Who are the 5 most iconic villains in Comics?

Title says it all

Top 4 are pretty easy to decide in no particular order

• Joker
• Lex Luthor
• Doom
• Magneto

5th is a little harder and I think a case can be made for any number of guys. I would probably lean towards Green Goblin, but Spider-Man has so many villains it tends to diminish any one of them. You could also make cases for Darkseid, Galactus, Thanos and even though he's a bit outdated Red Skull.

There's also plenty of more Superman/Batman/Spider-Man villains who are all pretty iconic. Doomsday, Zod, Two-Face, Catwomen, Venom, Carnage...etc

Joker

Dr. Doom

Magneto

Lex Luthor

Darkseid/Thanos

1. Joker
2. Lex Luthor
3. Dr. Doom
4. Magneto
5. Norman Osborn

Joker

Luthor

Magneto

Doom

Maybe Venom..?

@fallschirmjager: Yeah I'm having doubts with the 5th one too.

I didn't think Doom was that popular lol

@rustyroy: In terms of people who read comics I think most of them would learn towards Green Golbin (when speaking of Spidey) given all he's done to make Peter's life hell, but outside of comic books I know A LOT of people who still favor Venom more than anyone just because of how cool he looks. And its not like Spidey lacks villains. Ock is pretty iconic too.

So yeah...a case can be made for any number of guys at the 5th spot.

I agree that the top 4 are...

• Doctor Doom
• Magneto
• Joker
• Lex Luther

The 5th one would probably be Loki.

@oreoassassin: He inspired Darth Vader as well as most cliche super villains.

@fallschirmjager: I actually like Ock more than Osborn but I know that a lot of people think Osborn or Venom is the main nemesis of Spider-Man, the 5th spot could be given to many Batman villains too, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Two Face, Catwoman just as they can be given to many Spidey villains like Ock, Venom, Goblin etc. I also thought Darkseid could be considered Iconic but I don't many people know about him especially non comic book readers.

If Darth Vader counts he's number 5 EASILY. Although because he was in movies first I'm not sure he does.

Norman, Ock and Venom all are pretty equal at certain points or another. Norma facilitates Gwen's Death, Ock currently is wearing Pete's body and Venom was attached to him for awhile etc.

And yeah. Superman and Bats have a lot of secondary villains. I mean "Kneel before Zod" is one of the most iconic moments in movie history and gives Zod a lot of weight lol.

Joker

Luthor

Magneto

Dr. Doom

5th one is a bit trickier. I'm thinking Doc Ock.

@fallschirmjager: If we counted villains from other mediums that were adapted into comics, we'd have no characters that originated from comics on the list.

@maccyd: Eh. I don't agree. Those top 4 are pretty iconic, especially since they've all had movie adaptions (Doom's sucked though so he might fall off)

Darth Vader is a boss though for sure.

@fallschirmjager:

1. Big Bad Wolf
2. Satan
3. Moriarty
4. Queen of Hearts/Cheshire Cat
5. Count Dracula
6. Captain Hook (if Satan doesn't count although Paradise Lost is literature)

None of the comic villains, even joker come close.

In no order

Loki

Doom

Magneto

Luthor

Joker

Besides Joker and Lex Luthor I don't think any other comic villains have Iconic status.

this. I feel a case could be made for Loki nowadays too though. But 5th slot i'd say Darkseid or Thanos...

@zmasonite: Good point. Hiddelston's Loki has made his status soar.

@fallschirmjager: I know, while i liked the character i do feel everybody is freakin out about him a bit much. They're like beliebers lol jk

Joker,

Lex Luthor,

Dr. Doom,

Magneto,

Two Face/Loki ties for 5th.

1. Joker

2. Lex Luthor

3. Catwoman (yes, she's a villain, get over it)

4. Loki

5. Magneto

I know people are wondering why the all mighty Doom isn't on this list, but I'm going by general audiences, and outside of the comic book community, I don't think the majority knows or cares who Doctor Doom is.

joker,green goblin,lex luthor,magneto,catwoman

Dr.Doom, Thanos, , Magneto, Cletus Cassidy(Carnage), Lex Luthor

I would have to agree that

Dr Doom

Magneto

Green Goblin

Lex Luthor

and

Joker

Are the top 5 most Iconic Villians. ALTHOUGH Galactus ALMOST beats out Green Goblin.

In order:

Joker

Lex Luthor

Magneto

Dr. Doom

Catwoman- The 5th spot is the hardest because it could be Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman (a lot of people still think of her as a villain)

Top 4 are obvious. But for number 5, Thanos and Darkseid have been jobbed repeatedly in many stories. But when this guy shows up in an event, everyone has to tighten their seatbelts:

@jack_donaghy

Catwoman? Over Galactus? Bold Strategy

I can agree with this.

@havenless said:

Top 4 are obvious. But for number 5, Thanos and Darkseid have been jobbed repeatedly in many stories. But when this guy shows up in an event, everyone has to tighten their seatbelts:

@jack_donaghy

Catwoman? Over Galactus? Bold Strategy

How is that bold? Catwoman is muuuuch more iconic and famous than Galactus it's not even close. Grandmothers would be able to recognize her whereas only comic book fans know who Galactus is.

Megatron

Lex

Joker

Loki

Fifth is hard

@jack_donaghy:

That's not really iconic, that's just famous. And most non-comic fans wouldn't call Catwoman a villain anyhow. More of an antihero.

I had this exact conversation with a non-comic friend yesterday. Weird.

Redskull, Joker, Lex Luther, Dr. Doom, Juggernaut,

What about Bane?

I see as iconic as if someone who has never read a comic in there lift and they saw a character they would know who that was without doubt.

Joker,Lex,Bane,Green Goblin,Magneto

No particular order:

Joker

Lex Luthor

Dr. Doom

Shredder (Oroku Saki)

Norman Osborn

No particular order:

Joker

Lex Luthor

Dr. Doom

Shredder (Oroku Saki)

Norman Osborn

In all of comics?

Darth Vader, Joker, Magneto, Shredder, Riddler.

Darth Vader

Joker

Magneto

Shredder

Riddler

1.Joker 2.Dr.Doom 3.Lex Luther 4. Magneto 5.Loki

I thought more Spidey villains would be in people's list

well he said most iconic not most popular so

joker

lex luthot

catwoman (yes thats right and the reason is because well...well because of batman of course also 1 of the most iconic pairing)

greem goblin

magneto

these are the top five most iconic villain the reason there so iconic there

1.most known outside of mainstreem comic audiences and within

2.most wanted outside of mainstreem audiences and within

and thats why these 5 are so iconic

3

Joker

Catwoman

Lex Luthor

Magneto

Dr. Doom

^Those 4 are the most popular in social media (in order) from a study done by Synthesio. They had Jean Grey as 5th, but that is obviously someone who has been more of a hero than a villain. That's why i went for Dr. Doom as 5th. He was the inspiration for Darth Vader after all.

You could argue only the Joker is truly iconic. He's definitely the first to come to most people's minds when you say "comic book villain".

Other then him there's the usual,Lex Luthor and Magneto.

Loki would probably be up there now.

@blacklegraph: agreeeeeed

This...

these are the most well known, in and out of comics

as everyone states, the fifth is hard.

as far as originating from comics, Im torn, Loki,Two-Face, Venom, Galactus, Sinestro, Red Skull, id put a Superman villain in there too, but i recently couldn't find one coworker who knew any superman villain other than Lex.

Like everybody said :

- Magneto

- Joker

- Lex Luthor

- Doom

Five place is between : Thanos, Osborn and Darkseid.

The Melter

Polka Dot Man

Rainbow Raider

Forbush Man

Rob Liefeld

You're welcome.

Because this is the right answer. Even though I would probably put Green Goblin above Magneto.

Even though Darkseid, Galatucus and Thanos maybe be big with in the comic community. But all of the above has gotten a lot more attention outside of comics. Norman Osborn was gone for over 20 years and was still regarded as Spider-man worst enemy. Still had appearances in TV shows and so on.