In the DC Universe, there are a few candidates who could be considered the multiverse’s greatest threat. While beings like The Anti-Monitor are popular right now, thanks to the upcoming Arrowverse crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths, there is one foe who has withstood the test of time and has become a monstrous villain: Darkseid.
The New God and leader of Apokolips who is at war with New Genesis and the rest of the New Gods, Darkseid is nearly all-powerful and fights Superman frequently, but here are some other heroes who have stopped him.
Updated on June 8th, 2020 by Richard Keller: For someone who is supposedly the greatest threat to the multiverse, Darkseid has been defeated more than once. In the end, it could be a testimony to his tenacity. Then again, it may be that he doesn't learn his lessons. Hence, the reason they're a few more heroes everyone forgets defeated Darkseid.
12 X-Men and Teen Titans
In 1982, both New Teen Titans and X-Men were the hottest titles on the market. So much so that DC and Marvel decided to team the two groups together in a giant one-shot.
In the real world, the book was written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Walt Simonson. In the blended comic universe, the teams had to defeat not only Darkseid by Dark Phoenix. They way they won was to convince the Jean Grey part of the Dark Phoenix that Darkseid was manipulating her. In the end, the ruler of Apokolips ended up a part of the Source Wall.
11 Justice League And Justice Society
During their 1980 meeting, the Justice League of Earth-One and Justice Society of Earth-Two teamed up with the New Gods to defeat a newly resurrected Darkseid. However, it wasn't as easy as one would think. Despite the number of heroes, including both Superboy and Power Girl, they ran into several obstacles.
In the end, the core JLA team didn't defeat Darkseid. Instead, it was Firestorm and Power Girl with a little help from Metron. It was the New God who reversed a machine that bounced Darkseid's Omega Beams onto himself.
10 Wonder Woman
One of the first characters who deserves to be on this list has to be Wonder Woman. The Amazon Princess and demigod hero who is part of the Trinity at DC Comics (along with Batman and Superman), Wonder Woman has soared in popularity thanks to the iconic performance of actress Gal Gadot in the hit film.
Wonder Woman defeated the villainous Darkseid many times in battle, but the most recent was in Wonder Woman Issue 45, after Darkseid destroyed her father Zeus and invaded her mind. She managed to fight him off with the memories of her family.
9 Cyborg
In recent years, one hero who managed to take down not only Darkseid, but his entire army of Parademons, is none other than Cyborg. When the New 52 reboot was starting, fans learned that Cyborg would not be joining the Teen Titans, but instead would be retconned to be a member of the Justice League.
He more than earned this new story element. When he fought alongside the Justice League in his debut, he discovered the only way to combat them was to teleport Darkseid off earth, and managed to reverse engineer the boom tube technology of Apokolips in time.
8 The Atom
The next two heroes on this list go hand in hand, as they defeated the New God together during an alternate reality storyline. The first hero is The Atom, aka Ray Palmer. During the Rock of Ages, mystical alternate reality storyline, Darkseid has become the ultimate ruler of Metropolis in a gritty wasteland.
The remaining JLA heroes band together to take on the New God, including Green Arrow and The Atom. The two realize that Darkseid’s eyes are vulnerable to attack, so Green Arrow launches an arrow with The Atom, allowing Ray to destroy Darkseid’s brain.
7 Green Arrow
As mentioned before, there were two heroes responsible for Darkseid’s demise, and the other was none other than Green Arrow. While it was the Atom who destroyed Darkseid’s brain, it was Oliver Queen’s expert archery skills that allowed Ray to be shot into Darkseid’s head to begin with.
The billionaire playboy turned hero is a fan favorite thanks to the popularity of his show Arrow, which wraps up its final season this year. While the upcoming Arrowverse/Crisis on Infinite Earth’s crossover will focus on the Anti-Monitor, it’d be awesome if Darkseid arrived just so this moment could happen.
6 Legion Of Super-Heroes
One of Darkseid’s defeats came at the hands of not one or two heroes, but an entire group of allies set against the New God. During the event known as the Great Darkness Saga, Darkseid returned after a thousand years of being gone, taking control not only of his home Apokolips but over the planet Daxam, placing the planet under a yellow sun and giving his army Superman-like powers.
The Legion of Super-Heroes gathered together to stop the monster from taking control of the galaxy, led by Cosmic Boy and featuring heroes like Superboy, Supergirl and Brainiac-5.
5 The Flash
One hero who shockingly defeated Darkseid is The Flash, but it was done in an unusual way. During the New 52 reboot, Barry Allen’s The Flash was part of the Justice League as they took part in the Darkseid War. This war between Darkseid and his forces versus the Anti-Monitor led the Anti-Monitor to fuse The Flash with the avatar of Death itself, the Black Racer.
This unstoppable force allowed the Anti-Monitor to use the Flash to essentially destroy Darkseid, leaving a power vacuum in the universe as Darkseid was the universe’s God of Evil.
4 Aquaman
While he was a part of the JLA, one hero who managed to take down Darkseid in a significant way has to be Aquaman. The King of Atlantis, Arthur Curry joined the Justice League when Darkseid invaded Earth during the New 52 reboot era of comics.
During this event on Prime Earth, Aquaman used his trident to injure Darkseid deeply, managing to take out one of his eyes in the process. This is a huge defeat for Darkseid as one of his most powerful weapons in battle is his Omega Beams, which shoot out of his eyes, rendering him weaker.
3 Highfather
One character that has been both heroic and villainous, depending on the era of comics and storyline, has to be Highfather. However in either iteration, Highfather has always opposed Darkseid, rarely managing to make peace with the New God of Evil and constantly battling the villain.
Pre-New 52, Highfather was a pacifist who preferred to work things out as opposed to war, but was powerful enough to face Darkseid if words ever failed. In the post-New 52 world, Highfather is a powerful commander of the New Gods and even looks the other way when Darkseid invades Earth-2.
2 Orion
One of the New Gods and a hero in the DC Universe who took on Darkseid is his own son, Orion. Born on Apokolips but raised on New Genesis by Highfather, Orion held much of the power and anger of his father, but redirected it thanks to his morality and upbringing.
It was predicted that Orion would be the ultimate downfall of Darkseid. During Final Crisis, it would be the Radion bullet he fired back in time to end Orion, making Orion’s sacrifice his ultimate defeat over his father.
1 Batman
One of the most shocking characters to defeat the monstrous Darkseid has to be Batman. Yes, Batman is one of the most impressive heroes of not only the DC Universe, but comics in general. Bruce Wayne has become the world’s greatest detective, a founding member of the Justice League, and always has a tactician’s mind for battle, outsmarting the most powerful beings in the universe.
This happened when Batman faced Darkseid one on one in battle during Final Crisis. Learning the villain had a weakness with the element Radion, he made a bullet out of it, thus defeating Darkseid.