Like Marvel's Avengers, DC's Justice League of America has a nigh endless collection of superheroes in their official roster. While the usual six or seven mainstream heavy hitters (plus a brooding billionaire bat) have phenomenal chemistry, they can only handle so much of the Earth's (and the universe's) opposing forces. They also had to think big.
Of course, this gave a great spotlight for the lesser-known costumes of the DC universe. More faces mean more fun and more story possibilities but some of these faces just don't fit right in the Justice League. As a result, there are more forgotten Justice League members than there are prominent ones. Here are 15 of those heroes you probably forgot were Justice League members because they didn't seem the type, honestly.
Last updated: December 19th, 2019 to include even more overlooked and forgotten members of the Justice League.
15 ETRIGAN
While the demon Etrigan might not be the first fantasy or mythical being in the DC universe, his inclusion in the Justice League is bizarre, to say the least. That's because he's a demon who somehow uses his powers to fight off other forces of darkness. Granted, there's another dimension to Etrigan; he's not fully a demon and just merged with a human named Jason Blood. Hence, he often wrestles for a balance between the two psyches.
Etrigan's not really evil in that regard but mostly amoral. Doing things for his own sake (even if it's seemingly altruistic) is a nice way to satisfy both of Etrigan's personas. To that end, Etrigan usually gets called upon both the Justice League and other do-gooders to fight for Earth.
14 LOBO
The Main Man-- sorry, Lobo, is similar to Etrigan; his origins and background are rooted in evil. By nature, Lobo is bad "bad" (at least based on human morality). Heck, even his name means "one who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it," and he sure did... to his species... which is why he's the last of his kind.
However, he's simply too cool and rad to be denied membership from the Justice League, so Batman deputized him into the Justice League. That's in the comic books, in DC's animated universe, Lobo also mandatorily wedges himself into the Justice League after Superman was presumed dead. After all, he's pretty much unkillable and has clashed with Superman-- even proving to be competent against blue boy.
13 MANITOU RAVEN
Again, similar to Lobo, Manitou Raven was initially an enemy of the Justice League. He's existed way before superheroes were even a thing. Thanks to some time traveling mishaps, Manitou crossed paths with the Justice League and was even tricked that they were his enemies. Having mystical powers similar to most sorcerers in the DC universe, he gave them quite a trouble.
After realizing that they were the nice guys, Manitou wanted to atone... by joining the Justice League. Manitou even agreed to come to the future with the Justice League in order to help them. In a sense, he was a blast from the past. Sadly he lost his life in a truly tragic way after his wife cheated on him with Green Arrow.
12 BULLETEER
It's not just Bulleteer's (Alix Harrower) name that sounds ridiculous, but also her costume. Seriously what's up with that headgear? Her impenetrable metal alloy skin would have been enough as a fashion statement but we digress. Anyway, Bulleteer didn't actually plan on being a superhero-- her superpowers were a product of her husband's crazy experiment that went wrong.
In any case, Bulleteer was stuck with an invulnerable skin, super strength, and the power to fly. This made her a useful asset in the Justice League and Firestorm eventually recruited him into the new team during the New 52 reboot. While that team failed badly and disbanded, Bulleteer still continued being a superhero.
11 BIG BARDA
Who would have thought that Apokolips' best member of the Furies would eventually become Earth's defender? That's Big Barda for you. Originally she was one of the most powerful New Gods and warriors of Darkseid. Barda eventually defected and fought against Darkseid and the Furies, at times even joining the Justice League on her own terms.
Well, it's mostly her husband Mister Miracle (Scott Free) who influenced her in joining. Nevertheless, Barda is a superhero and has contributed plenty to keeping Earth safe. Meanwhile, other portrayals of Barda outside the comic books (most notably in an episode of Batman Beyond) paints her as a member of the future Justice League.
10 TRIUMPH
Triumph was a superhero that DC introduced in 1994. The problem with him is that DC made it so that Triumph was also supposedly one of the founding members of the Justice League. This practically makes him the first wallflower in the Justice League roster-- the guy who has always been there but most people supposedly forgot... and you thought Aquaman had it worst.
In fact, DC even made up a story of why everyone forgot about Triumph. Apparently, he got teleported into an alternate dimension during his very first mission which was why he got erased from history. As far as powers go, Triumph's name probably mismatched what he's capable of, namely control of the electromagnetic spectrum (TV, radio, satellites, etc.) on top of super strength, speed, invulnerability.
9 ELEMENT WOMAN
Element Woman (Emily Sung) was first drafted into the Justice League (at least what became of it) back in the Justice League Vol. 2 #16 storyline back in 2013. Apparently, it was Cyborg who took her in after fearing that the Justice League might actually lose in the war between the United States and Atlantis.
Cyborg's assessment of Element Woman's powers proved to be correct as she was a master molecular reconstructor. That means she can pretty much transform into anything, similar to Metamorpho. The only caveat is that Element Woman appears to be a bit looney or eccentric at the very least. That doesn't really lead to anything negative, but her teammates still treat her awkwardly.
8 MAXIMA
Like Triumph, Maxima is also a powerful superhero. She comes from a planet called Almerac and seemingly rivals Superman himself when it comes to superpowers. Apart from having what makes Superman "super," Maxima also possesses the ability to hypnotize people, which is quite harmful since she has also had the hots for Supes.
Hence, Maxima tried to "convince" Superman to be her partner (since she believes the Kryptonian was a perfect mate). Superman turned her down and broke her heart but this did not deter Maxima and she even joined the Justice League of America with a plan to seduce Superman as a member. Maxima then kept falling for other male members of the JLA up until Brainiac killed her.
7 JOHN CONSTANTINE
We have yet again another unlikely antihero who managed to join the Justice League. John Constantine is a foul-mouthed, cynical, vice-ridden occult detective and even he is qualified to be in the said superhero collective. Well, to be fair, Constantine was drafted into Justice League Dark, which still counts.
As a branch of the original Justice League, Justice League Dark is dedicated to combating supernatural threats. Constantine luckily happens to be a skilled sorcerer apart from being a dirty and crafty detective. Along with the likes of Zatanna, Constantine was one of the founding members of Justice League Dark.
6 BLUE JAY
Turns out there was a Justice League Europe and as you can expect, they mostly had lame superheroes. One of the lamest and most forgettable among them was Blue Jay. Just look at the guy, it looks like Hawkman with a blue-and-white-dyed costume; plus, Blue Beetle already took the "blue" moniker more stylishly.
Anyway, Blue Jay seems to have insecurities stemming from his self-doubt that his powers and capabilities can't compare with his JLA counterparts. He was probably right. The only thing he can do is fly and shrink while flying and even then, he can only shink to the size of an actual blue jay bird. It's like his writers were cruel to him on purpose.
5 BLACK ORCHID
Similar to John Constantine, Black Orchid (the Alba Garcia version) was not directly a member of the main branch of Justice League but of Justice League Dark. In fact, Alba Garcia herself worked under Constantine as an agent of the said Justice League branch. Meanwhile, her powers are a lot more exciting than Constantine's.
She might not have sorcery at her disposal but her shapeshifting prowess makes her an invaluable asset to the team. When caught in a pickle, Black Orchid can also fight with her superhuman strength, claws, and elasticity brought about by her shapeshifting capabilities; she's somewhat of a wildcard like most members of Justice League Dark.
4 GEO-FORCE
Geo-Force might not sound as lame as some of the other names in this list and the dude has the superpowers to back that up. He has the ability to control the gravitational field around objects, this allows him to increase or decrease their weight. He can also create earthquakes or levitate rocks and even weaponize lava.
Sadly, he never took off as a popular superhero. Despite his cool powers, Deathstroke still managed to defeat him, though he also made quite a comeback from such a humiliation. Beyond his attachment to the Justice League, Geo-Force is quite similar to Aquaman, except he prefers earth to water, which arguably makes him less interesting.
3 AZRAEL/JEAN-PAUL VALLEY
Jean-Paul Valley or better known as one of the more popular Azrael versions is often the resident crusading wacko of Gotham city. At one point, he replaced Batman and has proven to be a capable Caped Crusader-- even defeating Bane. As such, there's no doubt Valley is a legitimate candidate for the Justice League.
He was then recruited as Batman into the Justice League Task Force storyline. That wouldn't be his last appearance into as a Justice League member though; DC has announced that Valley as Azrael will be a founding member of Justice League Odyssey, watch out for him.
2 MYSTEK
Mystek was one of the first Asian superheroes to join the Justice League. Well, it was actually just the Justice League Task Force, but it still counts. His real name is Seong Barclay and "he" is actually a "she" who inexplicably dresses up like a man when it's time to be a superhero. Her powers involve the ability to manipulate sub-atomic particles into energy blasts and also for flight.
Initially, Mystek started out as a supervillain but regretted her decision and accepted Marian Manhunter's offer to join the Justice League Task Force. Mystek only lasted one mission, unfortunately since during her first outing with the Justice League, she couldn't cope with the conditions of space travel; so, she blasted a hole in the spaceship's hull and got sucked into space... then she died. Surely you wouldn't want to be remembered after that manner of death.
1 HAWKEYE
Nope, not a Mystek-- sorry, mistake. Hawkeye (Clint Barton)-- the Hawkeye from Marvel crossed over at one point into the DC universe, got fed up with the Avengers, and joined the Justice League. It gets weirder; Hawkeye developed an "eye" for Black Canary-- Green Arrow's canon romantic interest. Canary and Hawkeye even dated. It seems she's certified a marksman magnet.
Anyway, it was one of the oddest happenings in the Justice League/Avengers crossover title, something that might not happen again any time soon. Not that we want it to happen given what the confounding direction they took especially with Hawkeye. Regardless, Hawkeye has been around and can proudly claim that he's Justice League.