Most DC heroes have had their not-so-shining moments. There have been squabbles between superheroes, and rifts even among the Justice League. But, even if they slip, superheroes always come back and save the day... most of the time.

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The super-powered beings on this list, though, give the word hero a bad name. More than just your average anti-heroes, these versions chose to be outright evil. From extreme circumstances to alternate universes, here's a look at ten of the worst.

10 Bruce Wayne/The Batman Who Laughs Is An Extreme Anti-Hero (Earth -22)

The Batman Who Laughs in the rain from DC Comics

In the Dark Multiverse, on Earth-22, Bruce Wayne loses everyone from his parents to all of the Robins. After a rampage by the Joker, Batman absorbs Joker’s toxin after breaking his neck. Within a week, he’s killed the entire Justice League. He’s a lieutenant of Barbatos, and becomes the leader of the Dark Knights during the first Dark Multiverse Invasion. From violent vigilante to serial killer and beyond, The Batman Who Laughs is motivated by his ego, and it’s ultimately his downfall – although he does get as far as acquiring cosmic power.

9 Superwoman Is A Founder Of The Crime Syndicate Of America

Nightwing being captured by Superwoman and the Crime Syndicate

On Earth-3 in the Multiverse, Superwoman killed all the other Amazons on her home planet. She takes the name of Lois Lane and ends up as a founding member of the Crime Syndicate. Other members include Ultraman, Owlman, and Johnny Quick, among others. Even her lasso is used for evil – she gets people to admit to their most humiliating secrets. She’s got a long history in the comic world from 1964 on through The New 52, having affairs with both Owlman and Ultraman as she contributes to their nefarious schemes.

8 An Embittered Bruce Wayne Becomes The Red Death (Earth -52)

Red Goblin Red Death image

On Earth-52 in the Dark Multiverse, the villains of Gotham City picked off his Robins one by one, embittering Bruce, and giving his Batman a more extreme view of his vigilante role. Eventually, Batman decided he could use the Speed Force, and goes after Flash. Bruce steals all the weapons from the Rogues to use against Barry, and eventually merges the Batmobile with the Cosmic Treadmill. He absorbs the Flash’s powers and becomes Batman: The Red Death. He starts a murder spree, even as poor Barry’s consciousness is still alive inside him.

7 Cyborg Superman Was Secretly Out For Revenge

An image of Cyborg Superman making a menacing smile while seated on his throne

After Superman's supposed death at the hands of Darkseid, four Supermen come, seemingly to replace him. Cyborg Superman seems the least like the original Man of Steel, but he seems to play the part of a superhero at first.

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It's eventually revealed that he's Hank Henshaw, a former astronaut from New Earth who blames Superman for the tragic results of the Excalibur space shuttle launch. He's bent on revenge against Superman and Coast City. Even after he's defeated by Superman, he lives on through Doomsday.

6 Harold Jordan Became Power Ring, A Criminal

Harold Jordan - Power Ring

Hal Jordan rose to the challenge of becoming Earth’s Green Lantern, sworn to honorably defend our galaxy. Harold Jordan...not so much. He’s a janitor at Ferris Aircraft on Earth-3, and when he’s chosen to wear the Ring of Volthoom when Abin Sur dies, his fear and generally cowardly nature take over. The ring makes him a criminal and an underworld boss, and he becomes part of the Crime Syndicate. What he doesn’t realize at first, though, is that the ring is also eating him up – and he can’t get it off.

5 Batman, Wonder Woman And Aquaman Are Criminals In Flashpoint

wonder woman flashpoint mera

After Barry Allen meddles with the Speed Force and rewrites history to save his mother, it changes just about everything. Bruce Wayne died as a boy, and his father Thomas Wayne has become an extremely violent version of Batman, more villain than anti-hero. Wonder Woman and Aquaman are ruthless and despotic rulers who stop at nothing. The two monarchs have an affair which results in Wonder Woman killing Mera, and setting off a war that eventually destroys the Earth and kills literally everyone.

4 Sky Tyrant Kills To Live Forever

Hawkman Sky Tyrant

Hawkman's original incarnation was Ktar Deathbringer, a general whose troops brought death to Earth, Krypton, and many other planets. As he dies, he's offered the chance to atone for his many killings by endlessly reincarnating until he's saved as many people as he's killed.

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On Earth-3, Ktar’s reincarnation decides to keep killing in order to live forever. He becomes a member of the Batman Who Laughs Secret Six and ends up helping to open the gateway to the Dark Multiverse.

3 Grid Was A Secondary Subsystem That Attained Sentience

Grid DC Comics

Grid is an evil counterpart to Cyborg. It began as a subsystem of one of Cyborg’s compilation upgrades. From there, it grew into a neural network. It was Atomica, a member of the Crime Syndicate from Earth-3, who helped it turn into a sentient being known as Grid – essentially a virus that lived inside Cyborg. Eventually, it hijacked Cyborg's body to craft a body of its own, and it went to work for the Crime Syndicate. He's defeated at one point, but hides inside Cyborg's systems, to be reactivated by Superwoman.

2 Hal Jordan (Green Lantern) Became Parallax

Green Lantern Parallax

In the Emerald Twilight storyline, Hal Jordan goes insane when Coast City is completely destroyed by Mongul. Jordan kills off the whole Green Lantern Corps, among others, and takes on the name Parallax. Kyle Rayner took over Green Lantern of Earth duties for about ten years as Parallax ran amok. The story was later changed somewhat to reveal that Parallax was actually an ancient parasite that fed on Jordan's fear. Jordan had to come back and assume the identity of Spectre to atone for his actions as Parallax.

1 Doctor Manhattan (Jonathan Osterman) Is Beyond Good Or Evil

Doctor Manhattan From Watchmen

Doctor Manhattan’s god-like powers mean that he doesn’t see humanity and life on Earth-like mere mortals. In that sense, he’s beyond either good or evil, and nowadays is generally a recognized DC superhero. But, many of his actions had undeniably evil and disruptive consequences. There was the time he tried to modify the DC Universe timeline, trapped Jesse Quick, Bart Allen, Jay Garrick, and Max Mercury in the Speed Force, and created The New 52. He killed Pandora when she realized the truth about him and turned Jor-El against humanity.

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