Once comics fans get out of the realms of DC and Marvel, the antagonists and villains tend to get a lot more complex and varied in their shades of grey. While DC and Marvel villains can be very complex, with Image Comics it can often be difficult to decipher whether or not the villain is actually in the right, whether or not the antagonist is actually a force that should be stopped.

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So to add an extra layer to the complicated mess many of these antagonists are portrayed as, let’s dive into some of Image Comics' most iconic fallen heroes. While some of the characters featured may not have reached superhero heights like Superman or Spider-Man, there is a definitive fall from grace featured in each of their arcs.

10 Shane Walsh (The Walking Dead)

While still very early in Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, Shane Walsh is a nice little hint that in Kirkman’s world full of zombies, sometimes the humans are the most dangerous part. Having assumed Rick was dead for quite some time, both Shane and Rick’s (ex-ish) wife Laurie are in for quite the surprise when Rick shows up at their post-apocalyptic doormat. The situation made even more complicated by Shane and Laurie’s blossoming relationship. With his jealousy and rage getting more and more out of control Shane becomes more and more comfortable with the idea leading Rick into a well-timed “accident” and picking up where he and Laurie left off. Carl’s not the only one getting a new daddy if Shane has anything to say about it.

9 Led Dent (Tokyo Ghost)

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In an age where technology addiction runs rampant through the streets, in a society where citizens can hardly manage to tear their eyeballs from whatever projection or projections rest just inches from corneas, Led-- with the help of his fiance, Debbie Decay, tries to make a twisted, withering, and distracted Los Angeles a little bit better by catching up to baddies that need be caught up to. For a price. While Led’s proclivity towards picking up those sweet, sweet nanopacs and diving eyeballs first into at least five different screens isn’t initially a bad thing, his addiction eventually leads Led right off the deep end. If only he could’ve managed to get his screen time down.

8 Shabnam (Deadly Class)

With a story like Deadly Class, the heroes and villains are never just black and white. The heroes have all done some truly horrible things. The villains have complex and long-lasting motivations to color their fall from grace. Shabnam may not have ever been much of a hero, but he sure wasn’t a villain.

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The sad, picked on, little Shabnam has managed to grow into quite the treacherous, conniving and power-hungry nemesis for those attending King’s Dominion. Especially Marcus. As finals send rampant waves of blood and chaos crashing through the lives of the students of Master Lin, Shabnam takes this chaos and uses it as a stepping stone to both end Marcus and ascend to the throne.

7 Mikey (Birthright)

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When Michael Rhodes disappeared one year before the events of the comic, no one would have guessed that he’d reappear just one year later as a fully grown man. But not just a man, a warrior. Having been teleported into a magical realm and told he would be the warrior chosen to save their world, Michael immediately begins training to become the warrior of legend. There’s only one problem with this whole scenario, Mikey doesn’t want any of this. Mikey wants what all young children want, to be outside, to play with his brother, to spend time with his family. And when the God-King Lore, whom Mikey is meant to destroy, offers Mikey a chance to go home (on one condition, of course), Mikey takes it.

6 Red Mist (Kick-Ass)

While saying that Chris Genovese (AKA Red Mist) was ever a hero is a bit of a stretch, that doesn’t make his betrayal of Kick-Ass, Big Daddy, and Hit-girl any easier to take. As Red Mist had previously flirted with the idea of being a hero, like many kids his age, when he finally dove into the black inky waters of villainy, he found that villainy is apparently hereditary.

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Red Mist may have just been a small fry during the event of Kick-Ass’ inaugural adventure but through the course of his next few outings, Chris Genovese would grow to create a league of villains, commit sexual assault, rape, murder, and just generally dive head-first into his villainous persona. Wait til they get a load of me, indeed.

5 Walter (Jupiter’s Legacy)

With Walter, Mark Millar illustrates to comics fans once again that sometimes, a hero will cross any line if they think it will be for the greater good. Fans have seen this archetype play out time and time again. Alan Moore’s Ozymandias. The version of Superman that terrorized the Injustice timeline. While his master plan for world peace may have taken his villain to the next level, Walter had been using his powers of telepathy to force others to conform to his will long before that. Betraying the country and the world may be evil, but using one’s powers to steal a friend's girlfriend? Now that’s just cold-blooded.

4 God (Spawn)

The God that plays antagonist to Spawn may not be the one above all, the alpha and the omega, the creator of all things. He is, however, the creator of humankind and his immortal feud with his cosmic twin, Satan, will likely bring about the end of the world. Nothing says villain like willing to throw away all of the human race just because of a little sibling rivalry. Fortunately for Earth, however, Spawn was around to give God the ole one-two and utterly dominate the armies both he and Satan had built to destroy each other-- and everything else with them. Unfortunately for Earth, in the process of tearing Satan and God down a peg, Spawn devastated the Earth in the process.

3 Solar Man (Savage Dragon)

While Solar Man very clearly follows the archetype laid out by the man of steel himself, the similarities don’t end with his powers. Much like Superman in the Injustice timeline, Solar Man eventually grew to a point in his hero career where he had simply had enough. He was powerful enough that he could take over the world and introduce a strict zero-tolerance policy when it comes to crime. After being wished out of existence by Sargeant Marvel using the God gun and unwished after it broke, Solar Man did make a bit of recovery after being resurrected. But once a homicidal maniac with a messiah complex always a homicidal maniac with a messiah complex. 

2 Petra (Deadly Class)

Like most, if not all, of the characters in Rick Remender’s Deadly Class, Petra was never a hero in the traditional sense. She was simply a young girl in a tough situation trying to do her best to make it through the madness that is King’s Dominion. That is until finals came around and Master Lin issued those three words. Kill the rats. Finals at King’s Dominion are like nothing else these kids will ever experience. Many students, including Saya and Marcus, were forced to do things that they would’ve never imagined. However, it’s not simply the fact that Petra kills Billy that hurts so much, it’s how she kills him.

1 Nolan Grayson/ Omni-Man (Invincible)

Nolan Grayson (AKA Omni-Man) from Robert Kirkman’s Invincible is by far one of the greatest examples of a hero fallen from grace. While he may have originally been sent as a herald, meant to prepare the Earth for their inevitable take over. Rather, he took that time to become the Earth’s greatest hero, fall in love, and even start a family. However, when his son Mark begins to display his powers and takes up the family business, it becomes much more difficult to hide his insidious and vile beginnings. When his secret comes out and Nolan asks Mark to join him in ruling the world, well, nothing saying villain like beating your own son senseless and using his limp, soaring body to kill thousands of people.

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