DC Comics has some of the best hero and villain rivalries of all time, with feuds like Batman and Joker and Superman and Lex Luthor catching the audience’s attention for decades. And while supervillains will often team up to defeat a common enemy, their propensity for selfishness and backstabbing often leaves these costumed criminals soon at each other’s throats instead. Indeed, many of DC’s most notorious villains have developed intense rivalries with fellow members of the criminal underworld to satiate their pride, to expand their territories, or to have the sole honor of killing their heroic nemesis. These are the most heated rivalries between DC’s greatest villains.
Supervillains spend most of their time plotting to destroy heroes. But sometimes they’ll take a break by trying to kill off villains who they view as competition in their grand schemes.
There are two villains in DC Comics who arguably deserve the title of the world’s greatest assassin: Deathstroke and Deadshot. While Deadshot is the better marksman, Deathstroke is the superior close-quarters combatant. Over the years, these two cold-blooded killers have fought each other numerous times. Although most of the time their fights are purely to complete their missions, there’s still always this underlying sense that they’re trying to kill each other to prove themselves to be the better assassin. As long as one of them continues to draw breath, Deathstroke and Deadshot will continue their unspoken and competitive feud.
For years, Harley Quinn was defined by her abusive relationship with the Joker, in which she followed his every word, no matter how cruel he was to her. However, when Harley finally broke free of the Joker’s abusive hold, the Clown Prince of Crime soon found himself a new girlfriend: Punchline. Unlike Harley, Punchline was already a murderous psychopath before she met the Joker, and upon becoming his new girlfriend, they shared a much more equal relationship. Punchline holds deep resentment and jealousy towards Harley for being the Joker’s first girlfriend, and wants to kill her to prove herself to be his one true love. Meanwhile, Harley sees Punchline as a dark reflection of herself and her past abusive relationship.
Batman’s two most iconic muscle-bound villains are Killer Croc and Bane, who both heavily rely on their physical strength to contend with the Caped Crusader. Given the pride they both have in their overwhelming strength, Killer Croc and Bane naturally have an intense rivalry over which of them is tougher. Whenever these two powerhouses cross paths, they almost immediately start trading blows. Ironically, in the battle of some of the physically strongest Batman villains, it oftentimes comes down to who’s smarter. Bane’s strategic mind has led him to outmaneuver and overpower Killer Croc, which makes the animalistic cannibal even more determined to defeat Bane.
The leaders of the two most fearsome Lantern Corps in the universe, Sinestro and Atrocitus, hate each other just as much as they hate the Green Lanterns. Before Sinestro abandoned the Green Lanterns and descended into villainy, he was one of the Corps’ greatest members. During his time as a hero, he fought and imprisoned the intergalactic criminal Atrocitus, who blamed the Guardians and Green Lanterns for the destruction of his Space Sector. Even after Sinestro founded the Yellow Lanterns and Atrocitus founded the Red Lanterns, their rivalry persists. Sinestro wants to eradicate anyone who gets in his way of conquering the universe, like the Red Lanterns. At the same time, Atrocitus seeks to make the Yellow Lantern pay for the countless lives he and his Corps have taken.
The Riddler has always been a villain defined by his insecurity and drive to prove that he’s everyone’s superior. So naturally, the fact that the Joker is Batman’s archnemesis and the most notorious villain in Gotham gets underneath the Riddler’s skin. Meanwhile, the Joker is an agent of chaos who won’t let anyone other than himself kill the Dark Knight. The two Gotham villains had their most infamous conflict during the “War of Jokes and Riddles,” where the Joker and Riddler started a gang war that threatened to tear the city apart. Overall, their rivalry stems from their egos and opposed views on the best way to commit crimes.
Superman and Batman have a well-known friendship and rivalry, but their evil counterparts from Earth-3 have no such camaraderie. Despite being founding members of the Crime Syndicate, Ultraman and Owlman are constantly resisting the urge to kill each other. Ultraman’s brutish sadism, mixed with Owlman’s calculated cruelty, often leads them to butt heads and fight over who should lead the Crime Syndicate. And of course, there’s the fact that Owlman is having an affair with Ultraman’s wife, Superwoman, which both gleefully hold over the evil Superman’s head. Owlman and Ultraman see each other as mere tools to use to continue their domination of Earth. They will quickly backstab each other when they deem the other no longer useful.
There are few villains in all of DC Comics more powerful and menacing than Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor. Both are responsible for the deaths of trillions, and won’t rest until existence is under their domain. During Crisis on Infinite Earths, Darkseid used Alexander Luthor Jr. to deal near-fatal damage to the Anti-Monitor, ultimately causing the villain to die during his campaign against the multiverse. During the Darkseid War, the Anti-Monitor got his revenge when he led his legions of Shadow Demons against the armies of Apokolips, with Earth getting caught in the crossfire. The war ended when the Anti-Monitor successfully overpowered and vaporized Darkseid. It’s only a matter of time until these two titans of pure evil have their tie-breaking rematch.
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