One of the greatest benefits to DC's 84+ year publishing history has got to be its use of alternate Earths, reimagined characters and, of course, the Man of Steel. Superman has been a fixture within the comic book industry since he leapt over his first building in a single bound back in 1938. Over the years, DC increased his powers, reduced them and rethought his origin story so many times, the last son of Krypton isn't truly a single character anymore. There have been more than 25 different people who bore the name Superman in one form or other thanks to alternate timelines, future events and whatever other craziness entered the minds of writers and artists over the years.
Not all Supermen are created equally and while versions such as Christopher Reeve's take on the character from the first films depicts someone who would rather perish than let harm come to others, they aren't all like that. Some versions of Superman have been ruthless dictators and beings of wanton destruction who barely noticed the large number of casualties arising from his fighting super-powered beings. These Supermen have racked up bigger body counts than the plague, which makes them some of the deadliest characters in the DC Universe. After digging through the books, we found the 25 deadliest Supermen based either on their proven track record of destruction or simply their potential to cause serious harm and damage were they left to their own devices. If we missed any of your favorites, don't forget to shout out in the comics, and also let us know which Superman you think is the deadliest of them all!
25 JUSTICE LORD
Superman grew up just like his familiar counterpart in this alternate reality but went on to form a team called the Justice Lords (instead of the Justice League). Following President Lex Luthor's execution of the Flash, he stormed the White House, declared himself finished with heroism and executed the President on the spot.
Following the execution, Superman traveled the world lobotomizing criminals and villains. He and his fellow members of the Justice Lords became Earth's guardians, but more akin to prison guards for everyone on the planet than a peaceful protector. Though not technically evil, this Superman was far from benevolent.
24 BIZARRO(S)
Over the years, there have been many characters to call themselves Bizarro Superman, so we are lumping them all into this one entry. Bizarro is everything Superman is not, seeing as he is his exact opposite in every way. Throughout his publication history, the character has gone from supervillain to antihero and back again numerous times.
In one instance, he accidentally eliminated the Human Bomb while beating him, just to see the flashes of light produced from his blows. In various remakes and retcons, Bizarro has gone on to hurt a large number of people, though he is often used as a puppet by a more nefarious character.
23 AMORAL SUPERMAN
In Superman III, the Man of Steel is exposed to synthetic Kryptonite, which causes him to split into two separate beings. One is more akin to Clark Kent and has all the weaknesses attributed to that character. The other is Superman, but lacking any morals or anything that makes him good.
It was essentially Superman, but unhindered by moral obligations and wanting revenge for a host of issues that had been eating him up inside him for years. He takes on a more scruffy look and becomes a dangerous and somewhat deranged evil twin to Superman. He didn't go on a mass spree of offing civilians or anything, but he likely would have were he not reunited into a single person.
22 THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
Superman, as told in The Dark Knight Returns, is the Man of Steel aged a few years and retired. Of course, he isn't actually retired, but was working behind the scenes for the United States Government. This brings him into conflict with Batman, and the two end up fighting. The story was loosely adapted into the film, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
In this world, Superman is far less hindered by his morality in doing what is necessary for the greater good. Unfortunately, he has devolved somewhat into a "lapdog" for the government and the compromises he made over the years led to his downfall in the eyes of Batman.
21 KAL-EL
Throughout most of Smallville's 10 seasons, Clark was the paragon of goodness. That all changed in Season 3, when Clark allowed himself to be reprogrammed by his father into Kal-El. Granted, that is the man's real name, but this new persona programmed into him was designed to fulfill Jor-El's ultimate goal for sending his son to Earth: world domination.
The new Kal-El was devoid of all emotion and was completely ambivalent towards the people who loved him, including Jonathan and Martha Kent. This version of Superman... or pre-Superman was ruthless, dangerous, incredibly powerful and almost unstoppable. Ultimately, he returned to his original persona, but for a while, he was truly a scary character.
20 RED SON
Superman: Red Son reimagined the character under the premise that he crashed in the Soviet Union instead of Kansas as an infant. This Superman became a true Communist who fought for Stalin—the two were close. As the most powerful being on the planet, he became a propaganda tool for the Soviet Union, which made things difficult for the Americans.
He fought for what was right, only his views were aligned with Soviet policies. He traveled the planet subjugating nations to the will of Communism and went on to lead them all as the ultimate leader of the Communist Party. It was an interesting analysis of the "nature vs. nurture" argument pertaining to Superman's morality.
19 ANTIMATTER UNIVERSE
There are quite a few variations on the "evil Superman" trope, with many of the deadliest and worst appearing on this list. One version was introduced in JLA: Earth 2 in 2000 as Lt. Clark Kent from the Antimatter Universe. This Kent was a human, not a Kryptonian, though he did acquire powers. Lt. Kent was an astronaut who falls victim to experimentation while exploring deep space.
In this reality, just about everyone is evil compared to their normal counterparts. As a result, the Justice League isn't a thing, but the "heroes" are all members of the Crime Syndicate instead. Kent adopts the name Ultraman, which we will get into in greater detail shortly.
18 KAL KENT
Kal Kent isn't an evil or overtly dangerous version of the Man of Steel, but his power levels suggest he could be one of the most destructive Superman of them all. Kal Kent is a descendant of the original Superman who lives in the 853rd century. He gets his powers from the sun and Superman who, during the events of DC One Million, resides at the heart of the star.
Kal Kent's powers are ridiculously OP. In terms of his power levels, he described himself as being "Faster than a speeding Tachyon, more powerful than a collapsing star, and able to leap between planets in a single bound."
17 ULTRAMAN
The first Ultraman hailed from Earth-3 before DC dismantled its multiverse (before bringing it back later). He also formed the Crime Syndicate, though his universe did not exist in the Antimatter Universe like the previously mentioned version. In every way Superman is good and virtuous, Ultraman is evil and wicked.
Ultraman is stronger than Superman and is strengthened by exposure to Kryptonite. He even acquires a new power when exposed to it, making him incredibly dangerous. Ultraman was a true villain and he often paired up with the likes of Lex Luthor. There have been several versions, but the original is one of the deadliest of them all.
16 ERADICATOR
The Eradicator was an automaton created solely to preserve Kryptonian culture. This eventually led it to attempt to eliminate all cultures save Kryptonian, which made it a dangerous entity to be sure. After some time, it came into the possession of Superman's body, which it attempted to manipulate into becoming a more "Kryptonian" Kryptonian form.
Not able to achieve its goals, it recreated its body in the image of Superman. It possessed most of Superman's powers and even his memories but had a far more violent nature. Eventually, it became more compassionate and sacrificed itself to save Earth. However, it has since returned, this time serving the whims of both Cyborg Superman and Lord Zod.
15 KINGDOM COME SUPERMAN
Superman from the Kingdom Come series is a man who turned his back on humanity. After Lois Lane is taken out by the Joker, a new character called Magog eliminates the clown before he can reach trial. Magog is acquitted for his crime and Superman turns his back on the world he kept safe for years.
After a decade in exile, he rebuilds the Justice League and begins a campaign to imprison the "heroes" working with Magog. Battles rage on and nuclear warheads are deployed. Superman isn't overtly deadly in this series, but his refusal to act for a decade certainly resulted in a great deal of pain and strife across the planet, and his very near-snap showed us how dangerous he could be.
14 THE SUPERMAN
Back in the '90s, DC created an imprint called Tangent, which undertook the task of completely reimagining DC's greatest characters. When it came to Superman, Tangent tried something so different, it's pretty unrecognizable. The Tangent Universe's version of Superman is Harvey Dent, otherwise known in our universe as Two-Face, but of course very different here!
Dent was just a regular guy who fell victim to an experiment, which evolved his mental abilities to superhuman levels. He acquired telekinesis and telepathic abilities leading him to call himself The Superman. He quickly and easily overthrew the world's governments and instituted his own brand of martial law on the world.
13 THE UBERMENSCH
If you've ever wondered what Superman would be like as a tool of the Third Reich, there's an Elseworlds book that covers it nicely. In the story, "JSA: The Liberty Files," Superman is known as Übermensch and he is the product of a German weapons program. Incidentally, Übermensch is the German word for Superman.
In this reality, the Übermensch is actually the Martian Manhunter, who the Germans found. He is influenced by the infamous German leader of the time, who is the only human allowed to touch him. Doing so transferred all of his evil ideology and hate to the Übermensch, who nearly conquers the world in the name of the Third Reich.
12 NIGHTWING: THE NEW ORDER
In the story, Nightwing: The New Order, superheroes from across the globe battle in a gigantic fight against the combined might of pretty much all the supervillains. The battle rages for days. During the fight, Superman is exposed to Black Kryptonite, which causes him to go completely insane and he turns his destructive wrath against the Dark Knight himself.
Unfortunately, Superman terminates Batman in his blind rage, which is something he never forgives himself for. Because of the chaos and damage caused by Superman (and others) in the fight, Nightwing activated a device that eradicated most of the world's superpowers, including Superman's.
11 BLACK ZERO
In an alternate reality, Superman perishes and is replaced by his clone. Once the clone reached maturation, he renamed himself Superman II just like the Simpsons keep doing with their cat, Snowball. He was initially a good guy who fought for truth, justice and all that stuff but ultimately lost a battle resulting in a large number of casualties.
Clones became persona non grata and he readjusted his thinking to fight for clones' rights. This led to him exterminating most of the superheroes in his world, whom he replaced with clones. He became a fanatic who would stop at nothing to fight for clones' rights, even crossing into other realities to continue his fight.
10 ZOD
In JSA: The Liberty Files, the Superman of the world is Zod, who was banished to the Phantom Zone for creating a deadly plague at the tender age of 11. He was found by American scientists, but he feigned amnesia as to who he was or how he got there. Zod took the name Clark Kent and lived with the Kents under U.S. Government supervision.
As his powers began to develop, he feigned ignorance and worked behind the scenes to steal a doomsday device called "The Trigger." He battled and eliminated numerous costumed heroes in his quest and was ultimately taken down by the Bat and the Star.
9 SUPERMAN: THE DARK SIDE
Ever wonder what would have happened to Kal-El had he ended up crashing on Apokolips instead of Earth? That's what Superman: The Dark Side hashes out and it ain't pretty! Kal-El's rocket is intercepted by Darkseid, who raises him as one of his own. He was also outfitted with special armor, which enabled his powers thanks to the lack of a yellow sun.
As Darkseid's pawn, Superman helped destroy New Genesis but ended up being transported to Earth where Lois Lane helped bring him around to the side of good. Darkseid was even able to extract the Anti-Life Equation from Superman's cells, making him incredibly powerful, but Superman was able to stop him in the end.
8 OVERMAN
Overman has been around in various form since 1990. Initially, he was created in a government experiment based on the DNA from other superheroes. Thanks to a disease he picked up (we won't say how), Overman went completely insane and destroyed every single person in his world. He later took his own life, destroying his world in the process.
The newest version of Overman (pictured) is more like the Red Son Superman, only he is under the influence of the Germans rather than the Soviets. This Overman is much darker and significantly more evil than most on this list. He assisted in the various termination camps and was racked with guilt over his participation.
7 HERR SUPERMAN
Herr Superman is the multiverse's answer to what Superman would be like if he were German. Not a WWII-era German, mind you, just a regular guy who happened to also be Superman. In Countdown Presents: Lord Havok and the Extremists, Herr Superman is introduced as one of Monarch's trans-dimensional recruits. He's not a good guy in the book, but he certainly isn't as bad as some of the other Supermen with similar backstories.
Regardless, he is a bad guy who works alongside his fellow recruits to attack the Extremists fighting in Slovekia. He uses his powers to wreak destruction but ultimately succumbs to Havok impaling him when his powers are temporarily nullified.
6 CYBORG SUPERMAN
After Superman is defeated in the "Death of Superman," four people claiming to be Superman appeared. One turned out to be a cyborg, but not just any cyborg; no, as his tech came straight out of Krypton. Hank Henshaw was a human astronaut who was turned into a being of pure consciousness in an accident in space.
He went insane and used Superman's birthing matrix to create a cyborg clone of his body he could inhabit. As Superman, he attempted to destroy his reputation and became a truly evil supervillain, most infamously by destroying Coast City. Due to his existing as mere thought, he keeps coming back time and time again, making him one of Superman's most capable villains.