5. Brainiac
Vrill Drox, otherwise known as Brainiac takes the 5th place spot. His first appearance was in 1958, in Action Comics #242. He is one of Superman’s most intelligent foes. Brainiac is a self-aware alien AI, who is driven to seek all the knowledge of the Universe. He was created with the purpose of being an operating system for the planet Colu’s massive computer network.
Brainiac has a twelfth- level intellect, and seeks all the knowledge in the universe. He believes that if he retrieves all the knowledge, it would grant him infinite power, therefore making him unstoppable. Even, if Brainiac’s body is destroyed, he can transfer his consciousness to another, and he can replicate multiple versions of himself. He is also very strong, seeing that he is able to keep up with Superman, and the Justice League. Brainiac in one comic line attempted to control all minds on Earth; in doing this, he believed that with the combined minds he could bend reality to his will. He’s previously shrunk Metropolis, and Kandor (both cities on the planet Krypton). In some versions, Brainiac is the very reason why Krypton’s fate ended in the planet’s destruction. He believed the only way to preserve the Universe is to micronize cities, and destroy worlds to hoard civilizations’ knowledge. He’d even shrunk Superman and captured him, until Superman outwitted, and defeated him. Brainiac would shrink civilizations and place them in jars as part of his collection; making him the collector of worlds.
4. Doomsday
Up next, is an ultimate killing machine, a monster with the purpose to destroy and kill, which is Doomsday. His first appearance was in 1992, in a Man of Steel comic. Doomsday was created on Krypton in the distant past, when the planet was a hellish world, and where only the strongest could survive.
A scientist Betron was fascinated with creating a creature that could withstand any environment. He created an infant and sent it off into Krypton’s toxic environment, killing the infant immediately. He would then gather the best surviving genes, and create a clone making it stronger than the one before, and so on. Each next clone became immune to what previously killed it. Thus, creating Doomsday. Because of the process, Doomsday hated every living creature, including his father. Therefore, he killed his dad and every other living creature he could find. Due to his creation process, he has invulnerability, and has accelerating healing. Eventually, Doomsday escapes from Krypton, and goes on a killing spree among several planets. He has even had a run in with the Green Lantern Corp, killing hundreds, and retrieving the power ring from one.
Doomsday is most popular for his storyline in The Death of Superman. Where he defeated the entire Justice League, and by doing so caught the attention of Superman. Doomsday and Superman literally beat each other to death. And, in another comic line, he breaks both of Wonder Woman’s arms. He’s even resisted Darkseid’s omega beams, and has defeated him before. Doomsday is always reborn, making him immortal.
3. Trigon
In 3rd place, we have Trigon. His first appearance was in 1981 in a Teen Titans issue. Hundreds of years ago a cult abandoned Earth, and started a clean slate in the interdimensional world of Azarath. They carried out a ceremony in an attempt to drive out the darkness in their souls, and dispose of it. Instead, over time that darkness formed until it took physical form as an unborn child, and impregnated a woman from the cult. At birth, Trigon wasted no time in annihilating the cult liable for his creation, including his mother.
By the age of six, he destroyed an entire planet, and by the age of 30, he had conquered his entire dimension and millions of worlds. He can summon demons under his command, and can reshape entire planets. He has drained the souls of millions of worlds, and yields nearly limitless power. He’s the archenemy and father of Titans member Raven, and once took control of her, and destroyed all of Azarath in the process. And, by possessing Raven, the Titan’s Tower gets obliterated, and he then causes the death of Raven. He can manipulate reality, and has once turned all beings on Earth into stone. He also has repeatedly defeated both the Teen Titans, and Justice League. Trigon can take on human form to deceive others, which is how Trigon impregnated Angela Roth, who then gives birth to Raven. His primary goal is to continue to conquer and control, as well as corrupting his daughter. He is even capable of interdimensional travel, including teleportation.
2. Anti-Monitor
Next up is the Anti-Monitor, which is the evil counterpart to the Monitor. His first appearance was in 1985 in Crisis on Infinite Earths. On the planet Maltus, a scientist named Krona constructed a device that allowed him to witness the dawn of time, which is a period in time where time travelers were forbidden to go. From doing this, an explosion occurred caused the beginning of the multiverse. The Monitor was born from a similar origin. At the time of the explosion, the Monitor was born in a positive matter universe, unlike his counterpart.
Once the twins sensed each other, it had begun a million year war between the two, ultimately leaving both of them unconscious. The universe was quiet for about 9 billion years, without the presence of either. Until Pariah, who was known as a great scientist, also sought out the knowledge of the creation of the universe. Although it was frowned upon, Pariah created an antimatter cube to safely observe the creation. From him doing this, he unintentionally freed the Monitor and Anti Monitor. The Anti Monitor destroyed Pariah’s universe by draining its energy. He then, set out to destroy all positive matter, and make himself a force to be reckoned with.
In crisis on Infinite Earths, he almost succeeded in obliterating all of the positive matter in the multiverse. The Anti-Monitor has single handedly destroyed thousands of universes, and taken the lives of millions. He causes the multiverse to collapse on one another, destroying entire multiverses. This story’s events caused the entire DCU to reboot. He has attempted to alter history from the dawn of time. He is the anti-life equation, and absorbs entire universes into himself. The guy is no joke.
1. Darkseid
It does not get any deadlier, nor any badder than DC’s ultimate villain Darkseid. This big bad made his first appearance in 1970. Darkseid was formerly known as Uxas, a lower being among a world of old Gods, who he convinced to turn on one another. As the old Gods fought against each other, and weakened, Uxas killed each of them absorbing their powers for himself. This transformation turns him into Darkseid. This is how he obtains his title as a God, and becomes stacked with incredible powers.
Darkseid has lived at least 250,000 years, and is practically immortal. He’s been able to withstand direct blows from Superman and Wonder Woman, and has taken on two Kryptonians at once. He has superior strength and has been known to be more powerful than Superman. At one point, he slaughtered half of the Amazonians on Earth, with no remorse. He’s most known for his omega beams, that are energy beams that he can shoot from his eyes. His omega beams don’t follow the laws of physics. He has pinpoint accuracy, and can change the direction of the beams even after they’ve left his eyes. He can resurrect fallen ones that were once disintegrated with his beams.
He can increase his physical size at will, and has an army of Parademons waiting at his every command. His Parademons are artificially created shock troops that attack in the masses making it incredibly difficult for their target to defeat them, due to their strength in numbers. They mindlessly obey Darkseid. Darkseid also has the Female Furies in his back pocket, which is an elite strike force trained by Granny Goodness that are incredibly loyal to Darkseid. They serve under him, and Apokolips. He is the dictator of the Apokolips and every creature on the planet serves under Darkseid.
His lifelong dedication has been seeking the Anti-Life equation, so he could eliminate free will, and control reality, making everyone beneath his feet. One time he nearly succeeded, he secretly created a base on Earth, while in the disguise of a human, and began turning the planet into a replica of Apokolips. Darkseid then uses the Anti-Life equation, turning civilians, villains, and heroes into mindless slaves, until Wonder Woman was freed and she strained Darkseid with her Lasso of Truth, breaking the Anti-Life Equation. Darkseid’s name is feared among all of the multiverses, as it should be.
I’m currently reading The Death of Superman with Doomsday, but wasn’t aware of his origins yet!