The heroes of the Justice League are some of the most incredible, brightest and most shining examples of heroism that the world of DC Comics has to offer. From powerful heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman to cunning and methodical heroes like Batman, the Justice League is known to get the job done no matter what.
Yet some of the biggest fears the citizens of the DC Universe must share comes from the realization their heroes have some very evil doppelgängers in the multiverse. From multiversal threats to corrupted heroes and beyond, here are the ten most evil versions of the Justice League members.
10 Cyborg Superman
When looking to villainous and evil versions of Justice League members, one of the first versions of Superman worth mentioning is none other than Cyborg Superman. Otherwise known as Hank Henshaw, Cyborg Superman was one of the Supermen who tried to replace Superman after his apparent demise at the hands of Doomsday.
Henshaw was found to be too unstable a replacement and turned villainous, going on to become a longtime foe of Superman and the Justice League, including Green Lantern when he destroyed the hero’s home of Coast City and nearly destroyed the entire Green Lantern Corps more recently.
9 Sky Tyrant
One of the biggest sources of evil versions of the Justice League comes from the parallel universe of Earth-3 in the multiverse, where good has been reversed with evil and the Justice League has become the Crime Syndicate. One of the evil heroes of that world is Sky Tyrant, an evil version of Hawkman.
This version of the hero disregarded the penance he was supposed to earn for his past slayings and instead focused on committing more acts of violence in order to prolong his periods of reincarnation. He has more recently become a member of the Batman Who Laughs Secret Six.
8 Grid
One evil version of a crucial member of the Justice League was Grid, the evil version of Cyborg. Originally working as the secondary subsystems of Cyborg’s upgrade to compile information, it grew into a neural network and was manipulated and grew sentience thanks to the actions of Atomica.
In an effort to capture the one thing Victor Stone had that it could never replicate, emotions, Grid aligned itself with the Crime Syndicate during the Forever Evil storyline, and was subsequently defeated by Cyborg and the Metal Men. However, he hid within Victor’s systems until the Darkseid War arrived.
7 Parallax
One popular and well known evil version of a Justice Leaguer actually transformed the hero themselves into their own evil version, and that was when Hal Jordan was taken over by the power of Parallax and becomes the villainous version of his Green Lantern alter ego.
Getting possessed by the entity that feeds and builds up the yellow energy of fear, Parallax became a menace of the DC Universe, and Hal Jordan was only able to redeem himself years later for his monstrous actions during that time by becoming the Spectre for a time.
6 Power Ring
One interesting villainous version of a Justice League member once more comes from the Crime Syndicate of the DC Multiverse, and that is Harold Jordan, the most fearful man on Earth-3 who became the villainous Power Ring.
Power Ring became a villain after his fear drew the attention of the mystical evil ring of Volthoom, who bestowed its power on Harold in order to feed off the man’s fear. The ring gave him the power to become a warlord and a tyrant, and gained enough attention to join the Crime Syndicate.
5 Red Death
One of the most dangerous times in the DC Universe in recent years has been the discovery of the Dark Multiverse. A place where entire multiverses born out of darkness and despair grew past their prime, and from some of these universes emerged a powerful new threat. One such threat was the villainous Red Death.
During the Dark Nights: Metal event, Red Death was introduced as a Dark Multiverse version of Bruce Wayne who grew tired of his losses and thought he could use the Flash’s powers better than the speedster. He took Barry’s powers by merging with the speedster, and used his newfound powers to slay his enemies.
4 Superwoman
One hero who many would be surprised had a villainous alter ego would be Wonder Woman. One of the bravest, kindest and most compassionate heroes in the DC Universe, it is hard to imagine anyone taking her image and using it for evil. Yet that has happened thanks again to the Crime Syndicate and the member Superwoman, aka Lois Lane of Earth-3.
A native of the Amazons, Superwoman joined the Crime Syndicate, had a relationship with Ultraman and helped the Syndicate attack Earth during the Forever Evil storyline, using her Lasso of Submission to enslave the minds of others.
3 Owlman
The most dangerous villainous versions of a Justice Leaguer typically belong to Batman, as any evil version of himself is bound to include his tactician mind and ability to find the weakness of those closest to him as well as his enemies, making him a dangerous threat. That evil Batman of Earth-3 was none other than Owlman, aka Thomas Wayne Jr.
The eldest son of Thomas and Martha Wayne on this Earth, he slew his brother Bruce and had Alfred slay his parents. He dedicated himself to a life of crime, becoming Owlman and joining the Crime Syndicate.
2 Batman Who Laughs
The second most powerful evil version of a Justice Leaguer has to be The Batman Who Laughs, the most powerful Batman to emerge and survive out of the Dark Multiverse. Coming from a world where he was infected by the Joker, slowly diving into madness combining the Joker’s need for violence with Batman’s calculating mind.
The Batman Who Laughs is still having a lasting impact on the Earth, going so far as to infect several heroes of the DC Universe to become their dark multiverse counterparts in this world and even gaining favor with the being Perpetua.
1 Ultraman
The DC Universe’s most powerful villainous version of a Justice Leaguer is none other than Ultraman, the villainous version of Superman of Earth-3’s Crime Syndicate. With Superman being the most powerful hero, it makes sense that his villainous counterpart would be the most powerful as well.
The last son of Krypton, this version of Superman was taught strength over weakness from his mad father in his pod escaping the Anti-Monitor’s destruction of Krypton. He gained power from Kryptonite and slew his parents the Kents at the age of seven, later becoming the leader of the Crime Syndicate.