The highly soap-operatic nature of comic book superheroes means that shocking twists and heart-wrenching betrayals are an intrinsic aspect of the medium. Whether these double-crosses come from a new character or a long-established favorite, great writers have constantly managed to surprise readers with unexpected turns.
In the more than 80 years that DC has been publishing stories, readers have seen characters they have loved for years commit some stunning acts of betrayal. While some of these twists have been more controversial than others, each has made an impact on both the audience and the DC Universe.
10 Mr. E Tries To Kill Timothy Hunter
Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic miniseries saw Phantom Stranger, Doctor Occult, John Constantine, and Mr. E (their group is off-handedly referred to as the "Trenchcoat Brigade,") taking Timothy Hunter on a tour of Magic throughout the past, present, and future of the DC Universe. Through the series, it is revealed that Hunter will potentially grow up to become the most powerful magician the world has ever seen and possibly usher in the end of days.
Mr. E, a paranoid zealot, takes Hunter to various points in the future to show him how magic will evolve. He also has an ulterior motive: to kill Hunter before he destroys both magic and the world. At the very end of time, he is stopped from murdering the young boy by Death of the Endless. Death casts Mr. E back to the past, with him experiencing the journey in real-time.
9 Jason Todd Returns As The Red Hood
The death of Jason Todd is one of the more infamous moments in DC History. It would take almost two decades to bring the character back from the dead, and when he returned he wasn't happy. Taking the notorious identity of The Red Hood, he waged a one-man war against his former mentor Batman.
While Todd was always prone to excessive force during his time as Robin, as the Red Hood he was a stone-cold killing machine with a vengeance. He was so consumed with thoughts of revenge that he even removed a car-bomb he had placed in the Batmobile because it would have meant that Batman would have died without knowing who killed him.
8 Mr. Mxyzptlk Goes Insane
Alan Moore's "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?" is one of the all-time great Superman stories. Although it's an "Imaginary Story" (aren't they all?) it was written to function as a finale for Superman's Silver Age adventures. The story centers around all of Superman's different foes returning at once, in a much deadlier and effective manner than ever before.
The climax reveals that the all-out attack on Superman was orchestrated by Mr. Mxyzptlk, who became bored with just being a playful nuisance to the Man of Steel. He has decided to kill Superman, and shifts from his regular appearance to his true form, that of an indescribable creature from the fifth dimensions.
7 Aquaman Doesn't Stand With The League
Aquaman has always been a hero torn between worlds. While he is Atlantean royalty and his primary concern is with the fate of the world's oceans, he still retains a solid sense of responsibility towards the surface world of his father. These loyalties come to a head in the Justice League arc "Throne of Atlantis."
After Atlantis believes they have been attacked by the U.S. Navy, Aquaman's half-brother Orm leads an invasion of the surface world. Aquaman realizes, to the shock of his teammates, that the Atlanteans are utilizing a strategy he had devised in case the two powers ever went to war. He refuses to stand with the Justice League against the Atlanteans, despite their forces having killed scores of people after flooding Gotham.
6 Constantine Fries Mento's Brain
In the landmark Swamp Thing #49-50, John Constantine recruits the former Doom Patrol member Mento to join a group of powerful sorcerers who he has gathered to aid the forces of good against the otherworldly "Great Beast." Constantine uses Mento's powerful psionic abilities to project the sorcerers' magic into Hell to aid in the fight.
Mento is kept unaware of the magnitude of his task, and the "Beast" proves to be more powerful than Constantine led the other magicians to believe. Mento is driven insane by both the mental strain and by what he sees in Hell, and Sargon the Sorcerer and the great Giovanni Zatara are killed.
5 Jean Loring Kills Sue Dibny
This betrayal (and the storyline that sprang from it) stings because it was so unpleasantly, horrifyingly, gratuitous and visited on such a pleasant character. Sue Dibny was a former socialite who became the crime-solving partner and eventual wife to the Elongated Man. They would go on cute and snappy Thin Man-esque adventures...
...Until she was murdered by the Atom's ex-wife Jean Loring, in a stunt meant to reunite the two following their divorce. Then it was revealed that Sue was pregnant at the time of her murder... and then things got progressively worse. It was an upsetting twist that made the DC Universe a darker and unpleasant place.
4 Batman's Secret Files
Batman has never been the most trusting hero in the DC Universe, so it's not too much of a surprise that he would keep secret files outlining ways to take down his teammates just in case, right? Right?! Apparently, this was a surprise to the other members of the Justice League when it was revealed in "JLA: Tower of Babel."
These files were stolen by Ra's Al Ghul and used to orchestrate a debilitatingly effective attack on the individual members of the JLA. When Batman comes clean with how the villain was able to pinpoint their various weaknesses, half of his teammates vote for him to be booted out of the group. He ends up leaving on his own accord, his friendship with the other members deeply damaged.
3 Hal Jordan Turns On The Corps
"The Death and Return of Superman" had a tremendous fallout for members of the DC Universe other than Superman's supporting cast. When the Cyborg Superman and Eradicator, two of the Men of Steel who rose to fill the void Superman left, were too busy clashing to stop Mongul from destroying Coast City, Hal Jordan went beserk over the loss.
In the "Emerald Dawn" arc that followed, Jordan attempts to rebuild Coast City with his power ring only to be disciplined by the Guardians of Oa. Driven to the point of insanity, Jordan massacre's several Green Lanterns, Sinestro, and most of the Guardians. He then renounces his post and takes a new name: Parallax.
2 Snapper Carr Betrays The Justice League of America
This betrayal was so great, that some comic book scholars believe it signified the end of the Silver Age of comics. By the late '60s, the JLA's mascot Snapper Carr, an enthusiastic teen who snapped whenever he got excited, had become incredibly unpopular with readers leading Dennis O'Neill, new on the title, to write him out of the book.
In "Snapper Carr - Super Traitor!" Carr has become bitter that people only care about him because of his association with the JLA. He then gets tricked into kidnapping Batman and selling out the location of their Secret Sanctuary to a mysterious figure who is later revealed to be the Joker. After the League defeats the Joker, they decide to relocate to the Justice League Sattelite and Carr resigns in shame.
1 Maxwell Lord Kills The Blue Beetle
In the pages of Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the Blue Beetle is left near bankruptcy after funds from his company are mysteriously stolen. His investigation into his missing fortune yields something much darker: a conspiracy to wipe out the superhuman community orchestrated by the JLI's former manager and foil Maxwell Lord.
Lord had secretly grown to resent the world's superheroes after his mother was killed years earlier in the Invasion! crossover event. He offers Blue Beetle a spot in his new organization, a revived Checkmate, and murders him when he refuses. The loss of such a beloved hero in such a brutal manner, especially at the hands of Maxwell Lord, was highly controversial and signaled DC's further descent into grimmer storylines.