Let's Say Only 7 Rogues ...

[daBronzeBomma]

... are going to stay villainously proprietary to the Superverse.

The rest will be dispersed throughout the corners of the DCU for other less-developed heroes and franchises to claim as their own.

Which 7 Super Rogues would you reserve as remaining property of the Superverse?

No rankings here. Position 1 is just as valuable as position 7.

I'm curious if there is a consensus among the Superman fans here which of his foes are must-haves.

Feel free to state why you reserved the villains that you did if you feel like doing so.

Ok. Me first:

1. Lex Luthor - his perfect polar opposite arch-nemesis. I am not rational about this.

2. Brainiac - one of the very few who is a match without being a distorted copy.

3. Zod - actually just the vaunted name is wanted, to be adopted by the truly sociopathic Ursa/pre-Crisis Faora.

4. Mongul - Darkseid without the baggage or expectation.

5. Bizarro - not really a villain at all, but he belongs to Superman over anyone else.

6. Mxyzptlk - so far outclasses Supes in every physical way that Kal has to use his brains every time.

7. Blaze - gets stolen back from the Shazamverse back to where she belongs in the Superverse as a female Mephisto.

Those are my 7 reservations.

What are yours?

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Lex, Mongul, Zod, Mxy, Manchester black, Brainiac, Metallo.
Edit: at first I left out Brainiac, but I changed my mind.

[qwertyuiop1998]

1lex-always remian superman's personality polar-opposition
2brainiac-like supergirl said,if lex is evil of humanity,then brainiac is evil of aliens
3anti-hero:a character who have potential,but never made it,he short appearance in superman team and comparison his describe in superman villiain secret files and origin let me feel he should deserve some more writing
4mxy-everybody loves imp
5cyborg superman-comparison bizarro,i personally think he is more like superman polar-opposition(at least,on physically)
6darkseid-a literally evil incarnation
7doomsday-he killed superman once,and certainly a character could give superman desperately depression,superman need everything he got to stop doomsday

[TheRay]

Lex

Everyone is going to include him. The question probably should have been 7 not including Lex.

[Godzilla2099]

Superman doesn't have many rogues I like, but the ones I do, are some of the best in comics. Excluding Lex, my rogue gallery are true power (Endgame) players

1. Lex Luthor. Prefer Brainiac but I have to give him his props. The only time I enjoyed Lex was Gene Hackmans's Performance

2. Doomsday. The Ultimate Monster. Keep him the unstoppable killing machine. Don't use this character often though

3. Darkseid: This one is the complete package. Power, intelligence, dictator. Another endgame character

4. Zod: Tactical General. Superman's Powers. Familiar with Kal-El's History

5. Brainiac: Ultimate Seeker of Knowledge. High Power Levels and Technology

6. Helspont: I always liked this villain. Enjoyed his arc in the 52 series. Untapped potential that may rival Darkseid. I'd write him as a strong emperor

7. Manchester Black: A telepathic powerhouse obsessed with Superman and his ideals determined to prove him wrong

Honorable Mentions:

Mongul: Preferred him being Hal Jordan's Enemy. Their history is more personal

Eradicator: I'd rather see him neutral. Give him the Reign of the Supermen look back. Only 'awoken' during extreme emergencies due to his zero fail-safes to get the job done.

[JAK]

... are going to stay villainously proprietary to the Superverse.

The rest will be dispersed throughout the corners of the DCU for other less-developed heroes and franchises to claim as their own.

Which 7 Super Rogues would you reserve as remaining property of the Superverse?

No rankings here. Position 1 is just as valuable as position 7.

I'm curious if there is a consensus among the Superman fans here which of his foes are must-haves.

Feel free to state why you reserved the villains that you did if you feel like doing so.

Ok. Me first:

1. Lex Luthor - his perfect polar opposite arch-nemesis. I am not rational about this.

2. Brainiac - one of the very few who is a match without being a distorted copy.

3. Zod - actually just the vaunted name is wanted, to be adopted by the truly sociopathic Ursa/pre-Crisis Faora.

4. Mongul - Darkseid without the baggage or expectation.

5. Bizarro - not really a villain at all, but he belongs to Superman over anyone else.

6. Mxyzptlk - so far outclasses Supes in every physical way that Kal has to use his brains every time.

7. Blaze - gets stolen back from the Shazamverse back to where she belongs in the Superverse as a female Mephisto.

Those are my 7 reservations.

What are yours?

That's a great list!

For me, maybe switch out Blaze for Metallo and we're good. Or put Lex on the "frenemy" list (almost like a male Catwoman, minus the romance lol) and just add Metallo to this one.

[Vordan]

Lex, Brainiac, Manchester Black, Metallo, Livewire, and Parasite. Those guys could provide a solid core to build a new RG from if needed. I was thinking about Red Cloud since Supes could use more female villains but I’ll stick with the “classics”.

[Jon Clark]

1) Ultra-Humanite: Reclaimed from the JSA

2) Luthor: He is a given, though of the SuperFoes he is the one that really needs a vacation

3) Mxyzptlk: Just to keep some whimsy

4) Zod: Superman needs a foe that is a twisted version of him, but who can be more than a one-note pastiche

5) Lord Satanis: The Pre-Crisis one who needed Superman's invulnerable body as a focus to obtain a mystical runestone. Maybe make the spell require a "Kryptonian" rather than juts somone "invulnerable". Superman really needs a mystic enemy and Mordru seems more suited to Dr Fate now.

6) The Quarmer/Sand-Superman: Parasite and Bizarro rolled into one. Extradimensional being who only has form here by drawing on Superman's powers.

7) The Atom man (or Atoman): Heinrich Mueller from the radio show who was given a serum that contained kryptonite. Was a physical equal for Superman in part because his body gave off kryptonite radiation which weakended Superman when the two fought hand-to-hand. Also had the ability to release explosive energy blasts. Much preferred by me to Metallo or any of the various Kryptonite Men.

[kingaliencracker]

I'm going to leave out Mxyzptlk and Bizarro even though they're firmly planted in the Superverse and should remain that way because I don't consider them villains in the traditional sense, as their motives aren't usually depicted as evil in nature.

So with that...

Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Mongul
Zod
Doomsday
Cyborg Superman
Metallo

[Kuwagaton]

I'm actually going to exclude Zod. Maybe his anti hero streak will end next time we see him, as he'll probably be pretty sore about what Superman did to him in that Bendis story. But I think he can branch out into the larger DC as a sort of Black Adam. As a Superman foe, I think the only thing sustaining him is the sense of obligation people have to the character relevance from Superman II.

And... I'm also going to cut out Brainiac. I think he deserves to remain a larger DC villain who primarily comes into conflict with Superman above others. That said:

1. Lex, who is the number one antagonist even if I do slightly prefer Brainiac

2. Mxy, who will always be tied to Superman because he wants to be

3. Kryptonite Man/ Metallo/ Metalo... not that anyone should find them interchangeable, I just think that a major kryptonite based villain has to be a Superman villain.

4. Parasite, a seriously underrated villain. It shouldn't really make sense for others to really handle him.

5. Xa-du, who's been repurposed as probably the most interesting villain to step out of the zone.

6. Prankster, Superman's second most enduring human foe who isn't another scientist or something

7. Nimrod. Why shouldn't he come back?

[dancj]

Lex Luthor
Braniac
The Parasite
Metallo
Mongul
Vandal Savage
Mr Mxyxptlk

Bizzaro isn't a villain, so he gets to stay too.

[Vordan]

I'm actually going to exclude Zod. Maybe his anti hero streak will end next time we see him, as he'll probably be pretty sore about what Superman did to him in that Bendis story. But I think he can branch out into the larger DC as a sort of Black Adam. As a Superman foe, I think the only thing sustaining him is the sense of obligation people have to the character relevance from Superman II.

And... I'm also going to cut out Brainiac. I think he deserves to remain a larger DC villain who primarily comes into conflict with Superman above others. That said:

1. Lex, who is the number one antagonist even if I do slightly prefer Brainiac

2. Mxy, who will always be tied to Superman because he wants to be

3. Kryptonite Man/ Metallo/ Metalo... not that anyone should find them interchangeable, I just think that a major kryptonite based villain has to be a Superman villain.

4. Parasite, a seriously underrated villain. It shouldn't really make sense for others to really handle him.

5. Xa-du, who's been repurposed as probably the most interesting villain to step out of the zone.

6. Prankster, Superman's second most enduring human foe who isn't another scientist or something

7. Nimrod. Why shouldn't he come back?

I wish Nimrod would come back. A Kraven the Hunter type villain for Supes is brilliant when you think about it. But given that he hasn’t shown up since Morrison I don’t see much hope.