Which hero has the worst rogues gallery?

[MadFacedKid]

I'd say Aquaman probably. I can't think of one Aquaman villain outside of Black Manta and Ocean Master who is really an impressive foe. Either him or Martian Manhunter because, well, MM doesn't really have a rogues gallery. Although MM does have a rivalry with some of the classic League villains like Despero.

King Shark? Been on the Suicide squad, as well as being a shared villain with Superboy

The Shark. Shared villain of both Aquaman and Green Lantern

The Eel recently appeared in Mera’s mini

Scavenger is a big named Aquaman villain

Atlan the Dead King was a really good one

Siren? Could be considered an Aquaman villain

I could list a bunch Charybdis, Marine Marauder, Creature King, Deadwater, The Giant Born, Fire Trolls, Thule, Gamamnae, The Thirst being the ones off the top of my head

[Robotman]

This should probably be limited to the most prominent DC heroes, or we could potentially say “yeah G’Nort has the worst villains!”

Out of the well known galleries I say Green Arrow

I would say Ollie as well. But I’ve heard people say that GA doesn’t need villains as he’s his own worst enemy. Which is kinda why we love him.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

The Fisherman has a TON of potential as a weird Lovecraftian villain, Starro too. Siren. Shaggy Man. Aqua-Beast is due for a comeback.

Scavenger as an adversary Aquaman helps get back on the straight and narrow.

Plus, Black Manta is just the best ever. Aquaman has a great rogue's gallery....just underdeveloped.

I agree that Black Manta is great, which is why they teed him up to be the big bad of the sequel, but there's not much else there currently. Starro and Shaggy Man are great villains, too. However, they're primarily JLA villains. Same deal with The Shark, who was a GL villain that Aquaman fought because that's a great combo.

Of course, this doesn't mean that they can't develop those old Aquaman villains into something interesting, but, even after Johns's run, Aquaman still doesn't have any standout villains outside of Ocean Master, Black Manta, and the awesome new additions of The Trench.

I will be very curious to see what the Aquaman cartoon does. Given that the Manta storyline is no doubt off-limits so the movies can do it, that means they'll have to develop Aquaman's rogues gallery into something more substantial.

[Stanlos]

I'd say Aquaman probably. I can't think of one Aquaman villain outside of Black Manta and Ocean Master who is really an impressive foe. Either him or Martian Manhunter because, well, MM doesn't really have a rogues gallery. Although MM does have a rivalry with some of the classic League villains like Despero.

PAD's Aquaman had a rich and awesome roster of rogues and allies. I never felt his foes were sucky.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

King Shark? Been on the Suicide squad, as well as being a shared villain with Superboy

The Shark. Shared villain of both Aquaman and Green Lantern

The Eel recently appeared in Mera’s mini

Scavenger is a big named Aquaman villain

Atlan the Dead King was a really good one

Siren? Could be considered an Aquaman villain

I could list a bunch Charybdis, Marine Marauder, Creature King, Deadwater, The Giant Born, Fire Trolls, Thule, Gamamnae, The Thirst being the ones off the top of my head

I have honestly never heard of a lot of those guys (and I've read a decent number of Aquaman comics). This isn't to say that those villains aren't good or couldn't become far better known, but, outside of the hardcore Aquaman fans, few people are aware of them.

Now that Aquaman's prominence has risen substantially, I'll be curious to see if more of Aquaman's villains get used in the greater DCU. If other creators are excited enough by them to use them in other books, that's generally a sign that they've got a great villain. Take Deathstroke and Lobo, for instance. It took no time for those guys to pop up everywhere.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

PAD's Aquaman had a rich and awesome roster of rogues and allies. I never felt his foes were sucky.

While I liked PAD's Aquaman run, I can't really remember any of the villains, outside of Atlan. This isn't to say they sucked, just that they were less interesting than Aquaman and the other characters.

[Aahz]

Black Canary has no notable villains that I can think of.

She has never had a long lasting solo book, she had two 12 issue series and two 4 issue series.

[Doctor Bifrost]

...the Sea Devils in the 1960s...

Such a pleasure to see someone simply remember this long-lost group. And in such detail, too! Good on you, Jim!

[MadFacedKid]

The Fisherman has a TON of potential as a weird Lovecraftian villain, Starro too. Siren. Shaggy Man. Charybdis, who I hope to god gets used in the flicks. The Eel. N.E.M.O. Aqua-Beast is due for a comeback.

Scavenger as an adversary Aquaman helps get back on the straight and narrow.

Plus, Black Manta is just the best ever. Aquaman has a great rogue's gallery....just underdeveloped.

The idea of The Fisherman being something lovecraftian horror like sounds awesome. Id love to see him
Introduced as something like a horror story people of the sea tell their children about.

I’d also love to see Qwsp again Aquaman’s version of Myx and Batmite often causing problems for the hero. I’m pretty sure the last time they interacted was in Morrisons JL book which is a shame. Be cool to see the 5th dimension explored in the Aquaman book

[MadFacedKid]

I have honestly never heard of a lot of those guys (and I've read a decent number of Aquaman comics). This isn't to say that those villains aren't good or couldn't become far better known, but, outside of the hardcore Aquaman fans, few people are aware of them.

Now that Aquaman's prominence has risen substantially, I'll be curious to see if more of Aquaman's villains get used in the greater DCU. If other creators are excited enough by them to use them in other books, that's generally a sign that they've got a great villain. Take Deathstroke and Lobo, for instance. It took no time for those guys to pop up everywhere.

He doesn’t have as much exposure as a lot of DC character where he could flaunt around a rogues gallery

But he has notable ones outside Black Manta and Ocean Master was my point. King Shark appeared on The Flash and I’m pretty sure in animation.

The Dead King has a number of appearances and was the last villain of Johns epic run on Aquaman.

Scavenger gets used a lot and Siren has some notable appearances as well. Aquaman doesn’t have a bad rogues gallery so I wouldn’t list him as someone with the worst rogues gallery. Some of his villains however could be reimagined and shown in new awesome ways.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

She has never had a long lasting solo book, she had two 12 issue series and two 4 issue series.

Yeah, that definitely has a lot to do with it, but I would have thought she'd have picked up a worthy arch nemesis or two during her lengthy Birds of Prey appearances.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

He doesn’t have as much exposure as a lot of DC character where he could flaunt around a rogues gallery

But he has notable ones outside Black Manta and Ocean Master was my point. King Shark appeared on The Flash and I’m pretty sure in animation.

The Dead King has a number of appearances and was the last villain of Johns epic run on Aquaman.

Scavenger gets used a lot and Siren has some notable appearances as well. Aquaman doesn’t have a bad rogues gallery so I wouldn’t list him as someone with the worst rogues gallery. Some of his villains however could be reimagined and shown in new awesome ways.

In terms of the major characters, though, who has a worse rogues gallery then? I would consider the big guns to be Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, GL, Aquaman & Green Arrow. Everyone else hasn't had enough prominence to merit a sizable rogues gallery, or are spin-off characters like Robin, Nightwing, Supergirl, Birds of Prey and the like, who generally just poach villains from the main books.

All of the big guns have at least 5 or 6 big-time villains each, with the exception of Aquaman & Green Arrow, who only have 2 or 3 a piece. Both of these guys have been around long enough to have acquired plenty of baddies, yet none have managed to catch on aside from Orm, Manta, Merlyn, and Count Vertigo. The Trench has certainly caught on, though, because that's a killer concept that is easily understandable and effective.

Granted, it makes sense that these two would have the least impressive villains since Aquaman & Green Arrow have perennially been on the cusp of being considered C-listers within the DCU (until their recent film/TV boosts in exposure).

[Aahz]

Yeah, that definitely has a lot to do with it, but I would have thought she'd have picked up a worthy arch nemesis or two during her lengthy Birds of Prey appearances.

She had one in White Canary imo. You could also maybe count the 12 Brothers (but they were killed by white canary), and Shiva or Cheshire. But with Shiva it was more friendly rivalry, and with Cheshire it was not that personal (and both are not really excursively her villains).

The Thing with Birds of Prey is, that during Dixon run most of their villains were a one and done thing. In the later runs the team was bigger and they had some villains for her, but also for other team members, and then Canary was of the team and with Green Arrow for some time.

[MadFacedKid]

In terms of the major characters, though, who has a worse rogues gallery then? I would consider the big guns to be Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, GL, Aquaman & Green Arrow. Everyone else hasn't had enough prominence to merit a sizable rogues gallery, or are spin-off characters like Robin, Nightwing, Supergirl, Birds of Prey and the like, who generally just poach villains from the main books.

All of the big guns have at least 5 or 6 big-time villains each, with the exception of Aquaman & Green Arrow, who only have 2 or 3 a piece. Both of these guys have been around long enough to have acquired plenty of baddies, yet none have managed to catch on aside from Orm, Manta, Merlyn, and Count Vertigo. The Trench has certainly caught on, though, because that's a killer concept that is easily understandable and effective.

Granted, it makes sense that these two would have the least impressive villains since Aquaman & Green Arrow have perennially been on the cusp of being considered C-listers within the DCU (until their recent film/TV boosts in exposure).

I wouldn’t even say it would be fair to compare Aquaman to the characters you listed him with. Cause Superman,Batman, Green Lantern have atleast been pretty prominent in cartoons and video games where they get the ability to flaunt their rogues gallery

Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Arrow have had tv shows where they also get to flaunt a rogues gallery.

Even then for the characters listed it would be hard to give a top 5 villains list

Superman: Lex Luthor, Zod, Brainiac, Doomsday, Bizzaro or if you want to be generous you could include Darkseid whose practically a DC Universe villain. But that’s 5+ nonetheless that’s pretty known

Batman: Joker, Twoface, Penguin, Ras, Harley, Mr. Freeze could easily go on with Batman

Gets tricky at Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman: Ares, Circe, Cheetah To be honest your average person probably couldn’t list top 5 villains for Wonder Woman would people even know who characters like Circe, Dr. Poison (Despite the movie), or Dr. Psycho even are honestly? She’s on the same boat of not really having much of an opportunity like the other prominent heroes to flesh out her gallery. Even if you disconnect some of her rogues from her you could probably show people a picture of characters like Dr. Poison and Circe and ask them who is it? And they wouldn’t know.

Flash: Reverse Flash, Zoom, Captain Cold, Grodd. I’d argue Reverse Flash and Zoom could be confused, he has a more prominent rogues gallery you could throw in any of the rogues more likely Mirror Master to finish off the list. A casual comic reader might list 5 easier for Flash than Wonder Woman, avg. joe I doubt would be able to.

Green Lantern: Sinestro (Doubt the avg. joe would remember that name despite the movie), Atrocitus, Hector Hammond? Honestly after that? Who would be GL’s top 5?

Aquaman: Black Manta, Ocean Master, King Shark (You could disassociate the character due to the Flash series but he could be recognizable off that), listing any more would be due to just reading his comics

Green Arrow: I’d be surprised if people know who Merlyn is and most of the memorable villains were Batman it DC in general rogues. Whereas his own villains were more villain of the week type things like Count Vertigo

Outside Superman, Batman and The Flash id argue it would be hard to name a top 5 for the other prominent heroes. A casual fan might be able to give you more based on who he follows more but that’s pretty much it

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I wouldn’t even say it would be fair to compare Aquaman to the characters you listed him with. Cause Superman,Batman, Green Lantern have atleast been pretty prominent in cartoons and video games where they get the ability to flaunt their rogues gallery

Superman, Batman, Flash and Green Arrow have had tv shows where they also get to flaunt a rogues gallery.

Even then for the characters listed it would be hard to give a top 5 villains list

Superman: Lex Luthor, Zod, Brainiac, Doomsday, Bizzaro or if you want to be generous you could include Darkseid whose practically a DC Universe villain. But that’s 5+ nonetheless that’s pretty known

Batman: Joker, Twoface, Penguin, Ras, Harley, Mr. Freeze could easily go on with Batman

Gets tricky at Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman: Ares, Circe, Cheetah To be honest your average person probably couldn’t list top 5 villains for Wonder Woman would people even know who characters like Circe, Dr. Poison (Despite the movie), or Dr. Psycho even are honestly? She’s on the same boat of not really having much of an opportunity like the other prominent heroes to flesh out her gallery. Even if you disconnect some of her rogues from her you could probably show people a picture of characters like Dr. Poison and Circe and ask them who is it? And they wouldn’t know.

Flash: Reverse Flash, Zoom, Captain Cold, Grodd. I’d argue Reverse Flash and Zoom could be confused, he has a more prominent rogues gallery you could throw in any of the rogues more likely Mirror Master to finish off the list. A casual comic reader might list 5 easier for Flash than Wonder Woman, avg. joe I doubt would be able to.

Green Lantern: Sinestro (Doubt the avg. joe would remember that name despite the movie), Atrocitus, Hector Hammond? Honestly after that? Who would be GL’s top 5?

Aquaman: Black Manta, Ocean Master, King Shark (You could disassociate the character due to the Flash series but he could be recognizable off that), listing any more would be due to just reading his comics

Green Arrow: I’d be surprised if people know who Merlyn is and most of the memorable villains were Batman it DC in general rogues. Whereas his own villains were more villain of the week type things like Count Vertigo

Outside Superman, Batman and The Flash id argue it would be hard to name a top 5 for the other prominent heroes. A casual fan might be able to give you more based on who he follows more but that’s pretty much it

I agree that it's not really fair to judge the less prominent characters because they haven't really had as much exposure as the big guns, and, of those big guns, Aquaman & Green Arrow have traditionally struggled with readership and a strong creative vision. As a result, their rogues galleries are less developed.

Of the Big 5, Wonder Woman has the least impressive rogues gallery. Again, because her comic is rarely a major player in the DCU, but with classic baddies like Ares, Cheetah, Circe, Giganta, Silver Swan, and Doctor Psycho, she does have a pretty good bench of villains.

Green Lantern would come next with Sinestro, Star Sapphire, Hector Hammond, The Shark, Atrocitus, Black Hand, Doctor Polaris, and the Tattooed Man, along with a murder's row of big time cosmic baddies like Krona, Nekron, and Parallax. I would argue that the Anti-Monitor is technically a GL villain given how steeped in GL lore he is, but, even without him, those are some top tier baddies.

After that, it all depends on your preference, of course, but I'd rank the rest from Flash, then Superman, and Batman, who's got the best rogues gallery in superhero comics.

There's no one else in the DCU that can compete with these heroes. Everyone else is so far down the totem pole, it wouldn't be fair to include them. Most heroes all have at least one great villain, though.