Who would you put on DC's Mount Rushmore of Villains?

[Green Goblin of Sector 2814]

Baron Zemo .............................................Ra's Al Ghul

There we go. And, I must say. Pretty apt comparison. As for who is more important in the context of his universe?...Hmmm. I'm gonna have to give the dye to Ra's on this one. He's probably done more against the JLA and Batman than Zemo has against Cap and the Avengers.

[MichaelC]

Yeah, Ra's is easily more important because he's a Bat-villain. Until very recently, the Marvel Universe was about Spider-Man, then the X-Men, then the Fantastic Four, with the Avengers as the top of the C-list. There's been a big push to change that in the past ten years or so, but the weight of history still has Zemo as a C-lister. Might be different in another ten years, but in the here and now that's how it is.

[Kingsw00d]

TOP 5 ...(no one else really close at the moment)...

Lex Luthor: 41

Joker: 35

Darkseid: 31

Sinestro: 15

Black Adam: 10

---------------------------------------
Others mentioned previously who could make a move up the list:

Deathstroke

Doomsday

Brainiac

General Zod


Let's get some fresh input!

[Restingvoice]

Luthor
Joker
Cheetah
Sinestro
Black Manta

[Batman Begins 2005]

The Joker's #1. Lex Luthor and Darkseid are locks. It's who takes the last spot. I'll go with Ra's al Ghul.

[married guy]

For me, it HAS to be villians who have actually hurt the their opposite number. With that in mind...

Darkseid Has an entire planet of lackeys at his disposal. If Darkseid shows up, you're in a world of ****
Lex Luthor Ineffectual I know, but he's simply too damn iconic a villian to ignore!
Joker Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd, Sarah Essen - the man has definitely made his mark
Black Manta Killed Aquaman's son. You don't get much hardcore evil than that.

[Jcogginsa]

I'm gonna go Lex Luthor, the Joker, Darkseid, and Deathstroke

[Nero]

The first three picks are easy, practically a foregone conclusion really being that of the Joker, Lex Luthor and Darkseid. The fourth pick is debatable but my money would be on Deathstroke being more of a lock than Black Adam or Sinestro.

[Lightning Rider]

Having a hard time picking that 4th spot. I'm on board with Darkseid, Luthor, and Joker.

Most seem to be picking Sinestro, Black Adam, and Deathstroke.

I'll have to think a bit more about the question. When I think "Iconic" I'm considering both status within fandom as well as public awareness. Black Adam is probably my favorite of the 3 but I think he has slightly less going for him in terms of iconic stories and dramatic moments. Between Sinestro and Deathstroke, Sinestro is more classic while Deathstroke is very much the "it" character right now. I think Sinestro is more timeless as a true blue supervillain and feels more a part of the fabric of the DCU. He regularly clashes with the League and was a central component of several classic GL stories.

That said, I do have to think about whether Reverse Flash or Captain Cold deserve to be there. I may have biases as a Flash fan, but I feel like both are very iconic for different reasons. Reverse Flash takes personal obsession to a scary place and seems eerily inescapable, and Captain Cold occupies a unique space in the DC villains gallery as a blue-collar ringleader with principles. Then again, are either more iconic than Bane, R'as, Two-Face, or Zod?

Here's hoping Cheetah gets the love she deserves and becomes an icon in the near future. She's certainly recognizable.

All this proves to me is that DC has amazing villains.

[Flash Gordon]

Black Manta, Lex Luthor, Ra's Al Ghul, Starro the Conqueror

I'm just going off ones I dig tbh

[Dr. Ellingham]

My criteria for a villain Mt. Rushmore:

- solid motivation / rationale
- intrinsic history and contrast with an important DC character/team
- classic stories from multiple eras

Based on that:

Joker (just edges out Ra's Al Ghul)
Lex Luthor
Eobard Thawne
Sinestro

Characters like Darkseid or Doomsday are fairly generic plot-moving video game bosses. If the only goal is power or universal rule, that's not much. Godzilla's got more pathos than those guys.

[manwhohaseverything]

Injustice superman
BrAiniac
Dr. Freeze
Despero

[DrNewGod]

If we think of epic villainy, in both scope and carnage, I'd say Kobra actually merits a place, as does Ras al Ghul. So (and I get that I'm in a minority here), I'd nominate
Luthor
Ras or Kobra
Black Adam
Sinestro

I exclude Darkseid, because he'd say he's beyond such pathetic notions as villainy.

[Jcogginsa]

My criteria for a villain Mt. Rushmore:

- solid motivation / rationale
- intrinsic history and contrast with an important DC character/team
- classic stories from multiple eras

Based on that:

Joker (just edges out Ra's Al Ghul)
Lex Luthor
Eobard Thawne
Sinestro

Characters like Darkseid or Doomsday are fairly generic plot-moving video game bosses. If the only goal is power or universal rule, that's not much. Godzilla's got more pathos than those guys.

Darkseid meets all of those requirements under the writer's that can actually write him well

[Kingsw00d]

Updated Vote Tallies...

Lex Luthor: 50

Joker: 42

Darkseid: 36

Sinestro: 18


Black Adam: 11

Deathstroke: 8

General Zod: 5

Brainiac: 5


Riddler: 4

Penguin: 3

Anti-Monitor: 3

Captain Cold: 3

Doomsday: 3

Black Manta: 3

Ra’s al Ghul: 3

Starro: 2

Vanda Savage: 1

Reverse Flash: 1

Professor Ivo: 1

Cheetah: 1

Eobard Thawne: 1

Dr. Freeze: 1

Despero: 1

Injustic Superman: 1