Last week, we went through the superheroes with the absolute worst rogues galleries in the history of comics (leaping frogs and flying fish included—check them out; they’ll make your day). Of course, it wouldn’t be fair if we didn’t feature the superheroes whose enemies actually meant something. So, without further ado, here’s the list of the five best rogues galleries ever. Will your personal fave make the cut?
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Fantastic Four
They have a veritable plethora of super-villainy.
So, there’s obviously Victor Von Doom and Galactus, but psychopathic Latverian dictators and planet-eating monstrosities aside, the Fantastic Four actually have a decent roster of bad guys in their rogues gallery. Not counting the ridiculous Mole Man (fine, we’ll let that one slide), Marvel’s First Family always has a new ‘Villain of the Week’ that’s of cosmic proportions. Skrull invasions are pretty normal for the folks at the Baxter Building, and when you have an enemy that’s been dubbed as ‘The Living Death That Walks’ (Annihilus), you’re pretty much a shoo-in for this list.
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Superman
We don’t play well with others, or…others like ourselves!
There’s just no way the Boy Scout won’t make the cut, because honestly, he’s Big Blue—how can you not include him anywhere? Superman has his fair share of villains to fight aside from the Justice League regulars, and that includes Brainiac, Metallo, and General Zod, who, thanks to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, will forever be remembered as that guy whose neck Supes broke (I guess no one’s gonna be kneeling before Zod anytime soon).
Who can forget the lovable Bizarro, or the rampaging Doomsday that made thousands of Superman fans mourn in the early 90s? And, of course, there’s Lex Luthor—the greatest arch-enemy of any superhero ever (to those who’ve only seen him portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, read the comics—please).
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Flash
They just need some attention!
So, Barry Allen’s enemies don’t exactly make up the most formidable of rogues galleries, but what makes his villains unique is that he actually has a special love-hate relationship with them, and most of them were even his friends at one time or another. In the comics, Captain Cold, Heatwave, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, Captain Boomerang, Trickster, and Pied Piper are a merry band of “villains” called “The Rogues” with a particular code of conduct, including not taking a life unless absolutely necessary. Sure, Flash also has enemies like Gorilla Grodd and Zoom, but it’s the quirky Rogues that truly make his bad guys unique.
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Spider-Man
W don’t appreciate your constant quipping!
Honestly, the number two and number one spot on this list are pretty much interchangeable, because both superheroes have insanely awesome rogues galleries that make central conflict in comics intriguing and highly entertaining. For Spidey, he’s got the Green Goblin, his ex-professor The Lizard, Doc Ock, Sandman, Electro, Mysterio, the Vulture, Rhino, and Venom. There’s no shortage of enemies for our friendly neighborhood webslinger to battle, considering there’s still Black Cat, Chameleon, Scorpion, Doppelganger, Morbius, and the cray-cray Carnage, who would make THE best villain in any of the next Spider-Man films just because Peter had to team up with Venom to take this guy down.
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Batman
We’re usually more terrifying than this.
As mentioned before, Spidey and Bats can both have the top spot, because their villains are just epic. Our beloved, brooding Dark Knight not only has the craziest arch-enemy in The Joker, but he also has the whole happy cast of Arkham Asylum, which includes Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, the Penguin, Catwoman, Clayface, Two-Face, the Riddler, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Victor Zsasz, Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Bane, Solomon Grundy, Black Mask…the list goes on and on and on and I’m getting a headache.
And as if that weren’t enough, Gotham City itself pretty much spawns villains every darn day, giving birth to petty criminals and big mob bosses from its underbelly. Such a cowardly and superstitious lot, really.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with our ranking of the best rogues galleries ever? Let us know what you think and let’s start a geeky discussion right here!
