The Golden Age of DC Comics set the stage for superhero comics, introducing heroes that would inspire the genre for decades. Golden Age legacy heroes became a big part of the DC multiverse. However, one aspect of DC's Golden Age that isn't as talked about is the villains. Many villains of this time also have their own legacies, with subsequent generations taking on their mantles and continuing their reigns of terror.
Not every Golden Age legacy villain is well known, but they've all made their impacts in various ways. They've carved out their own niches in the villainous ecosystem, showing that heroes aren't the only ones with legacies to uphold.
10 Rag Doll II Took Up His Father's Mantle In Painful Ways
The first Rag Doll was a contortionist who battled Jay Garrick's Flash. He'd keep bedeviling the heroes for decades, and eventually had children. His son wanted to be like his father but didn't inherit his triple-jointedness, so he had painful surgery on his joints that would allow him to be even more flexible than his father.
Rag Doll II was a small-time villain for years, but was recruited into the Secret Six by Scandal Savage and Mockingbird. He formed a friendship with Parademon and stayed with the team for years, mostly leaving behind crime but still killing a lot of people.
9 Lena Luthor Followed In Lex's Footsteps
Lena Luthor is a character that has been changed a lot by the shifting tides of DC continuity. Debuting in the Silver Age, one thing about the character is always the same: she's related to Lex. This is pretty much the only constant. She was basically created to be Supergirl's Lex Luthor, with the pre-Crisis version of her having psychic powers.
Post-Crisis Lena was Lex's daughter, and he eventually traded her to Brainiac 13 for technology. She returned as a teen, but the character eventually disappeared. Infinite Crisis reverted her to Lex's sister and the New 52/DC Rebirth Lena became a villain who fought the new Superwoman. She also appeared in CW's Supergirl series as a main villain.
8 Star Sapphire Started A Legacy Of Lanterns
The first Star Sapphire battled Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. At first, she was a queen from the 7th Dimension, but that was retconned later to connect her to the Zamarons. In the Silver Age, Carol Ferris would become Star Sapphire, influenced by the Zamarons to battle her boyfriend Hal Jordan to prove men are inferior to women.
There were several other Star Sapphires after Carol. Eventually, the Zamarons created the Star Sapphire Corps using the violet energy of love in the War of Light. Carol became a heroic Star Sapphire, working with Hal to help protect the universe from the evil Lantern Corps.
7 Psycho-Pirate II Became A Big Deal In DC's Multiverse
Charles Halstead was the first Psycho-Pirate, battling the Justice Society with crimes meant to play on emotions. In prison, he'd learn of the existence of the Medusa Masks which allowed their bearer to control emotions. He passed this information on to Roger Hayden who escaped prison, found the masks, melted them down to one, and became the second Psycho-Pirate.
The Earth-2 villain seemed to be small potatoes until he joined forces with the Anti-Monitor in Crisis On Infinite Earths. The Medusa Mask became more powerful and after the event was able to manifest beings from the old multiverse. Since then, the master manipulator has played a huge role in the various Crisis events that plague the DC multiverse.
6 Clayface Has A Legacy Unlike Any Other In Gotham City
Clayface has been a thorn in Batman's side since the Golden Age. Since the villain's debut in Detective Comics #40 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, there have been multiple villains who used his name. In fact, Clayface is easily among DC's most prolific legacies with no less than eight different villains taking up the mantle over the years, with the most famous being the second, Matt Hagen, who was immortalized in Batman: The Animated Series.
DC has some stacked legacies, but Clayface's takes the cake. It's an extremely malleable mantle, which is fitting for a villainous shapeshifter. Each Clayface brought something unique to the table, keeping the mantle fresh.
5 The Mist II Took Up Her Father's Battle Against The Knight Family
The Mist began his supervillain career battling the first Starman, Ted Knight. His powers were pretty self-explanatory, allowing him to turn into a mist form. He eventually had a daughter, Nash, who inherited his powers and hatred of the Knights. She killed David Knight, as well as Amazing Man II, Crimson Fox, and Blue Devil, and battled Jack Knight when he took over for his dead brother.
After assaulting Jack, she got pregnant with his child, which changed their relationship. She refrained from killing Jack and even sacrificed herself to save her son in the story that closed out Starman, ending a highlight of 90s DC in grand fashion.
4 The Cheetah III Hates Wonder Woman
The first Cheetah was Priscilla Rich, a woman who dressed as a cheetah to commit crimes and fight Wonder Woman. The second was Deborah Domaine who battled Wonder Woman in the Bronze Age. Barbara Minerva is the post-Crisis Cheetah, a former friend of Wonder Woman who gained superpowers and became a perennial enemy of the Amazonian hero.
Domaine's existence was retconned post-Crisis so that she was Minerva using an alias. The third Cheetah has joined the Legion of Doom, her grudge against Wonder Woman compelling her to do anything she can to destroy her foe. She's easily Wonder Woman's most recognizable villain, as much for her awesome look as anything else.
3 Scandal Savage Is As Dangerous As Vandal
Vandal Savage has been battling the Justice Society since his debut in Green Lantern #10 by Alfred Bester and Martin Nodell. He branched out as the years went on, fighting the Justice League and every A-list hero who opposed him. His daughter, Scandal, followed in his footsteps to an extent. She's a fierce and intelligent villain, one who upheld her father's legacy in her own way.
Unlike many legacy villains, Scandal hates her father. Working with Mockingbird, she brought together the Secret Six and battled the Justice Society. Staying with the team, she became their leader, commanding them through multiple bloody conflicts, even battling her father Vandal Savage at times.
2 Icicle II Is Cooler Than The Original
The first Icicle battled the Justice Society with his ice gun. Somehow, the gun changed his DNA, so when his son Cameron was born, the boy had ice powers. After Icicle's death, Cameron became Icicle II, joining up with the Injustice Society and battling the JSA. His ice powers made him a deadly opponent, and he became the leader of the Injustice Society.
With the return of the Justice Society to comics, he's one of the villains fans want to see. His appearances in JSA and JSA Classified showed just how great a villain he could be. Even with a rather unimposing name, he's become a top-tier villain.
1 Reverse-Flash Is A Legacy Villain In A Roundabout Way
Reverse-Flash has a deadly pedigree and a legacy of evil speedsters, but he's also technically a legacy villain himself. While there was no Reverse-Flash battling Jay Garrick, there was Rival. Rival was an evil speedster who wore a different colored version of Garrick's costume. This was obviously the inspiration for Reverse-Flash who later reversed Barry Allen's costume.
Both characters were created by writer John Broome and artist Carmine Infantino. Reverse-Flash would go on to become a much bigger deal with than Rival, challenging the entire Flash Family and becoming the most famous Flash villain.