Who is the most underrated Superman villain?

[Tzigone]

Not who's the best or most powerful villain, not which is your favorite villain, but which villain do you think doesn't get nearly enough credit for how good a character/nemesis/whatever-you-think-is-important-in-a-villain?

[Phantom Zone]

IMHO, Conduit. Great backstory, great motive. A great twist in that he hates Clark Kent rather than Superman.

[Frontier]

Livewire. Silver Banshee. Most of his female Rogues.

[marhawkman]

Livewire. Silver Banshee. Most of his female Rogues.

Well... I was about to say Puzzler.

Livewire is great, especially since she often ends up as an ally of sorts... sometimes temporarily.

Silver Banshee got used for some really nice stuff in Supergirl.

Puzzler? Interesting power set, but... barely got used ever. https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Valerie_V...en_(New_Earth) Also her motives would be fun to explore....

[DochaDocha]

IMO, Brainiac qualifies as underrated until he shows up in a major Hollywood film. Dude is in the friggin' dictionary but hasn't been in a movie yet?

[Multiverse]

I have a few underrated villains:

Titano the Super Ape: I like him as a misunderstood Super-Ape than just a rampaging monster.

Atlas: That Jack Kirby one-off was interesting during New Krypton

Conduit: Superman's answer to Hush long before there was a Hush.

[Stanlos]

I vote Conduit, Ruin, and Maxima. I need to find a little more on Encantadora but I had an affinity for her.

Maxima should be a pretty big deal given Almerac's galactic empire. But she got Jean Grey'd when she became a good guy. I think at one point they even said she was a child which is just bizarre.

[K7P5V]

Always thought Helspont had potential...

[Thor-Ul]

Neutron. The guy is a walking radioactive hydrogen bomb and never had been used to his potential.

[bat39]

IMO, Brainiac qualifies as underrated until he shows up in a major Hollywood film. Dude is in the friggin' dictionary but hasn't been in a movie yet?

I totally agree!

Though by that logic, the vast majority of his rogue's gallery is underrated since most of them haven't appeared in a major movie (and in some cases, any major adaptation).

Lex Luthor, Zod and I guess Doomsday are the only Superman villains who I guess would be household names among general audiences (even Doomsday is doubtful - its mostly due to his reputation for killing Superman in the comics and BvS).

Contrast this with Batman where all his major rogues' are well-known and have been featured at least once (most of them twice) across movies and other high-profile adaptations.

[williamtheday]

Grax from Action #342. More evil than Luthor and Brainiac combined, turning Superman into a human bomb that would destroy the Earth.

[daBronzeBomma]

Lady Blaze.



Created as a Superman Rogue. Stolen by Shazam. Now in limbo. Must be brought back to the Superverse ASAP.

A recurring magical Demon who proves magic is nothing Supes can't creatively overcome on his own.

[Nero]

If I had to pick only one, Conduit would get my vote.

But that could be made for quite a number of other Superman vllains like Master Jailer, Terra Man, Neutron, Bruno Mannheim, Bloodsport, Lord Satunus, Atomic Skull, Silver Banshee, etc. Even a case could be made for the Parasite despite whatever appearances he's had outside of the Superman comics.

[Alan2099]

Master Jailer


A villain that can be traps and prisons capable of holding even Superman should get a lot more mileage than it does. I think the last time he showed up, they took away his old origin where his good deeds gets getting overshadowed by Clark and just made him some generic escape artists that got killed in the Suicide Squad.



I also loved the idea of Anti-Hero, an alien that goes from planet to planet killing their biggest heroes and taking scraps of their costumes (and copying their powers) like some sort of spandex wearing Predator. I think he's only appeared once though. I always thought he'd make a great duo with Prometheus.

[Jim Kelly]

Master Jailer was a favourite from the Pasko run. His Jerry O'Connell transformation from the fat kid at school to a handsome dude made him an interesting character. It's not as good when they remove his back story with Clark and Lana.