The DC Universe has long boasted some of the most powerful heroes in comics. These heroes have driven the publisher's stories into the stuff of legend, becoming a huge part of the American pop-cultural landscape. However, one of the things that makes these stories so great are the villains the heroes battle, powerful, intriguing men, women, and aliens whose threats drive the tales.
The DC Universe's villainous roster is just as diverse as its heroic one, ranging from popular villains that every creator wants to use to D-listers who deserve a bigger spotlight. Some of these villains are sympathetic, while others are so evil they can never be redeemed.
10 Darkseid
Darkseid is the God of Evil, and that's pretty much all anyone needs to say about whether he can be redeemed. Lord of the world of Apokolips, Darkseid is easily one of the evilest villains in the DC Multiverse, fighting an unending war against the New Gods of New Genesis and trying to grind the entirety of creation under his heel.
Darkseid's complete and total evil makes him one of the best villains in the DC Universe and means that he's completely irredeemable. Darkseid has never done anything that could be considered good, and if he has, it wasn't meant to be that way.
9 Sinestro
Sinestro doesn't believe that he needs redemption, and that's one of the things that makes him such a compelling villain. Sinestro believes wholeheartedly in the pursuit of order, or at least his version of it, and will go to any length to spread that vision throughout the universe. In his twisted mission, Sinestro has committed some terrible acts, all of which he felt were necessary.
Sinestro has been known to help out the heroes on occasion, but he was never truly redeemed. He would always go back to his old ways after the conflict ended, continuing his quest for order at any cost. Sinestro believes in his own vision and will never give it up.
8 Reverse Flash
Reverse Flash's obsession with the Flash fuels his villainy, and it's an obsession that has shown no sign of letting up. Hailing from the 25th century, Reverse Flash eventually tapped into the Speed Force and traveled back in time to indulge in his mania. Eventually, it would be revealed that his powers came from the Negative Speed Force, a parasitic version of the Flash's power that truly makes the villain the opposite of the hero.
Reverse Flash lives to torment the Flash and will pretty much never stop. He's traveled back and forth through time to make Barry Allen's life miserable, and not even death can stop his evilーthere are so many versions of him traveling through the timestream that he always comes back.
7 Ra's al Ghul
Ra's al Ghul is one of the most dangerous immortals in the DC Universe. For centuries, he's been amassing power and resources and has given himself a terrifying missionーdestroying the majority of humanity. Over the years, al Ghul has seen the best and worst of humanity and believes that the only way to fix things is to depopulate vast swathes of the Earth.
Nothing exists that can convince al Ghul not to go through with his planーthe only thing that has done so is Batman, and he did so by defeating the Demon's Head. Ra's al Ghul will never seek redemption because he doesn't believe he needs it; to him, every action he's taken is justified in his mind.
6 Upside-Down Man
The Upside-Down Man is a magical predator of the highest order. He exists to devour every trace of magic in the DC Universe. He has been clashing with the Justice League Dark, with the team getting increasingly desperate in their mission against the powerful magical being. At every turn, the Upside-Down Man has been able to place the team in more drastic situations, controlling the tempo of their war.
The Upside-Down Man is an inhuman monster of massive magical power who will stop at nothing in his quest against the world of magic. There is no redeeming a being like him; not only is evil his nature, but he loves it.
5 Brainiac
Brainiac has been traveling the universe for years and committing acts of unrivaled evil. Brainiac is a collector of knowledge, and he likes to be the only one to have that knowledge. He steals cities from planets and then destroys the planets, killing by the billions. Few beings in the universe have the body count that Brainiac does.
Brainiac is another being who doesn't believe that he's doing anything wrong. To him, his methods are perfectly reasonable and logical, and there's nothing he would change about them. Brainiac has been unrepentantly committing genocide for ages and sees no reason to stop.
4 Anti-Monitor
The Anti-Monitor is one of the greatest threats the heroes of the DC Multiverse have ever faced. He was able to destroy countless universes before attacking the main five worlds of the pre-Crisis DC Multiverse. He almost succeeded in his quest to devouring the Multiverse with his anti-matter.
The Anti-Monitor is the being that can't be reasoned withーhis whole existence revolves around destruction. Redemption is a foreign concept to him; he would see no purpose in it. Annihilating all positive matter in the universe is his only purpose, and he'll never stop.
3 Gorilla Grodd
Gorilla Grodd is the sometimes ruler of Gorilla City. Gifted with powerful telepathic abilities and frightfully strong, Grodd is unlike most of his contemporaries in Gorilla City and desires the only conquest, trying to prove that he's the top of the food chain. Hyper intelligent, Grodd battles the Flash regularly and has clashed with the Justice League as part of Doom/Injustice League's Legion.
His fellow citizens of Gorilla City have been trying to rehabilitate Gorilla Grodd for years to no avail because Grodd doesn't see anything wrong with who he is and what he does. Grodd is completely irredeemable.
2 Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor likes to pretend that he fights superhumans because they make humans and their achievements appear insignificant in comparison. What he really means, though, is that superhumans make him feel insignificant, and he'll stop at nothing to destroy them, starting with Superman. It's this mania that fuels Lex Luthor and prevents him from ever actually being redeemed.
Lex Luthor has worked with the heroes before, but it always ends. He can't bring himself to be altruistic for too long; he can do good things for a time, but his motives usually have more to do with making himself look good than it does actually helping people.
1 The Joker
The Joker is completely irredeemable. He's chaos personified and lives to indulge his twisted sense of humor. That usually involves committing terrible acts, killing as many people as he can, and generally being the evilest person anyone can imagine. There is no redeeming the Jokerーhis entire life is all about committing atrocities and laughing about it.
The Joker can't be redeemed but would never seek out redemption. He doesn't care about things like that. The Joker wants to share his smile with the world, and the only things that make him smile are terrible. Between his personal beliefs and the terrible things he's done, there is no redeeming the Joker.