Who Is The Most Tragic Supervillain?

[DrNewGod]

In all superhero comics: who and why?

[shooshoomanjoe]

Magik in her Dark Chylde persona. She was physically and sexually abused by a demon and grew up in Limbo.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

If we mean tragic in the Greek or Shakespearan sense:

-- Doctor Doom, full-stop. Has the capacity and virtues of great heroism and great good but several personal flaws and social and political reasons, as well as bad luck, prevent him from becoming a hero.

-- Magneto.

-- The Joker of The Killing Joke.

[K7P5V]

If we mean tragic in the Greek or Shakespearan sense:

-- Doctor Doom, full-stop. Has the capacity and virtues of great heroism and great good but several personal flaws and social and political reasons, as well as bad luck, prevent him from becoming a hero.

-- The Joker of The Killing Joke.

In agreement with you about both Doctor Doom & Joker...





I would also add to the list...

Two-Face

[BeastieRunner]

Doom hands down. He could be the hero! So. Many. Times! And he knows it.

Two-Face is up there for me but still Dr. Doom.

I think a couple nice outliers are Magneto and Mr. Freeze.

[babyblob]

Mole Man. - Im ugly, people make fun of me, I cant get laid so I am going to find monsters and pay them back damn it!

[Phoenixx9]

Mole Man. - Im ugly, people make fun of me, I cant get laid so I am going to find monsters and pay them back damn it!

Lol, I think he did have a woman in subteranea at one point. But add to it a blinded Sue Richards roughed him up, Lol.

[K7P5V]

Mr. Freeze.

In total agreement with you about Mr. Freeze (especially, the BTAS version):

[DrNewGod]

What about Luthor? In every sense, he is the Ubermensch, except envy eats him alive, and it's just Superman on which it fixates.

Then there's The Leader. Deformed by the thing that elevated him from a humble janitor, and now he knows better than the rest of us, and could do so much, but is still a slave to the resentments he formed while still driving a mop.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

What about Luthor?

What about him?

Luthor unlike Doom or Magneto doesn't have a consistent locked-in place origin and characterization. He's been rebooted and reimagined so many times and none of them have consistency.

The Joker is also similar, but he has a great all-time origin story with The Killing Joke...whereas no story with Luthor is remotely on the same level.

In every sense, he is the Ubermensch, except envy eats him alive, and it's just Superman on which it fixates.

Those aren't tragic qualities. They are just demonic and negative ones. Iago isn't a tragic character after all, nor is Emperor Palpatine or Lord Voldemort.

I think Luthor in the DCAU can be considered tragic, a brilliant man often outsmarted and blinded and manipulated by larger forces beyond his control.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

In total agreement with you about Mr. Freeze (especially, the BTAS version):

I second that emotion!

[foxley]

I second that emotion!

Thirded!

I don't get how you can see Dr. Doom as tragic. Everything single problem in his life was caused by his own hubris, and yet he just constantly blames others. Certainly nothing as heart-wrenching as Victor Fries and his lost love.

[sunofdarkchild]

Magneto who survived the Holocaust as a child. When he tried to save his daughter using his powers people attacked him resulting in her death. Even when he tries to be heroic human prejudice pushes him back towards supervillainy.

Many Batman villains like Mr Freeze or Clayface or Two Face. But they usually have one tragic moment that defines them rather than a lifetime of tragedy like Magneto.

Madelyne Prior. Created to serve an end. Walked out on by her husband soon after giving birth. Selfless enough to give up her life to save the world. Then manipulated by demons and goes crazy when she learns the truth because Marvel needed to salvage Cyclops and not have him bare any blame for what he did.

Magik can't be a tragic villain since she was never a villain. At her darkest she was an anti-hero and the stories always had someone else as the villain.

[Zelena]

Madelyne Prior. Created to serve an end. Walked out on by her husband soon after giving birth. Selfless enough to give up her life to save the world. Then manipulated by demons and goes crazy when she learns the truth because Marvel needed to salvage Cyclops and not have him bare any blame for what he did.

Yes, Madelyne Pryor… From a nice girl to the Goblin Queen, she seemed to have been dragged into the dark side against her will after crossing the path of the X-men.

A tool for villains before being a villain herself… as well as a tool for writers (and artists).

A truly tragic character if there was ever one.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Everything single problem in his life was caused by his own hubris,

That's the definition of tragic.