DC Comics has some of the most iconic heroes in comics. Some would say that they are the best heroes. They stand up for truth, justice, and what is right. In the case of heroes like Batman, the order may switch around a little bit.
Of course, there are times when the line between hero and villain has been blurred a little. Sometimes, it's been completely crossed with heroes completely becoming villains to be stopped. In cases like Injustice, some of these stories have been relegated to alternate universes. There are cases where they have been kept in the regular continuity, marking a drastic turn for a hero with legions of fans.
10 Hawk Became Monarch And Became What He Sought To Destroy
In Armageddon 2001, the new hero Waverider traveled back in time to stop the creation of 2001's largest despot, Monarch. He traveled through different annual testings of super-heroes and revealing alternate futures. When the plans to turn Captain Atom into Monarch, plans were changed at the last minute.
Monarch followed Waverider back in time and facilitated his own creation by killing Hawk's partner Dove. This drove Hawk into a rage and he killed Monarch, revealing himself to be an older version of the hero. Hawk donned the armor, becoming the villain years before he originally became the despot. Of course, this sparked numerous problems, which is why changes were eventually made.
9 Captain Atom Became Monarch As Well And Fulfilled His Original Destiny
Hawk eventually abandoned the Monarch identity to become Extant in the crossover Zero Hour. During Countdown, the Atomic Knights fit Captain Atom in the Monarch armor to contain radiation from the hero's breached skin. Combined with many other factors, this drove Captain Atom into fulfilling his original destiny as Monarch.
Monarch manipulated many characters during Countdown, planning to reduce the multiverse down to a single reality that he would rule. He was eventually destroyed by Superboy-Prime, but Captain Atom returned with no memory of being Monarch. As with most villain turns, the hero had to redeem himself after returning inexplicably to the status quo.
8 Element Lad Tried to Destroy A Galaxy
In the 1999 series Legion Lost, a small group of Legionnaires found themselves far outside of reality. Element Lad managed to protect them, but this left him alone for endless years where his powers turned him into a god-like being called the Progenitor, creator of an entirely new galaxy. He perceives himself as a god, wiping out entire species with devoted species called the Progeny.
The Legion of Super-Heroes confronts their friend who kills Monstress as he didn't create her. He intended to destroy his created galaxy as he returned to the United Planets. To stop him, Live Wire stayed behind and sacrificed himself to stop the mad ex-Legionnaire. Live Wire eventually returned to the Legion, who by then had returned home and reformed the Legion.
7 Raven Tried to Spread Trigon's Evil
When the corrupted souls of Azarath tried to find new hosts in the New Titans, Raven became the host of Trigon's evil once again. This took control of her body and drove her to find hosts for the seeds of Trigon's evil. Raven attacked Starfire and Nightwing's wedding and apparently implanted one of these seeds in Starfire.
What she unknowingly implanted in Starfire was the good soul of Raven. After Raven corrupted numerous heroes, the New Titans manage to defeat her and restore the good part of Raven's soul, but without a body. She wandered looking for purpose until Brother Blood placed her into the body of a teenage girl.
6 Brainiac 5 Framed Ultra Boy For Murder
In Superboy and the Legion #239 by Jim Starlin, Ultra Boy was framed for murder. Chameleon Boy proved his innocence, but it was almost a year before he was able to reveal who framed Ultra Boy. The horrible truth of the matter was it was someone in the Legion that framed Ultra Boy. That Legionnaire was Brainiac 5.
Brainiac 5 had hatched a plan that culminated in the creation of Omega, a being that could destroy the universe. He had been driven mad at the strain of constantly saving the universe. Using the pretense of surrendering the rule of the universe to Brainiac 5, he was able to defeat Omega. He had Matter-Eater Lad devour the Miracle Machine that had created Omega.
5 Booster Gold Stole Everything He Used To Make His Costume
Michael Jon Carter was a janitor in the 25th century Space Museum. He took several devices from the museum along with a security robot named Skeets and stole a time machine to become Booster Gold, a famous superhero in the 20th century. Among those items he stole was a Legion flight ring and Brainiac 5's force field belt later used to save the life of the President.
Booster went on to become a true hero through a lot of trials and tribulations. This doesn't change the fact that he stole everything he used to initially become a hero. This made him an outlaw in the 25th century. By building everything on a bed of crime, Booster Gold tarnishes his reputation.
4 Princess Projectra Attacked Saturn Girl and Phantom Girl
In the third version of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Princess Projectra had her entire planet destroyed. This left her with her royal aires but no diplomatic status or fortune to support it. She first attacked civilians that dared to approach her on the street. When Phantom Girl refused to read her a story that she enjoyed, she used her power to make Phantom Girl vulnerable to a vicious physical attack.
Saturn Girl discovered the attack and Projectra set out to eliminate the Legion's only telepath. Projectra's power controlled the subconscious mind and she was able to overpower Saturn Girl. She eliminated any memory of the attack that Saturn Girl learned. For good measure, she did the same to Phantom Girl.
3 Hal Jordan Decimated the Green Lantern Corps
It became one of the best-known turns in DC history. After Mongul and the Cyborg Superman destroyed Coast City, Hal Jordan tried to use his ring's power to bring it back. When the Guardians tried to discipline him for this action, it finally broke Hal Jordan.
Hal set out to use the energy of the Green Lanterns' central power battery to permanently restore Coast City. In the process, he kills numerous Green Lanterns that stand in his way. Hal takes the energy from the power battery becoming the villain Parallax. He goes on to try to recreate the universe and timestream in Zero Hour.
2 Batman Devised Ways To Defeat All of His Teammates
It shouldn't surprise anyone that Batman devised ways of defeating every member of the Justice League. However, when it came to light, during the 2000 JLA storyline Tower of Babel, his teammates were horrified. It didn't help that this series of strategies was used against the JLA by Batman's enemy Ra's Al Ghul.
It was done with the best of intentions since the Justice League had their bodies switched with the Injustice League at one point. It was a contingency plan, but the JLA didn't see it that way. Keeping the plans secret from the rest of the team was a bridge too far, and Batman was expelled from the team.
1 Zatanna And The JLA Made A Habit Of Erasing Memories And Changing Personalities
It was one of the most controversial and shocking things ever done by superheroes. When the JLA found that Dr. Light had raped Sue Dibny, they erased his memory of the event and their secret identities, as well as altering his personality. When Batman discovered it, they erased his memory of the event as well.
This became a repeating pattern for Zatanna as she alters Catwoman's personality to direct her away from a life of crime. It's also revealed that she erased the memories of the Secret Society of Super-Villains that learned the Justice League's secret identities. This all came back to haunt Zatanna, and no one around her could completely trust her again.