In real life, babies are generally very cute. At worst, they're basically the most non-threatening things in whatever room they're in. So, of course, comic book writers and artists love to take these symbols of innocence and turn them into creepy monsters and villains. There's nothing creepier than a baby that's somehow been turned into a threat, whether it's become a zombie or given unsettling powers. Some babies become creepy without getting any powers, and it's just the circumstance of their birth that turns them from adorable to upsetting. Either way, creepy babies are pretty common in comic books.
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In fact, based on all of the babies on this list, it's probably a good idea for all comic book characters to just stop having kids. It never ends well. While tragedy is bad enough, there are too many situations where babies end up becoming evil, and then heroes have to fight a baby. It's never a good situation. Of course, not all creepy babies need to be defeated, some are just generally creepy, which is even worse. There's nothing to overcome, these babies just remain upsetting for the entirety of their baby life. Here are the 15 creepiest babies in comic books.
15 JOYBOY
Normally, having a baby on a team of bounty hunters wouldn't make any sense. For the inter-dimensional Technet, that still might be true, but it hasn't stopped them from including Joyboy as a member. The floating infant first appeared in Excalibur Special Edition #1 (1988) by Chris Claremont and Alan Davis, where the team attempted to hunt down Rachel Summers.
Not much is known about Joyboy, but it is some sort of floating infant with a big belly and head, which houses two large red eyes. Aside from its appearance, it has the power to grant wishes, but twisted ones, taking your dearest dream and warping it into a living nightmare. Basically, what that means is that this baby doesn't just understand needs and desires, but also irony. Worst of all, it usually has a sinister looking smile on its face, suggesting that it understands that it's not really granting people's wishes.
14 KATIE AND JAKE FITZGERALD
When Wanda Blake found out that she was pregnant with twins, it wasn't great news. She ended up giving birth in Spawn #100 (2000) by Todd McFarlane, Brian Holguin, Steve Niles, Greg Capullo and Angel Medina, and named the babies Katie and Jake. It very quickly becomes clear that there's something wrong with them, as they continuously display psychotic and aggressive tendencies.
It's eventually revealed that the two babies are actually God and Satan, reborn in human in form. They eventually remember the truth about themselves, and Armageddon was unleashed upon the Earth. They end up killing countless (if not all) humans and leave the Earth in ruins. Luckily, Spawn is able to undo this, and the two are basically put in an eternal time out.
13 LORD CHAOS
During Blackest Night (2009) by Geoff Johns, the Black Lanterns resurrected countless dead DC characters as horrific, zombified versions of themselves. This included the infant Robert Long, the son of Donna Troy and Terry Long. In an alternate future, Robert was born with godlike powers and became the villainous Lord Chaos, but Donna was able to prevent this from happening in the mainstream DC universe, leaving Robert as just a regular baby.
The baby, along with his father and sister, were killed in Wonder Woman #121 (1997) by John Byrne. In a horrific scene, the Black Lantern versions of the baby and his father return to stalk Donna Troy during the Blackest Night. Forcing a woman to face the rotting corpse of her dead baby is truly evil, and thankfully, Robert's zombie life wasn't long lasting.
12 HULK'S INCEST BABY
Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Old Man Logan (2008) depicted not only a horrific future, but also a fairly confusing one. Most of the heroes were killed when all of the villains teamed up and launched a coordinated attack. While this left the world a wasteland, with random territories controlled by different villains, it also caused a radical change in the Hulk.
While the green goliath is typically portrayed as a hero, he went full villain in this world. Also, he started having children with his cousin, She-Hulk. This resulted in a gang of inbred Hulks. One of these Hulks was still an infant when Wolverine killed the Hulk, leading Logan to adopt the green baby. This character is often referenced in Old Man Logan's current stories, leaving an awful reminder of the Hulk's creepiest moment.
11 BABY BOOM
After Dr Amos Love began experimenting on pregnant women to see if he could create super powered beings in the woman, one of the results was Baby Boom. First appearing in Infinity Inc #17 (1985) by Roy Thomas Dan Thomas and Todd McFarlane, Boom is part of a group named Helix, which is made up of the other members of Love's experiments.
Boom was born with the ability to create explosions with her mind, which would be a great power except for the major side effect: her body stopped aging prematurely, leaving her forever stuck as a small child. Boom eventually became the leader of Helix, although her reign was short run. Like most kids, she had a strong desire to be treated like a grown up, only with the added issue of her evil tendencies and ability to create explosions.
10 GABRIEL AND SARAH STACY
It might have seemed like the worst thing to ever happen to Spider-Man was the death of Gwen Stacy, but that was just the beginning of his problems. Stacy died in the fateful Amazing Spider-Man #121 (1973) by Gerry Conway and Gil Kane, but her legacy was forever altered in the infamous Sins Past (2004) by J. Michael Straczynski and Mike Deodato Jr. The storyline introduced Gabriel and Sarah Stacy, who were twins that Gwen Stacy secretly gave birth to before her eventual death.
The reason why Gwen kept the pregnancy secret from Peter was because the father was Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, aka the man that killed her. The babies were born with goblin serum in their blood, causing them to age incredibly fast. Even though they were only briefly seen as babies, the circumstances of their birth was way too unsettling to leave off this list.
9 TECHNO ORGANIC BABY
Deadpool has a strange relationship with Cable. After lobotomizing Cable for becoming known as the messiah, the merc went on a mission to heal his friend's mind. To do this, he had to break into an AIM laboratory in Cable and Deadpool #11 (2005) by Fabian Nicieza and Patrick Zircher, and steal a techno organic life-form, which was still in its infancy. After some zany adventures, Wade is able to merge the being with his friend, which only leads to more problems.
While the techno baby is small in the real world, it becomes a monster in Cable's mindscape and nearly overwhelms the powerful telepath. Luckily, Nathan was able to overcome the beast and keep control of his mind while also using the alien life-form to repair his body. If things had gone the other way, Cable could've been turned into a giant alien baby.
8 PURPLE CHILDREN
Killgrave, aka Purple Man, has always been a creepy villain. Based on his mind control powers, he's able to make people do whatever he wants them to (which usually leads to some pretty awful situations). After impregnating several women over the years, Killgrave decided to gather all of his offspring, who all first appeared together in Daredevil #8 (2014) by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee.
While the kids all varied in age, at least one was still fairly young when Killgrave brought them all together. Of course, the kids were strong enough to overpower their dad, making him kill himself and then going on a mind controlling rampage. This included taking over an arcade, which would have been adorable if they hadn't attempted to kill so many people on the way there.
7 BIZARRO'S BABY
In his original form, Bizarro was a flawed duplicate of Superman who is somewhat "reversed" from Superman. The story ofBizarro's baby was told in Superman #140 (1960) by Otto Binder and Wayne Boring and provides an appropriately absurd life cycle for Bizarro children. When Bizarro gives birth to a hideous (normal looking) baby, Bizarro attempts to get rid of the super powered yet unattractive infant.
It's eventually revealed that bizarro babies start off looking human and eventually turn into bizarros, leading to Bizarro Superman taking his son back. Still, there's a pretty harsh implication about bizarro culture: they are very unaccepting of unattractive infants. Sure, bizarros are supposed to be weird and backwards, but that doesn't mean they have to be completely heartless.
6 ROVOS
Babies typically aren't known for being cold and logical, which is what makes Rovos so unsettling. The alien baby appeared in Action Comics #502 (1979) by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, where Superman and Supergirl are chosen by an alien race to raise a synthetic child. Rovos, who will age to maturity in a day, develops quickly but remains completely emotionless. This leads to scenes of a talking baby having some strange conversations.
The heroes come up with a plan to give the growing infant emotions by staging a fight between Superman and several villains. While this works, it's strange to think that the only way for this baby to develop feelings was to watch violence. That can't be the healthiest way for a baby to develop. Either way, the alien race that gave Rovos to Superman are thrilled with the results, so apparently it all worked out.
5 X-BABIES
Mojo might be one of the weirdest X-Men villains, and the creation of the X-Babies is one of the best examples of that. During a time period where the X-Men had faked their deaths, Mojo created the X-Babies as stand-ins. His reasoning was that the X-Men always scored big ratings, and the X-Babies were a huge hit for Mojo's entertainment channels.
Originally appearing in a back-up story in X-Men Annual #12 (1988) by Chris Claremont and Art Adams, the X-Babies have the same powers as their grownup counterparts, including the less than desirable ones. That means that Sugah is just as tragic a character as Rogue, only Sugah is a baby so they're treated like they're adorable. There's also a team of baby Avengers running around the Mojoverse, because babies get ratings.
4 CHARLES XAVIER JR
It turns out, Professor X has some really strong genes. When the X-Men of the future (or, more accurately, one of thousands of possible futures) showed up in X-Men: Battle of the Atom (2013) by Brian Bendis, Frank Cho and Stuart Immonen, the roster included a young man who looked just like Professor X. It's eventually revealed that this man is Charles Xavier Jr, who is the son of Mystique and Professor X.
The problem is that it seems like Mystique was posing as Moira MacTaggert at the time. It's not clear if Xavier was aware, but considering that he's one of the most powerful psychics, it's very hard to fool him. Either way, this love child represented a pretty disturbing scenario, and it's best not to look into it too much.
3 EVIL BABY LOIS LANE
In a perfect example of how weird comics used to be, Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane #42 (1963) by Leo Dorfman and Kurt Schaffenberger features a story where Lois Lane becomes evil before becoming a baby, all the while trying to force Superman to marry her. Lois turns evil when she gets into a minor fender bender, where she bumps her head (this is all that stands between good and evil, apparently).
She then tries to blackmail Superman into marrying her, which causes him to spray her with a rejuvenating mist, which he also gets caught in. They both de-age into infants, only Lois continues to be evil. Granted, her evil plan is to marry a man that she loves, but it still counts. Luckily, the baby can't make the marriage happen, and Lois is eventually re-aged and then has her head fixed, ending her reign of baby terror.
2 BENJAMIN PARKER
For the most part, Spider-Girl's little brother Ben was cute. He first appeared in Spider-Girl #59 (2003) by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, to Peter and Mary Jane Parker (this series took place in the alternate future world of MC2). While he displayed some potential spider powers (understandable, considering his dad), there's nothing creepy about that.
It wasn't until the Carnage symbiote possessed the toddler that he made this list. This created a little baby Carnage, which was the opposite of adorable. Considering he was just as violent as the grown up version, this little monster was a real nightmare. Luckily, Spider-Girl was able to free her little brother of the symbiote by using a sonic gun. Unfortunately, this caused Ben to lose his hearing.
1 BABY DOLL
While she isn't technically a baby, Baby Doll is still creepy enough to make this list. An original creation from Batman: The Animated Series (1992), Mary Louise Dahl was born with a rare condition that prevented her body from aging past that of a toddler. A former actress, her only successful role was on a cheesy sitcom. She resented one of the other actors, who played another kid named Spunky, who she felt had stolen the spotlight from her.
While she was obviously based on some real life examples, her story took an odd twist when she fell in love with Killer Croc. Feeling a connection to the fellow outcast, she teamed up with him, secretly hoping to become his girlfriend. Croc didn't dislike her, but he didn't return her affections, which led her to try to kill him (along with herself).
Can you think of any other creepy comic book babies? Let us know in the comments!