Travelers from dying worlds, radioactive bites, and science experiments gone wrong are standard origins for comic book superheroes. Heroes get their powers in an array of ridiculous and confusing ways. These unbelievable backstories are part of what makes reading comics so enjoyable. Sometimes, however, when creators let their imaginations run wild, the result is a stomach-turning origin story with horrific elements. This list compiles 8 of the creepiest, most unsettling superhero origins in comics.
10 10. Mother Panic
Violet Paige knows the dark side of Gotham intimately. While on a hunting trip with her father, a prepubescent Violet overhears he and a friend having a disturbing exchange. It appears to Violet that her father is trying to sell her, in some capacity, to his friend. His reasoning is unclear, but the suggestion is enough to make the reader’s skin crawl. A terrified Violet shoots her father, killing him.
Though she never explains what happened back home and the death is ruled accidental, her disgruntled older brother ships Violet off to a boarding school. Sadly, this change in scenery is no reprieve. She quickly learns that the Gather House school is nothing more than a laboratory. Its primary function is to turn the students into super soldiers through extensive mutations and combat training. Violet’s transition to Mother Panic is a road lined with immoral behavior on the part of those entrusted with taking care of her.
9 9. X-23
Though she eventually becomes an asset to the X-Men, Laura Kinney/ X-23’s origins are rooted in dehumanization and cruelty. Laura is a clone of Logan, considered by her creators to be nothing more than a potentially useful science project. Logan isn’t thrilled with her existence either.
Turns out, taking someone’s DNA and replicating them without permission doesn’t always go over well. Laura can’t be blamed for the circumstances of her birth, but the truth of her creation is a heavy burden. Fortunately, she manages to carve out a place for herself in the world and live her life on her own terms.
8 8. Brother Power The Geek
Before he was a hero, Brother Power was a mannequin. His Twilight Zone-worthy story begins in a tailor shop, where he found himself abandoned when the shop closed down. He remains there for a time inanimate, collecting dust in the shell of his former home. As unsettling as the image of a lone mannequin in an abandoned shop is, that’s nothing compared to the strange explanation for his jolt of life. Two hippies later move into the shop and dress the mannequin in the ‘grooviest’ clothing they have, and he is then struck by lightning. The lightning strike brings Brother Power to life, dooming him to wobble around a world that is deeply unsettled by his existence.
7 7. Raven
Most DC fans already know of Raven’s half-human, half-demon blood. That doesn’t make her conception any less creepy. In some versions, Raven’s dad seduces her mother, Angela, in human form. The demon, Trigon, uses charm and attractiveness to make Angela fall in love with him, then springs the trap. By the time Raven is born, Angela is severely brainwashed. Trigon’s tricks are responsible for giving him a daughter and giving the Teen Titans one of their most powerful members.
Storylines vary on Angela’s role in Raven’s life. In some, she is dead or still involved with evil forces. In others, she’s a hollowed-out husk of her former self who remains distant if not absent from her daughter. Spending extensive time with a demon and being tricked into baring its children is a deep wound on a person’s soul - a fact that continues to haunt Raven as she combats her own inner demon.
6 6. Hellboy
Hellboy is another demon-human love story. Of course, none of those end well. Hellboy’s mother, Sarah, was deeply involved with dark occultism and witchcraft and initially at peace with her relationship with the Archduke of Hell.
This changes when she goes into labor. A frightened and dying Sarah tries to repent on her deathbed, resulting in her demon lover, Azzael, burning her alive so the child will be born. A demon parent is bad, but a demon parent murdering your other parent is a horrific way to come into the world.
5 5. Mister Miracle
Mister Miracle (Scott Free) may be one of DC’s most popular New Gods, but his upbringing was far from divine. Scott is part of a diplomatic trade deal meant to end the war between Apokolpis and New Genesis. His father, the High Father of New Genesis, chose to trade Scott for the heir of Apokolips, Orion. Mister Miracle was willingly sent as a hostage to a cruel war-like planet on his father’s orders. His experiences on Apokolips shape him as a hero and introduced him to his future wife, Barda, but the sting of being traded like goods by family is tough to reconcile.
4 4. Silk Spectre II (Watchmen)
Laurie Juspeczyk is pushed into the family business of super-heroics essentially from birth. Her mother, Sally Jupiter, (the original Silk Spectre) shoves Laurie into the limelight after retiring. If Laurie ever wanted to do anything different with her life, the choice was never presented to her as an option. Sally seems just fine with living vicariously through her daughter’s popularity. She behaves like a petulant stage mom, pushing Laurie to do things her way.
To Sally, the more eyes on Laurie, the better. Even if it means pushing her teenage daughter to wear revealing costumes. The truth about Laurie’s parentage is equally creepy. Laurie is actually the daughter of Sally Jupiter and Edward Blake, a fellow vigilante known as the Comedian. Blake once sexually assaulted Jupiter, an event that Laurie discovers later in life. She’s horrified to learn that after the assault, her mother and Blake eventually did have an affair, resulting in Laurie’s birth.
3 3. Cyborg - Earth One
Cyborg is typically written to have a difficult relationship with his parents. Earth One’s Cyborg takes the tension to a whole new level. Victor discovers that he is not related to the woman he believed to be his mother - not in the way he’d imagined. To Dr. Stone, Victor is a lab rat carrying years of work in his physical body. Dr. Stone waits patiently for the mutations inflicted on Victor to take effect and makes it clear that lack of compliance will mean death. He and the other Earth One Titans are horrified to learn that their “parents” are really lab assigned caretakers. With Victor’s mother at the helm of the project, the realization cuts deepest for Cyborg.
2 2. The Original Swamp Thing
Alec Holland is the Swamp Thing we know and love, but in the characters earliest appearance, his name was Alex Olsen. Olsen gains his abilities after being sabotaged by his best friend. The reason for his betrayal? Olsen's pal Damien Ridge was secretly in love with his wife, Linda Olsen.
Ridge causes the explosion that trigger's Olsen's transformation so he can take Linda for himself. He then drags his best friend's lifeless body to the swamp and dumps him in, eager to get back and woo his prize. By the time Alex returns as Swamp Thing, Linda is married to Damian.
1 1. The Pro
The Pro is a one-shot comic that satirizes the superhero genre. Our protagonist, a down-on-her-luck prostitute, is randomly granted superpowers and forced to deal with the consequences. Her abilities are not as random as she may think. An otherworldly being known as "The Watcher" pushes powers on her to win a bet about humanity. As if changing the fabric of who someone is without their consent isn't bad enough, the Watcher's lair has a particularly creepy detail, suggesting that he may be watching more than just superhero battles in his surveillance of humanity. Without going into too much detail, he has a ready supply of tissues and lotion at the helm of his space ship.