Top 10 Scariest Supervillains!

Super-Villain

Supervillains are an imperative ingredient to every superhero’s life. Without a villain, how can any superhero really prove that they are a hero at all? If the world was a perfect place and there was no crime or evil to fight, we would have no need for our heroes to save the day.

Some believe that the earliest supervillain ever portrayed was Professor Moriarty from Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes. Professor Moriarty was introduced in 1891 as a criminal mastermind who Holmes describes as the “Napoleon of Crime”. Although technically Moriarty wasn’t “super”, he had a super mind so I guess that counts…

The first super villain to repeatedly combat a superhero was Ultra-Humanite. Ultra-Humanite originated from Action Comics #13 in 1939, as the archenemy of Superman. He was, in essence, the true original supervillain.

So what makes a supervillain? A scary costume? A bad-ass name? A sadistic personality? A lust for world domination? A gang of henchmen/followers? A creepy lair? Some or all of these characteristics are true for the supervillains listed below, but they are not on this list to prove they are supervillains; they are on this list because I believe they are the scariest supervillains out there!

Warning: This article contains spoilers from various TV shows, movies and comics. Sorry.

10. Skeletor

His face is a skull and he has black holes where his eyes should be – scary AF! Is it just me or does wearing a hood add to the terror that a character conveys? Dark hooded figures are always creepy (sorry, Red Riding Hood).

Skeletor is the main antagonist from the 80’s classic cartoon Masters of the Universe. He is the archenemy of one of my childhood heroes, He-Man. For those of you who don’t know who He-Man is, imagine a half naked, sword-wielding bodybuilder with a blond bob; that’s him.

If you too were shit scared of Skeletor as a child, please check out this Twitter account I stumbled across, @GrumpySkeletor, #henolongerscaresme.

9. Shredder

Shredder was the leader of the Foot in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He was a true bad-ass. He wasn’t so scary in the cartoon, but when he was brought to life in the movies, he made children everywhere shiver with fear. I remember him how he is pictured above – a cross between Raiden and Sub-Zero. He always hung out in dark lairs and had sharp spikes on his costume, and even his name “Shredder” was terrifying. I recently saw the new version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the new Shredder is horrific; he’s like a samurai Freddy Kruger on steroids. I dread to think what the next depiction of him will look like!

8. Apocolypse

Apocolypse is the master of the Alliance of Evil. Not only is he invincible, but he is possibly the first human being on earth to possess the mutant X-gene. Apocalypse or En Sabah Nur (The First One) is one crazy, effed-up mutant. In the X-Men 90s cartoon, he bands together a bunch of villains to kidnap the world’s psychics, including Jean Grey and Professor Xavier. Apocalypse plans to kill them all simultaneously in order to release enough energy to create a new universe in his own image. Nothing screams supervillain like an egomaniacal evil being!

His plans to destroy the universe make him extremely scary, but when I used to watch the cartoon, it was more his green face and blue lips that really freaked me out. He looked like a lizard-fish-robot-man! Despite this, the future release X-Men Apocalypse features a massive letdown with its portrayal of the character. Thanks for ruining Apocalypse, 20th Century Fox. Thanks a lot!

7. Voldemort

Voldemort is the brain child of everyone’s favourite female fantasy writer, J.K. Rowling, who created him to be the main antagonist in the famous Harry Potter books and movies.

This guy is so scary that witches and wizards won’t even say his name, they refer to him as, “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”. Voldemort is also referred to as “The Dark Lord”, and is the leader of the Death Eaters, a wizarding hate-group whose main purpose is to rid the world of muggles and non pure-bloods. Sound familiar? Can anyone else think of an evil leader that wanted to rid the world of anyone who didn’t fit into his perfect ideals? Yes, I am comparing Voldemort to Hitler.

It’s not only his evil ways that make him frightening, but look at his face. He has the whole pasty-evil-demon thing going on, and he wears a black cloak… With a hood. Case closed.

6. Red Skull

Believe it or not, the inspiration for this character came from a hot fudge sundae, more specifically from the cherry on top. Red Skull is the arch-nemisis of Captain America and was first featured in Captain America Comics back in 1941.

Trained by Hitler to be his right-hand-man, Red Skull became the head of Nazi terrorist activities.  The most recent depiction of Red Skull was in the movie Captain America: The First Avenger, and although he has no super powers, his super intelligence and martial arts skills make him a force to be reckoned with.

The main reason he is on the list is because of his skull head – making any character have a skull head (especially a red one) gives them top creeper points. Well done, Marvel, well done.

5. Doomsday

Doomsday is a genetically-created creature from the planet Krypton. He is the embodiment of all the evil and monsters from Krypton and is the ultimate killing machine. He is basically indestructible and can kill the un-killable. If the Devil was real, I believe he would look like Doomsday.

His gnarly exterior is made from sharp spikes that can pierce the super skin of any Kryptonian. If you didn’t know, sorry to break it to you, but this monstrosity killed Superman. Superman the invincible superhero, yes that guy. Fortunately, Doomsday was killed at the same time in a kamikaze style stand-off… The only reason Doomsday doesn’t rank higher is because Smallville made him not scary. Why is it that when horrific supervillains are brought to the screen, it’s always such a massive fail?

4. Bloody Mary

The number four spot goes to the only woman on the list, Bloody Mary. She is the creepy urban legend that the cool kid whose parents let them watch their horror film VHS’s when they were 8 years old used to talk about at sleepovers. Who remembers the story? Say her name 3 times in the mirror and her evil face will appear and stare back. Did anyone actually have the balls to try this? Not me.

Bloody Mary was recently depicted in the Batwoman New 52 series, where she took on the appearance of her original folklore apparition. In Volume II of Batwoman: To Drown The World, Mary Worth is summoned by Maro, an agent of Medusa, to aid in wreaking havoc upon Gotham. All Mary wants is to collect peoples faces, that’s literally all she in interested in, she collects them so she can wear them. This is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

3. The Emperor

Did anyone else freak out the first time they saw electricity come out of his hands?? I think I know where John Carpenter got inspiration for the electric guy in Big Trouble in Little China.

When you think of the villains in Star Wars, everyone always focuses on Darth Vader and Darth Maul. It has occurred to me that the Emperor is somewhat overlooked. I mean, look at him, he is one creepy-looking S.O.B. who even sounds creepy.

The Emperor is the embodiment of evil, a tyrannical warlord of the Sith, who are a cult of practitioners of the dark side of he force. He is the Vladimir Putin of the galaxy. Thankfully, for every antagonist there is a protagonist… *Fist-bumps Luke Skywalker*.

2. Scarecrow

The first time I saw this guy was whilst watching Batman Begins, not my favourite Batman film but that’s another story. More recently, Scarecrow has reappeared in my life. I was minding my own business, playing Batman Arkham Knight on PS4, and this scary mo-fo took over the screen! They should have a “Warning: Graphic Content” label before his monstrous face pops up!

If Scarecrow’s raggedy face isn’t enough to give you the shivers, his weapon of choice will be. This crazy hooded nightmare possesses a fear gas, a chemical concoction that strikes the most unbearable fear into the minds of all those who inhale it. Scarecrow is basically a mad scientist who wants to use the population of Gotham in his warped experiments. If you’re not scared of him, you will be of whatever mind-destroying images you witness once his fear toxin overwhelms you. He makes your biggest fears become reality.

1. The Joker

If you don’t find this face terrifying, then you have no soul.

Every representation of the infamous Joker character that I have seen, from the original comic creation, to the Jack Nicholson version, to the more current Jared Leto Suicide Squad portrayal, each and every one of them is as terrifying as the next. Every time this character is written, his unique psychopathic characteristics are represented in a disturbing and chilling manner. His lack of empathy and love are replaced by his hate-filled, psychopathic nature. He definitely killed small animals as a child.

The origin of the Joker isn’t as black and white as the above picture. Originally, he was a failed comedian who turned to crime to support his pregnant wife. He then becomes a criminal mastermind known as the Red Hood. Whilst he is out committing crimes, Batman interrupts him and he falls into a vat of chemical waste where he becomes disfigured, which turns him insane and into the Joker. This origin story is kinda lame because it’s not your usual radioactive meteor story, but in a way it makes sense. The Joker has no super powers; the chemical waste just bleached his skin, dyed his hair green, and made him cuckoo. He genuinely is just a cracked-out, sadistic criminal mastermind, which is what makes him so petrifying. Someone like him could actually exist.

For all those Joker fans out there I give you, The Best of The Joker: