DC has been around for over eighty years and they’ve created some of the most respected heroes and scores of the most dangerous and intimidating villains of all time. In all of those decades, DC has told just about every kind of story under the sun and that has meant killing characters off. It’s never an easy decision to kill a character off but it does lead to some pretty great options, and the publisher has used this to its advantage several times over the years.
Looking at their history, there are some characters who have died a lot compared to others, both on the main Earth and alternate ones, and sometimes it’s the last characters anyone would expect.
10 Darkseid Has Died A Lot For A God
Darkseid is one of the greatest villains in the DC Universe and that definitely plays into how many times he’s died. Darkseid is a multiversal source of evil, basically the God of Evil, and has battled the heroes a lot. On top of that, he’s prophesied to die at the hands of his son Orion, so death is part of his story and he’s definitely come through there.
Darkseid has died a lot for someone who is a god. He’s been killed by Orion several times in several timelines, destroyed by the heroes of the DC Universe in Final Crisis, and was killed in “The Darkseid War.” He always shows back up, though, because it’s hard to keep a good God of Evil down.
9 Anti-Monitor Dies Way More Than His Reputation Would Lead People To Believe
Anti-Monitor is considered one of the ultimate villains in the DC Multiverse, a massively powerful villain who eats entire universes for breakfast. Still, villains have to lose and the Anti-Monitor has not only lost but been destroyed just about every time he showed up. He usually gets resurrected somehow but then it’s usually back to being dead not long after.
While it definitely takes a lot to kill him, Anti-Monitor seemingly dies all the time. Compared to other villains of his stature from DC and beyond, the number of times he’s died is pretty ridiculous when one thinks about how hyped up he is.
8 The Guardians Of The Universe Die A Lot For Immortal, All-Powerful Beings
It seems like whenever one writer establishes a character or group of characters as all-powerful and immortal, another will eventually come along and blow that out of the water. A case in point is the Guardians of the Universe. The Oans have been built up as one of the oldest, wisest, most powerful races, having transcended mortality years ago.
The Guardians have died a lot over the years, whether as individuals or as an entire group. The one who has died the least is Ganthet but even he’s not immune to it. The Guardians die out and get replaced by new ones who are basically the same so much that their “immortal” moniker is pushing it.
7 Vandal Savage Is Another Immortal Who Dies A Lot & Then Inexplicably Returns
Vandal Savage was given immortality and superhuman abilities by a meteor a hundred millennia ago and has been building his power base ever since. Much like other seemingly immortal beings, Vandal Savage has died a lot over the years. A few of the most memorable times were at the end of DC One Million, when the 853rd-century version of himself was immolated in his present self’s scheme, and at the beginning of Scott Snyder’s Justice League run.
Vandal Savage always returns, though, so maybe his power isn’t so much immortality as it is the ability to come back from the dead. Either way, he’s another immortal who seems to die for a living.
6 The Joker Died In His First Appearance & A Bunch Of Times Afterward
The Joker is one of Batman’s greatest foes and like a lot of villains, he’s died a lot. In fact, the Joker died in his first appearance and was brought back thanks to positive fan reaction. Over the years, in comics, TV, movies, and video games, fans have watched Joker die in a multitude of ways and yet he always shows back up.
This is especially true in the comics, where the Joker has ended so many stories “dead” only to show up alive in a year or two. The Joker is too good to keep dead but a lot of writers like to do a story where he seemingly ends up that way.
5 Hal Jordan Has Bit The Big One A Good Amount Of Times
Hal Jordan is known as one of the greatest Green Lanterns in the Corps but even he gets into some scrapes he can’t get out of. Hal Jordan has died a lot, whether as Green Lantern or as Parallax, when readers thought him dead three times. While it makes sense to bring him back, it’s weird that the supposedly best Green Lantern has died so many times.
Much like his immortal bosses, Hal should probably have a caveat next to his name: he’s the best Green Lantern, especially when it comes to dying and coming back to life.
4 Lex Luthor Has Had A Lot Of Deaths Over The Years
Lex Luthor is Superman’s greatest foe and the amount of times that fans have watched him die in a variety of stories and media is just sort of flabbergasting. Superman is not the killing type, but that’s not stopped Lex from dying a thousand deaths over the years, usually due to his own hubris, like when he constantly wore a Kryptonite ring and gave himself cancer.
Lex Luthor is too important to stay dead but just like any major comic character, Lex has died so many times it isn’t funny anymore. It doesn’t change how dangerous he is and actually makes him seem more formidable, as not even death can hold him back.
3 Wonder Woman’s Adventures Have Ended With Her Death Plenty Of Times
Wonder Woman has been around for eighty years and any character that old is going to have a lot of deaths to their name. Wonder Woman has died numerous times over the years, often in the kind of fake-out death stories that were popular in the Silver Age and often in more serious affairs. In recent years, she usually dies and then becomes a god of some kind.
Wonder Woman takes a lot to kill but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. She’s died numerous times over the years but always comes back, stronger than ever and ready to continue the battle against evil.
2 Batman & Death Are Well Acquainted
Batman is another hero that has been around forever and died a whole bunch of times. In a lot of ways, this makes a lot of sense, as he’s just a mortal man in a world of superpowered titans. For his more rabid fans, the ones for whom the words “prep time” are a mantra, this is very surprising but even they realize it’s bound to happen.
His most recent death was in Death Metal, where it was revealed he was killed at some point before the book started but was brought back to life with a Black Lantern ring. Batman dying is nothing new to his friends and he’ll certainly die again at some point in the future.
1 Superman’s Many Deaths Have Been Rather Entertaining
Superman is the last hero people expected to die, which is sort of weird because he’s been doing it for years. In the Silver Age, there were all kinds of death of Superman stories and while many of them were what was known as “imaginary stories” at the time, fans saw the Man of Steel die plenty of times.
After 1992’s The Death Of Superman, fans got to see Superman die many times over, whether it be in Elseworlds stories or the main line. Nowadays, seeing Superman die isn’t even that big of a deal and most fans know that it will either be an alternate universe thing or undone in some way in a year or two tops.
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