Shae's Favorite Villains - Comic Book Edition

​Written by Shae

I'm on a Villain Blog Topic Kick, can you tell? Why not continue down the line and add more to the ever growing list of favorite villains. For years, these bad guys have driven us into some pretty impressive story arcs. Their thought out plans and schemes have made them who they are today. Or rather, who we love today. These comic villains stole my heart and they should steal yours too.

Jason Todd gets my first pick for this because of his murderous rampage toward Dick Grayson, and also because of his sorted past. Starting out as the boy of an alcoholic and abusive father, Jason runs into the Batman. One thing leads to another and soon Jason is the new Robin and Bruce's newly adopted son. Sadly, Jason always feels like he's being compared to Dick, but the young Robin also has a few issues of his own. He's already moody and temperamental, but we can overlook that right? Robin eventually gets caught by the Joker, in one of the saddest events in comic history. The deranged clown succeeds in killing our beloved Boy Wonder. Bruce wasn't able to make it in time to save him.

As a gift to his old friend, Ra's al Ghul puts Jason in the Lazarus Pit. What comes out, however, isn't the Jason that Bruce knew. Jason comes back as Red Hood, long since thought to be the Joker's first identity when he was just a humble bank robber. In other incarnations, Jason comes back as the Arkham Knight. With a taste for vengeance, Jason sets out to kill Bruce, as well as Dick. This never does happen, and our second Robin eventually gets over his need to violently kill the people he once called family. While Jason settles a bit, he's not perfect in the least. Perhaps that's what makes him so fun. After all, the deep seeded abandonment issues not only drove him, but the fact he was murdered also gives his character reason for his fury.

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Who does not love Magneto? This mutant has every right to feel the way he does, and he's got a pretty logical outlook on things. In a world where mutants are discriminated against heavily, Magneto dares to stand up for his people. I know we count him as a villain, but often times I see him as a misunderstood hero. Hear me out here, Eric was a young boy in Nazi Germany, and in several incarnations of the backstory, he's actually saved by Wolverine. In modern day, when the world decides that mutants need to be registered, Magneto decides to take a stand. Granted, his approach to the whole thing isn't quite the right way to go about it, since killing all humans is bad. I think what I respect most about Magneto is that he and Charles continue to have a friendship. Despite their opposite viewpoints and Eric doing the wrong thing a lot of the time, the two have a mutual respect for one another. Magneto's cause isn't just relatable, it's understandable. Just, not how he goes about things.

Of all the Batman villains out there, the Joker is easily the most complex of them. He enjoys chaos for the sake of it, loves murder, loves blowing things up, but above all he loves the Batman. Joker has said or hinted at many a time as to why he never truly kills Batman. He does go as far as to kill Jason Todd and many others, but never Bruce. The two need each other. And without Batman not only would the Joker not exist, he'd also be bored. Batman drives the Joker, and the Joker knows it. Plus, he's the only clown in history that has yet to give me a panic attack. I'm not sure as to why, I think it's because I grew up knowing the Joker was a psychopath, but so far I can handle this deranged clown. The schemes he comes up with, the plots and plans, he even puppet masters other villains. The Joker is crazy, evil, and a force to be reckoned with.

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