DC Superheroes Who Became Villains:
While we have covered the part of how our Marvel Superheroes betrayed us, we cannot let the superheroes of DC comics slide as well. As the champions of Good, the superheroes of DC, generally, Gods amongst men unlike Marvel’s typical array of superheroes, have the onus of managing peace and prosperity at a much higher level. They are not meant for evil, No evil being should have access to the power the superheroes of DC Comics possess. But what if the Superhero itself turns out to be the bad guy? With so much pressure and stress, it is easy for any superhero to snap and turn into the bad guy. That is what exactly happened here.
1. Green Lantern
The story of Hal Jordan and his transition into a force for the Dark Side is a truly harrowing tale. Green Lantern’s life as he knew it comes to a screeching halt when a nuclear bomb destroys his home town. Along with the rest of his family, millions of innocent lives are lost when Prometheus sets up a bomb in a bid to blackmail the Justice League. Hal Jordan, forever the strong-willed, is hell-bent on getting back his city and the people he lost. He tries to tap into the unlimited reservoir of the Green Power Battery at Oa to do this impossible feat. The Guardians of the Universe as well as many other Green Lanterns try to stop him but fail. The entity of Fear Parallax sees a chance to possess Hal Jordan now that he is so vulnerable and Hal Jordan becomes the God of Fear. The next few years Hal Jordan did some pretty morally questionable stuff as Parallax, something that still haunts him to date.
2. Superman
In Injustice: Gods Amongst Us, Superman has become a dictator who rules the world via his personal council of superhumans – composed of both heroes and villains, called the Regime. The only thing that opposes Superman’s authority is The Insurgency, a resistance movement led by none other than Batman. Injustice is a Classic Example of what would happen if Superman ever went rogue and decided Humanity never deserved a second chance. In another alternate universe, the Crime Syndicate of America is the equivalent of the Justice League. And the CSA is led by none other than Ultraman, an alternate reality version of Superman who is as evil as they come.
3. Wonder Woman
The Flashpoint Paradox has shown us the deepest darkest iterations of our favorite characters in DC Comics. One small change in the past and the world completely changes in the far future due to the Butterfly effect principle. When Flash changed the timeline, Themiscira ended up becoming a police state with Wonder Woman taking the helm as a tyrant conqueror of continents. She is ruthless and brutal in her ways. After waging a war against Atlantis, she invaded Europe and killed billions of humans to make way for New Themiscira. She also brutally kills children and civilians on a daily basis as the Queen of the Amazons.
4. Terra
Terra started out as a Superhero within the Teen Titans, a group of teenage superheroes that have found critical success and popularity in recent years. Terra had the power of Geo-Kinesis. Using her powers, she could control the Earth and create Earth Quakes and manipulate rock formations. Terra grew extremely close to the rest of the Titans. But it was later revealed that she was actually a traitor sent by Deathstroke to infiltrate the Titans and destroy them from the inside out. Terra’s plans were brought to light by Beast Boy, who was her most ardent supporter till then, and Deathstroke’s plans never came to fruition. The fans also liked Terra as a character but that betrayal was too much for anyone to handle.
5. Mary Marvel
Mary Marvel was always portrayed as the “Goody Two Shoes” of the Marvel Family. She could never do the wrong thing. As a matter of fact, there was a running gag that Mary Marvel is powerful enough to move mountains but still won’t hurt a fly. That all changed in 2006 when Mary Marvel lost access to her Shazam powers and fell into a coma. When she woke up, Mary missed being a superhero and looked up to Black Adam for help. Adam shared a part of his powers with her but Black Adam’s corrupting magic really did a number on her. Mary Marvel became this brutal gothic b*tch who never gave a damn about collateral damage as long as she could get the job done. The New 52 reboot changed that part of her history permanently.
6. Batman
Batman becoming a Super Villain is a really scary proposition. He is difficult to handle as he is. With all that wit, money, training, and resources at his disposal, if the Dark Knight decided to become a bad guy, then God bless us all. That is exactly what happened in one of the issues of Dark Nights: Metal. Batman finally kills the Joker after the latter manages to get under his skin. Before dying, the Joker releases a specialized form of the Joker Venom that turns Batman into the next Joker. Batman starts losing his grip on sanity and soon kills off the entire Bat-Family to keep their mouths shut. He later destroys the entire Justice League and kills them too before coming to the main-stream Multi-Verse to rain absolute havoc on the rest of the superheroes.
7. Ozymandias
Ozymandias is called the smartest man on Earth for a reason. Using his heightened intellect and gifted Charisma, Ozymandias has created an empire based on the foundations of science and technology. He is a gifted strategist and the world looks up to him during times of crisis for helping them find a way out. So when Ozymandias revealed to the rest of the Watchmen that he was the one behind the killings and the murders and it was his plan to plant a bomb in population centers around the world and pin it on Doctor Manhattan, his end goal being to unite the world under a false premise, a lie if you will, the fans were visibly shook. Ozymandias failed in his endeavor when the bombs detonated as planned but Doctor Manhattan, who can see the future, reveals that the peace that came was only temporary and mankind would be back at each other’s throats soon enough.
8. Sinestro
Sinestro used to be one of the greatest Green Lanterns to have ever lived. His achievements helped push the Green Lanterns of Oa to newer heights and earned them a huge deal of respect in the inter-galactic arena. You know the popular saying – All that glitters is not gold. In Sinestro’s Case, it was all that is green is not actually green. Deep down, Sinestro craved for power. He wanted more authority when it comes to policing alien worlds. And he knew that as long as he stayed within the Green Lantern Corps that was not possible. Sinestro founded the Yellow Lantern Corps with the Central Power Battery being established at the Planet Qward. Tapping into the yellow power of Fear gave Sinestro the power and resources to start the Sinestro Corps War and the rest is practically history.
9. Super Boy Prime
Super Boy prime debuted first in the Crisis of Infinite Earths event. Super Boy Prime was sent to a pocket dimension along with Superman of Earth – 2 and Alexander Luthor of Earth – 3. In Infinite Crisis, all three of them managed to escape that dimension but Super Boy Prime had undergone a huge change by then. He was manipulated by Luthor into becoming a murderer. After killing the Super Boy of the mainstream universe, Super Boy Prime ended up becoming a huge thorn at Superman’s side and the rest of the Justice League. He continues to be one of the most powerful enemies the League has ever faced.
10. Red Hood
Death in the family was one of the greatest Batman comic book arcs to have been ever written and drawn. Jason Todd was mercilessly beaten to death at the hands of the Joker. He returns years later. He may not be a zombie but he most certainly does not like to stop himself from ripping his enemies’ hearts and lungs out if need be. Jason Todd goes full-blown violent outlaw the moment he gets out of the Lazarus Pit. In days, he takes down Black Mask’s entire criminal empire through sheer blood baths and violence. His methods got so dark that the New 52 reboot was used to soften him a bit as fans were not taking well to the violent transition of one of DC’s favorite characters.
