There are few greater threats in the DC Universe than Darkseid. The lord of Apokolips is one of the most powerful villains to battle heroes of the DCU, with an entire planet of lackeys behind him. Darkseid is the kind of bad guy who demands a massive response to defeat; even though he and Superman fight a lot, Superman has rarely if ever decisively defeated him without help from somewhere.
As the God of Evil, there are few beings more cut out for villainy than he is and the scale of his threat places him in the top tier of DC villains.
10 Why He's The Greatest: The Power Of Apokolips
Many villains have henchmen, usually to help them even out the odds against their superheroic foes. Darkseid is so powerful that he doesn't really need any help in evening up the odds but his henchmen aren't there for that; they're there to show just how powerful he is. Darkseid is the lord of an entire world and that power is an extension of his own.
He has a vast army of Parademons at his disposal and all manner of powerful lackeys to call on, all of whom have sworn their undying loyalty to him. On his own, Darkseid is a nearly insurmountable menace but adding his minions into the mix adds an entire new dimension to his threat.
9 Why He Isn't The Greatest: He's A Bit Of A Homebody
Darkseid has an entire planet at his disposal and he obviously loves it there; he rarely if ever leaves the planet, preferring to send his lackeys out on missions, like his quest to retrieve the Anti-Life Equation. While this makes sense to an extent- why should one of the most powerful beings in the universe do their own dirty work- it also limits the character a lot.
Darkseid is often a presence in a story but rarely actually the focus of the story, which is never good when one if the villain of a piece. Even in stories like Final Crisis and Darkseid War, he was mostly in the background, a catalyst for events but rarely the focus of those events.
8 Why He's The Greatest: He's The God Of Evil
This one is kind of a no brainer but one of the things that makes Darkseid such a perfect villain is his place in the cosmology of the DC Universe. Darkseid is the God of Evil, the ultimate threat to good in the DC Multiverse. There are multiple iterations of just about every DC character across the Multiverse but there is only one Darkseid.
Darkseid is the embodiment of evil in the DC Multiverse. He will never be redeemed nor would he want to be. He's doing exactly what he wants and there's nothing that could make him ever want to be any other way. He believes wholeheartedly in who and what he is.
7 Why He Isn't The Greatest: There's Very Little Nuance To The Character
The best villains in comics are multi-faceted and interesting characters. Doctor Doom is an arrogant man who believes he deserves the right to rule but he had a tragic childhood and the only thing keeping him being the greatest hero ever is his own issues. Magneto is a Holocaust survivor who allowed the tragedy of his childhood to color how he sees the world. Lex Luthor could fix the world if it wasn't for his jealousy.
Darkseid is just evil. There's no nuance to the character at all and while there is a lot that can be said with the character, he's also extremely limited. Sure, he's one of the most powerful villains around but he's not extremely interesting to read about.
6 Why He's The Greatest: Often Imitated, Never Duplicated
Thanks to the success of the MCU, Thanos is one of the most well known villains in fiction but without Darkseid's influence, Thanos never would have made it to the heights he had. While creator Jim Starlin originally based Thanos off of New God Metron, he would make the character more and more like Darkseid as time went on, as would nearly everyone else that worked on the character after.
While it's debatable who's better, it's not debatable that Thanos owes nearly everything to Darkseid, all the way down to strained parental relationships and trying to find objects of ultimate power to fulfill their goals.
5 Why He Isn't The Greatest: Vastly Differing Portrayals
Comics are a collaborative medium by design and that process is compounded by the fact that the longer a character exists, more creators with different views on that character add and subtract things from it. This can be a good thing sometimes, as it can add a lot to a character. However, it can also be bad because if editorial isn't watching, it creates vastly different interpretations that can water down a character.
Darkseid has suffered greatly from this. While creator Jack Kirby meant for Darkseid to represent all that was evil in humanity, and writers like Grant Morrison followed approach, others haven't and it's watered down the character.
4 Why He's The Greatest: He Can Slap Around Entire Teams Of Heroes
While Darkseid prefers to let his minions do the fighting that doesn't mean he can't do it himself. In fact, there are few villains in comics who are much of a personal threat to their foes as Darkseid is. Darkseid has been known to slap around the members of the Justice League like they were nothing at all.
Darkseid's power levels make him one of the deadliest threats to any group of heroes he comes across. He can fight out with some of the most powerful heroes of all time and is nearly impossible to defeat through any conventional means.
3 Why He Isn't The Greatest: He Has A One Hit Kill That Never Works
One of Darkseid's greatest powers is the Omega Effect, eyebeams that will follow anyone no matter where they go and are supposed to be able to kill anyone with hit. It's been shown to work just fine against minor characters or nameless lackeys but never works against anyone important, which raises the question of how useful it is.
Having a one hit kill power is awesome if it actually works but the Omega Effect never does. It's hyped to ceiling but that hype is baseless when it's used against any hero that has their own book or has a recognizable name.
2 Why He's The Greatest: The Tiger Force At The Center Of All Thing
When Jack Kirby created Darkseid, he wasn't just creating a generic big bad who was evil for evil's sake. Darkseid was meant to represent all the worst aspects of humanity, all of the terrible impulses for control and the mindless tortures that humans inflict on each other. There's a reason Darkseid's greatest goal is to gain a power that will enslave others to his will.
The true horror of Darkseid isn't that he's all powerful, it's that he wants nothing more than complete control over every being in the universe, total worship from every quarter no matter what he does to them, and to spread his desire for control and degradation to every corner of existence.
1 Why He Isn't The Greatest: He Doesn't Work In Different Kinds Of Stories
Darkseid is an amazing villain but unfortunately, he's pretty one note when it comes right down to it. Darkseid works best when he is the center of a massive story with the entirety of existence at stake. Anything else and he feels wasted. While this makes him useful, it also limits his uses.
Using Darkseid for any story other than one with massive stakes and consequences is not only a waste of the character but waters him down as well. This lack of utility means that he's only a special event villain, not one that can be used for a variety of stories, like Lex Luthor or the Joker.