In the waking hours, superheroes are filled with courage and grace. They battle the most horrific evils the universe has ever seen and they never show a moment of fear even as they put their lives on the line. This is what makes them heroes - their ability to swallow their fears and move ever forward, bringing peace and safety to the world.
But when they dream, the heroes are not as powerful. Their self-doubt can come forward from their subconscious and give them nightmares that can be hard to even imagine. And in those moments of dreams, what would happen if an evil force, a force like A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, invaded the minds of the heroes and attacked them there? Would Freddy be as successful with the heroes as he is with teenagers, or would these powerful men and women fight him off?
10 Beat: Booster Gold
Booster Gold is a great hero filled with more issues than most. After an injury ended his football career, Booster Gold stole a number of high-tech items and traveled back in time to become a superhero and make a name for himself. Booster may be good in a fight, but he suffers from both delusions of grandeur and imposter syndrome, making him an easy target for a dream monster like Freddy Krueger.
Freddy would play on Booster's insecurities, filling the hero's dream with visions of his friends mocking him. When Booster couldn't take much more, Freddy would strike, his razor-sharp claws ripping into Booster and putting an end to a once-promising career.
9 Beaten By: Zatanna
As a highly trained magic user and a member of Justice League Dark, Zatanna is used to dealing with demonic entities. Casting spells takes a level of concentration that most people can't imagine, but for Zatanna, it is all second nature. It's the concentration that will help Zatanna more than her magic skills when she faces the child killer that is Freddy Krueger.
Zatanna has been through enough to know when things are off, and the moment she realizes that her dream is being toyed with by an outside force, she will begin to fight against it. Before long, Zatanna will know how to defeat Freddy, making the Dream Master wish he was still dealing with teens instead of heroes.
8 Beat: Shazam
As the superhero Shazam, Billy Batson is one of the most powerful people in the universe. Gifted his powers by the Wizard Shazam so that he could protect Earth from the threats of the Magiclands, Shazam has shared his abilities with others, creating the Shazamily, a team of six kids who become amazing heroes. But when Shazam sleeps, he is nothing more than teenager Billy Batson, and that is exactly the kind of person Freddy Krueger likes to mess with best. Poor Billy wouldn't stand a chance against the sweater-wearing son of a hundred maniacs.
7 Beaten By: Superman
The greatest superhero of them all, Superman has faced off against the most powerful evils the universe has ever conceived, and not once has he shown any fear. With his can-do attitude and strong leadership skills, Superman is the person all the other heroes look up to, and it's a responsibility he takes seriously.
What really makes Superman so great isn't his powers, but his belief in a better tomorrow, no matter how dark things get. If Freddy Krueger found his way into the Man of Steel's mind, he would surely create some terrifying images, but none of it would break Superman.
6 Beat: Blue Beetle
Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle, shares a lot of the same issues as his best friend Booster Gold. Ted knows he's smart, but he also knows he can do stupid things sometimes. He also knows that he can be a good hero, but he's always been held back by his own insecurities.
Blue Beetle's greatest fear is being laughed at. Even though he is a former member of the Justice League, he worries that the other heroes don't respect him and more to it, he thinks he's given them plenty of reasons to look down on him. Like with Booster, these are the feelings Freddy Krueger would prey on.
5 Beaten By: Batman
After seeing his parents murdered before his young eyes, Bruce Wayne has lived a neverending nightmare. Instead of looking for a way out of the darkness, Bruce took the pain and turned himself into Batman. Now, as the Dark Knight Detective, Batman does all he can to make sure that no child ever feels the pain he experienced.
Batman has more things to be afraid of than almost any other hero in the DC Universe, but he has never let those fears stop him. Whatever Freddy Krueger comes at Batman with, it can't be any worse than his normal dreams or the visions the Caped Crusader has seen while under the influence of the Scarecrow's gas. For Batman, a Freddy Krueger nightmare would be a nice change of pace.
4 Beat: Red Hood
Batman's former sidekick. Red Hood is filled with the rage that can only be found in someone who has suffered as much as he has. From an early age, Jason Todd was dealing with tragic losses, and when he became the second Robin he was unable to control his emotions, leading to his horrific death at the hands of the Joker.
Jason may have come back to life, but that moment the Joker transformed him still fills his thoughts, leading him to strike out not only at criminals but at the Batfamily as well. These unchecked feelings are what Freddy Krueger would use to kill Red Hood in his sleep.
3 Beaten By: Sandman
There may be no one in the DC Universe as well-versed in dream logic as Wesley Dodds, the first Sandman. Tortured by nightmares that predicted murders, Wesely Dodds found that he could get a good night's sleep by solving the crimes he saw in his sleep. With his gas mask and gas gun, he hunted down the criminals of New York City and put an end to their evil ways. Freddy Krueger may be able to come up with some horrific ideas, but Elm Street has nothing on the killers and madmen of Manhattan. To Wesley Dodds, Freddy Krueger's attacks would be a vacation from his usual dreams.
2 Beat: Atom Smasher
Not unlike Red Hood, Atom Smasher suffers from an uncontrollable rage that has led him down the wrong path on more than one occasion. The grandson of a supervillain, Atom Smasher went against his family's past and became a hero, but not even his ability to grow to a massive size could contain the anger that burns inside him.
This anger is what Freddy Krueger would attach himself too, using it to lead Atom Smasher deeper and deeper into his domain of nightmares until the hero was finally in a position of weakness. At that moment, Freddy Krueger would strike, and the member of the Justice Society would become his latest victim.
1 Beaten By: John Stewart
To be a Green Lantern a person needs to be able to overcome great fear and possess amazing willpower. John Stewart isn't just a Green Lantern, he's one of the greatest Green Lanterns in history. Freddy Krueger wouldn't stand a chance against this former Marine turned space cop who beats up the nastiest nasties of the galaxy with his imagination on a daily basis. John Stewart would not just beat Freddy Krueger, he would do it so fast that Stewart would still have plenty of time to have a good dream before his morning alarm went off.