Let's Say Only 7 Rogues ...

[Adekis]

I feel more strongly about Maggie Sawyer going over to Gotham than I do about any villain getting spread around, Luthor included! But alright, I'll give it a shot.

General Zod, Mongul, Hank Henshaw, Conduit, Toyman, Doomsday, and of course, Doctor Lex Luthor.

I'm viewing this question in entirely restrictive terms, not liberating ones. This is about decreeing that Green Lantern cannot use Hank Henshaw as a villain if Superman isn't there, not about decreeing that Superman has to use Henshaw more often. That would change my whole list, and probably Yellow Mask would be at the top. I don't feel the need to restrict Xa-Du or Vyndktvx to Superman, because I don't see writers using them for other characters. I don't see the need to restrict Metallo or Parasite to Superman because, well, first of all they're really heavily associated with Superman so they probably don't run a huge risk of losing that association to other heroes anyway. Brainiac is big enough to just have Superman and Supergirl as his "arch" enemies and still fight others here and there.

I was iffy about including Luthor, after all, my favorite Luthor story is "Satisfaction" from the Young Justice cartoon, and the hero is Arsenal, not Superman, but ultimately I think that Luthor is too crucial to Superman to lose, considering that I really do think he might be becoming big enough to become a "Vandal Savage" who's a villain to the whole DCU instead.

[KC]

1. Lex Luthor
2. Brainiac
3. General Zod
4. Mr Mxyzptlk
5. Metallo
6. Parasite
7. Toy Man

[Timothy Hunter]

1. Ultra Humanite
2. Lex Luthor
3. Intergang
4. Darksied
5. Manchester Black
6.Bloodsport

[stargazer01]

I liked this, and General Zod and Faora aren't even in it.

Superman has great rogues, imo. I don't get why some say his villains are not as good as Batman. In fact, I prefer his villains. They just seem bigger and more threatening and visually cool to me.

[DrNewGod]

• Luthor: as much as I love the Ultra-Humanite, historically, Lex is Superman's greatest enemy (personally, I loved Byrne's answer from Generations , it made sense in that Luthor's first appearances characterized him as little more than a meathead gangster/arms dealer)
• Brainiac: in his way, he's as much as Superman's polar opposite as Luthor
• Bizzaro: I agree with others' opinion that he's not a villain, but when he's demolishing whole buildings it's hard to tell the difference, and "Sinestros" belong with their counterparts.
• Parasite: there are villains that can treat Superman as an enemy or even an obstacle, but not very many that can treat him like prey.
• Metallo: see Parasite
• The Toyman: why should Batman have a corner on all the thematic psychopaths?
• The Wizard: Supes needs enemies that can get around his invulnerability, magic can do that, and Wiz is a dangerous schemer to boot!

[TheRay]

1. Saturn Queen
2. Lord Imperiex
3. The Grandmaster
4. Conduit
5. Scorch
6. Bug Boy
7. The Parasite

[manwhohaseverything]

1)Injustice superman
2)parasite
3)mongul
4)mxy
5)he'l
6) lex
7)brainiac

[Osiris-Rex]

Lex Luthor
General Zod
Brainiac
Mongul
Metallo
Mr Mxyzptlk
Bizarro

[Digifiend]

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.

I think the problem is his name. Nimrod is the name of an X-Men foe.

[Tzigone]

I feel more strongly about Maggie Sawyer going over to Gotham than I do about any villain getting spread around, Luthor included! But alright, I'll give it a shot.

I'm in the boat.

Lex
Zod
Brainiac
Intergang
Parasite
Metallo

Not sure on #6. Not Cyborg Superman (Hank Henshaw was okay, but once the Reign of Superman arc was over, any cyborg lookalike lost its purpose, IMO). Not Darseid, since I think he should be a Scott Free/Big Barda/Genesisian enemy. There are several okay choices, but none that really pop to me. I don't think most of the Superman villainesses I'm familiar with were all that fantastic, though it'd be nice to have some good ones that didn't go anti-hero. Livewire could be in the running, depending on how characterized/used.

[mathew101281]

Lex: arch nemesis

Brainiac: big bad

Mxy: mostly comedic until he isn’t.

Zod: the dark reflection

Bizzaro: another Dark reflection

Parasite: cool concept

Doomsday: the ultimate monster.

[marhawkman]

I think the problem is his name. Nimrod is the name of an X-Men foe.

The name isn't copyrightable, since it's based on a historical reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod

But... that also means it's not particularly unique.

As for my personal choices? Well, I chose to define the list as "antagonists who have reasons to mainly antagonize Superman". It's a shared universe. It doesn't work well to have characters just not interact with the rest of the world. But some just don't WANT to bother other heroes. So who is that focused on Superman?

-=-yes-=-
Lex Luthor wants to prove his intellect is greater than anything else.

Brainiac is obsessed with things from Krypton.

Zod has a personal grudge against the House of El.

Bizarro isn't generally a proper villain. But when he creates problems, most people can't deal with him.

Myxyzptlk comes to Earth just to annoy Superman. It's literally the only reason he visits that dimension at all.

Metallo is often in villain teams as "that guy who hates Superman". But he does that role quite well.

Doomsday a classic case of a character that was MADE to be a problem for Superman.

Conduit is another character who practically LIVES to make Superman miserable.

Parasite is a guy not fully exclusive to Superman, but highly focused on him since he's so much better of a power source.

-=-no-=-
Mongul is a space tyrant, but like Darkseid pays attention to Superman, but is not really focused on Supeman. Yellow Lantern Mongul was actually quite an interesting idea. It made sense to me.

Darkseid is the god-king of Apokalips and has a whole lot of stuff to do that's not focused on Superman.

Blaze/Satanus has an origin inextricably linked to Shazam.

Manchester Black is more of an anti-hero who annoys the Justice League sometimes.

Livewire has been used in a whole lot of stories not associated directly with Superman. But also she's sometimes his sidekick.

[Last Son]

I don't have much of a reasoning for each one, these are just the villains I think are exclusively Superman villains:

Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Zod (and pretty much every other Kryptonian/Phantom Zone villain but you said only seven)
Metallo
Parasite
Doomsday
Bizarro

[Ascended]

1 Ultra Humanite. Always need a crazy evil scientist! Plus there's great history here and the body swapping angle can make for some great body horror thriller.

2 Xa-Du; the Phantom King. Easily the most interesting thing to come from the Zone in forever. Brings us ties to Krypton and the Phantom Zone both. Plus his intangibility powers make for a nice counter to Clark's abilities.

3 Metallo. Because we need a kryptonite powered villain and everyone loves evil robots.

4 Solaris, the Tyrant Sun. Arguably the best new villain in the last thirty years. Great concept and a twist on Clark's source of power.

5 Mongul. Darkseid is a DCU villain, not a Superman specific one. And Mongul fills that same "galactic d-bag" role.

6 Intergang. Because we need some organized crime up in here.

7 Cyborg Superman. Because we need that broken mirror villain.

I'd include Volcana as #8 if I could. Clark needs more female villains and Volcana has a great visual and powerset.

You may notice some major names being left out here. I'll explain.

Lex has been Clark's greatest foe for most of the hero's history. Lex has driven the majority of villain plots for years. And I feel like most of the things you can say about the Clark-Lex dynamic have been said. Let Lex finally give up and leave Metropolis with his tail between his legs. He and Superman can still battle each other in League stories or whatever.

Zod's current situation where he's becoming a political ally and frenemy of Clark's is far more interesting than anything else that's been done with him in years. I'd rather see that continue to be developed instead of forcing Zod back into "Kneel!" territory.

Parasite is great but the Super-office hasn't done a damn worthwhile thing with him, ever. Maybe another title could finally realize Parasite's potential. I just figure the Super books have had their chance, and squandered it.

Brainiac. Is sort of treated like a DCU-wide villain these days anyway.

Doomsday isn't a villain, he's a plot device. I'd like to include the "virus" concept from the New52 (best thing ever done with Doomsday) but I don't really consider this a "villain" since there's no agency here. Virus Doomsday is like catching a cold that turns you into a natural disaster. That's not a proper villain.

Manchester Black almost made the list. He definitely belongs among Clark's rogues. But we've got Hank Henshaw, who has that whole "personal rivalry" thing. I think Black and Henshaw could be switched out for each other but went with Henshaw just for the "broken mirror villain" archetype.

And I don't really consider Bizarro or Myx to be "villains" either. Bizarro is just tragic and misunderstood but not evil, and Myx is just a cruel kid playing games, but has a relationship with Clark that goes a bit beyond "villain" in my mind.

[Osiris-Rex]

I think the problem is his name. Nimrod is the name of an X-Men foe.

Also nimrod is slang for an idiot or a jerk, a loser.