The best type of Superman villains are...?

[mathew101281]

The kinds that...

Aren’t easily beaten by physical force alone.
Examples: Business man Lex Luther, Parasite or Metallo.

Or villains that have a good combination of power and cunning.
Darkseid Brainaic.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

In terms of average execution? The comedy ones. Bizarro, Prankster, and Mxyzptlk are all great, whereas the vast majority of the rest other than Lex top out at "well, it's not hard to see the POTENTIAL there..."

[Gaius]

Can rock the color purple.

[Vordan]

The ones that consider themselves righteous in what they do or reject the concept of morality all together.

[Kuwagaton]

IMO not "mirrors" or some psychological/thematic pattern. People who like that about Batman or Spider-Man villains, as popular examples, will struggle to really appreciate Superman villains because it's a strain to fit them into that mold. And yeah they can often rock the color purple, and yeah, humor is a big thing. Levity is an underrated aspect of Superman, it allows the absurd to expand and breathe. I think a writer is doing well if they've given their villain enough room to be kinda funny.

The best Superman villains are adaptable. Superman's special ability is to solve seemingly infinite problems, so you have to supply him with as many problems as you can. You have to change and adapt. Lex, Mxy, and Brainiac give the most looks. Bizarro is the endless amusement
of the ability to get something wrong. Doomsday seems like a blunt meathead but endures because his actual power is literal adaptation. Prankster is arguably my favorite because he's a very plain man with the strength of ideas. Winslow Schott and Jack Nimball are iconic because "toy" is an endlessly broad weapon. Henshaw has power versatility at a high level and pursues termination while being unable to die. The Eradicator constantly re examines the concepts of sentience and species relations. Parasite can take on any ability or level of power, in addition to functioning as a mantle. Metallo is another mantle, and we see his struggle to try to adapt voluntarily or not. Mongul is a legacy that uses just about every galactic threat trope. Even a lesser recurring villain like Terra Man has a wide and ever changing arsenal.

There are some pretty solid villains who don't change a whole lot, but at one point or another we stopped seeing them. Like not much Silver Banshee over the last 30 years. Darkseid is a great recurring enemy, but limited as he's often at the mercy of what another story needs him to be. The last "major" villain I guess is Zod, and to me he's the biggest exception. Nothing about the approaches to his character really outshine the high concept of "Superman with a mustache." You can say that gives him similar or equal variety to the universe's greatest problem solver, but imo he just ends up feeling forced... like they'll just have him do whatever to stay relevant and do whatever lets him say that line about kneeling.

[Vakanai]

Ones that are written well!

[Vordan]

IMO not "mirrors" or some psychological/thematic pattern. People who like that about Batman or Spider-Man villains, as popular examples, will struggle to really appreciate Superman villains because it's a strain to fit them into that mold. And yeah they can often rock the color purple, and yeah, humor is a big thing. Levity is an underrated aspect of Superman, it allows the absurd to expand and breathe. I think a writer is doing well if they've given their villain enough room to be kinda funny.

The best Superman villains are adaptable. Superman's special ability is to solve seemingly infinite problems, so you have to supply him with as many problems as you can. You have to change and adapt. Lex, Mxy, and Brainiac give the most looks. Bizarro is the endless amusement
of the ability to get something wrong. Doomsday seems like a blunt meathead but endures because his actual power is literal adaptation. Prankster is arguably my favorite because he's a very plain man with the strength of ideas. Winslow Schott and Jack Nimball are iconic because "toy" is an endlessly broad weapon. Henshaw has power versatility at a high level and pursues termination while being unable to die. The Eradicator constantly re examines the concepts of sentience and species relations. Parasite can take on any ability or level of power, in addition to functioning as a mantle. Metallo is another mantle, and we see his struggle to try to adapt voluntarily or not. Mongul is a legacy that uses just about every galactic threat trope. Even a lesser recurring villain like Terra Man has a wide and ever changing arsenal.

There are some pretty solid villains who don't change a whole lot, but at one point or another we stopped seeing them. Like not much Silver Banshee over the last 30 years. Darkseid is a great recurring enemy, but limited as he's often at the mercy of what another story needs him to be. The last "major" villain I guess is Zod, and to me he's the biggest exception. Nothing about the approaches to his character really outshine the high concept of "Superman with a mustache." You can say that gives him similar or equal variety to the universe's greatest problem solver, but imo he just ends up feeling forced... like they'll just have him do whatever to stay relevant and do whatever lets him say that line about kneeling.

Wow that’s a terrific write up about how an ideal Superman Rogues Gallery should work. Kudos man.

[prepmaster]

IMO not "mirrors" or some psychological/thematic pattern. People who like that about Batman or Spider-Man villains, as popular examples, will struggle to really appreciate Superman villains because it's a strain to fit them into that mold.

Isnt Superman an alien who fights against other aliens? The difference between him and them is that he is on our side.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

IMO not "mirrors" or some psychological/thematic pattern. People who like that about Batman or Spider-Man villains, as popular examples, will struggle to really appreciate Superman villains because it's a strain to fit them into that mold.

I think a lot of mainstream Superman villains already fit that mold naturally:

Lex Luthor - this one is obvious.

Bizzaro - this one is obvious too.

Brainiac - essentially the antithesis to the kind of alien Superman is. Superman is integrated and appears human while Brainiac is fully detached and embodies all the "evil alien" stereotypes you would expect from Superman (experimenting on humans, etc.)

General Zod - a militaristic and imperial version of Superman to contrast with Clark's civilian and peacekeeping nature.

Toyman - A person who sees the world as his playground, which someone with Superman's powers can easily come to see the world as.

Parasite - Not as much "evil mirror" stuff here, but a villain who is a Parasite and takes from people is a villain you can contrast a lot with Clark's working-class background.