DC Comics has an excellent range of characters that it's built up since it birthed the American superhero comic book genre in 1938's Action Comics #1 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The publisher is especially well known for its impressive and dynamic villains, who've become some of the most iconic foes in pop culture. However, not all these villains were wholly original. Comics have a long history of looking to existing characters for inspiration, and it's no different with the villains.
These DC villains pose a good threat to the heroes, something key to telling a good superhero story. Many of the unoriginal villains actually surpass their inspiration in both quality and recognition among fans. This happens for many reasons, such as better design, more compelling motives, or even the luck of a better writer. At the end of the day, these inspired DC villains give the originals some serious competition.
9 Ultra-Man Was The Natural Conclusion To The Numerous Evil Superman Stories
In DC, there have been several stories that feature Superman turning to villainy. Golden and Silver Age stories explored concepts like King Superman and the effects of Red Kryptonite. On Earth-3, Ultra-Man represented a more firm take on the evil Superman trope.
In Ultra-Man, DC has a great combination of gangster and super villain, a crime lord of an entire planet with the powers of a Kryptonian. He's an equal match for Superman with few of the Man of Steel's inhibitions or ethics and is one of the most ruthless villains of the multiverse.
8 The Holiday Killer Was Much More Interesting Than Calendar Man
DC's The Long Halloween featured a killing spree conducted by the so-called Holiday Killer, a murderer whose crimes fell on holidays. This modus operandi was so similar to Calendar Man that he was initially the suspect for Batman, but proved to be innocent of the crimes.
The Holiday Killer was revealed to be Alberto Falcone, son of the prominent Gotham gangster, Carmine Falcone. He was a much more interesting and compelling killer than the Calendar Man, who remained more of a campy cameo character at this stage.
7 Gorilla Grodd Mastered The Comic Book Gorilla Craze
Gorilla Grodd wasn't a rip-off of any one villain in particular. Rather, while DC went through its "gorilla-mania" period of the 1950s, ape-themed villains were being introduced on a regular basis, especially on covers. Gorilla Grodd was the natural conclusion of this hype and emerged as a popular villain.
Grodd is one of the few villains whose origins came more from a trend rather than a truly original idea. This Gorilla-craze trend can also be seen in the likes of Monsieur Mallah and Ultra-Humanite, but Gorilla Grodd emerged as the king of DC's Gorilla villains.
6 Mordru Is The Magical Villain Wotan Could Have Been
The JSA are known, among other things, for their magical heroes like Spectre and Doctor Fate. These heroes face several magical villains. Although Wotan was the JSA's older villain, the threat he could've posed got overshadowed by Mordru.
A Lord of Chaos, Mordru became a much better antagonist to the JSA — especially Doctor Fate — and demonstrated much greater power and ambition. Both magical nemeses of the JSA and Doctor Fate, Mordru took the idea behind Wotan and made it much better.
5 Poison Ivy Is A Much Better Environmental Villain That Floronic Man
Originally debuting under the villainous mantle "Plant Master," Jason Woodrue soon adopted the title of Floronic Man. One of the first flora-themed villains, he debuted as a villain of the Atom, but since becoming Floronic Man has been more of a Swamp Thing villain.
Four years after Floronic Man's debut, DC Comics introduced Poison Ivy, a villain who took the botanical power set to Gotham as a Batman villain. The parallels didn't go unnoticed, and the two villains have been known to cross paths repeatedly because of their overlapping themes and expertise.
4 King Shark Brings More To The Table Than Killer Croc
Killer Croc is one of Batman's most physically powerful villains, and was one of many in a time-honored tradition of anthropomorphic villains. As great as he may be in design, his tendency to stick to the Gotham sewers and his declining appearances left little room for growth.
Meanwhile, King Shark, who followed the same concept as a humanoid creature villain, soon became a beloved villain, especially when working with the Suicide Squad. The preference was apparent with film fans too. King Shark remained popular compared to Killer Croc, who became forgettable.
3 Punchline Owns Her Evil And Is Her Own Woman
Although Harley Quinn may be better known in the mainstream, the recently created Punchline brings a lot to her role in DC that Harley lost. While Harley was initially cast as a goofy killer sidekick, Punchline proved far more driven while also being more independent of Joker.
Punchline also had a great angle as a villain that Harley had lacked even when she was more evil. Punchline owned her villainy and was less conflicted. Having someone who doesn't doubt their role is very refreshing in an era where so many villains are becoming antiheroes.
2 Lex Luthor Became What The Golden Age Ultra-Humanite Wanted To Be
While Lex Luthor is Superman's best known villain, the creation of Ultra-Humanite actually preceded Luthor by one year. Although fans know Ultra-Humanite best for his albino gorilla appearance, he initially resembled Lex Luthor and presented a very similar threat.
Because of the radical shift of Ultra-Humanite and the iconic status of Lex Luthor, it's clear the genius super villain has far surpassed the older villain. In time, Luthor went from being a cliche Golden Age villain to one of the greatest foes in comic book history.
1 The Batman Who Laughs Beat Out Joker And Judge Death
The Batman Who Laughs was originally a servant of Barbatos, and a nightmare version of Batman from the Dark Multiverse. Debuting in Dark Nights Metal (Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo), he waged war on the DC universe. The villain was the merger of Batman's body with the evil mind of Joker.
However, The Batman Who Laughs also has a striking resemblance to 2000 AD's Judge Death, the arch-nemesis of Judge Dredd. For his relatively brief existence, The Batman Who Laughs became the most powerful force of evil in the DCU, even eclipsing Joker's status as Batman's most chaotic villain.