While DC is known for its heroes, there is no denying that it has some amazing villains. These dangerous and intimidating antagonists are some of the most well-known in comics and have made for perfect foils to the heroes they fight. They've also sometimes proven to be multi-faceted characters, growing beyond their villainous origins and often joining with the very heroes they fought. On other occasions, if they didn't completely switch sides, they'd show sympathetic tendencies that make them ripe for redemption.
This isn't the case with all of them, as there are some DC Universe villains who will never be redeemed. Evil is their business and business is good.
10 Darkseid Is The God Of Evil
Darkseid is one of the DC Universe's greatest villains and is the embodiment of evil. Few beings have embraced the darkness as he has. In a very real way, Darkseid is the darkness inherent in all things and as far as redeemable qualities go, he has none. There is one thing Darkseid desires and it's quite simple: complete and total subjugation of all living beings.
Darkseid is the definition of irredeemable. There is nothing within him that desires redemption in the slightest and even the concept of it is anathema to him. He is evil and there's no other existence he would find more fulfilling than the one he has.
9 Eclipso Fell From Grace By His Own Design
Eclipso was once the Angel of God's Wrath. He was rather good at his job but he took it a little too far. Beyond just taking pride in his work, Eclipso enjoyed destroying mortals and was cast out from Heaven and imprisoned in the Heart of Darkness, a black diamond that was then smashed to pieces. Eventually, he would possess a human host and do what he loved the most.
Eclipso is one of the most dangerous beings in the DC Universe. He's enjoyed destroying the innocent for his entire existence and there is no redeeming him. He was cast out of Heaven and has no regrets. Redemption is a foreign concept for him.
8 Trigon's Darkness Will Never Be Brightened
Trigon is one of the Teen Titans' most dangerous foes, a demonic overlord who has some simple desires, none of which are conducive to redemption. Trigon is the ruler of his own dark hellish dimension and his whole schtick is gaining more power and spreading his evil to every world he can. Much like Darkseid, there is nothing in Trigon that desires redemption.
Trigon exists for the power and the conquest and any other life would make no sense to him whatsoever. Trigon doesn't want redemption; Trigon wants to burn the universe in his pyre and to bring woe to its inhabitants.
7 The Batman Who Laughs Is Beyond Redemption
The Batman Who Laughs burst upon the scene and made a huge impact, as only could be made by a Batman suffering from a potent Joker virus. All of his skills and knowledge turned to evil, the Batman Who Laughs did some truly unforgivable things and almost dragged the Multiverse down with him. As far as redemption goes, there is nothing to redeem.
The Joker virus completely burned away the good man that was Bruce Wayne and left in its place something twisted and evil. There is nothing inside him but a sadistic glee and he's completely unreachable by redemption.
6 Reverse Flash Lives To Torment Barry Allen
Reverse Flash is a simple man in a way. He really only wants one thing from the universe and that's for Barry Allen to suffer. It's not just about killing Barry, because that would be an end to his pain. The Reverse Flash relishes every bit of misery he can inflict on the Flash and there are no lengths he won't go to destroy the life of his foe.
For these reasons, there is no redeeming Reverse Flash. His wants are so far removed from the concept of redemption that he wouldn't even begin to think about taking it if it was offered. If he couldn't make Barry Allen suffer, the universe would hold no luster for him.
5 Vandal Savage Has Had Millennia To Change His Ways
It's often said that one can't teach an old dog new tricks and while that's not always true, it certainly would be if the dog in question was over a hundred thousand years old. Vandal Savage has been alive for the entirety of known human history and has had umpteen chances to use his intelligence, abilities, and resources to do right. It's not a choice he's ever made.
Vandal Savage could have made the choice to change his ways many times over the years but it never appealed to him. His own greed is the thing that drives him the most and it's all that he needs in the world.
4 Doctor Sivana's Hatred Keeps Him On The Villainous Path
Doctor Sivana is the epitome of a mad scientist. Ridiculed and belittled as a young man, Sivana used his considerable intelligence to take revenge on the world. Building his own Sivana family to take on the Shazam family, Doctor Sivana's hatred for everything around him is enough to keep him and redemption on separate sides of the road.
Doctor Sivana isn't about to look for redemption. In his mind, it's the world that's wrong and while he will fight against anyone to keep what is his, he will never stop trying to make everything his. His hatred for all that isn't him keeps him from ever wanting to change.
3 The Upside-Down Man's Purpose Is Hunger And Redemption Wouldn't Sate It
The Upside-Down Man is magic's twisted shadow, a dark monster who along with his fellow Otherkin exists only to devour that ancient energy. To him, there is no point to the universe other than to destroy magic and every being who uses it and then unleash the Otherkin on the mortal world. He's a predator of epic proportions and nothing will change that.
Trying to redeem the Upside-Down Man would be like trying to get a lioness to not go after a baby antelope. It's in Upside-Down Man nature to be what he is and there's no way to change that, especially not for something as paltry as redemption.
2 Doomsday Is A Cauldron Of Rage And There Is No Negotiating With Him
The Death Of Superman was a monumental event in comics history and Doomsday was the monster behind it. The story set out who and what Doomsday was: a ravening engine of rage and destruction that would not stop until all in front of him was destroyed. There was no stopping him in any other way than battle and even that was mostly futile.
Doomsday has nothing to redeem. He is a monster, plain and simple. There's nothing to appeal, nothing that one could give him that would make him change his ways. Doomsday is simply rage incarnate and exists only to destroy.
1 The Joker Loves What He Does Too Much To Change
There are few people who have so gleefully chosen evil as the Joker. The Joker loves what he does and there's no other life he would want. He's had his chances to go down different paths but he stays on the one he's on, delighting in the chaos and the destruction he inflicts on Gotham City and the world.
The Joker wakes up every day and makes the conscious choice to commit reprehensible acts because it is what he enjoys. He doesn't want to stop because that would be no fun for him. He will keep going and doing what he does until he dies and there's no changing that. The Joker has gone too far down the road for redemption to touch him.