Villains who have grown beyond their heroes.

[Sutekh]

I was reading a post about which heroes lack strong personal nemesis villains and thought about villains who have moved beyond their original 'nemesis' and become more widely used.

Darkseid, started out a New Gods villain, now is more of a Justice League adversary.

Black Adam, started out Captain Marvel's dark reflection, but has increasingly appeared facing other heroes, or even working alongside them.

Deathstroke, one of the original Teen Titans foes, now 'graduated' to being a more general threat (particularly on the Arrow show, where he's a Green Arrow villain, instead, since GA didn't have a terribly deep bench of regular foes to use).

Any other villains who started out one heroes 'nemesis' and have sort of leveled up, or just switched to a new hero more or less permanently?

Or the opposite, someone like Despero started out, IIRC, as a foe of the entire Justice League, and now is more seen as 'Martian Manhunter's nemesis,' which, for all that MM is an entire cul de sac full of powerhouses, still seems like a demotion...

[DrNewGod]

Vandal Savage began as a Green Lantern foe, and became more of a JSA enemy.

[Robanker]

May as well be Superman's gimmick because all his great villains end up being team-up/Justice League threats. Lex and Brainiac are usually treated as too big for just Clark anymore, or at the very least when they bring their A-game. Zod is kind of getting there too. It's a bit annoying, to be honest.

[Frontier]

Harley Quinn seems to slowly becoming her own thing instead of just a pure Batman villain.

[OpaqueGiraffe17]

Killer Frost branched out of just being a firestorm villain.
Solomon Grundy was once just an Alan Scott villain

[mathew101281]

Mongul started off as a Superman villain, but is seen as a general cosmic villain now.
Lady Shiva started off as a Richard Dragon villain but is now seen as a general street level villain and shows up in both Green Arrow and Batman books.

[Gaius]

Ultra-Humanite started out as a Superman villain but later became a JSA villain, though I'd say this is more Lex over took Ultra-Humanite rather than outgrowing Superman.

[Holt]

Can't have two bald geniuses as villains. Gets confusing.

[Vordan]

Poison Ivy and Harley seem to be getting a big push to be independent heroes.

Can't have two bald geniuses as villains. Gets confusing.

You’ll have to pry Brainiac from my cold dead hands lol.

[Frontier]

Poison Ivy and Harley seem to be getting a big push to be independent heroes.

They've gotten mileage out of Harley as an anti-hero type, even when it strains all logic, but I don't think a heroic Ivy will stick for very long.

[Agent Z]

May as well be Superman's gimmick because all his great villains end up being team-up/Justice League threats. Lex and Brainiac are usually treated as too big for just Clark anymore, or at the very least when they bring their A-game. Zod is kind of getting there too. It's a bit annoying, to be honest.

I don't see it. Anytime Luthor and Brainiac show up, they're usually dealt with by Superman and Superman alone. Even when Luthor is depicted as being a League enemy, it's because he's teaming up with othet villains.

[silly]

Vandal Savage began as a Green Lantern foe, and became more of a JSA enemy.

I did not know that. I thoughf Savage was a Flash villain.

[Sutekh]

Good stuff with mentions of Vandal Savage, Lady Shiva and Solomon Grundy!

Killer Frost branched out of just being a Firestorm villain.

She's almost more successful than the hero that spawned her! That's quite the upset!

[Digifiend]

Mongul started off as a Superman villain, but is seen as a general cosmic villain now.
Lady Shiva started off as a Richard Dragon villain but is now seen as a general street level villain and shows up in both Green Arrow and Batman books.

Yeah, Shiva's definitely a Batman villain now - her daughter even used to be Batgirl.

They've gotten mileage out of Harley as an anti-hero type, even when it strains all logic, but I don't think a heroic Ivy will stick for very long.

Ivy could become an eco-warrior. She'd still go against authority but would have good intentions.

As for Harley, her solo does contradict Suicide Squad - the team book needs her more than she needs it now, as it would probably sell less without her in it. Considering Suicide Squad's name, that team should really be made up entirely of C-listers and new characters - people who actually have a real threat of getting killed during a mission. There's no such threat with Harley.

[scary harpy]

I thought Darkseid first appeared in the pages of Jimmy Olsen.

I thought Lady Shiva was a Richard Dragon ally.