forget the fact that he still murdered Peter. Intentionally. Doc Ock won, and even when he was being Spider-Man, he was still a jerk to nearly everyone he ever knew. Not only that, but Doc Ock pretty much ignored a rising Green Goblin threat to purse Peter's consciousness and memories from his body. Doc Ock is a deeply selfish person in that regard, and couldn't even be a good Spider-Man because he was too obsessed with finally ending Peter Parker.

So what have we learned here? Doc Ock is a mad scientist that formed a powerful organization to beat Spider-Man, literally beat Spider-Man, literally killed Spider-Man, took over his body, then proceeded to piss on Peter's legacy. And this is why comic book super villains are crazy.

#8: The Crime Syndicate (DC Comics)

• Evil Justice League from Earth 3
• Rules over the United States of Amerika
• Crossed over into the main DCU several times
• Ultraman nearly obliterates existence just to punch Superman

I know I may be cheating putting in an entire super villain team, but the Crime Syndicate function better as a whole than individually. They're evil versions of the Justice League, and that's all you really need to know about them. Imagine if all of the positive traits of the Justice League were completely inverted; Green Lantern became a fearing coward, Batman lost his sense of empathy and got a sense of sadism, Wonder Woman domineered people, and Superman became a power hungry dictator. Put them all together, and you get the Crime Syndicate!

The Crime Syndicate are just a fun group of villains to read about. There's something fun about seeing evil versions of the world's greatest heroes, and seeing the Crime Syndicate fight the Justice League is always a real treat. You have "Crisis on Two Earths" where the Justice League enter the Crime Syndicate's world to fight them and save their Earth to no avail, and you have "Forever Evil", a series where the Crime Syndicate defeats the Justice League and now it's up to the villains to defeat them. Both stories are highly enjoyable and I recommend picking them both up.

I honestly don't have much more to say about them besides... they're the mirror universe Justice League. They live on causing misery and pain because that's just who they are. Completely, unabashedly evil. Sometimes, that's all you really need.

#7: Ozymandias (DC Comics)

• Smartest man in the world
• Founder and CEO of Veidt Industries
• Engineered the apocalypse to save the world
• Caught a bullet with his bare hands

It's funny how we went from a group of villains the relished being evil to a man that would consider himself a hero despite all of his evil deeds. You know, thinking about Ozymandias, I remember a quote from the foreward to "Justice", a 12 issue maxi series written by Alex Ross. In it, one of the early themes present is that no one ever thinks of themselves as the villain. No one wakes up in the morning, declares that they will be evil, then act on them. Sure, it works for some villains, like 5% of them, but not so much for the rest. Ozymandias is the embodiment of that phrase.

On the eve of nuclear Armageddon, Ozymandias orchestrates an elaborate plan in order to kill over 3,000,000 people by making them think that Earth was being invaded by aliens in order to unite all global powers in a single effort to defeat the alien menace. To do this, he kills several people, intentionally gives several people cancer, stages an assassination attempt at his own life, and forces Dr. Manhattan, who has quantum mechanical powers rivaling God, into a self imposed exile to complete his plan.

And it works. Ozymandias's plan goes off without a hitch. He kills millions and averts nuclear war across the globe. In his eyes, he's a hero. No one will know about the things that he has done, but he can sleep at night knowing he saved the world. He may have had to kill innocent lives, but it's better than having everyone on Earth die... right? Even by the end of "Watchmen", Ozymandias doesn't know if he did the right thing. If he a hero? Or a villain? It's rich complexity like that that makes him stand out above every other villain on this list. He doesn't think he's evil, and some readers may not think that he is a villain, but his actions speaker louder than his morally conflicting words.

Oh wait, "Doomsday Clock" is still a thing and he may be a villain in it and for some reason "Watchmen" is getting a canonical sequel. WELL THEN.

#6: The Riddler (DC Comics)

• Real name: Edward Nashton
• Fascinated with riddles and puzzles
• Took over Gotham City once
• Deduced Batman's secret identity

The Riddler is a special kind of villain. I've mentioned a few times already how a villain's intelligence plays into their effectiveness as a villain, but I don't think there's any villain whose intelligence can hurt them as much as the Riddler. The Riddler is an ego maniac that is able to pull off fantastic heists, but constantly shoots himself in the foot by leaving clues for Batman or any other hero to solve.

Is it counter productive? Incredibly. But at the same time, it just makes the Riddler into a classic super villain. I honestly think that the Riddler is the perfect super villain for the Silver Age. He's a maniac that pulls off crimes and dares heroes to catch him but no matter how serious his plans are, he always has that little goofy charm to him. I don't care how serious he can get or how gruesome he can be, like when he became Mockingjay for the Secret Six and beats people with his cane, if you're a man that runs around and leaves clues for people, how can you not at least laugh at little at that.

The Riddler is at his best when he's not being taken seriously. Whenever he has a super elaborate plan that Batman solves by piecing together insane hints is what makes the Riddler enjoyable. I lvoe it when Batman gets a hint from the Riddler and Batman speaks out his train of thought and all of its logical impossibilities, and yet it's completely true. The Riddler makes crime into a game, and who doesn't love to play a game? It's just that a game with the Riddler usually involves murder, money, and egomania.

#5: The Scarecrow (DC Comics)

• Was a former university professor
• Created fear toxin he eventually became numb to
• Was briefly a Yellow Lantern
• Seriously, he was the best part of Arkham Asylum

I have a special kind of relationship with Scarecrow. No, it isn't just because I look like his actor in the Christopher Nolan Batman movies (although that is a fun little coincidence), but more so the fact that the Scarecrow is such a simple concept that's executed brilliantly. He's a man who uses fear as a weapon against bystanders and heroes. He gets into their deepest anxieties and uses it against them, and what's not deliciously evil about that.

The sad part about him, and why he's such a difficult character for me to put on this list, is that most, if not all, of his feats have occurred outside of comics. There are several amazing Batman: The Animated Series episodes about Scarecrow, and who could ever forget his actions in Batman: Arkham Asylum? He does have a few good stories in comics, like that time when he became a Yellow Lantern in "Blackest Night" and frequently using his fear toxin to interact with other heroes.

So if I love the character for everything else he's done, why is he so high? Honestly, because if you were to take away the rule forbidding outside media, I still would have placed Scarecrow this high. Most of his best moments come from games, movies, and television, and I can't ignore that. Scarecrow was once a goofy guy in a mask that made himself look like a Scarecrow intentionally in the comics. But outside of comics? He can look like a monster. He can look like an intimidating force of nature. Hell, he can look civil but cause grown men to pee themselves. I know plenty of people who think that the Scarecrow alone is what made Arkham Asylum a great game, and I'm nearly certain that his popularity is what made him the villain of Arkham Knight.

So yeah, I'm breaking the rules with the fear inducing villain, but to be fair, I also let The Joker slip into my Top 20 Movie Villains last year, so I think it balances out.

#4: Galactus (Marvel Comics)

• The first living being in the Marvel Universe
• Frequent Fantastic Four foe
• Once beat Order and Chaos
• Called Thanos a tool

If you were to ask me what one of my favorite Marvel comics is, I would easily say "The Galactus Trilogy" in "Fantastic Four". The entire point of the trilogy was to introduce the Fantastic Four to a villain unlike any other comic book villain at the time; Galactus. Galactus is a a cosmic entity that only has one goal; to feed on and consume the energy from planets. He comes near a planet, devours it, and moves on without any emotional investment. Galactus is a force of nature to many and indestructible to nearly everyone he encounters.

I've never been one to understand Marvel's cosmic mythology. While DC's cosmic mythology is relatively easy to follow (it usually just revolves around the Green Lanterns), Marvel's is pretty intense. There are multiple races with varied allegiances, and even more cosmic beings that shape the foundation of the universe. Galactus is one of those cosmic beings, and is by far one of the most important ones. Galactus is the first living being in the universe and is the most technologically advanced being in the Marvel universe. He can create a near infinite amount of energy and even possesses a machine that can remake the Multiverse at will.

But that's just what Galactus possesses. What can he actually do? Well besides from being an someone who can't be defeated (from what I can tell he has died once or twice but was usually revived after people realized that the universe actually needs him to function), he's gone on and done some fairly significant things that complete eradicate Order and Chaos. Yes, the two physical embodiments of the metaphysical idea of Order and Chaos were trounced by Galactus, and if I was to list the amount of planets that he has consumed, his spot would go on for another couple of paragraphs.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby wanted to try and create a different kind of villain with Galactus. They wanted to break away from the super intelligent, tyrannical overlord that was used to death in comics in the 60's, and for all intents and purposes, they succeeded. They made a villain that doesn't view themselves as evil and is so powerful that his presence is enough annihilate planets. And the best thing of all? He became friends with Squirrel Girl. Because even a galactic being of pure hunger has to love Squirrel Girl.

#3: Doctor Doom (Marvel Comics)

• Ruler of Latveria
• Egomaniacal to the letter
• Had a bad plan? It was actually a Doombot
• Rewrote existence as God Emperor Doom

Let's run off the badass list here for a minute. Victor von Doom is a scientist/tyrant/gypsy from the nation of Latveria who frequently tries to take over the world, makes deals with heroes in exchange for favors when they're at their weakest, and is so evil that he actually stops a plan created by Galactus just because he's a selfish man. Who doesn't love Doctor Doom?

Doctor Doom is the defeacto villain of the Marvel universe. Whenever Doom makes an appearance, he gets results. He's not a villain that has a simple scheme and gets thwarted by the heroes. Doom's plans are slow and methodical. He plans for nearly every possible occasion and is able to turn them to his advantage. His plans have allowed him to take control of the Silver Surfer's powers, take control of the Beyonder's power, and oh yeah, did I mention he became Supreme God Emperor Doom and rewrote reality when here is an all powerful being that sits on a throne made from the branches of Yggdrasil, the God Tree. Doom has done it all. 

But it gets better. Doctor Doom usually acts with Doombots, robotic duplicates of himself that have his intelligence, strength, and sorcery capabilities, and he uses them to attack his enemies. Or whenever they go rogue, they could have their own evil schemes to rival Doom's own plans. Then when Doom is eventually defeated, guess what? Because he has diplomatic immunity as the supreme ruler of Latveria, he gets off free. No repurcussions, no prison sentence, just a slap on the wrist and maybe some trouble for Latveria down the road, but nothing that Doom can't overcome. 

Doom is what happens when you get a villain that is expertly crafted. From his first appearance to now, Doctor Doom is a villain that has weight to him. Whenever you see that Doctor Doom is involved in a story, like "Secret Wars" (both of them), or even in a title like "Iron Man", readers know that something is about to go down. What makes a villain really special, to me at least, is when they aren't thrown around haphazardly. It's super fulfilling to see a villain used in moderation so that they don't become too common of a threat, but still rare enough to know that something serious is about to happen. 

I truly think that Doctor Doom is the best villain that Marvel has ever made, and he doesn't reach the Top 2 just because his competition is that fierce. And he lost to Squirrel Girl. Like, not a Doombot or a clone, Doctor Doom just flat out lost to Squirrel Girl. Even Galactus befriended her. Shame on you Doom. Shame. 

#2: Darkseid (DC Comics)

• Ruler of Apokolips
• Seeker of the Anti-Life Equation
• Killed Batman
• Darkseid is.

I don't think you can get more powerful than Darkseid.

Darkseid is simply a being of pure evil whose sole purpose is to subjugate the weak and control the entire universe. And while some cosmic villains aspire to be like Darkseid, no other villain has actually attained it. Even before a single hero got involved in his life, he killed his father, took over the planet of Apokolips and forced everyone into slave camps to serve and honor him, gives direct order to other Gods and beings of unimaginable power, and frequently goes to war with the New Gods for dominion over the universe. Darkseid is pretty scary all things considered. Even Superman has a hard time dealing with him. 

But if you were to ask me what makes Darkseid such a compelling villain, all you need to do is read "Final Crisis". In it, Darkseid is killed, but his corpse it literally dragging humanity into oblivion with it. His spirit then takes control of a human, slowly corrupting him, all so that Darkseid can finally use the Anti-Life Equation, a formula to subjugate all life and control every thought and soul in reality. And he does it. He uses to Equation to take control of Earth. He enslaves several superheroes. He kills Batman, and he's only truly dead when Superman uses a power he had to get from beyond reality to do it. 

Darkseid can back up his claims of villainy, but like Doctor Doom, Darkseid appearances are rare, but immensely satisfying. Just to see Darkseid stand is enough to make a person pee their pants. If Darkseid says something, it's enough to make even Metron, a being of complete knowledge that exceeds all know universes, sweat. But Darkseid isn't a villain that will casually throw a plan around to take over the world. His goals have always been laser focused and will only interfere with heroes if they attack him, or if they're in the way between him and the Anti-Life Equation. 

I can't stress enough how intimidating of a figure Darkseid is, but I'm going to try my best. Darkseid is synonymous with evil in the DC universe. His name isn't casually thrown around. When people say his name, it's because they have to. The phrase "Darkseid is" is probably the single reason for why evil exists in the universe, why futility is a thing, why hopelessness and despair are known, and why it's impossible to oppose Darkseid. Because Darkseid is. 

And the only reason he isn't #1 is because for as powerful and as foreboding as Darkseid is, there's one villain that can surpass him. One villain that embodies everything it is to be a super villain. So say it with me now. The #1 best comic book villain is...

#1: The Joker (DC Comics)

• Real name unknown
• Too many good stories to name
• Apparently there are 3 Jokers running around...?
• I mean... duh.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Not only is the Joker one of the best comic book villains ever created, but he's arguably one of the most iconic villains ever created. Hell, I would go as far as to say that he just may be the greatest villain ever created outside of actual real life monsters. I don't think there is a single person that doesn't know who the Joker is. Hell, there are probably more people that know who the Joker is than there are people that know any other villain on this list. 

Where do I even begin with him? Well let's talk about his best stories. "The Killing Joke". "Death in the Family". "Death of the Family". "Mad Love". "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth". I could go on for days about some of the best Joker stories ever told, he just has that many. And what about feats? Murdering Jason Todd, stealing Mr. Mxyzptlk's 5th dimensional powers, paralyzing Barbara Gordon, driving Harleen Quiznel insane, again this list can go on for days. He's everything that Batman isn't, and yet he's everything that balances out Batman. The entropy to Batman's order. 

I think the better question to ask with the Joker isn't why he's the best villain in comic books, but why he's so popular outside of it. Is it the movies? Is it his design? Is it the fact that he's a clown? Personally, I think that all of those help, but the one thing that defines the Joker in popular culture is his personality. There isn't a villain that you love to hate, hate to love, or enjoy to see as much as the Joker. He can bring a story to life just by simply appearing in it. Every other villain can be scary, but they're not as enjoyable at the Joker. The Joker just makes things pop if that makes any sense. 

Plus he can be played in a ton of different ways. He can be a gangster, he can be a psychopath, he can be a mastermind, or he can be a prankster. No matter how the Joker is shown though, he remains engaging and it still makes sense for his character. I don't think I can really do justice to the oldest comic book villain appearing on this list. The Joker is just fun to read, and he's so good I had to put him into my Top 20 Movie Villains list last year, and even then he was #5! He made it far on a technicality! So let's give a cheer to the Joker, not only the best comic book villain, but one of the best fictional villains ever created.