Who’s The Best Lesser Known DC Characters?

[Amadeus Arkham]

For me:

The Question.
Hawkgirl.
Jessica Cruz.
The Doom Patrol.

[LAWtoyoto 432]

For me it's a long list:

1) Atom Smasher
2) Hourman
3) Sand
4) Fire
5) The Question
6) Animal Man
7) Ice
8) Blue Beetle

[Drako]

By lesser known i thought you guys would say someone like Bushido or something like that.

[Sutekh]

By lesser known i thought you guys would say someone like Bushido or something like that.

Yeah, I think of 'lesser known' as people who've never had a solo book or serious TV or movie appearance. But favorites of mine Conner Kent, Booster Gold and Vixen are certainly 'lesser known' than, say, Batman, even if they aren't exactly nobodies (Booster and Conner having had their own books for a bit, and Vixen quite a few TV appearances).

And then there's the real <C list. Like Kole, of the Teen Titans, whom I love. Or many of the Legion of Super-Heroes, but especially Shadow Lass. Sargon the Sorcerer and Dr. Mist, my favorites of DC's many great mystical characters.

[Triniking1234]

OMAC
Plastic Man
Amethyst

[Riv86672]

Hero Cruz.
He’s a young, low key, but potentially interesting character.

His powerset, between his Achilles Vest and H-Dial can be all kinds of formidable, and his friendship w. Rex the Wonderdog links him to a lot of DC history and it’s magical side to boot.

Add to that the fact that he’s his own person, not (yet another) sidekick to trying to break out on their own, and yeah he’s a character I really like and think deserves some kind of spotlight.

[Kaijudo]

Hero Cruz is a solid answer (and a great character)

Yeah, I think there's a distinction between lesser known characters and "deep dive" characters. As others have said, you could argue folks like Booster Gold, The Question, Vixen, and my pick of Metamorpho could all qualify as lesser knowns. But all of them have featured in their own books or been part of major team runs, as well as usually being go-tos for any giant "assemble all the heroes" scenes in the event-of-the-month titles. So I'm going to focus on the best "deep dive" characters, in my opinion.

1. Oddman
2. Tsunami
3. Dr. Occult
4. Max Mercury
5. Skyrocket
6. Aztek
7. Bumblebee
8. August General in Iron
9. Celsius
10. Black Condor
11. Firehawk
12. Tasmanian Devil

[K7P5V]

Definitely, these would be my choices...

• Captain Atom (Nate Adams)
  
  
• Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
  
  
• Hawk & Dove (Holly & Dawn)
  
  
• Jason Todd: Red Hood

[James Cameron]

Nightshade
Max Mercury
Amazing Man (Will Everett)
Orion
Jakeem Thunder
Rama
Aztek
Dr Light
+ too many Legion characters to name

[Lightning Rider]

Vixen for sure.

I also wish The Atom were better known.

[Dred]

Jack Knight. I think Starman is the best comic 99% of even comic readers have never looked at.

There's lots of lesser known characters I like or have a fondness for or would like to see explored more. But Jack Knight is a fully realized, fully incredible character. He got what you want your "unknown" favorite to have and it was an A+. Of all the obscure unknowns, I think Jack Knight is leaps and bounds above them all. At least that's how I define "best" in this case -- the best character in actual comics.

[Riv86672]

Hawk & Dove[/B] (Holly & Dawn)

^^^This, but w. Hank!



(never have I ever been a Holly fan)

[marhawkman]

Hunh, I was hoping for some obscure characters.... mostly B and C-listers here.

I'mma put in Scorch.

[Riv86672]

Hunh, I was hoping for some obscure characters.... mostly B and C-listers here.

^^^Cant they be both?

[Sutekh]

Hero Cruz is a solid answer (and a great character)

Yeah, I think there's a distinction between lesser known characters and "deep dive" characters. As others have said, you could argue folks like Booster Gold, The Question, Vixen, and my pick of Metamorpho could all qualify as lesser knowns. But all of them have featured in their own books or been part of major team runs, as well as usually being go-tos for any giant "assemble all the heroes" scenes in the event-of-the-month titles. So I'm going to focus on the best "deep dive" characters, in my opinion.

1. Oddman
2. Tsunami
3. Dr. Occult
4. Max Mercury
5. Skyrocket
6. Aztek
7. Bumblebee
8. August General in Iron
9. Celsius
10. Black Condor
11. Firehawk
12. Tasmanian Devil

Ooh, Firehawk, Celsius, Bumblebee, Aztek and Skyrocket would totally have been on my list, if I'd remembered them! (Also Air Wave and Striker Z, whom that list reminds me of.)

Nightshade
Max Mercury
Amazing Man (Will Everett)
Orion
Jakeem Thunder
Rama
Aztek
Dr Light
+ too many Legion characters to name

Nightshade, Amazing Man and 'too many Legion characters to name' also completely belong on my list!

But for really obscure, I like a lot of Legion-adjacent characters like Academy recruits Nightwind, Lamprey, Karate Kid II/Myg and Crystal Kid, or Heroes of Lallor Evolvo Lad and Gas Girl, or heroes of other worlds like Xera of Manna-5 and Silver Sword, whom we've rarely or barely even seen. Also less-used actual Legionnaires, from older characters like Tyroc, to new blood like Dragonwing, or Glorith II or reboot / threeboot characters like Dragonmage, Gates, Kid Quantum II, Gazelle, Dream Boy, Turtle and Theena.

For more obscure modern-day characters, some of the Global Guardians sound super-cool, like Tuatara (precognitive hand-to-hand fighter who also is a super-detective able to view the past of a crime scene? Yes, please!) or Bushmaster ('Batman' using reptile themed gadgets?) or Thunderlord (more dedicated sonic-character than Black Canary, which amuses me, the Asian dude being *less* of a martial artist than the western sonic-blaster).