You can't have superheroes without supervillains. In order to be great superhero, you have to have great supervillains. Some villains' notoriety elevates them to higher standards. Other villains can become throwaway characters only with very few comic appearances.

Each month we take a look at some bad guys that have sometimes been written in a...bad way. These villains often come across as laughable and rarely are seen as a threat. That shouldn't necessarily be the case. Some of those villains have the potential to be something truly great.

The focus this month is on the low-grade villain known as Tick Tock.

He doesn't have a flashy costume and is far from having a superhero physique as well. He is a villain that most have never heard of. He's spent most of his time with Night Shift, a villainous team many haven't heard of either. Given the proper handling, Tick-Tock could become a major villain in the Marvel Universe.

What's his story?

Tick Tock was first seen SPIDER-WOMAN #50 working for a former escape artist now known as Locksmith. Locksmith's plan was superheroes in specially designed prison cells for each hero. Using Tick Tock, he could get an idea which hero was about to make an escape and could prevent it (except when Spider-Woman managed to escape by switching costumes with Gypsy Moth, which resulted in them being placed in the cell designed to contain the other).

Tick Tock later joined the Night Shift, a group of villains led by the Shroud (as his way to infiltrate the criminal underworld) and continued to be part of the team when Snapdragon approached them and they were hired by Count Nefaria to kill Moon Knight. That may not have gone too well for Tick Tock but there's always a way for characters to come back.

Why he has potential

Tick Tock has the ability to see into the future. More so, he can see all the possible future that could happen in the next sixty seconds. A minute may not sound like much but with enough focus, he could learn to be prepared on a moment's notice. Taking matters a minute at a time allows him to navigate through the safest path when hatching an evil scheme. If forced to face off against a superhero, he should know where the hero will go and where they'll be standing. He simply needs to avoid that spot or be prepared to unleash a counter move.

Tick Tock may not have even been the most fit individual but he did seem to be trying to get in better shape (at least it looked like he got a slight makeover in the pages of MOON KNIGHT). Tick Tock could learn to defend himself or, if necessary, carry some sort of weaponry to protect himself. If a villain is going to throw a punch at him, he has a full minute to dodge and prepare for it.

The nature of his powers hasn't fully been explored. He might be limited to only seeing sixty seconds into the future but perhaps with some training, focus and discipline, it's possible he could expand the time frame. If he could see further into the future and see all the possible outcomes along with the probabilities of each happening, he could become a formidable opponent.

Knowing what could possibly happen would be a great power. Knowing what could possibly happen would be a great asset to supervillains. They would know the best places to rob and could know when possible run-ins with superheroes are close.

Of course in the case of Tick Tock, he only has the ability to see sixty seconds into the future. Perhaps if he could stretch out this time limit, he could reach his full potential and become the villain he deserves to be. His last meeting with Count Nefaria didn't go too well but he should have been able to see that coming as well. Tick Tock deserves a chance to be a better villain.

He has potential, it is a useful ability (might want to make it ten minutes though)

Damn, he is a good idea, he could be anyone's right hand, the Kingpin could become more dangerous with this guy, or he could become a real threat, he has something like "Cosmic Awareness" and the "Spider-sense", and we all know are aware of how useful is for Spider-man that power, and his name is really cool.

This was GREAT GREAT article. The problem is he was used it a title, written by a major writer, that got cancelled. Moon Knight was a great book, but obviously wasn't read enough because it got canned.

never heard about him before....sounds like he has a cool power.

Every character has the potential to be a great character. All they need is the right story and writer. I love lame ass forgotten characters and think that before Marvel and DC go creating more new characters they should go back into their vaults and see what characters already exist and can be brought back to new life.

Tick Tock was a shitty completely uninteresting character and i just wish Moon Knight had killed him, himself.

Seems like an awesome dude with a awesome power and not enough chances o showcase it. What a waste

Someone should turn his power into a movie, possibly with Nick Cage in the lead.... Oh wait....

This guy is the perfect villain right hand man, what is better than knowing what's going to happen? keep villains from making a lot of dumb decision :)

I'd never even heard of the Night Shift until Moon Knight, and just as I was learning about them and getting to like them, Bendis went and vaporized them. I agree with Tamabone, pretty much any character can be great if given a decent writer (except ridiculous novelty ones such as the previously mentioned Condiment King).

Hm, interesting powers. Reminds me of a book by Ted Dekker called Blink. Similar concept.

@JamDamage:

That's not true. Amazing series get cancelled all the time.

This guy has some great potential, he could be formidable if given the chance, but why bother making one old character cool when you can make a hundred new (and probably) crappy ones?

@pspin: Sometimes, it is better to think of revitalizing older villains and heroes since there's the potential to make them into something more than they are. I too see potential in Tick Tock, since his ability could be used to govern things for villains if that kind of scenario came up. Even if he's limited to a minute, I'm sure he could see a lot of possible futures within that timeframe. If he can expand on it, that'd make him even more dangerous. Perhaps even predicting the moves his opponents would make.

Night Shift was my favorite part of Bendis Moon Knight run.

Tick tock on the clock but the party don't stop noooo

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk great powers,stupid character

@BigBDawg: That is what I was trying to say. With all of the hundred, if not thousands, of one-time-used characters, most of which are villains, publishing companies don't need to make new heroes constantly, they can just dig into the vault and pick someone they already have.

Tick Tock also had the ability to freeze people in time while his team could move around freely.

I was already to say, "man, please!!!" but you know what, I totally see your angle here. Definitely could make use of his ability in the hands of the right writer.

Hell, even Catman used to be a joke.

@G-Man His ability reminds me of Haruka Toyama from Until Death Do Us Part. She was a precog who with training manages to go from being protected by the other characters to actively engaging enemies in the field and turning the entire nature of battles in their favor.

Isn't there a few characters that can see only short periods into the future? Like that Doom Patrol guy called Fast Forward or something who can see 30 seconds into the future.

this guy would be a great captain america villian

@Master_Thief:

I loved Tick Tock, interesting char and could be a good leader of a villain group with his powers. Too bad he will forever remind me of a stupid song. :(

Never heard of him, But he seems to have some potential.

I never heard of him either. Daredevil would be a good match up. Good recommendation.

Potential, sure. I say give him a crack at it again in comics ^_^

Why is he even a villain? Did he just get bored picking up every woman from every bar ever?

Cool power

He should forget about being a villain and join the bomb squad. He'd always know which wire to cut!

wicked :D