Superman is the biggest hero in comic book history. He’s had a history spanning almost 90 years, and as a result, has racked up an incredible and diverse rogues gallery. His list of villains may be long, but some are better, more interesting, more entertaining, or more powerful than others. Let’s take a look at how the man of steel’s best villains rank against each other.

12) Cyborg Superman

Hank Henshaw is easily one of the more underrated villains who have opposed Superman. His backstory, involving the loss of his wife and his human body, is an extremely tragic one. His ability to extend his consciousness into any machine is incredibly powerful, especially since that includes alien tech like power rings. There’s even a point when he joins the Sinestro Corps. He’s one awesome baddie, but there are a lot of evil versions of Superman out there, even if Cyborg Superman is easily one of the coolest ones.

11) Metallo

Metallo is a fun character in the sense that he’s been altered to fit a wide variety of stories over the years. However, that also means he’s insanely inconsistent. It’s hard to latch onto a version of him that feels “right” or “definitive.” His mechanized body parts are cool, though, and being powered by Kryptonite makes him the ultimate weapon against Superman, even if he’s just a tool made by Lex Luthor.

10) Mongul

Mongul (along with his family) is one of the most powerful villains in Superman’s rogues gallery. His immense strength, along with his abilities to teleport and create energy blasts, and telepathy, as well as his skills with weaponry like his chest-mounted cannon, make him an extremely formidable foe for the man of steel. He’s also the ruler of Warworld, a planet-sized weaponized satellite he uses to train his army and conquer planets. He’s always proved to be a big threat to Superman, but he could be a more interesting character personality-wise. There’s only so many stories that could be told with him.

9) Parasite

Parasite is one of the creepiest Superman villains out there. He also poses one of the biggest threats to Superman or any hero he faces off against. Parasite is able to absorb life energy, superpowers, and the knowledge of his victims just by touching them. Superman has quite a few powers worth absorbing, making Parasite a scary foe for him to face. He can also drain the energy from any power source, and at times has been able to take on the appearance of those he absorbs. He’s someone who could very quickly become overpowered. However, he also absorbs the weaknesses of those he touches, which has led to him to cause his own downfall a number of times. 

8) Mr. Mxyzptlk

Mr. Mxyzptlk is one of the more fun characters on this list. He’s an imp from the fifth dimension with the ability to warp reality. He usually uses this power to be an absolute troll and mess with those around him, especially Superman, for laughs. This trickster’s only real weakness is to trick him into saying his own name backwards, which sends him back to his home dimension. With his name being hard enough to say already, that’s rather tough to do. He’s always wildly entertaining and insanely powerful. That being said, though, he’s usually more of a goofball menace than he is a dastardly supervillain.

7) Bizarro

Bizarro is so iconic that he’s had theme park rides named after him and is frequently referenced when there is an opposite or evil version of someone in fiction. He’s the opposite of Superman, which essentially gives him the same powers as Superman, but the opposite versions of them. Instead of heat vision, he gets “Arctic vision.” Instead of ice breath, he gets flame breath. He can only see through lead where Superman can see through anything other than lead. The list goes on. This makes him a wildly entertaining character that adds something interesting to action sequences and unique stories. The only reasons why he isn’t higher on this list is that he’s yet another evil version of Superman, is often seen as a flawed copy of the man of steel, and sometimes isn’t fully a villain.

6) Doomsday

Doomsday is one of Superman’s most enduring villains. He’s so powerful and ruthless that he’s famous for being the one who has killed Superman. He’s also one of the coolest designed villains in Superman’s rogues gallery, and stories involving him allow for exploration into Krypton’s history. His savagery makes for some rather exciting fight scenes, and he’s absolutely terrifying. He’d definitely be higher on this list if he was a little smarter or not just used as a weapon or a pawn by other villains.

5) Livewire

Livewire was actually originally created for Superman: The Animated Series rather than the comics, so it’s pretty neat that she’s gained enough popularity to be used in the comics like Harley Quinn was. After an accident transformed her into pure electricity, she uses her abilities to manipulate electricity, generate electric blasts, and travel through electrical currents to torture her adversary, Superman. She’s strong enough that she’s able to weaken and stun Superman. She’s fueled by her hatred of the man of steel, with her anger toward him being rather entertaining at times. Her main weakness, though, is water, so she’s not the hardest to subdue.

4) General Zod

General Zod will forever be one of Superman’s toughest foes. He has all the same powers as Superman, except he also possesses a detailed knowledge of military tactics and battle strategy, giving him an edge over the man of steel. He’s also overall a better fighter. Stories centered around Zod allow for a deep dive into Krypton’s history, which is always interesting. He’s a perfect adversary to Superman, but he is a character with rather limited story potential compared to other big bads.

3) Toyman

I know, you’re shocked to see Toyman this high on the list, but hear me out. This guy is just plain fun. His toy-themed gadgets are always entertaining and serve as a unique gimmick for a supervillain. Plus, him being a human without superpowers of his own makes him an interesting adversary for someone as super-powerful as Superman. It shows that Superman is capable of being more human than someone so dastardly. Plus, Toyman is a rather tragic figure, making him interesting to read about. He’s obviously far from the biggest threat, but he’s both a lot of fun and genuinely interesting.

2) Brainiac

Brainiac is such a major and powerful Superman villain that he’s often used as a Justice League antagonist, and has even had heroes and villains team up to take him down. This Coluan has twelfth-level intelligence, making him one of the smartest beings in the entire galaxy. He’s also a master of tech and a collector of cities. He’s after one thing, and that’s infinite knowledge. He views Superman’s compassion for humanity as a weakness, and it’s always fun to see Superman prove him wrong.

1) Lex Luthor

It goes without saying that Lex Luthor is Superman’s greatest nemesis. He’s a household name, even for those who don’t read comic books or have seen any sort of Superman media. He’s a tech genius who has used his superior intellect, variety of gadgets, and his always-awesome Warsuit to take on the man of steel. He’s even responsible for the creation of several other supervillains, and he’s developed weapons of mass destruction. It’s fitting that the “all-powerful” Superman’s archnemesis is one of the biggest monsters of all despite not actually having powers. It really proves what is meant by “humanity.”

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