In the superpower lottery, the ability to create ice and snow is a pretty cool one to have. These kinds of villains certainly give me the chills. Okay, ice puns aside, you are guaranteed to get some fun when characters freeze over a city or landscape to turn it into a winter wonderland. Supervillains with ice powers can be awesome and could easily be considered comical for their wacky names and likely icy puns. However, they should not be underestimated, as the effects of the cold can be devastating for heroes and even make them severely ill. So, here are five blizzard-bringing badguys who definitely could kick some ice! Ice puns, galore!
6. Laufey
Based on the mythological Norse figure, Laufey is King of the Frost Giants and a long-time enemy to Odin of Asgard. Laufey did not last long in the comics, dying at the hands of a Mjolnir-wielding Odin. But Laufey did leave behind a surviving child, namely Loki, who was adopted by Odin as his son. However, he wasn’t exactly the best dad (or mum, depending continuity): Odin considered Loki a runt and beat him. Living on Jotunheim, an entire planet made of ice, has its advantages, and being a Frost Giant allows Laufey to create weapons from ice, and he is immune to hypothermia and frostbite.
Laufey appears in Thor, played by Colm Feore, who tried to invade Earth a millennia ago but lost to Odin, and was forced to give up the Casket of Ancient Winters. Centuries on, Laufey had maintained a time of peace with the Asgardians, but Loki made plans with him to get revenge on Odin for the crimes he punished them with. Laufey is a villain, but is very pragmatic, calm, and polite towards Asgardians, allowing Thor and his friends to leave Jotunheim, though he gambled on Thor’s ego to kick off the intended war he planned against Asgard. While an effective villain, he was no match for the trickery of Loki, who kills the king to further spin his web in order to make himself worthy to be a son of Odin.
5. Killer Frost
A recurring enemy of Firestorm, Killer Frost is a title held by several supervillains who possess ice powers and a chilly disposition. The first was Crystal Frost, who became an extreme crusader to wipe out men after her first love did not reciprocate her feelings and gained her powers after locking herself in a thermostat room. She died after absorbing too much energy from Firestorm. The second and most recognised is Louise Lincoln, who was a friend of the first and repeated the process Crystal went through to gain her own powers. Louise seemed to be a bit loopy, rescuing Lois Lane from Solomon Grundy only to tie her to a train track to get a reward for Lois’ death. She also “dated” Mr. Freeze at one point to defeat Firestorm, and then had a pretty awesome team up with Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold and Icicle Jr. in an attempt to defeat Batman and Superman.
Following the New 52 continuity reboot of the DC Universe, Killer Frost is now a terrorist named Loren Fontier who tried to gain the Firestorm Matrix from Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond. However, they transform into their respective Firestorms before her and leave her severely wounded, and when Loren’s associates find her, her body has been turned blue, turning her into Killer Frost. Then there was Caitlin Snow, who appeared in a one-shot Justice League of America comic, who works at a S.T.A.R. Labs outpost in the Arctic, but was exposed to the dangers of a coolant system and gained her powers, becoming a nutter for absorbing heat, but tried to suck out Firestorm’s energy to be cured of her affliction.
Talk about a cold-hearted bitch!
4. Icicle and Icicle Jr.
There have been two major villains named Icicle in the DC Universe, a father and son pair. The first Icicle was a mad scientist named Joar Mahkent who invented a freeze raygun capable of freezing solid moisture in the air and wore a special suit to protect him from the gun’s effects. He ultimately died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and was replaced by his son Cameron as Icicle Jr., who was born with ice powers thanks to his father’s genetics being altered by the raygun and suit. They are perhaps best known for their appearance in episodes of Young Justice, teaming up with most of the other DC ice-based baddies on this list to start a breakout in Belle Reve Penitentiary. Icicle Jr. also appeared in the ninth season of Smallville, working for Amanda Waller as a hitman against members of the Justice League, unaware she was playing him. Oh, and his dad appeared to in a vegetative state, but Cameron, ever cold to his father, pulled the plug on him.
3. Blizzard
Blizzard is a recurring Iron Man antagonist who has had several different incarnations, but all have maintained his signature costume and ability to generate ice, courtesy of micro-circuited cryogenic units in the suit. The first was Gregor Shapanka, a mad scientist seeking immortality. He sought cryogenics as a source and tried to steal from Stark Industries, but was thwarted by Iron Man. During this time, he made his suit and used the alias of Jack Frost. He popped up again several years later now as Blizzard. He ended up in prison again with Electro as a cellmate. But when Electro busted out, Blizzard ended up fused to his suit, and they teamed up to take over the Daily Bugle, but were stopped by Spider-Man and Daredevil. Shapanka eventually met his end at the hands of an alternate Iron Man from 2020.
The second Blizzard, Donald Gill has had an unhappy career and is driven by a desire to gain recognition. He was enlisted as a supervillain by Justin Hammer, but he was inept at his job and ended up leading to the capture of his teammates Beetle and Blacklash, but his loyalty to Hammer drove him on until Iron Man revealed that the slimy businessman betrayed him, leaving Donald devastated. He had an amusing encounter with She-Hulk in a bar, getting drunk together where Donald expressed his desire to get recognition, before being thrown up on by She-Hulk. In a surprise move, Blizzard joins a new version of the Thunderbolts, a group of badguys seeking redemption, and formed a friendship with fellow badguy Whirlwind. Recently, in the Infinity storyline, Blizzard gained the power to create ice on his own and considered finally going up in the world as he always wanted.
2. Captain Cold
On first impressions, Captain Cold could easily be judged as a silly villain for his name and being dressed in a parka. But don’t let that fool you: Captain Cold is one of the Flash’s greatest antagonists. Starting off as a small time crook, Leonard Snart became Captain Cold upon inventing a freeze gun that was built from a particle accelerator. He has been an enemy to three incarnations of the Flash, most notably teaming up with several of his fellow badguys to murder the fourth Flash, Bart Allen.
But despite his cruelty, Captain Cold may not have such a frozen heart after all – he hates drugs, senseless violence, arranged a funeral for the first Captain Boomerang, was deeply shaken by the murder of his beloved sister Lisa who doubled as the Golden Glider (her death was retconned in New 52), sent flowers to honour the Elongated Man’s dead wife Sue Dibny, and expressed guilt upon learning Bart Allen was younger than he thought. In the New 52 continuity, Cold is dedicated to saving his sister from cancer but blames the Flash when a medical laser pivotal to her survival is damaged by the Flash performing an EMP burst in its vicinity. He undergoes experiments to gain his icy powers rather than use a freeze gun, and his new powers allow him to slow down molecules to the point he slows down the Flash’s speed to that of a human, allowing Captain Cold to actually fight the Flash man-to-man.
1. Mr. Freeze
Well, who else was it going to be? Mr. Freeze is one of the most iconic of Batman’s villains, and probably one of the most tragic badguys in popular culture. Dr. Victor Fries studied in cryogenics, freezing his beloved wife Nora to find a cure for her deathly illness. However, an accident altered his molecular makeup, forcing him to wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive. Becoming a criminal, Mr. Freeze resorted to desperate measures to continue his research and save Nora. However, our favourite arctic anti-villain wasn’t always like this.
He was first written as a joke character, like Killer Moth, and cast as a stock enemy for Batman to throw around, though he still had his signature freeze gun and was named “Mr. Zero”. He was featured frequently in the 1960s Batman show, played by several actors including George Sanders, Otto Preminger, and Eli Wallach, and was treated in the same way. But it all changed in Batman: The Animated Series where many of Batman’s characters gained their modern day characteristics. In the episode “Heart of Ice”, Mr. Freeze was rewritten as a tragic, well-intentioned anti-villain thanks to Paul Dini. Voiced by the late Michael Ansara, Mr. Freeze seems emotionless and follows a cold sense of logic, but is still human at heart, and everything he does is dedicated to saving Nora. “Heart of Ice” is a fantastic episode and one of the animated series’ best, with so many memorable images and quotes, mainly from Mr. Freeze. Batman treats Mr. Freeze fairly, and sympathises with him, always offering to help him rather than simply sending him to Arkham Asylum.
As the DC Animated Universe expanded and the Batman series continued, Mr. Freeze’s story continued. Eventually, his wife was cured thanks to Bruce Wayne’s efforts but it is revealed Mr. Freeze cannot reunite with her due to being his condition deteriorating, leaving only his head attached to a robotic suit. And to make matters worse, Nora never found out what happened to Victor and ended up remarrying and leaving Gotham. Mr. Freeze’s final appearance was in Batman Beyond, where he is still alive, but given a chance at both redemption and a new life. But it all goes downhill when he is used as a test subject to heal the mutation of Derek Powers, who is transformed into Blight. Mr. Freeze gains redemption by saving Batman from Blight, and allows himself to die as Blight’s complex collapses.
Mr. Freeze’s backstory was eventually picked up by the comics and used in Batman & Robin, where he was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, though the less said about that ice pun-obsessed portrayal the better. Unfortunately, in the New 52 reboot, the writers altered his backstory to turn him into yet another insane villain – instead of being married to Nora, he was just obsessed with her like the Mad Hatter’s character is with Alice, and became deluded that Nora was his wife. But despite all this, Mr. Freeze is a fantastic character and is so much more than just being the best badguy with ice powers. I believe my favourite quote that represents Mr. Freeze is from “Heart of Ice”: “I can only beg for your forgiveness, and pray you hear me somehow. Someplace where a warm hand waits for mine.”
Are there any ice-empowered badguys I forgot to mention on the list, and is Mr. Freeze really the best that there is? Then break the ice and sound off in the comments section!