Villains are the backbone of superhero comics, especially in DC Comics. They cause the problems that the heroes have to solve and are the cornerstones of the rivalries that lead to some of the best stories. But while some villains have solid plans and motivations, such as wanting to get revenge after being wronged or wanting to seek great power for themselves, some villains just… don’t. Some villains seem to be in it simply to have something to do or because they just like to cause trouble, while others just want to feel like they’ve bested something or someone.
While the actual things these villains do are interesting, action-packed, and cause real problems for the heroes — and in turn make for great stories for comics fans — the truth is, when you step back and look at these mad schemes, they have no real rhyme or reason. These are four great villains who have fantastic stories but pretty weak reasons for them. And somehow, we love them anyway.
Mister Mxyzptlk is arguably one of DC’s most entertaining villains. The fifth-dimensional imp causes chaos anytime he shows up, thanks to his reality-warping powers and utilization of cartoon physics. It’s also hilarious in that the only way to defeat him and send him back to his home dimension is to trick him into saying his own name backward, which itself lends to some pretty clever hijinks. Mxy can be a nuisance and has been portrayed as being a little sinister from time to time, but generally speaking, the villain is more fun than fearsome.
But that is also kind of the problem. Mxyzptlk doesn’t seem to have any actual motivation other than to cause chaos. Sure, pranks are fun, but what is the actual point of it all other than entertainment? There doesn’t really seem to be any actual plan when Mxy shows up, either, other than to mess with Superman and reality in general and given how simple it is to defeat him (even if it does take some creativity to pull it off most of the time), the truth is Mister Mxyzptlk’s plans of villainy just don’t make much sense. He’s more of an annoyance than an actual threat.
Bane is probably one of Batman’s most powerful and enduring enemies, and while he certainly makes for a fantastic physical antagonist for the Dark Knight, his actual reason for it has never really made a ton of sense. Going into his origin story: Bane spent his childhood in a prison, and that’s horrific enough as it is, but he also developed an intense fear of bats, which eventually translates to him needing to confront Batman as the embodiment of the bat that has haunted him his whole life? But that’s it: that is truly Bane’s whole motivation for hating Batman.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Bane is a great villain. He gives Batman a real run for his money and has done some genuinely terrifying and terrible things over the years. There have been so many more elements of the villain and his activities that have been built upon — for example, the entire “City of Bane” storyline from Tom King’s Batman run, which shows just how cunning the villain can be. But in terms of his actual motivations and plans, wanting to take down Batman because he styles himself after a bat is just silly. Therapy makes way more sense.
Lex Luthor is one of the most well-known villains in all of comics, and he’s carried out some wild schemes over the years. A ruthless businessman, always trying to carry out some sort of chaos, Lex is wealthy and wildly intelligent, which makes him particularly dangerous when he decides to go after Superman. Some of the best stories in DC Comics involve a Lex Luthor scheme.
That said, when you really boil down any of Lex’s plans, they just come down to his own insecurity. Lex’s entire drive is that he wants to defeat Superman to prove he’s better than he is. That’s it. He just wants to defeat Superman and establish himself as humanity’s savior or as the most powerful being, all in service of his own ego. He’s just full-on selfish, and it begs the question: if he were to actually completely be successful and actually defeat Superman once and for all, what would he do then?
The Joker is, without question, the greatest villain in DC Comics and probably the most dangerous. He’s also the one with plans and motivations that make no sense. In fact, the Joker has no actual plan. He exists entirely to cause chaos and to prove his general philosophy that anyone can be pushed to their breaking point if things get bad enough, even if it’s just “one bad day.” While he has plenty of individual schemes and many are elaborate, they are all in furtherance of that core idea of pure chaos. That’s it.
Making the Joker’s plans even less logical is that he targets Batman for most of his schemes. For Joker, it’s all about just proving a point as the villain thinks he and Batman are largely the two sides of the same coin, and that if he pushes him far enough, he’ll break just like him, and since Batman is so determined to hold onto order and rules, for the Joker, it’s all just a big game. He’s not trying to gain wealth or power. He just wants to mess with Batman and make everything chaotic. It makes for great stories, but as an actual plan or motivation? It makes no sense.
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