Un-Killable Comic Book Super Villains:
Death is at every corner of the comic book Universe. But there have been a few instances where even Death has failed to keep these guys from staying inside their grave. These Super Villains, no matter how much the people want dead, always find a way to come back. They defy logic and defy the human laws of physics. Maybe these guys hold a secret we are still not privy to.
1. Magneto
There have been many numbers of times that Magneto has died. He has actually kissed death so many times that fans have lost count. Magneto’s first brush with death was in the Massacre at Genosha. But Scarlet Witch brought him back using her Reality Warping Abilities. In another issue, the Sentinels blow up a building and Magneto is amongst the hundreds of mutants that were caught up in the explosion. And yet, Magneto manages to miraculously return from the dead. He is revealed to be Xorn, the mutant monk whom the X-Men recruited after fables of his Omega Level abilities caught the attention of Professor Xavier. Magneto keeps returning back from the dead because of the popularity the character commands. The fan base refuses to let him go and the writers are compelled to comply accordingly.
2. The Joker
How does one man manage to cheat death so many times? There have been several prevailing theories over the years as to how. Many claims that like Batman is a title passed on from one able and worthy person to another, the Joker is also secretly a mantle that is passed down from one successor to the next. The Joker has been smashed, had his heart ripped out, beheaded, burned, dipped in concentrated acid, and a lot of other hellish acts that could easily kill your average lunatic. But the Joker kept coming back. In one issue, DC finally revealed how Joker managed to pull this impossible stunt off. There isn’t just One Joker in the DC Universe. There are three different versions. That is how the Joker is able to be at all places at once. When one of them died, the other two took over.
3. Ra’s Al Ghul
He is one of the greatest villains of Batman. While villains like the Joker may have body doubles to switch places with, there can and always will be one Ra’s Al Ghul at any given point of time. Ra’s Al Ghul maintains his place on this list because he has one asset that makes him kind of an immortal – the Lazarus Pit. The Lazarus Pit is an ancient pool that contains chemicals that allow a dead person to be resurrected and heal deadly wounds. As the leader of the international terrorist organization called the League of Assassins, Ra’s Al Ghul has access to multiple Lazarus Pits in several locations all over the planet.
4. Galactus
As a cosmic force of nature, Galactus is already being too hard to kill. He has survived the Big Bang. He has survived the destruction of the universe that existed before the mainstream Marvel Universe. Someone who has managed to live through all that cannot be easily killed. He is the Destroyer of Worlds. He is responsible for consuming entire worlds. So he is bound to make some enemies. And he has been killed many times as well. But since he is a force of nature (quite literally in fact), his death would spell doom for the entire Universe. Galactus has been killed but he is always brought back to restore balance to the Universe. He is now a necessary evil required to maintain universal harmony.
5. Bullseye
Daredevil’s arch-nemesis may always be Kingpin but it is always Bullseye that makes Matt Murdock sweat. Bullseye is infamous for being thoroughly brutal with Daredevil. He was the one who killed Elektra Natchios and Karen Page, both Daredevil’s love interest at the time. In the Shadow Land arc, Daredevil gets possessed by a demonic force and takes over The Hand. When Bullseye again pushes his buttons, Daredevil takes a Sai and plunges it into Bullseye’s abdomen. Bullseye is thought to have died due to excessive blood loss. But the guy survived. A rogue faction of The Hand took him and resurrected him using mystical methods. Bullseye offered his services to The Hand and was given the Gift of Resurrection quite a few numbers of times.
6. Doomsday
As an experiment that was created to beat death, Doomsday is a supervillain that is immune to death. Every time he dies, he comes back stronger and completely impervious to the way he died the last time. Even Superman has trouble dealing with Doomsday, resulting in his death in the acclaimed Death of Superman comic book arc. Doomsday’s tryst with death is ever-lasting. He will never cease to exist. Not even the Man of Steel can kill him. Fans always keep scratching their heads as to how this monster keeps surviving everything the heroes throw at him.
7. Carnage
Carnage is the offspring of Venom and his mortal enemy. His crazy antics and madman like behavior would make even the most courageous of heroes take a step back. He has been killed quite a lot of times too. He was once ripped out of his host and left in deep space orbit. He managed to return from that. He was consumed alive. And yet again he came back. After the Maximum Carnage arc, Carnage became this god-like entity and his thirst for death and destruction increased and it became infinitely more difficult for someone to deliver the Killing Blow. He is still out there creating all sorts of ruckus for the heroes with the latter knowing no way of stopping him.
8. Kraven the Hunter
Kraven is known as the world’s greatest tracker and hunter. He is also one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes. The villain had his time to shine in the acclaimed Spiderman storyline Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt. Kraven is dying and he intends to prove that he can best Spider-Man, the one prey that was always elusive enough to evade his clutches. Kraven manages to capture Spider-Man and ‘kill’ him. Finally proving his point and fulfilling his purpose, Karven takes a rifle and shoots him in the head. His family bury him later. It is only a few years after that event do we realize that his family had already dug him up and resurrected him using magic and science. Kraven has managed to evade death quite a lot of times after that.
9. Vandal Savage
This villain is not just a guy who refuses to die. He cannot die. Because Vandal Savage, ladies, and gentlemen, is truly immortal. Vandal Savage was born a caveman, tens of thousands of years ago. One fine day, a meteorite crashed on Earth and the radiation coming from that introduced mutations within Vandal Savage, who gained heightened intelligence and immortality. Vandal has graced the history books as confidantes of some of the greatest tyrants and dictators. He has waged countless wars and was the first guy to commit murder. Vandal is also filthy rich, having amassed resources and assets that could rival Lex Luthor’s.
10. Green Goblin
In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin terrorizes the city of New York and sets his sights on Spider-Man, whose secret identity as Peter Parker he had already deduced. Norman Osborn tried to trick Spider-Man into getting in the way of his Goblin Glider and was almost impaled until Peter managed to use his Spider-Sense to dodge the attack in the last second. Green Goblin was impaled instead and he was thought to be dead. Little did Peter Parker know that the Goblin Formula that gave Norman his powers had also given him an enhanced healing factor that was even better than Spider-Man’s regenerative factors! This allowed the Green Goblin to fake his death numerous times and his body healed back and set him straight every time. The fans were left confused as to how this guy keeps returning from the dead until Green Goblin revealed his secret.
