You have to have some wires crossed to become a supervillain. The thought process that leads to I’m going to put on a silly mask and torture people to death is not a typical one, to say the least. As a result, we get a lot of supervillains whose main trait is They're crazy, LOL. Suffice it to say none of the characters listed here are exactly respectful or accurate depictions of mental health issues. So if that's the kind of thing that bothers you, maybe this won't be a fun time for you. But for everyone else, buckle up.
Source: cheatsheet.com
10. Negan
(The Walking Dead, Image Comics)
I mean, of course there had to be some sort of long-term Walking Dead villain here. And The Governor is significantly less interesting than Negan.
For the record, right up front: I am only talking about the comic book version. I do not watch the show. But the comic book version is scary and kinda funny and deeply insane. Even after he's toppled, he becomes a living Chekov's gun, biding his time until he can get out of his prison and ruin everything.
He's toxic masculinity embodied, too. His weird psycho-sexual attitude towards his violence is unique to his own voice. Straight up one of the most foul-mouthed characters in comics, right here.
He's famous for, in his introduction, making a real"¦um"¦impact on the main cast, and that sure does set a precedent for the kind of a person he's going to be. It is intense.
Source: nerdist.com
9. Mad Hatter
(Batman, DC Comics)
I mean, when Mad is in your name, and you're based on one of the most famous examples of literary insanity of all time, one could safely assume that you have a few loose screws.
Jervis Tetch is one of the lesser-known major-tier Batman villains, which means he has the luxury of being reinvented every few years. There's the creepy pervert mind control version, the pathetic internet Nice Guy version from the animated series, and all manner of weird hyper-violent insane versions.
If we're talking preferences, the Animated Series character wins handily, although his visual design is nowhere near as good as it would be in later adaptations.
Tetch's obsession with finding young blondes to be his Alices is troublesome at best, and downright horrific at worst. The least crazy versions limit their obsession to kidnapping. The others…well, I don't want to talk about it. Also, the best arc of Gotham Central centers around him, sooooooo"¦
Source: sevnetork.com
8. Purple Man
(Daredevil, Alias, Jessica Jones, Marvel Comics)
Zebidiah Killgrave is one of those supervillains who most people assume was created very recently because it took a long time for people to really get a handle on how to write him.
A former spy, Zebidiah found himself poisoned by a nerve gas prototype when on a mission. He came away with purple skin and the power to manipulate people’s minds just by talking to them. He decided to use this ability to go into organized crime. Of course, Daredevil, an at-the-time-new arrival, kicked the bejeezus kicked out of him. This was so early, by the way, that Daredevil was still in his perfect, silly yellow outfit.
Purple Man licked his wounds and moved to San Francisco, where Daredevil beat him up again. It wasn't until he met Jewel, aka Jessica Jones, that he found a real opponent. After taking her captive and destroying her life, the Avengers eventually defeated him. But he's been Jessica's arch nemesis ever since.
He still gets beaten up a lot though. Thank God.
Source: blogspot.com
7. Hobgoblin (Phil Urich)
(Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Comics)
Of all of the Goblins, I know most people will be expecting good ol' Norman Osborn to make this list, but when I think of scary-crazy Goblins, I think of Phil.
Phil was the nephew of Marvel mainstay Ben Urich, and while helping his uncle on an assignment, he found himself doused in Goblin formula. He swiped the costume and gadgets, and decided to become the Green Goblin"¦but a good Green Goblin. Like, a heroic goblin.
Dude, at that point, pick a new name. There's no redeeming a name that three previous people used for villainy. But Phil was a hero for a while, until the suit was damaged in battle and he had to retire. He became a part of a former superhero support group called The Loners before the Goblin serum's after-effects drove him insane and he betrayed them.
He returned to Spider-Man's life as The Hobgoblin with a wingsuit and a firesword, which is, I'll admit, pretty rad. But his weird scary goblin laugh and truly broken psyche make him the craziest Goblin by my measure.
Source: batman.wikia.com
6. Mr. Zsasz
(Batman, DC Comics)
At a certain point, Batman writers just started taking the challenge of creating new villains as an exercise in topping themselves. “Oh, you thought Amygdala was a big, strong guy; wait until you get a load of Bane!” “Oh, yeah, if you think Ra's Al Ghul was the smartest villain we could come up with, come check out Bane!” “Yeah, well, you know who's a better strategist than Cluemaster?” You get the point; most of them were just Bane.
But the one that wasn't was Mr. Zsasz.
Zsasz was a riff on the good ol' themed killer. He makes tally marks on his body for every murder. That's almost cartoonishly grim and dark. Like, if you had to mock how self-serious Batman comics got for a while, all you'd have to do is put Zsasz in front of a screen and portrait light him.
Say what you will, they haven't figured out a way to make a crazier villain since Zsasz. Except Ban…Wait, never mind.
Source: totalcomicmayhem.com
5. Kevin
(Sin City, Dark Horse Publications)
Oh, God, why.
Kevin scares the heck out of me. Sin City remains fairly hit or miss (leaning more toward miss the farther you get into it), but Kevin is one of its most enduring antagonists. Kevin is one of the comic book world’s scariest serial killers, and cannibal at that who prefers prostitutes as targets. He's also terrifyingly fast and strong, and is more than a match for Basin City's most fearsome fighters.
He also, like, doesn't seem to feel pain. Which is deeply unsettling. More unsettling in the movie, because Elijah Wood can be shockingly creepy when he wants to be. In the story, Kevin murders Goldie, a prostitute whose last action is to show kindness to Marv, Sin City's resident sad lump of scar tissue and growling. Marv tracks Kevin down and cuts him into pieces before feeding said pieces to wolves. You know, good family fun.
Plus, one hell of a villain for the first Sin City arc.
Source: theunspokendecade.com
4. Madcap
(Deadpool, Captain America, Marvel Comics)
Madcap spent a long time bopping around among F-List supervillains before his recent turn in Deadpool bumped him up.
Madcap (real name unknown), was a young man on a trip with his religious group when AIM accidentally wound up disposing of a newly created chemical right on top of their bus. The chemical, Chemical X07, killed everyone except Madcap, who was left with an intense healing factor.
The accident broke him psychologically and turned him into a madman. It also gave him a separate power: He could drive people temporarily insane. Armed with his own belief that the world was a chaotic place that had no meaning, and wearing a ridiculous costume, he took to the streets as a supervillain.
He spent a long time bouncing off the fists of every B, C and D-List hero in the Marvel Universe, including Daredevil, Power Pack, She-Hulk, and Nomad. Eventually, though, he found a place as Deadpool's newest archnemesis, and there he truly flourished.
Read More: List of Crazy Marvel Characters
Source: extremisreview.wordpress.com
3. Madder Red
(Bedlam, Image Comics)
When you start off decapitating cardinals and using their heads as especially Catholic sock puppets, you can’t get much crazier.
Madder Red was the most feared and terrifying villain in the city of Bedlam. Until he died. Only, he didn't die; he was kidnapped and mind-controlled into becoming a normal guy with a desire to do good. As Fillmore Press, he helped Bedlam's police department deal with crazy villains, and they never knew just who he was.
Most of Press's time as Madder Red is locked in flashbacks throughout the criminally short run of Bedlam, but every instance of it is bone shatteringly creepy. I mentioned the priest-puppet scene, but even creepier is the opening that shows us what he's like. His supposed death comes right at the pinnacle of the most evil thing ever, and it’s spellbinding to read.
He's a monster, through and through.
Source: collider.com
2. Carnage
(Spider-Man, Marvel Comics)
Spider-Man has some pretty crazy villains. And Carnage is the craziest of all of them.
Cletus Kasady was already a terrifying serial killer, and that's before he ever found his way to having superpowers. In jail, Cletus shared a cell with Edward “Eddie” Brock, aka Venom. When Brock’s partner/sentient goop monster the Symbiote broke him out of said prison, the Symbiote was…Well, whatever the sentient goop version of pregnant is.
The Symbiote baby bonded with Kasady, and together they became Carnage, a red blood monster who enjoys murder only slightly less than I enjoy those oreo Cadbury bars.
Carnage verges on being too grim-dark for his own good, but when he's right, he's pretty fun. I'll still fight for Maximum Carnage as Not That Bad, and I'd even call it fun if you caught me on an especially charitable day. But don't get me wrong; the red-clad murder-monster at the heart of it is nuttier than a Payday bar, for sure.
Source: comingsoon.net
1. The Joker
(Batman, DC Comics)
Well, duh.
Like, I try to throw some deep cuts and lesser known entries into these lists, but sometimes you just gotta play up the favorites. Of course, The Joker is the craziest villain of all time, and not just because he's a psychopathic murder clown. That's only part of it.
People forget just how weird and nuts the Joker actually is. Oh, people remember him crippling Barbara Gordon, but they forget that he had a giant car that looked like his face. They remember him beating Jason Todd to death, but they forget that, in that SAME STORY, he also got himself declared Iranian Ambassador to the United States. The Joker is CRAZY, y'all. And pretending he's just crazy in a scary-grim and gritty way does him a huge disservice.
If you're going to talk about The Joker, please acknowledge the deep spectrum of insanity that has plagued him throughout his entire comic book career. It's worth going into.
And there you have it, the craziest of the best, villain-wise. Wish we'd done heroes, so I could talk about my deep love for Moon Knight. Ah, well, maybe next time.
