Tyrant · Comics

Darkseid

Tyranny as a law of physics

Threat index 86 Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 1970 #2 Most Dangerous

Attribute scores

Power98

Intellect90

Menace96

Fear factor84

Cultural impact84

Charisma66

Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.

Who they are

Darkseid is not looking for wealth or revenge. He is searching for the Anti-Life Equation, a formula that would remove free will from every sentient being in the universe, and he pursues it with the patience of geology. Kirby designed him as fascism given a face made of stone, and the best stories treat him less as a person than as a condition the heroes are trying to survive.

Defining traits

Omega BeamsNear-invulnerabilityCommand of an entire war planetUtterly emotionless resolveCorrupts through despair

What makes them dangerous

His eye beams track their target around corners and across planets, and he has an army of billions.

And what undoes them

He is a god of a specific idea, and hope operating openly is the one thing that actually damages him.

Things you might not know

He debuted not in a Superman title but in a Jimmy Olsen comic, which is one of the odder entrances in the medium.
Kirby modeled his face partly on a photograph of an actor he admired, then made it granite.
The Anti-Life Equation has been treated as mathematics, as a mental state and as a virus in different eras.

Why number 2 in Most Dangerous

His objective is the permanent removal of free will from every thinking being in existence, and he pursues it on a geological timescale.

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Why number 3 in Most Powerful

Eye beams that track their target across space, near-total invulnerability, and an army numbering in the billions. He is a god who happens to also be a dictator.

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