Being a comic book villain means taking on the toughest heroes their universe has to offer to achieve their goals. These fights aren’t usually easy, and they sometimes run across multiple issues of a comic. Then there are the times that things go down a lot differently.
Sometimes a big villain like Thanos or Darkseid gets handed super embarrassing victories at the hands of heroes who should not have defeated them. It’s even worse when a victory happens in a matter of seconds instead of over an entire story. Underestimating their opponents is a big reason for these losses, and sometimes it’s just bad luck. Regardless, it’s always a bruise to the old ego.
10 Franklin Richards Punks Out Mephisto
While he may not be the biblical version of the Devil per se, Mephisto comes pretty close. Marvel’s demonic prince of lies is incredibly powerful and has inflicted an incredible amount of pain and torment on various heroes.
That being said, it’s important to remember that Mephisto absolutely got his butt handed to him by Franklin Richards. And that happened when Franklin was still a younger child, so how easy it was for him to beat Mephisto was particularly embarrassing.
9 Batman Shoots Darkseid
When it comes to dominant villains, few top Darkseid. He has been one of the greatest threats in DC Comics for decades, battling the likes of Superman to a standstill. But apparently, all of that power isn’t enough to defeat Batman.
Giving Darkseid the benefit of the doubt, it’s important to note that he was a dramatically powered-down version of himself when this went down. Still, Batman used a bullet made of Radion to put the evil mastermind down for the count. It’s rare that Batman resorts to gunplay to solve a problem.
8 Breaking Up The Justice League To Beat Amazo
DC Comics has a surprising number of superpowered artificial lifeforms, some of which are heroes while others are villains. One of the most impressive of them all is Amazo, an android with the ability to replicate all the powers of the Justice League.
But Amazo’s programming was apparently quite specific in that he emulated the powers of the Justice League, and not the individual heroes themselves. The team was able to defeat him by disbanding said team. If Amazo could feel embarrassment, that would have done it.
7 Black Panther Lays A Whupping On Some Skrulls
The Skrull invasion of Earth saw the reveal that a variety of heroes had been replaced by shape-shifting aliens. It was part of a long-term plan to colonize the planet and turn it into their new homeworld. Then, they made the mistake of wandering into Wakanda.
Black Panther, Storm, and the rest of the Wakandan forces easily beat the Skrulls down. They left their alien bodies lying in a heap with a message written in Skrull blood on one of their ships. Simply put, don’t screw with Wakanda.
6 Superman Sings Darkseid To Death
Darkseid doesn’t seem like a villain who should be defeated on a regular basis, yet it seems to come up with some frequency. Some battles are more devastating than others but Darkseid rarely comes out with a firm victory.
The worst is when he loses in a less traditional manner than just getting beaten up. Realizing that only a certain sound would destroy Darkseid, Superman created a harmony that would defeat his enemy. It’s unlikely that Darkseid told the Parademons about that one.
5 Shazam Changes The Password To His Powers
Whether you know him as Captain Marvel, Shazam, or Billy Batson, he is still one of the greatest heroes DC has to offer. His powers rival those of Superman’s, though his are mystical in nature. That actually plays into one of Superman’s greatest weaknesses.
But taking on Black Adam has always proved a problem for Shazam, mainly because of their similar power sources. One time, Shazam defeated Black Adam simply by changing the password to their transformation process. He stopped his enemy the same way people keep hackers out of their Gmail accounts.
4 Squirrel Girl Defeats Doctor Doom
Doctor Doom is one of the most feared figures in all of Marvel Comics to both heroes and villains. He is a brilliant scientist and inventor who wears a powerful suit of armor and wields dark magic as easily as some people make a grilled cheese sandwich.
Despite all of that, Doctor Doom still got beat down by Squirrel Girl. People really need to stop underestimating her. She’s a savage fighter and controls legions of squirrels, which was how she beat up the likes of Wolverine. That being said, defeating Doctor Doom was still a shocker.
3 Batman Takes Out The White Martians
For a long time, it was believed that J’onn J’onzz was the only survivor from Mars. It turned out that an entire race of evil White Martians also survived, and they showed up on Earth posing as a new group of superheroes with a nefarious plan.
Naturally, Batman worked out what was going on and proceeded to deliver unto them a butt whupping of legendary proportions. Despite their incredible powers, he was able to defeat them with a box of matches and a quart of lighter fluid.
2 Catwoman Whips Prometheus In His No-No Square
When making a debut as a new supervillain, first impressions are everything. And Prometheus made one hell of a first impression when he staged a one-man invasion of the Justice League’s Watchtower on the Moon and basically took them down singlehandedly.
But there were a few secret members and safeguards Prometheus did not see coming, including Catwoman sneaking onboard while dressed as Cat Grant. She gave Prometheus a taste of his own medicine when she hit him with a bullwhip crack below the belt.
1 The NYPD Captures Thanos
Few characters in Marvel comics have been handed as many high-profile losses as Thanos the Mad Titan. The man lives life out loud and dreams bigger than anyone else. Unfortunately, many of those dreams involve absolute domination over the universe or the death of half of its lifeforms.
It’s no surprise that any number of heroes have opposed Thanos. But his most embarrassing defeat came at the hands of the NYPD who straight up arrested him. This may have also been the time he was flying around New York in a helicopter with his name on it, so Thanos was begging to be arrested at that point.
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