Even supervillains have families. Whether they actually care about those families or would happily sacrifice them to the devil in exchange for a crack at world domination is another story. But regardless, only in rare cases do supervillains exist in a vacuum. They can make friends and fall in love, same as anybody else. Sometimes they even have kids, and sometimes that includes a daughter or two. These daughters are inevitably under a lot of pressure. Either they want to live up to their parents' expectations by becoming successful criminals, or they want to cancel out every bad thing their parents have ever done by becoming successful superheroes. It's really not fair, but that is often the way it is. And every one of the ladies on this list rose to that challenge, whether it was self-imposed or otherwise.
This article takes a look at 20 women and girls who, for better or for worse, have really shown their villainous parents a thing or two. Whether they have turned their back on their parents' evil ways or have spent their entire lives trying to live up to them, they are all tough, intelligent, and more than capable of putting down anyone who gets in their way -- including the villains who spawned them. Their parents may not be proud of them, but they have plenty of reasons to be proud of themselves. So let's take a few minutes -- or just under 2500 words -- to see what makes these ladies so remarkable!
20 NICO MINORU
The comic Runaways is all about a group of teens who discover their parents are members of the Pride, a group of criminal masterminds who happily indulge in human sacrifice to maintain their power. Determined to make up for their parents' misdeeds, the teens agree to run away from home and join forces to bring down the Pride.
One of the Runaways is Nico Minoru, the daughter of dark wizards. She inherited their magic abilities, including a staff that manifests whenever she is injured. Nico now leads the Runaways in their self-appointed mission to protect the world from their parents and everyone like them.
19 CASSANDRA CAIN
David Cain had a dream. He wanted to train someone to follow in his footsteps as an assassin without peer. In order to accomplish this goal, of course, he first needed someone to train. So he struck a deal with the martial artist Sandra Wu-San: he would spare Sandra's life if she would have his child.
Thus Cassandra Cain was born. For years, David successfully trained her in the art of being a criminal. Cass learned her lessons well and committed her first big crime before losing all her baby teeth. But she did not react as David hoped. Horrified by her actions, Cassandra refused to do it again and ran away, ultimately finding a home and a purpose with the Batman family.
18 SCARLET WITCH
Wanda Maximoff's family tree is mired in retcons, secrecy and general confusion. Usually, however, she is the daughter of Magneto, the X-Men's first and greatest foe. Like her father, Wanda is a mutant. At first, she could only cast minor hexes and tired easily. But after training with sorceress extraordinaire Agatha Harkness, Wanda's powers increased exponentially.
Eventually, Wanda's powers exceeded not only her father's but almost every other mutant's, good or evil. She even rewrote reality, making mutants the dominant species while humans suffered persecution. When that world fell apart, Wanda all but wiped out mutantkind. Among the mutants she depowered? Magneto.
17 JUSTINE HAMMER
Justin Hammer has bedevilled both Tony Stark and Iron Man for years. In between all the questionable business dealings and straight-up supervillainy, he found time to father a daughter, who he egotistically named Justine. But despite the similar names, the elder Hammer was anything but a loving father.
Justin often disparaged his daughter for not having accomplished as much as he did. Justine responded by throwing herself into the criminal world. Calling herself the Crimson Cowl, she spearheaded the Masters of Evil. Later, she took the family company, Hammer Industries, to new heights -- or lows -- as an unscrupulous weapons manufacturer.
16 MADAME MASQUE
Whitney Frost was adopted by a wealthy, loving family. So it came as a horrible blow when she learned her birth father was none other than Count Nefaria, the leader of the Maggia crime syndicate. At first, Whitney wanted nothing to do with Nefaria. But when her boyfriend rejected her for her family ties, Whitney accepted her birthright.
After some training, Whitney took the title of Big M and began leading the Maggia. Her subordinates occasionally questioned her because of her gender, but Whitney never hesitated to put them in their place. Even after a devastating injury prompted her to don a golden mask and call herself Madame Masque, Whitney remained a force to be reckoned with.
15 RAVEN
Trigon the Terrible is a demon of, well, demonic proportions. He has fathered many children, each time hoping the child would be strong enough to act as a portal for him to travel to and conquer Earth. Each time, the child did not live long enough to fulfill its destiny. And then Raven came along.
Raven was raised in Azarath, a peaceful society whose leader, Azar, taught Raven to control her emotions so that Trigon would not be able to manipulate them -- and her. This training was not enough to prevent Trigon's arrival, but it did make Raven strong enough to defeat him and save the planet she had come to call home.
14 LENA LUTHOR
DC has multiple characters named Lena Luthor, including the one on The CW's Supergirl who would also qualify for this list. However, this entry is about Lex's daughter. While Lex claimed to love her, he unflinchingly traded her to Brainiac 13 in exchange for lots of cool future tech. This decision very nearly came back to bite him.
Brainiac 13 gave the otherwise human Lena a whole host of cybernetic enhancements that allowed her to levitate and hack computers, among other things. She could have easily destroyed her father, but fortunately for him, Lena ultimately decided to side with Lex instead of Brainiac 13.
13 ROGUE
Rogue has a notoriously difficult mutation to live with. If she makes skin-to-skin contact with anyone, she will drain the other person of their memories, life force and abilities. Needless to say, this made it hard for her to bond with anyone. After running away from home, Rogue met the villains Mystique and Destiny, who became like mothers to her.
Rogue showed her gratitude and affection by joining Mystique's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But after stealing Ms. Marvel's powers, Rogue became disillusioned with the life of a supervillain and went to the X-Men for help. With them, despite Mystique's reluctance, Rogue reached her full potential as a hero.
12 SYNAPSE
Emily Guerrero used to live with her grandfather, Ivan. They both were caught in the Terrigen Mist, which is harmless to humans but triggers the development of superpowers in anyone with Inhuman DNA. Emily developed the ability to read minds and manipulate brainwaves. Ivan gained mastery over plants, as well as a seething hatred for all mankind.
Calling himself the Shredded Man, Ivan set about spreading a disease that would wipe humans off the face of the earth. Emily, now known as Synapse, stopped his plans with the help of the Uncanny Avengers. The Shredded Man escaped to commit genocide another day.
11 STEPHANIE BROWN
From a young age, Stephanie Brown was determined to do good. She was the daughter of the Cluemaster, who committed crimes and then left clues behind to annoy Batman. Wanting to make up for her father's criminal activity, Stephanie took the name Spoiler and secretly helped the police to "spoil" Cluemaster's plans.
In time, Spoiler caught the attention of Tim Drake, who was Robin at the time. This brought her to Batman's attention as well, and Stephanie soon received an offer to become Robin, the Girl Wonder. That didn't go so well, but she has since found success as Batgirl.
10 HUNTRESS
Over on Earth-2, Catwoman successfully reformed and married Batman. They had a daughter, Helena, and lived happily together for many years. But inevitably, tragedy struck: one of Catwoman's former associates threatened to hurt her family if she didn't help him steal some jewels. Batman attempted to stop the robbery, not realizing his wife was involved until she was mortally wounded.
Batman was too consumed by guilt to even think of going after those really responsible for Catwoman's demise. Instead, it was up to Helena to swear an oath of vengeance, don a costume and go after the man who forced her mother back into crime.
9 RAVAGER
Before becoming a mercenary for hire, Slade Wilson had a very nice home life with his wife and two sons. But even then, he had his unsavory secrets. Slade fathered a daughter, Rose, with another woman, who kept his identity a secret from Rose for years. When Slade learned of Rose's existence, he rejected her at first but later decided to take her on as an apprentice.
For a while, Rose, under the influence of a mind-altering substance, slavishly followed Deathstroke's every whim. But Rose ended up renouncing her villainous ways and joined her half-brother, Jericho, in fighting for justice instead.
8 MOLLY HAYES
The youngest of the Runaways, Molly Hayes struggled to accept that her parents were supervillains. But that doesn't mean she can't or won't fight them just as hard as she can to make the world a better place. While her parents' mutations manifested as telepathic abilities, Molly's mutation resulted in a more physical sort of power. Specifically, she is strong enough to knock even Wolverine and the Punisher flat.
Molly's age sometimes works against her, as she tires quickly and doesn't have the emotional maturity to handle stress as well as her peers. On the other hand, she is still an optimist who easily finds joy in the world. That alone is a massive victory over her parents.
7 ARTEMIS CROCK
Artemis has quite the evil pedigree. Her parents are the Sportsmaster and the Tigress, both members of the Injustice Society. They trained her to continue their disreputable legacy, and Artemis certainly did not disappoint. She, too, joined the Injustice Society and participated in various schemes. Even when things went wrong, Artemis was skilled enough to be able to escape punishment.
In an interesting twist, the version of Artemis who appears in the Young Justice TV show has also surpassed her criminal parents, but in a completely different way. She shunned her mother's criminal past and chose to become a hero instead.
6 SCANDAL SAVAGE
Vandal Savage is another one of the many would-be world conquerors that plague the DC Universe. He's been around for thousands of years by this point, so of course he's had plenty of kids. The only one he acknowledges, however, is his daughter, Scandal. He may be an immortal warrior, he is also deeply uncreative when it comes to naming his children.
Scandal Savage leads the Secret Six, a group of supervillains who take on missions of varying moral integrity. The team doesn't have the greatest survival rate, but Scandal has been with them since the start, probably at least partly because she's inherited some of her father's invulnerability.
5 MANTIS
When Mantis first began helping the Avengers, she had no idea what her true origins were. The Kree pacifists who raised and trained her had brainwashed her into believing she was an orphan who learned martial arts from other street children. The truth is far more complicated.
Mantis is the daughter of Lau, a Vietnamese woman, and Gustav, a German mercenary who later joined a villainous gang as Libra. Lau's brother disapproved of the match. The ensuing fight resulted in Lau being taken out while Gustav was blinded. In time, Mantis would remember her true origins, but by then she had already surpassed her father as the superior fighter.
4 KAROLINA DEAN
As another member of the Runaways, Karolina swore to make amends for her parents' misdeeds, which included starting a war between the Skrull and Majesdanian empires. She even agreed to marry a Skrull royal in a noble but unsuccessful attempt to end the hostilities between the two planets.
Karolina spent most of her life believing she was an ordinary human. For a while after discovering her alien heritage, she struggled to accept her "strange" new appearance and powers. But Karolina has now learned the value of accepting who you are, no matter where you come from or what your parents want from you.
3 QUAKE
Daisy Johnson was raised by a foster family, but her biological father is Mister Hyde, a scientist who developed a serum granting him enhanced strength and accelerated healing. Hyde used his newfound powers to commit crimes and irritate Thor. But when Daisy developed her own powers -- the ability to generate earthquakes -- she chose to use them in service of the good guys.
Nick Fury himself invited Daisy to join S.H.I.E.L.D., and Daisy agreed. Later taking the name Quake, she has helped defeat everyone from Magneto to Norman Osborn to her own father, all at an age when most people are getting ready for college.
2 HELA
Unlike in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Hela is Odin's daughter, the comics hint that Loki fathered Hela, just as he did in the original Norse mythology. Regardless of her parentage, Hela has surpassed her fellow gods and goddesses to become the most powerful Asgardian of all.
Being queen of the underworld may not make her the envy of the other girls, but it comes with its own set of perks. Hela rules Hel, where all but the most heroic souls go to spend their afterlife. As such, she pretty literally holds everyone's lives in her hands. She has given even the mighty Thor a run for his money more than once.
1 GAMORA
When Gamora was left as the sole survivor of her race, Thanos found and adopted her. Wasn't that nice of him? Of course, Thanos didn't adopt her so much as he recruited her. Gamora spent what was left of her childhood training to become Thanos' personal hitwoman. In time, Gamora become known as the most dangerous woman in the galaxy.
But Thanos was only able to keep Gamora under his control by manipulating her into believing her actions were not evil. As soon as she discovered the trick, she turned on Thanos and helped get the Infinity Gauntlet away from him. Gamora then took possession of the Time Gem, and eventually joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.