Under-rated villains
Under-Rated Villains Thread
Leo Johnson
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Luis Sanders
The power to steal other powers always seemed like end-game villain potential, to me.
Tyler Butler
Carson Taylor
LOOK AT HIS FACE
If they wanted to, they could have an amazing horror villain on their hands.
Jeremiah Davis
It is, but when you're like parasite (have to touch them to drain power) instead of amazo (just have to be nearby), it's less effective
I like pic related, his origin is sad as fuck
Justin Mitchell
He got jobbed
Christopher Butler
Metallo too. He was fucking great in S:TAS thanks to his VA.
Jacob Brown
While he's not super-interesting in and of himself, he has a surprisingly long history of fucking with the X-Men. On top of being responsible for ruining Jean Grey's life (at least before they retconned it so that it wasn't the real Jean), dude also ruined Wolverine's wedding and derailed his relationship with Mariko.
Jackson Gray
>at least before they retconned it so that it wasn't the real Jean
To be fair, even with it turning out to have just been the Phoenix force taking the form of Jean, the fallout from the whole Dark Phoenix debacle continues to have consequences for the X-Men, Jean (in various incarnations), the Summers family, and any number of associated characters. I think Mastermind has still earned a high spot on the X-Men's shit list.
But yeah as a character he has no real hook.
Michael White
no one ever talks about how the whole reason Dark Phoenix happened was because of him. people somehow stick with the idea the Force itself is like evil or corrupting or whatever
Brayden Edwards
Always gets lobbied under "Edgy and boring" But really he's always fun to read
Tyler Martinez
Dude literally cucked Cyclops. He's alright by me.
Adrian Green
Really, you could fill this whole thread with Superman villains.
Beyond Lex, Brainiac and Zod, there really isn't a single one that gets their due.
Joshua Rivera
Problem with Parasite is that he needs direct contact, the powers wear off over time, and he's essentially a junkie
Robert Morgan
Lex is too overused. They need to lay off him for a while, despite him being my favorite villain. I wish instead of people making a new OC they’d try to write an arc focusing on Metallo or Parasite.
Oliver Powell
he hasnt been a villain in forever tho'
Christopher Howard
Chameleon I think never really gets his due largely because it seems like writers don't really have any clue what to do with him. I feel like stories with him need to be more psychological in nature either playing off of Spider-Man's (and the reader's) paranoia, you could do something like a Detective Conan vs. Kaito Kid story for lighter fare, stories that play upon Chameleon's own self-image issues, etc. But usually he just gets used as part of an ensemble group at this point. Spider-Man/Deadpool is using him but his spot in the arc could've been filled by anyone because he's too generically super villain and nothing about what he's doing particularly screams "we need the Chameleon for this role".
Also the constant flipping back and forth between shapeshifting and masks is dumb. He should either be a shapeshifter or have the belt like he did in the cartoon and prior to the '90s.
Still my favorite Spidey villain though.
Asher Martin
I think he means in general, like movies, etc
Chase Wright
I like the mask hook, honestly.
Shapeshifters are a fucking dime a dozen in comics.
But a true master of disguise, that's not something we get a lot of.
Nicholas Brooks
the only reason Mastermind is dead and didnt become a major villain is that he is technically a rapist. even if the 90s when he was killed it was kinda problematic.
Jean Grey has only had sex with Cyclops and Mastermind
Mason Martin
Blake Baker
>the only reason Mastermind is dead and didnt become a major villain
He didn't become a major villain because he had no real meat to him. He had plenty of time, the Dark Phoenix saga happened in 1980 and he died in what, 1991-92?
He died because they needed fodder for the Legacy Virus.
Logan Barnes
He's an Amazo that makes a bit more sense; Amazo (especially the way he has been used since the late 1990s, in JL/JLU and in comics has been way too OP) would be boring in a live action adaptation because of the logic brain fail to get the character to work
Horror with Parasite is what they did with the Earth One vol. 3 graphic novel. Especially his back story, which was pretty creepy. Not sure a straight adaptation of that would work as a Superman movie, but it wouldn't be an expensive movie.
Julian Ortiz
Sebastian Flores
He's a good villain with the wrong hero. He work well with Batman, Question, Moon Knight, David's X-Factor, really he just needs a more detective like foil. Spider-man can be that but both with his power set and narrative structure Chameleon gets sidelined because with a guy that has both an auto danger sense and the ability to break all your bones in a few punches it leaves little room for a master of disguise to flourish.
Adam Flores
That and shapeshifters are hard as fuck to use as villains because they can change their looks on the fly and can get out of most situations by just finding a crowd. Guy in a full disguise gets busted but still escapes? That leads to a lot more interesting chase scene.
Cameron Gutierrez
The Deadpool Annual that has Pete guest star (which is, of course, called SpideyPool) features Chameleon as a villain and does a good job of addressing the 'auto danger sense' issue as well as the break all your bones issue. It could easily be adapted as a PG-13 rated cross-over with Holland and some other actor in the DP costume (with Reynold's doing the voice work) in say 5 years when they have done absorbed Fox
Gabriel Harris
Well I just prefer the shapeshifting. If they wanted to do the masks that's fine but I just want some consistency. He came back during BND using masks, then after Ends of the Earth he was shapeshifting (and the serum/chemical he uses to do it was a plot point in Superior Foes), now in Spider-Man/Deadpool he's back to masks. It's more just an example of how writers seemingly have no idea what to actually do with him.
The best Chameleon stories were always the ones that dealt with him going after people on a personal level. The story where he kidnapped Jameson and impersonated him for instance, the DeMatteis story from Spectacular where he impersonates Dr. Kafka and temporarily convinced Peter he's not himself, the Jenkins story where he and Peter talk on the bridge that ends in his suicide, etc.
Personally I think he's a character that if written well could carry at least his own mini. Chameleon in a moody book blending bizarre spy fiction and psychological thriller would be gold if written well.
Daniel Flores
Jesus fuck, when was the last time Atomic Skull showed up in the comics?
Noah Reyes
The Adventures of Superman digital first used Parasite and Metallo quite a bit, as well as Bizarro (although more as an anti-hero). Those were some good examples of how to use those people.
Atomic Skull appears in a really great humor story with Sugar and Spike, and Clark as their neighbor/baby sitter.
Jackson Torres
Rebirth Superwoman, he reformed and joined the MSCU.
Colton Hughes
Always seemed weird to me that she's treated as a minor, smalltime character. Her powers seem like they have a really high upwards potential that already could hurt Superman, and the weakness to water seems inconsistent and like something she could get around easily enough.
She's got a good name and design, too. No idea why she never got as popular as Harley or Ivy.
Evan Edwards
I feel like taking the "creepy" angle with Spot really revitalized him as a villain, but there's a lot more that could be done with him. Him continuing to be mute kind of limits his role in a narrative, and while that does make him well suited as a sort of Jason-esque stalker/serial killer, he could do with more options.
Camden Butler
Simple: writers don’t use her. Instead we get a 101 OCs that they try to make the next big thing. Writers want to use Batman and Spider-Man’s Rogues Gallery which helps build them up and make them deeper. WW, Supes, hell pretty much everyone else doesn’t have writers using previous writers characters.
Bentley Gray
Caleb Sullivan
>Rebirth Superwoman
Oh that explains it
William Bailey
Jaxson Turner
Silver age Sportsmaster
His gimmick always seems goofy but if you accept at face value that he really IS the world's best boxer, fencer, baseball player etc. as they used to say then he could stand toe to toe with Slade/Lady Shiva & fuck people up with ping pong balls.
Cameron Hughes
Does he even steal powers? I thought he just "drained energy"?
Dylan Phillips
Hell yeah.
Jackson Brooks
Wondie is the queen of this
Angle Man and Doctor Poison could have been great recurring villains, Giganta is criminally underused, ones with potential like Blue Snowman and Priscilla Rich go completely unused, and even ones like Silver Swan who had very good revamps still get ignored
Circe, Cheetah and Dr. Psycho are great, but let's build more on what's already here
Jonathan Hernandez
I demand a Livewire push. Put her on Sideways as a Electro stand in, SOMETHING!
Logan Richardson
Current Blue Snowman got killed. Fuck lazy writers who kill off characters they think are lame
Jason Rogers
Yes.
Chase Evans
Baby Doll
Jonathan Nelson
She was good on Supergirl.
And then she died.
Bentley Ramirez
Funny enough Robinson went out of his way to revamp her JUST for that issue just to also kind of kill her off in one page
But at least the way she was "dealt with" makes it easy to bring her back
Tyler Ross
Thank you, friend. Both are definitely underrated, though at least Lisa's gotten a bit of a push in recent years.
Kevin James
Because except for Lex, Mxy and Bizarro, Superman's rogues gallery is filled with replaceable DBZ tier villains.
Luis Thompson
How about this guy?
Landon Young
Agreed. He should still look exactly like this.
Owen Flores
What about like this?
youtube.com
Jace Young
Every time Spellbinder was the main villain I was fucking stoked. Had the same feeling with Slade episodes.
Samuel Perez
>Her villain
What?
Josiah Mitchell
(OP)
her only good villain, yes, even more that silly western fucking Felicia bullshit cheeta
Luke Rodriguez
this dude totally fucked Jailbait.
Cameron Jackson
I think he has an interesting dynamic within Marvel comics: all of the other characters seem to be written with dramatic and human backstories. But Cletus is just a violent animal. It makes him a lot more dangerous, in his own respect.
Adrian Evans
I think it was better in the comics.
Jace Johnson
this series was full of underrated villains.
Joshua Rodriguez
Why is he dressed in tiger stripes?
Noah Adams
Well...
Jaxson Anderson
I'm not even mad at this point, she's been killed off two or three times in the past 10 years.
I might have autistically created entire new backstories for Priscilla Rich and Deborah Domaine, and a unified version of Dr. Poison's history that allows for the film version, Golden Age version, post-Crisis version, and Rucka's version to exist.
Someone needs to watch Young Justice.
Nicholas Martin
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say The Leader. He serves as a great foil to the Hulk, a brilliant scientist who was turned into a mindless brute, with Samuel Sterns being a college drop-out turned into a super-genius.
In fact, Hulk's rogues gallery has a lot of interesting characters that could do with a bit of a make-over or reintegration. Though to be fair, it's hard to do a good solo Hulk story that isn't GRRR SMASH.
Colton Smith
Best costume right here.
Easton Cruz
I forgot the name, but wasn't there a guy in Spider-Man's run where he was a collective of spiders and could use another persons skin as a suit, similar to Edgar from Men in Black? That shit was borderline Lovecraft and legit gave me a fear of that.
Logan Bailey
I think that Leader's issue is one of design. The tall head isn't menacing and the giant brain design screams "Punch here to win." I think a more monstrous design would come over better.
Lincoln Cox
That would be "The Thousand," if memory serves. A bitter anti spider-man who was pissed that he turned into a horrible bug collective instead of getting awesome hero powers.
Benjamin Ross
>writers don't have a clue
that and the ones that do know they'd have to work at a good story that involves him. same goes for mystique. shapeshifters are very chaotic and might be difficult to write about
Brody Wright
Dark Beast
could work well as a genetic mutation villain with apocalypse cyborg tech. at the end of AoA, he almost succeeded in getting closer to controlling the universe than many, many others if it weren't for quicksilver
Eli Gutierrez
That it is, and hello nightmares
Logan Gray
From the wiki:
Carl King was a bully in Peter Parker's class when they were children. He witnessed Peter being bitten by the radioactive spider, and his subsequent displays of superhuman abilities. Eager to get the same powers, Carl located and ate the now dead spider, which gradually caused his body to break down into a hive mind of spiders, something he discovered when he unintentionally consumed his own mother from the inside out, and took control of her remains.
Kayden Hall
I think a monstrous design would defeat the whole purpose of his character's relation to the Hulk, him being a hyper-intelligent charismatic figure opposes the Hulk's brutish nature. There are plenty of monstrous Hulk villain who are just as monstrous as he is (hell, that's Abomination's whole shtick) that fill that role already.
Though perhaps if he has the same relationship Hulk has to Banner in that they are two separate entities inhabiting the same body, and he transforms back into Samuel after the Leader is defeated could work. Could explore some interesting relationships between the two personalities and issues around intellectual disparity ala Flowers for Algernon.
Ethan Davis
the supergirl show did her pretty well. Obviously not the MAIN villain, because shes not "related' to supergirl or her home planet, which is the more "important and personal" villains, but outside of that, shes the main hometown villain alot of the time.
Daniel Miller
always loved the spot. always think about what i can do with his powers.
its weird, have i seen him on a bunch of "worst villains" list because people think he literally just makes spots? lol
Connor Robinson
Hudson Turner
well, thats certainly something a little beyond "getting some spider dna"
Eli Rodriguez
They killed her off in season 3, user.
Robert Gray
Also while i'm thinking about it, How terrifying would an actual "Spider-Man" be? I mean someone who actually has the power to control spiders. Think about it, there must be thousands of spiders out there from the common daddy long legs that you find in most houses, brown recluses, giant fifty foot Australian spiders that are in parliment, and trapdoor spiders. Think about how much power a person like that would have.
Caleb Nelson
No he steals powers and even memories.
Ethan Evans
Bentley Reed
well, shit
...or did they?
Logan Ortiz
Michael Gomez
>Though perhaps if he has the same relationship Hulk has to Banner in that they are two separate entities inhabiting the same body
I think that's kind of a thing. He can turn back into Sterns at will, but loses everything (including his memories of being the Leader) in the process.
Jace Mitchell
I meant more in physical design, not how the character acts. Hyper-intelligent, charismatic, but stuck in an ugly, messed up body. Rather than reflecting his personality, his body contrasts it.
The dual entities could work, but writers would need to remember that Sterns isn't retarded or stupid, he's just not very smart.
Hudson James
Oh really? Must've missed that, though that whole memory loss thing seems like a cop-out for potential character dynamics between the two.
Oh yeah, that could work too. Even if they didn't go full super-strong mutant body, but a grotesquely dis-proportioned body or even something like The Master from Fallout 1 (albeit, with the gore turned down of course) could definitely work. And yeah, Sterns would just have average or slightly below average intelligence, but still not intelligent enough that in comparison to Banner or The Leader, he seems insignificant.
Evan Mitchell
i mean yeah, they just leave her body in fucking space and just go "aw that's a bummer"
Landon King
>Someone needs to watch Young Justice.
Someone needs to read comic books
William Lee
Mystique's one of those characters where I think her inconsistency is part of her character. She's just unstable and self-interested always doing what's best for her. If it means being a villain then she's a villain, if it means being an ally of the X-Men then so be it. Her inconsistency has made her consistent oddly enough; she's pretty much just Chaotic Neutral.
Anyway I've always liked Skein. You think it'd be easy to find use for a bisexual woman who lives for little more than satisfying her own hedonistic desires.
Benjamin Lewis
Hunter Mitchell
The mutant Random seems to be able to do a lot of versatile things but is always a jobber.
James Brown
Gabriel Green
8 Ball fucking rules
Josiah King
And he got a whole fucking squad
Nathan Harris
He used the human torch to nuke the thing right? Theres no chance of it coming back right?
Hunter Reyes
You remember that midget that Spock was fucking? I'm not going to say that her character arc ended in such a way "exploded into millions of spiders during sex" would be a valid description but I am going to say there there are some Spider-Man issues you should probably avoid.
Jackson Clark
They gave him a kind of fucked up body (complete with neck brace thing) in the Ultimate Universe, where he was Pete Wisdom.
Honestly not that big a fan of the concept, since I feel it makes him too similar to MODOK.
David Wood
They were fried by electricity and the last one was stepped on.
Kind of anticlimactic (I liked Pete luring Ms. Arrow, who was also made of spiders, into an aviary where she was swarmed and eaten by birds, a bit better) but fitting, I suppose, since his whole thing was wanting to be as big as Spider-Man and he instead was turned into a smear on the sidewalk by someone who didn't even notice.
Aiden Thompson
>The original anti Spider-Man
>Started his career by beating the hell out of Spider-Man
>Was stronger and faster, making Peter struggle and use his intellect to win
>Was the ultimate mistake of J Jonah Jameson
>Was depicted as so insane other villains were scared to work with him
>Gave Peter a massive fight every time
>Almost killed Captain America
>Suddenly it was decided he sucks
>Suddeny Pete is Goku and always holds back
Matthew Robinson
Forgot pic
Jonathan Allen
Stop making stuff up to try and freak that user out. No such thing happened.