DC is filled with powerful and iconic villains who have plagued the DC Universe. But none of them have been had the impact of Darkseid, the Lord of Apokolips and one of the most feared beings in all of comics. Armies of heroes have faced him and failed.
Darkseid's power levels are almost unfathomable, to a point that even the mighty Superman has trouble defeating him on his own. There have been numerous times that he has proven himself to be the best villain DC has to offer. Darkseid is the evil that all other villains in DC aspire to.
10 Killing His Own Father
Over the years, Darkseid's origins have changed a couple of times. The New 52 iteration of Darkseid started his life as a villain off in an incredibly auspicious fashion. Born Uxas, he didn't have much respect for the Old Gods and certainly had no problems showing it.
The Old Gods started dying off after Uxas tricked them into a pointless war. As they killed each other, Uxas took all their power for himself. When his father came to admonish him for his actions, Uxas killed him, too.
9 Building Apokolips
Darkseid has a vision for all of the universe. Basically, he wants to subjugate everyone and everything using the Anti-Life Equation. Anyone and anything that doesn't bend to his will be destroyed. As such, he really hates Superman.
If someone is interested in a preview of what Darkseid wants to do to all of reality, they just need to take a good, long look at Apokolips. The horrifying, fiery torture festival floating through space he created is a testament to his true goals.
8 The Destruction Of An Earth
Darkseid's desire to conquer Earth has long been an unhealthy obsession for him. Much of it has to do with his belief that fragments of the Anti-Life Equation are scattered throughout the minds of humans. He also hates Superman more than pretty much anything else in existence, and that's where he lives.
When Darkseid couldn't wipe out the Earth in his reality, he actually took the time to head to other realities. He eventually found an Earth he could crush, defeated its heroes, and almost literally fed it to Apokolips.
7 Breaking And Recruiting DeSaad
Those who know Darkseid also know that he has an extremely small group of individuals he trusts. He doesn't even really trust them so much as he destroyed their minds to the point that they could no longer consider betraying him. Middle management positions on Apokolips are rough.
DeSaad was a resident of New Genesis when Darkseid met him. He essentially tortured and tormented DeSaad until he went completely insane, then became Darkseid's chief torturer. There was a point that they were almost friends but Darkseid has no room for friends and broke him further.
6 Manipulating Steppenwolf Into Killing New Gods
Rivals to Darkseid's position of power rarely make it very long in life. He doesn't tend to tolerate someone who wants to take what he believes is rightfully his. Unfortunately for the entire universe, Darkseid ultimately believes that everything in the entire universe is rightfully his.
Many, many years ago, a rival was growing in power. Darkseid tricked his own uncle, Steppenwolf, into hunting and killing a variety of New Gods. This ended with the death and resurrection of Steppenwolf as well as launching the war between New Genesis and Apokolips.
5 Testing Granny Goodness And Her Loyalty
One of Darkseid's most trusted and feared generals has long been Granny Goodness. As the leader of the Female Furies, Granny has played a role in raising children selected to become Darkseid's elite soldiers. That included Big Barda.
But there was a time that she was a soldier herself, known only as Goodness. As a test, Darkseid essentially forced her to fight and kill her beloved dog mount, Mercy. It proved her fanatical loyalty to Darkseid.
4 Killing Half Of The Amazons On Themyscira
As much as Darkseid hates Superman, there are other heroes he is certainly not a huge fan of. Wonder Woman and the Amazons are pretty high up his hate list, as well. Every resident of Themyscira has respectively been a thorn in his side for years, even if they don't know it.
When Darkseid decided to invade Olympus, he went to Themyscira to get information about how to get there. The resulting battle ended with the Amazonians repelling the hordes of Apokolips but also cost them half of the warriors on the island.
3 The Giant Cosmic Chessboard
Darkseid's machinations tend to happen on a much grander scale than virtually anyone else is aware of. He's a plans within plans within plans kind of guy. Even the High Father, Darkseid's brother and rival, doesn't know everything the villain is up to.
During the lead up to Final Crisis, there were a lot of individuals in motion. But Darkseid was shown to have a giant cosmic chessboard with all of the people involved represented by pieces on it. Nothing says Mega Supervillain like manipulating reality with a chessboard.
2 The Dark Side Club
When all of the New Gods, including Darkseid, were killed, all of their souls ended up on Earth in mortal forms. But Darkseid's evil knows no bounds, and he quickly found a way to be the baddest human around.
He became a crime lord named Boss Dark Side, and he ran his operations out of the Dark Side Club. Being a human certainly did not stop him from doing horrible things, including murdering anyone he felt necessary to regain his former status.
1 Taking Over Dan Turpin
Superman had a lot of friends and allies in Metropolis, particularly on the police force. That included both Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. They played a big role in helping Superman protect their city.
Turpin became suspicious of what was going on at the Dark Side Club. He went there, only to be taken over by Darkseid's spirit. Turpin became Darkseid. He was eventually saved by Barry Allen, Wally West and The Black Racer, who exorcised Darkseid from his body.