Is Luthor Superman's greatest villain?
Lex Luthor has always been considered Superman's greatest villain, but is this right? Perhaps the whole problem comes with what we call "great". Usually defined as "being such in an extreme or notable degree" this adjective in superlative form may not be th right one to define Luthor as a Superman villain. He is the most recurrent , the most logical, the one that despises Superman the most but that does not make him the greatest. Lex is a brilliant man with a tremendous flaw: he has an oversized ego. This trait in his personality is what makes him find intolerant there is someone greater than him so he uses every resource at his disposal to destroy "the alien" as he calls Superman. He doesn't need any more wealth or power because he has as much of that as he needs (in his current version Luthor is a billionaire and has even been president of the U.S.). What he needs is to be on top alone, a position he does not want to share with anyone, least of all someone whose only merit is to be a good-doer.
What about an immortal, someone who has seen, and made, empires rise and fall, someone who knows everything about power and all sorts of schemes and every little way to manipulate others to fulfill his desires? That one is Vandal Savage, a caveman that was given immortality and ever since has secured a position of power for himself. What about a demon who is on the verge of creating a new hell on Earth? That is Lord Satanus.What about a galactic tyrant who commands an entire planet that is at the same time an arsenal with power enough to destroy Earth several times? That's Mongul. What about an alien with strenght and endurance that rivals that of Superman's and a twisted thirst for knowledge that makes him destroy civilization after civilization so he becomes the sole owner of what those civilizations knew? That's Brainiac who caused Jonathan Kent's death the last time he clashed with Superman. What about not one but three Kryptonians with the same powers as Superman but with a military training so each one can easily defeat him in hand to hand combat? Those would be General Zod, What about a futuristic computer with the appearance, size and power of an entire star? That's Solaris said to be this Superman's enemy but also of all his descendants as well. What about a simple man who believed Superman to be a god but felt betrayed by him and then this man is infused with gifts from not only some but every possible deity? That's Gog, who hates his Superman so much (he's from a possible future) he decides to kill Superman in reverse by killing him today and traveling to the past to kill him yesterday, and the day before that and so on and so on. What about a god, an evil one, who commands other gods and a planet that respond to his every command? A god other gods are afraid of? That's Darkseid who does not want to destroy the universe, he only wants to command every living being by possessing the fabled Antilife equation which grants such power and sees Superman as an obstacle to get his prize.
As you can see there are many other characters in Superman's universe to dispute the title of Supèrman's greatest villain. And perhaps I have forgotten Doomsday who was indeed his greatest adversary after killing him but then once superman was resurrected is like Superman's writers have been unable to find what to do with him so his trascendence beyond being the only one to put Superman down for good, if at least temporarily, seems to have faded. Beings with a similar capacity would be Bizarro, an imperfect duplicate of Superman, and Ultraman, a Superman from an alternate universe, but they are not so great since their motivations are more unidimensional.
Maybe Superman's greatest villain has been overlooked on purpose due to his godlike powers. That would be Mxyzptlk (promounced mix-yez-pittle-ik), a being from "the fifth dimension". There is nothing Mxyzptlk can not do so he could easily kill Superman if he wanted but he does not do so because he does not see Superman as an opponent but as a toy to play with. Alan Moore the author of classics such as The Watchmen or The Killing Joke, once wrote an alternate Superman story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, where he explored Mxyzptlk's motivations and portrayed him as "tired of being just mischievous and with a true desire to be evil". It is only by luck and the use of his Phantom Zone projector (a device Superman uses to imprison his most dangerous villains in an alternate dimension called the Phantom Zone) that Superman can end Mxyzptlk's overwhelming threat.
But Superman's greatest villain should be one capable of hitting him to a point he could not recover. If one of his enemies knew about Superman being Clark Kent and decided to kill Lois Lane that one would become his greatest enemy. It happened once already in a possible future where a deranged maniac spread gas inside The Daily Planet killing everyone inside including Lois. And that was not one of Superman's enemies, but one of Batman's: the Joker!
What about an immortal, someone who has seen, and made, empires rise and fall, someone who knows everything about power and all sorts of schemes and every little way to manipulate others to fulfill his desires? That one is Vandal Savage, a caveman that was given immortality and ever since has secured a position of power for himself. What about a demon who is on the verge of creating a new hell on Earth? That is Lord Satanus.What about a galactic tyrant who commands an entire planet that is at the same time an arsenal with power enough to destroy Earth several times? That's Mongul. What about an alien with strenght and endurance that rivals that of Superman's and a twisted thirst for knowledge that makes him destroy civilization after civilization so he becomes the sole owner of what those civilizations knew? That's Brainiac who caused Jonathan Kent's death the last time he clashed with Superman. What about not one but three Kryptonians with the same powers as Superman but with a military training so each one can easily defeat him in hand to hand combat? Those would be General Zod, What about a futuristic computer with the appearance, size and power of an entire star? That's Solaris said to be this Superman's enemy but also of all his descendants as well. What about a simple man who believed Superman to be a god but felt betrayed by him and then this man is infused with gifts from not only some but every possible deity? That's Gog, who hates his Superman so much (he's from a possible future) he decides to kill Superman in reverse by killing him today and traveling to the past to kill him yesterday, and the day before that and so on and so on. What about a god, an evil one, who commands other gods and a planet that respond to his every command? A god other gods are afraid of? That's Darkseid who does not want to destroy the universe, he only wants to command every living being by possessing the fabled Antilife equation which grants such power and sees Superman as an obstacle to get his prize.
As you can see there are many other characters in Superman's universe to dispute the title of Supèrman's greatest villain. And perhaps I have forgotten Doomsday who was indeed his greatest adversary after killing him but then once superman was resurrected is like Superman's writers have been unable to find what to do with him so his trascendence beyond being the only one to put Superman down for good, if at least temporarily, seems to have faded. Beings with a similar capacity would be Bizarro, an imperfect duplicate of Superman, and Ultraman, a Superman from an alternate universe, but they are not so great since their motivations are more unidimensional.
Maybe Superman's greatest villain has been overlooked on purpose due to his godlike powers. That would be Mxyzptlk (promounced mix-yez-pittle-ik), a being from "the fifth dimension". There is nothing Mxyzptlk can not do so he could easily kill Superman if he wanted but he does not do so because he does not see Superman as an opponent but as a toy to play with. Alan Moore the author of classics such as The Watchmen or The Killing Joke, once wrote an alternate Superman story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, where he explored Mxyzptlk's motivations and portrayed him as "tired of being just mischievous and with a true desire to be evil". It is only by luck and the use of his Phantom Zone projector (a device Superman uses to imprison his most dangerous villains in an alternate dimension called the Phantom Zone) that Superman can end Mxyzptlk's overwhelming threat.
But Superman's greatest villain should be one capable of hitting him to a point he could not recover. If one of his enemies knew about Superman being Clark Kent and decided to kill Lois Lane that one would become his greatest enemy. It happened once already in a possible future where a deranged maniac spread gas inside The Daily Planet killing everyone inside including Lois. And that was not one of Superman's enemies, but one of Batman's: the Joker!
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