Most COMPLEX comic book Superheroes/Supervillains ??

Looking for characters who are quite layered with an intriguing personality other than the usual "justice, peace, happiness and apple pie". I've been directed a lot to batman and the joker, but it's always nice to have a range of characters that I could get interested in, kind of like the characters who have distinct motives and justifications for why they are the way they are, preferably villains/anti-heroes who are bitter/dark. Weird thing to ask I know, but I generally enjoy reading up on characters who say 1 short quote that you can interpret in different ways and understand the depth of the character on a philosophical/psychological level. Thanks for taking the time to read this lol.

Doom

Hank Pym---a man with brilliant talent who's only let down by self esteem and mental health problems. Ultron represent his darker side so any story with him is good for exploring Pym.

Black Adam

@maccyd: @havenless: Will definitely look into them, while on the topic though, any suggestions for characters with no powers ?

complicated question. Even Batman has superpowers like impossible technology, unlimited wealth, infinite free time.

Reverse Flash

Mystique

Apocalypse

Venom (Eddie Brock)

@havenless: Fair point, at first I did find batman to be an intriguing character but all the analysis of the character felt a bit too hypothetical cos at times it feels like he's not that deep of a character in comparison to the likes of the joker, but then the joker remains a mystery, no name, origin story etc etc. I guess I'm asking for too much, can't have a character who looks awesome, is deep on multiple levels, and is powerful matching against other characters. So far deadshot is the only character that I find extremely interesting, people underestimate how layered the guy is with his whole indifferent, pessimistic, self-reliant, disobedient, emotionally turmoiled attitude. The way he shows how a negative development/event in your life can let you get swallowed by grief rather than powered by determination (AKA batman) is quite interesting, his bitterness and disrespect to everything people consider important because of his underlying anger at feeling guilty for being in the situation that he's in. But ever since I discovered deadshot, there haven't been any characters I find as interesting.

@darkbrooder: You will want to check out the New 52 run of Aquaman. The way Aquaman & Ocean Master communicate is great. The entire series is a must read.

@cloakx14: Reverse flash is someone I've been looking to get into (probably cos I like villains who are equals to their superhero counterparts) but could u briefly run through his character's psyche, like personality and that. Not in too much depth, just like the gist of his turmoil or motives or whatever.

Tons of them really, I could even say almost all of them are complex in their own way. Comics have changed a lot since the Silver Age.

@the_stegman: Cool, I guess I just feel the need to narrow down the options to specific characters that I like so I can focus only on those characters in terms of getting comics and stuff, and the rest I'll just casually read up on online or whatever, bit awkward like that.

@guru_crack: Will do, thanks

@darkbrooder:check out Flash Rebirth, Flashpoint are some good ones to read.

I recommend checking out Moon Knight, he's very interesting.

@curlyinsaneguy: Mind giving a quick runthrough of his character's motives and personality ? :P lol

@darkbrooder It's kind of a lot to simplify. But Moon Knight is a vigilante with split personalities that "serves" the god Khonshu who tempts him to be more violent than he might be otherwise and charges him with being the protector of travelers at night. He's also rich and has some cool gadgets, similar to Batman.

@curlyinsaneguy: Seems interesting I guess, will probably look into it. Would u consider superboy or deathstroke to be complex characters ?

@darkbrooder: I haven't read much of them, actually. But from what I know about them, I guess they could be considered complex.

@curlyinsaneguy: I was thinking of getting into deathstroke's character just because he's one of those rare villains who can go toe to toe with popular superheroes, but I preferred it when they focused on mainly deathstroke's development and how he himself became a mercenary. I never liked the whole, son with same powers, other son who transmits his soul into deathstroke, a daughter with more powers and what not, too eastender-ish for my liking.

@darkbrooder: Yeah, I like the idea of his family issues being brought to the surface, but the execution seems to be lacking most of the time. His ability to give te heroes a challenge IS pretty great.

Legion

Doctor Doom, Sentry, Wolverine, Ant-Man.

Hulk, Batman, Jason Todd, Taskmaster, Huntress , Raven.

@curlyinsaneguy: Exactly, it's not spontaneous enough, it feels too forced the way they're all experimented on in different projects and everything which is dissapointing considering how ruthless deathstroke's character is.

The original series only tbh, not when he's written by Bendis.

@maccyd: Why?

@noone301994: It explores the themes a bit better and Sentry's personality is more darker and complex. I think it was originally meant to be out-of-continuity as well, so it has more freedom. Bendis made Sentry into a sort of Mary Sue that shows up established characters that Bendis typically doesn't know or care about (His doctor doom was dreadful for example). It might as worked better if it was out-of-continuity, but I'm not surprised he's typically one of the most hated characters in the comic community tbh.

@maccyd: Fair enough.

Moon Knight,Joker

@noone301994: Have you read the original 2000 Sentry series?

@maccyd: No, who was it written by?

Hulk - he has a lot of character complexity in Bruce. Remember Hulk is the superpower, not the character.

Agent Venom - Flash deals with PTSD, childhood abuse, guilt, alcoholism, and the drive to overcome them all to live up to the examples of Spider-Man and Captain America.

Bucky Barnes - Read Brubaker's work on him. Nuff said.

TMNT - Great story with themes of strength in family and overcoming personal problems to achieve a shared goal. Sounds kiddie, but you won't be disappointed if you try it.

Some others that I don't feel like giving long descriptions of are Nightwing, Green Arrow, and Pre52 Black Canary. Oh and the original Spawn run with Al Simmons.

Batman.

Emma Frost, Magneto, and Punisher(MAX)

Written by Paul Jenkins.

Art by Jae Lee for the first mini-serie.

Art by John Romita Jr for the second.

Bane:

Batman:

Spider-man before Dan slot took over.

@maccyd: Yeah, I got to agree, Pym is one of the most complex characters. There are just so many aspects to his motivations: low self-esteem, super genius, love for science, bi-polar, his mental breakdowns, guilt over hitting Janet, guilt over what his "son" Ultron has done, pursuit of redemption, belief that people can be changed for the better. Even his love life is complex. I believe that his fling with Jocasta was because she was based off of Janet Van Dyne. And you could argue that Janet was just a replacement for his first wife. He's a super hero who loves to help people but isn't really a fighter and seems uncomfortable being a super hero. I can't think of a more complex Marvel or DC character.

I would have to go with Hulk. Bruce Banner/Hulk is a multiple personality disorder. When Peter David wrote him he went as far as Bruce/Hulk having 4 personalities. Now I haven't read the Hulk in a long time so I don't know if they "fixed" this problem or now.

My personal picks:

1) Doctor Doom: He has the qualities of the greatest hero that ever walked the earth, yet, due to his massive and monstrous ego he's basically the world's greatest "villain". I put in villain in quotes because even though he resorts in violent acts, he has a noble ulterior motive. He wants to change the world but not in the general "enslave everyone and make them my b!thc" kind of way. Thing is, he has these extremely vile outbursts of pure hate and then he's got these moments of kindness and love. Triumph and Torment is a brilliant piece of writting and I urge everyone to take a look at it.

2) Silver Surfer: A man responsible for the deaths of countless upon countless of souls. A man who time and time again has been the dealer of death. The fact that he still hasn't turned into an insane mess is a feat in and of itself. But what I really admire is that he's got all of these abillities and powers yet he mostly goes for the peaceful solution. He's a being of imenense emotional strength and I also really like his views on a person's "soul" and "body".

3) Doctor Strange: An arrogant, foolish human turned into our dimension's greatest protector. I especially find the fact that even if he's a man of science he doesn't deny the spirituality of man and finds the perfect balance between those two. A conflicted soul who weilds unimaginable power yet, in the face of Gods he's still a speck. I think that makes him extremely interesting. The strongest "insect" tangling with Gods and Demons, proving that humanity and soul shall always prevail.

4) Adam Warlock: The child of Science and Magic. A being with no "place" in the universe, an "anomaly" who's trying to find his place in the cosmos. I find that extremely fascinating because he's not the guy with the answers or the solution. Mostly, he's the blind man, trying to follow the trail of purpose. What makes him unique though, is that he's a philosopher and a being of pure contradiction. A living and walking dichotomy between "right" and "wrong", "justice" and "villainy", "faith" and "fact".

5) Moon Knight: A man who's shed more blood than he can ever account for, clad in white and protecting the travellers of the night. Esentially he's a broken shell who's lost his humanity and is trying to win it back through the only way he's ever known: Violence. Yet, he sometimes strives to turn away from it and choose the path of the "cleric" or the "priest" instead of the "crusader". In my opinion he sums up perfectly the highs and lows of everyone's daily life. We all fall and try to find something to pick us up, even if sometimes we know that it's the wrong way. Yet, we find the courage to turn away and head for the "tirring" road, which mostly just brings us back at the bottom. The point is always getting back up and climbing again towards the "light".