DC Comics are legendary for the countless characters and storylines that they’ve created and have gone onto inspire and shape the comics industry. It’s incredible to examine the many different trends that have influenced the medium over the years, yet despite all of these developments, DC’s reputation has never faltered. DC is responsible for not just some of the most iconic superheroes, but also some extremely popular supervillains too.
There are some excellent rivalries that have had decades to grow in DC Comics and this history often culminates in exciting and explosive battles where someone unexpectedly tastes defeat. These powerful showdowns have led to some highly memorable battles with DC’s finest and most evil.
10 Batman Engages Deathstroke The Terminator In A Brutal Brawl
Deathstroke is a highly-skilled assassin who functions as both a villain and a hero under the right circumstances. Deathstroke the Terminator highlights the vigilante and forces him to cross paths with Batman. The two have their sights set on the same target and when Batman disapproves of Deathstroke's interrogation methods he initiates his attack.
What's so amazing about this battle is that it feels visceral and that it lasts several brutal pages. Both characters get a number of good shots in on each other and it eventually leads to a respect that has the two later working together.
9 Sinestro Reclaims His Glory From Mongul
Mongul is an extremely powerful individual who is able to routinely give Superman a difficult time. Mongul attempts to take over Sinestro’s planet and his Corps. He humiliates him over his failures, but this only inspires Sinestro to fight back harder. He fills Mongul’s body with pure energy and overloads him so he explodes.
The most satisfying thing about this fight is that Green Lantern and others attempt to help Sinestro, but he pushes them away and insists that this is his fight to finish on his own. It’s a powerful moment for the character who is typically the villain.
8 Captain Cold Gets Creative With His Crippling Of Johnny Quick
Forever Evil is a particularly dark run that has fun with the many villainous versions of superheroes from across the multiverse. Some of the biggest offenders in this arc are Earth-3's Flash, Johnny Quick, and his girlfriend, Atomica. The two sadistically cause rampant destruction and take out random children and teenage crimefighters.
Surprisingly, it's another villain that ultimately stands up to these two. Captain Cold is disgusted with Johnny Quick's behavior but also considers him an insult to the Flash name. He shatters the character's leg and makes sure that he'll never be able to access the Speed Force again.
7 Batman Gets His Long Overdue Revenge On Bane
Batman has no shortage of enemies, but Bane is someone that will always stick out to the superhero due to how he broke his back in Knightfall and seriously changed Gotham’s landscape for a while. Batman and Bane’s relationship remains fiery over the years, although they have worked together on occasion.
Bane’s brute strength often means that he has the advantage over Batman, but there are a few occasions where Batman gets to dish it out even harder. Batman doesn’t hurt Bane to the same degree that he injured him, but it marks important growth for the character.
6 Injustice’s Alfred Is The One To Serve Superman The Truth
Injustice is a wild DC series that posits a world with a murderous Superman who has been pushed beyond repair. It's truly frightening to watch how Superman's dark turn triggers a whole wave of corrupt behavior and a loss of innocence.
It comes as a major surprise when it's Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, who's finally the one who gets real with Superman and delivers him some tough love. It's a moment that stands out so much because Alfred is passive and docile 95% of the time, but at this moment he's as irate as the audience is at Superman.
5 Barbara Gordon Breaks The Joker’s Smile
Every few years it’s tradition for a member of the Bat-Family to enact some sweet vengeance on The Joker. One of the most suspenseful and emotional showdowns involves the Joker's attack on a wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon. Barbara remains calm and in control the entire time.
It's a beautifully choreographed scene, but the crowning touch is that Barbara concludes the fight by striking The Joker in the mouth with a baton, shattering his teeth. The Joker has been hurt plenty of times, but the loss of his smile is a sick form of punishment that's right up the Joker's alley.
4 The Green Lantern Corps Seal Away Parallax
The Parallax Entity is easily not just one of the most dangerous forces to come up against the Green Lantern Corps, but it's one of the most destructive powers in the entire DC Universe. Parallax gets by through the possession and corruption of others and it makes Kyle Rayner its new host during the events of the Sinestro Corps War.
It eventually takes the work of John Stewart, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, and Guy Gardner to all work together and seal Parallax away in their respective lanterns. It's a draining, but crucial victory for the Green Lantern Corps.
3 Nightwing’s Defeat Of KGBeast Represents Years Of Untreated Trauma
Nightwing has grown in many ways and developed some important enemies, but KGBeast is someone that's caused the character anguish for years. He initially shoots Nightwing in the head, which throws Batman into a rage and leads to a fight where he nearly kills the villain.
That in itself is a satisfying defeat, but it's only made more powerful with how KGBeast targets Nightwing and his girlfriend years later in Joker War after he's finally found some peace. KGBeast's attack on Nightwing's girlfriend triggers all sorts of old trauma and it shows Nightwing finally putting this pain into his past.
2 Superman Teaches Superboy-Prime What It Means To Be The Man Of Steel
Infinite Crisis is still looked at as one of the formative and most influential crossover events within DC comics. There are tons of pivotal deaths during this run and Superboy-Prime becomes a particular nuisance during his public reign of terror. Superboy-Prime even kills the other Superboy, which is the final straw for Superman.
Not only is his vicious attack on Superboy-Prime long overdue, but it's accompanied with a virtue lesson from Superman over just what it means to be this symbol of justice and why he will never represent such a thing.
1 A Flood Of Past Trauma Fuels Batman’s Assault On The Joker In Hush
Batman: Hush is a fantastic Batman story that introduces a villain with a personal connection to Batman's past. However, there's an incredibly powerful moment in the series that revolves around all of Batman's pent-up aggression towards The Joker.
Batman believes that The Joker has killed another one of his loved ones and it rushes back all of the difficult memories of the times that The Joker has hurt someone close to him. Batman gets pushed beyond his limit and while he doesn't actually end The Joker's life, it genuinely feels like he might and it's a deeply cathartic beatdown.