The villains of DC Comics love putting on a huge theatrical show and getting attention for their evil deeds. For example, Captain Cold has made it very clear in the past that he will not be confused or mistaken for Mister Freeze, and that type of egocentric approach to villainy represents the attitude most DC villains possess.
But occasionally, DC villains take a more subtle approach to their evil deeds. Villains sometimes pretend to be the hero in order to destroy the hero's reputation or ruin a superhero team's cohesiveness. Whatever the goal, some of the cruelest actions DC villains have taken have involved taking on the persona of a hero to damage their good name.
10 False Face Impersonated Lady Blackhawk
Birds of Prey Vol 1 #112 By Tony Bedard And David Cole
The name False Face has belonged to more than one supervillain in the DC Universe over the years. The original False Face debuted as a Batman villain who used disguises to impersonate the wealthy elite living in Gotham and pull off bank robberies.
In 2008, False Face II made their debut in Birds of Prey. In the issue, False Face II used a costume that allowed her to impersonate Zinda Blake, also known as Lady Blackhawk. False Face planned to kill Lady Blackhawk and take her place in the Birds of Prey, but Zinda foiled her plan.
9 Red Hood Pretended To Be Nightwing
Nightwing Vol 2 #118 By Bruce Jones And Joe Dodd
Since debuting as the second Robin in 1983, Jason Todd has taken on the roles of hero, villain, and anti-hero. His fluctuating morality has often placed him at odds with the other Bat Family members, especially the other Robins.
One of the greatest disagreements Jason had with Dick Grayson occurred in Nightwing #118. During DC's "One Year Later" event, Grayson arrived in New York to discover that Todd was impersonating Grayson's Nightwing persona. A vicious fight and one tentacle monster later, Grayson emerged as the one, true Nightwing.
8 Mirage Posed As Starfire
Team Titans #2 By Marv Wolfman And Kevin Maguire
Miriam Delgado, also known as Mirage, accompanied her fellow Team Titans when they traveled back in time to kill Donna Troy before she could give birth to Lord Chaos. Mirage's powers involved the use of psionic mirages to disguise her appearance.
Once she arrived in the New Teen Titans' timeline, Mirage used her powers to impersonate Starfire in order to get close to Nightwing, and she took advantage of her disguise to trick Grayson into sleeping with her. Although Mirage and her team were never successful in killing Donna Troy, Mirage's violation of both Dick and Kory made it impossible for the team to truly trust her.
7 Prometheus Killed Retro And Stole His Identity
New Year's Evil: Prometheus By Grant Morrison And Arnie Jorgensen
Prometheus' supervillain origin involved watching his criminal parents being killed by cops. The pivotal event turned Prometheus against any form of justice. Armed with a helmet that allowed him to download anyone's skills and knowledge into his head, Prometheus was determined to use that ability to destroy the Justice League.
As he began his plan to take out the Justice League, Prometheus kidnapped Retro, a new hero who had won the right to visit JLA headquarters. Prometheus killed Retro and pretended to be him in order to infiltrate the League.
6 Match Pretended To Be Superboy To Break Up Young Justice
Superboy Vol 4 #74 By Karl Kessel And Tom Grummett
Kon-El, also known as Superboy, is a clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. The secret organization known as the Agenda created Match from a sample of Kon-El's DNA. When the Agenda decided to campaign against the existence of young heroes, the organization used Match to take Kon-El's place in Young Justice.
Match's goal in Young Justice was to drive a wedge in the team and cause it to break apart due to internal fighting. Match was almost successful, and his plan was only stopped because the real Superboy showed up to stop him.
5 Hank Henshaw Tried To Destroy Superman's Legacy
Superman Vol 2 #78 By Dan Jurgens
Hank Henshaw was exposed to cosmic rays that completely deteriorated his physical body. Henshaw's consciousness was first transferred into the LexCorp mainframe and later Superman's birthing matrix. While stuck without a physical body, Henshaw began to blame Superman for his tragic situation.
After Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday, Henshaw constructed a cybernetic body that allowed him to impersonate the Man of Tomorrow. His impersonation was a desperate attempt to destroy Superman's reputation, and Henshaw was able to decimate Coast City and nearly succeeded in sending a second warhead into Metropolis. The plan was foiled by Supergirl, John Henry Irons, and a newly-resurrected Superman.
4 Hush Used His Surgery Skills To Give Himself Bruce Wayne's Face
Batman R.I.P. Heart of Hush By Paul Dini And Dustin Nguyen
Thomas "Tommy" Elliot spent his childhood as a deeply disturbed friend to Bruce Wayne. While both were children with wealthy parents, Elliot actively tried to kill his own parents. When Thomas Wayne saved the life of Tommy's mother, Tommy began a life of hating the Waynes.
After partnering with the Riddler and learning Batman's true identity, Tommy became the supervillain Hush. Tommy planned to take over Bruce's identity and performed plastic surgery on himself in order to make his face match Bruce Wayne's exactly. Hush tried to impersonate Bruce Wayne multiple times but was thwarted by Batman or one of his allies every time.
3 Deathstroke Impersonated Batman
Outsiders Vol 3 #21 By Judd Winick And Carlos D'Anda
Following the death of Donna Troy, the Titans disbanded. Nightwing and Arsenal ended up forming a new version of The Outsiders, along with teammates such as Grace Choi and Thunder. Soon after, Arsenal began receiving intelligence on criminal activities from someone he believed to be Batman.
However, it turned out that the "Batman" who Harper had been interacting with was actually Deathstroke. This led to a fight between Arsenal and Deathstroke, in which Arsenal only escaped because Deathstroke saw the hero's old gunshot-inflicted battle wounds from their previous fights.
2 Clayface Teamed With Hush To Impersonate Jason Todd
Batman: Hush By Jeph Loeb And Jim Lee
In Batman: Hush, Tommy Elliot teamed with Clayface, who disguised himself as Jason Todd. While Jason Todd would go on to earn a more villanious status, at the time, he was remembered only as a dead Robin. He was, without a doubt, a hero who had died in the line of duty.
Clayface's disguise as Jason worked for a time, and Batman chased the false Jason over the city. Eventually, Batman realized Clayface was not Jason. Further retcons would have a newly resurrected Jason Todd be involved with the storyline as well, but the original Hush storyline was entirely Clayface's act of deception.
1 Eobard Thawne Tricked Everyone Into Believing He Was Barry Allen
Flash: The Return of Barry Allen By Mark Waid And Greg LaRocque
Following Barry Allen's death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally West took the mantle of the main Flash. Years later, Wally received the shock of his life when Barry Allen showed up on his doorstep one Christmas morning.
But this newly resurrected Barry Allen was more violent and cruel than the one Wally remembered. Over time, Wally comes to realize that "Barry" is actually Eobard Thawne, also known as the Reverse-Flash. With the help of Jay Garrick, Johnny Quick, and Max Mercury, Wally put an end to Thawne's impersonation.