Just because someDC Universevillains aren’t famous, that doesn’t mean they can’t be powerful threats. DC Comics has some iconic, world-ending supervillains likeDarkseid or the Anti-Monitorwhose actions have made them some of the most famous foes in comic history.
But not every apocalyptic threat gets the same infamy as theJokers or Lex Luthorsof the world. In fact, some powerful villains are only ever remembered by hardcore fans. However, that doesn’t mean these foes aren’t worthy of the spotlight. Read on for ten of the mostpowerful DC Comics villainsthat most casual audiences have almost certainly never heard of.
10The Music Meister’s Vocals Make The World His Stage
Created By: Michael Jelenic and James Tucker
Fans everywhere fell in love with the Music Meisterafter he debuted in the animated seriesBatman: The Brave and the Bold(and not just because he was originally voiced by Neil Patrick Harris). Darius Chapel is a metahuman who possesses the uncanny ability to take control of the people around him whenever he sings, often using them to aid in his crooked schemes and unwillingly participate in large-scale, showy musical numbers.
The Music Meister officially came to the DC Universe inDC Pride 2022 #1and his powers were just as strong, enabling him to take over an entire playhouse’s audience. So far, no one has displayed an immunity to the Music Meister’s hypnotic singing power, andGreen Arrow’s son Connor Hawke was only able to take him down by blocking the Chapel’s signal with powerful frequency-canceling earbuds.
9Starbreaker is a Cosmic Vampire
Created By: Mike Friedrich and Dick Dillin
Sun-Eaters are some of the most dangerous beings in the DC Universe due to their proclivity for seeking out stars and draining them, often putting planets in peril. One notable Sun-Eater is Luciphage, aka Starbreaker.Luciphage is a frequent villain of the Justice League and Green Lantern Corpsand the leader of a cosmic band of vampiric monsters. As a Sun-Eater, he’s got quite a number of powers that make him a real pain in the neck.
Aside from being able to drain the power of stars, Luciphage can also drain energy from other people to make himself stronger, including kinetic energy from punches. He’s also got a bevy of powers such as strength, flight, durability, andspeed that allow him to move as fast as the Flash.
8The Quiz’s Power Has No True Limits
Created By: Grant Morrison and Richard Case
The Doom Patrol frequently fight strange threats and one of the most dangerous they ever encountered was the Brotherhood of Dada’s Quiz. The Quiz has an unusual power, in the sense that her power is everything. More specifically,the Quiz has every power that no one has ever thought of. Whenever she engages in battle, her power is limited only by the abilities anyone can think of at any given moment, essentially giving her a range of powers few can actually imagine.
However, this doesn’t permanently erase the Quiz’s powers, as things appear to reset after a cooldown period. So every time she fights the Doom Patrol, they’re forced to think of every power they can as fast as they can. But with enough ingenuity and creativity,the only limit to this Doom Patrol villain’s powers is someone else’s imagination.
7Volthoom Has All the Powers of the Emotional Spectrum
Created By: Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver
Volthoom was a cosmic explorer and one of the very first people to discover the power of the Emotional Spectrum and used its power to create a lantern that allowed for multiversal travel. However, Volthoom’s power grew considerably after he met the Maltusians, who helped give Volthoom a permanent connection to the Emotional Spectrum. Unfortunately, the intense connection drove Volthoom mad,but it also made him one of the most powerful Lanterns to ever exist.
Volthoom has a complete mastery of the Emotional Spectrum, allowing him to manipulate every light freely. He can also use the Spectrum’s powers to alter his physical form and has even lived billions of years thanks to his connection to the Emotional Spectrum. He’s also got several other godlike powers, such as precognition and reality alteration,giving him strength most Green Lanterns can’t even fathom.
6Imperiex is Entropy Personified
Created By: Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill
The Marvel Universe may have Galactus, but the DC Universe has Imperiex, the central antagonist to the crossover storyline “Our Worlds at War”. Imperiex is the living embodiment of entropy and has routinely destroyed the universe in order for a new one to make way for a new one. Imperiex traveled from world to world, destroying them in his wake. The threat was so serious, thateven President Lex Luthor rallied as many elements as possible to stop it, including Doomsday.
It wasn’t easy to take down Imperiex. The only way that the DC Universe was able to permanently rid itself of the avatar of entropy was by infusing one of Imperiex’s probes with a time-based weapon and Darkseid’s energy and used it to transport him to the beginning of the universe. The heroes may have won,but Imperiex left a huge mark on the DC Universe before he perished.
5Cythonna Was One of Krypton’s Most Powerful Gods
Created By: Walt Simonson, Greg Hildebrandt, and Tim Hildebrandt
Most fans know about Rao, the sun god that the Kryptonians worshiped. But whereas Rao embodied life and the warmth of the sun, his opposite, Cythonna, embodied death and the frozen recesses of space. Rao banished Cythonna for eons, but she finally escaped and in lieu of getting revenge on Rao, she chose the last remnant of Krypton, Superman, to punish for Rao’s crimes. Though Cynthonna was shocked by the power Superman held,he was equally surprised at the power the Kryptonian god possessed.
Cynthonna has the powers one would imagine of a god, such as overwhelming strength, immortality, and, thanks to her having domain over ice, cryokinesis. She was so powerful,even Superman struggled to defeat her, but he did manage to trap her in the core of a sun, where she remains to this day.
4Retconn Nearly Sold the Entire DC Universe Off
Created By: Gerard Way
While most cosmic villains attempt to either destroy the DC Universe or take control of it, the multiversal organization Retconn had a more nefarious goal: Selling the DCU in the name of profit. Retconn was the central antagonist of the DC/Young Animal crossover “Milk Wars” and they came to the DC Universe with the intention of homogenizing androoting out the world’s more ‘problematic’ elements in order to sell the DCU to the highest bidder.
Not only is the company capable of multiversal travel, they were able to infect and change numerous DC heroes by delivering a mind-altering milk that turned Batman into a priest, Wonder Woman into a housewife, and the Justice League into a neighborhood watch. Thankfully, the oddballs of the Young Animal line were there to aid DC’s heroes, because without them,the DC Universe as fans know it would be long gone.
3The Decreator is Actively Killing the DC Universe
Stopping the end of the world is just another day for the Doom Patrol, but they actually failed when it came to stopping the Decreator. This powerful entity was worshiped by the Cult of the Unwritten Word and summoned to usher in the end of all existence. Despite the Patrol’s best efforts, they failed and the Decreator was summoned. However, Crazy Jane managed to come up with a plan that drastically slowed the entity’s pace.
The Decreator is exactly what its name sounds like. Its sole purpose is to unmake everything every created. To this day, it’s still destroying the DC Universe, making things blink out of existence, just at a rate that no one notices. So far, Crazy Jane’s plan is holding,but the Decreator is still unmaking the DC Universe and shows no signs of stopping.
2Olgrun is a Powerful Threat on the Horizon
Created By: Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Riccardo Federici, and Will Conrad
When Superman ventured to Warworld, he heard the story of Olgrun, the most powerful of the Old Gods, who went mad and whose power was split into seven aspects across the multiverse. Despite technically being dead, Olgrun’s spirit lived on and he attempted to come back bytaking control of the most powerful Green Lantern alive, John Stewart. Stewart even ventured into the dark realm where Olgrun’s poisoned spirit lived and was nearly converted into a vessel for Olgrun to inhabit.
Olgrun was a mighty spirit who helped build the DC Universe before he went mad. He was so powerful that merely one of the aspects he was split in to was able to fully recharge a powerless Superman. However, there’s a prophecy that warns that if all of Olgrun’s aspects are collected by an unworthy person,Olgrun will return to usher the DC Universe into an age of darkness.
1Perpetua Embodies the Very Power of Creation
Created By: James Tynion IV and Mikel Janín
Possibly the most powerful villain the Justice League has ever faced, Perpetua is a Sixth-Dimesional being, one of the Hands from beyond the Source wall and the creator of the DC multiverse. Not to mention the mother of the Anti-Monitor, Monitor and World Forger, several of the greatest cosmic beings in existence. Perpetua is unquestionably one of the most powerful villains in creation, able to destroy and create universes with little-to-no effort.
Of course, despite the power at her disposal, she was eventually overpowered by the Batman Who Laughs, who had used Doctor Manhattan’s power to evolve into a more powerful ‘Darkest Knight’ form. The Darkest Knight returned Perpetua to the Source Wall, finally ending the cosmic being. That being said, Perpetua’s inherent powermakes her one of the strongest villains the DC Universe has ever seen.
