DC Comics often showcases a wide range of villains. Typically the most fearsome are either world conquerors from the stars, multiversal threats tearing apart the fabric of reality, demonic foes from the underworld, or gods trying to destroy mankind for their own amusement. Yet some of the most cunning threats are the human villains of Earth.
While most of his foes tend to be alien in nature, Superman has had his fair share of human threats as well. Some have found redemption, others have tried to take on the role of the hero without earning it, and some are just plain evil. Here are the ten most powerful human villains Superman has faced.
10 Atlas
The first human foe that Superman faces in the world of DC Comics is Atlas. Not much is known about the mysterious man, but the foe showed up in Metropolis appearing as a hero. Yet it was discovered that the people he was saving from danger were only in danger because he caused the incidents that put them there.
Soon he and Superman clashed, and it was discovered his power came from a magical source of energy. After his defeat, it was shown that he was part of a government experiment to use magic.
9 The Prankster
One of the earliest human foes that Superman faced in the comics was known as the Prankster. Otherwise known as Oswald Loomis, the Prankster was a known con man and criminal who used pranks to commit elaborate crimes. One of his more elaborate crimes involved the backing of other criminals and showed him filing a copyright over the English language, requiring everyone to pay him for using the language.
Later in the modern era, The Prankster was depicted as the host of a long-running game show called The Uncle Oswald Show, who seeks revenge against the network executives who canceled his show.
8 Professor Hamilton
One shocking human villain of Superman’s later in the DC Universe was Dr. Emil Hamilton, once a longtime ally of Superman’s who later turned to a life of villainy. After Jeremy Irons, aka Steel, became an ally of Superman, Hamilton felt as if he’d been replaced since Irons was also a superhero himself.
Originally claiming a cybernetic arm was controlling his actions as the leader of a futuristic gang, he later was revealed to be the villain Ruin, a villain who targeted Superman and his loved ones after he learned Superman was absorbing the Sun’s energy, which would result in Earth’s destruction in 4.5 billion years.
7 Morgan Edge
The next human foe of Superman’s is a classic one who is known more for his media mogul image and powerful shadow operations as a villain. That foe is Morgan Edge, a ruthless businessman who was once connected to the powerful organization Intergang but was soon shown to have been cloned and set up.
However, in the Post-Crisis universe, he was shown to have become the sponsor of the powerful group of villains known as the Superman Revenge Squad. He did this after he was exposed as being connected to Intergang for real in this continuity.
6 Bruno Mannheim
Even in a city like Metropolis, where the villains tend to be powerful aliens and metahumans more than anything else, the city still has its fair share of gangs and criminal organizations, and the most powerful leader of the Metropolis underground is known as Bruno Mannheim.
The leader of Intergang, Bruno Mannheim was once said to have been resurrected by benefactor Darkseid himself. He became psychopathic and devoted his organization to the Crime Bible, with himself believing in the power of crime. He is later defeated by Batwoman and Renee Montoya.
5 The Parasite
The next human is unique in the set of human foes in that he wasn’t born with metahuman powers, but became one as a result of an accident. Despite his powers, he was born a human, and thus a human villain. That villain is Rudy Jones, the Post-Crisis version of Parasite.
As a janitor at STAR Labs, Jones was manipulated by Darkseid into becoming the villainous Parasite after Darkseid remembered the Pre-Crisis version of the villain who gave Superman so much trouble. He was a powerful human turned meta who could absorb the power and life force of his victims.
4 Gog
Another human who gained untold power was an ordinary guy named William, who was the sole survivor of a nuclear disaster in Kansas caused by the Parasite’s actions that shattered Captain Atom while battling the Justice League. William created a church around Superman, believing him to be a savior, but Superman corrected him and told him not to worship him as a god.
After he was bestowed power from the Quintessence, William became Gog, a superhuman being who was driven mad to the point of insanity, believing now Superman was an Anti-Christ figure who needed to be stopped.
3 Toyman
One of the longest-running human villains of Superman’s rogues was none other than Winslow Schott, aka Toyman. A quirky yet genius toymaker, Toyman took on a villainous role from an early era in the 1940s and became a regular as time went on.
Using his genius to create powerful toys and turning them into weapons, Winslow’s sanity slowly began slipping and his toys became more and more deadly. He often teamed with the Injustice League and Legion of Doom, and he worked with the likes of Lex Luthor and other Superman villains.
2 Metallo
While this next villain has had a few different people take on the mantle, the most popular to date has to be John Corben, otherwise known as Metallo. Previously depicted as a journalist, and, in the modern era, a petty thief and criminal, he was injured in an accident and a scientist transferred his brain into a metal body with a skin-like material passing him off as human.
Powered by a large chunk of Kryptonite, Corben went on to become a powerful criminal, taking on the Man of Steel many times and using his Kryptonite heart to cripple the hero.
1 Lex Luthor
The most powerful and iconic human villain of Superman’s rogues is, of course, the billionaire genius and villain Lex Luthor. Head of his own company and having the net worth to rival that of Bruce Wayne himself, Luthor is a genius and one of the brightest minds in the known universe.
Obsessed with Superman’s alien nature making him feel humanity has been rendered useless, he hatches elaborate plots to take down the Man of Steel. He is a master criminal and has recently evolved into an Apex Lex, with a martian body to match his intellect and power, while fighting for Perpetua.