The reason why Darkseid is DC’s most successful and overused cosmic villain?

[Kirk Brent]

Going back a bit, how do you think Darksaid would fare against Mongul? Brainiac?
Darksaid wants to conquer 'all,' but Brainiac seems to have his own agenda of "collecting" civilizations and knowledge. The android might have a personal peeve with going against Superman (pre -COIE), but he doesn't seem as bent on conquest as Darksaid is.
Any other opinions:
--jthree

Do you mean as threats or in a conflict? In the case of the former, I think Brainiac has the potential to be much more than "just" a Superman villain. Convergence (as weak as it was overall) established this. The pre-Flashpoint Brainiac finding Vanishing Point and then accessing past timelines and Earths so that he can bottle portions of them before continuity changes is a tremendous threat. Even Darkseid hasn't done anything on this scale, at least nothing I know of. I think the next logical evolution would be to see Brainiac bottling entire universes and becoming a Borg-like threat on a multiversal scale. He isn't interested in conquest but he is (sorry Larfleeze!) the ultimate collector.

Trigon has basically defeated everyone but the Titans a couple of times.

Darkseid was also created by a legend (even though I don't think Kirby's DC stuff was not nearly his best work), and I think that helps his case too. Today's comic book writers grew up reading stories from where Darkseid was big threat so of course they want to play in that sandbox too.

There is a big comics crossover story out there waiting to be written with the universal effects of like a Braniac vs. Darkseid battle.

That would be quite the match up. I'm surprised it hasn't been done yet.

I disagree that DC hasn't invented new cool villains (or at least villains that could be cool if their potential is exploited), but like with any long-running franchise, suepr-hero franchises live in a feedback loop.

Darkseid is a cool popular villain, which means readers are interested in him, then some of those readers start working on the industry, perhaps in that very same franchise, and want to write about the things that interested them before, which in this case means Darkseid. If they're good at it, this means Darkseid has another go at being a cool, popualr villain for a new audience, who then start working in the industry... Rinse and repeat.

The fact that audiences tend to like "more of the same" more than they are willing to admit also plays a part.

And this happens with everything. Star Wars had been reusing Darth Vader since 1977 (and when another villain gets popular they do it as well, like with Darth Maul). Dragon Ball used to kill all its baddies and move on to the next, but the canon series has resurrected Frieza and canonized Broly (and I'm not counting ancilliary products like videogames which are basically pure nostalgia).

I feel that it's fair to blame IP owners for being creatively stunted but that it's also fair to blame the audience. The general audience doesn't seem to have a problem with "more of the same," which is why I think we're stuck where we are in various genres and media today. Even George Lucas was intent on returning to Darth Maul in his plans for the sequels despite his original idea seeming to involve an immortal and body-hopping Darth Plagueis. Lucas more than anyone has learned just how stubborn some fans can be.

To me, he comes across as "Darkseid-lite." He's not different enough from Darkseid to be unique, and just isn't as powerful or threatening.(I don't see "Mongul is" striking fear in people) I haven't read the current Warworld storyline though, so maybe he's been developed better there.

Agreed. He's more interesting as fodder for big battles, whereas Darkseid threatens much more than just the body.

[krazijoe]

To me, he comes across as "Darkseid-lite." He's not different enough from Darkseid to be unique, and just isn't as powerful or threatening.(I don't see "Mongul is" striking fear in people) I haven't read the current Warworld storyline though, so maybe he's been developed better there.

Tell that to Coast City. Wait, did that happen? Wait...It did because everything happened, we just don't know what Earth or when, right?

[LifeIsILL]

I think the real reason is that most DC writers these days don't know any other cosmic threat besides Darkseid and Brainaic.

I mean, there are tons of obscure cosmic threats. They can literally pick any one, upgrade their backstory and give it a spin.

I was always intrigued by the Gil'Dipshan. They look like some nasty space virus who perform experiments on their victims, it would be an interesting diversion from the norm at least.

It's like Endless Winter, why would they need to create a new villain named Frost King when there are already a decent amount of DC villains with ice powers? Just have them team-up and freeze the world instead of creating some generic ancient king. SMH.

[Stanlos]

The number of times this happened can be counted on one hand and one of these would be from one run of Justice League Dark. It would be like calling the Joker a cosmic villain because of Emperor Joker.



No they don't. At least not all or most of the time.

In this you are mistaken. Especially PreFlashNoPoint and Stupid52. Maybe you are referring to her interpretation thereafter. But before that schlock, Circe was indeed as I described her. At least up until the conclusion of War of the Gods.

[Agent Z]

In this you are mistaken. Especially PreFlashNoPoint and Stupid52. Maybe you are referring to her interpretation thereafter. But before that schlock, Circe was indeed as I described her. At least up until the conclusion of War of the Gods.

No I'm referring to her pre and post crisis interpretations. The one time she came close to a Darkseid level threat was when she turned all men into animals and even that is small potatoes compared to what Darkseid has done.

Even War of the Gods doesn't really count. She wasn't as powerful as Darkseid there and she justvtricked the various pantheons into going to war so she could claim their power. She wouldn't need to do that if she were a Darkseid threat.

[achilles]

Who are all the DC heroes who've been able to hang with Darkseid, hurt him, and at least lose slowly solo?

[Lukmendes]

He invades people's houses to sit on their counches, you won't be seeing villains like Anti-Monitor having the audacity of doing that.

[WAKANDA FOREVER!]

He worked at McDonalds too

[Confuzzled]

It helps that about 20 of his subordinates are really fascinating characters in their own right. No other comic book villain can claim that.

[Gaastra]

Would despero count as a cosmic threat? As for who can beat him it's not the main dc universe but crossover verse Darkseid was defeated by a ticked off jean grey phoenix in seconds!

Ironic as he was beating both x-men and titans and she just beats him with one move!

Plus he’s kind of the prototype for cosmic all powerful comic book villains the way Superman is the prototypical superhero.

I would say ming from flash Gordon is in fact Darkseid has some things swiped from ming as well like powerful but has minions with goofy names. "Uh no a old lady called granny! Fear her.". Taking over planets with empire. Ming did it decades ago.

He was a a big part of the DCAU. Had noteworthy appearances in S:TAS and JLU. Then later appeared in the DTV movies.

And the superfriends cartoon! And the superpowers toys!

[Gaastra]

[Falcon16]

Brainiac is the better villain. Only in the DCAU, though. Why others haven't adopted that design is beyond me.

[Citizen Kane]

He looks cool and had the fortune to be voiced by Micheal Ironside. Can't say any cosmic big-bads can compare to that.