Superheroes would be nothing without an antagonist. And while the most popular villains have solid fanbases, there are some unsung villains that have been almost completely forgotten. It’s unjust, cause these guys and girls are some of the most entertainingly evil characters in their universes:
The classic: Riddler
The Riddler is an old-school villain, so he might seem a little stale and over the top to new readers. But in context, he was amazing in his insanity and dramatic nature. In his time, villains were relatively simple, they were either angry guys seeking revenge for perceived wrongs, or madmen yearning for watching the world burn. The Riddler was different, he was simply doing it for the kicks. Crime was his way of having fun and amusing himself. That’s why he stayed away from petty crimes and went for elaborate schemes instead.
Being a villain was his way of showing off his intelligence, and aside from The Joker, he was the only one that could go head to head with Batman, at least when it came to smarts. Of course, his style is undeniably old school, he’s one of those villains that need to stop mid-plan to explain the entire thing thus ensuring his failure. But it would be interesting to see a modern interpretation of this character.
The Underrated: Cassandra Nova
When it comes to X-Men villains, people always think of Magneto, and yes, he’s amazing and compelling and endlessly compelling, but so is Cassandra Nova. It’s just that she hasn’t had the benefit of being portrayed in a multi-million-dollar movie franchise.
Cassandra became Xavier’s twin sister when she decided to copy his DNA while he was still in the womb. They were happy for a while until Charles was able to read her evil thoughts and decided to kill her. He was unsuccessful and she survived as cell matter and spent years building her own body and learning how to pass for human. She grew to have the same power as her brothers with the added bonus of being able to imitate the DNA and voices of anyone she’d like. And if that wasn’t enough, she could also block Xavier from entering her mind. So what we’re saying is: she was insanely powerful. So, how come we keep talking about her in the past? Well, after wreaking havoc all over town, she was killed by Jean Gray. Yet her mind was still so powerful, Gray had to split it and store a bit of it inside every mutant’s mind. All in all, Cassandra should definitely be a lot more memorable. She was a worthy adversary for Professor X.
The Understated: Abomination
When Abomination started he was just an evil version of Hulk. There weren’t many traits, and his personality wasn’t really that developed beyond “he’s evil and angry”. But as the years went by he became more interesting. You see, while the Hulk becomes a strong savage when angry, Abomination got to keep his personality and intelligence even when he transformed. So eventually, he stopped being just a savage beast opposing the Hulk and became a manipulative villain with super strength. He even killed Bruce’s wife and framed him for the murder.