Top 10 Dumbest Supervillain Origins

Rather than making us understand the motivations of these evil-doers, these origins just make us laugh. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Dumbest Supervillain Origins.

For this list, we’ll be taking a look at the origins of supervillains that are ridiculous, strange, or just plain dumb. Origin stories get ret-coned and retold constantly, so we’ll only be looking at how they first appeared in their original comics — as well as any updates that may have made them even dumber.

#10: Flag-Smasher

Imagine for a second a world without countries... Karl Morgenthau developed this dream as he traveled the world with his father, a Swiss diplomat. After his father’s death, Karl looked to somehow turn his vision of ending nationalism into a reality. Eventually, he found what he believed to be the best method — not by becoming a diplomat, politician, or humanitarian — but by becoming...a terrorist? Yes, Karl became the villainous Flag-Smasher, creating a terrorist organization called ULTIMATUM to end the concept of nations. Yeah, we aren’t sure if we follow that logic either.

#9: Rainbow Raider

Let’s see if you can spot the moment where this origin jumps the shark. Roy Bivolo dreamed of becoming an artist, even from a very young age. While having great technical skill, Roy suffered from color blindness — causing many to consider his art ugly due to the clashing colors. Roy’s father, an optometrist, promised to solve his son’s ailment, but died before doing so. Sounds reasonable so far, right? Instead, he gave Roy a pair of goggles that could create solid beams of rainbow-colored light. Mr. Bivolo, you know Roy still can’t see the colors of that light, right? Anyway, Roy ended up using that seemingly useless device for crime, becoming the Rainbow Raider.

#8: The Kangaroo

Frank Oliver grew up in Australia and spent his spare time watching kangaroos; studying how they ran, jumped, and fought. He also trained himself during this time — gaining the ability to jump and leap like a kangaroo. However, instead of becoming an Olympic long jumper, Frank decided his skills were better suited elsewhere — as a boxer. You know, the sport where you can only use your hands. It’s not too surprising that Frank was later banned after kicking an opponent in the face. With charges about to be pressed, Frank fled — stowing away on a boat to the U.S. Managing to evade authorities, Frank decided to become the Kangaroo.

#7: Ten-Eyed Man

Philip Reardon — a war veteran — was discharged due to a shrapnel injury. After taking a security job, the warehouse he was guarding was robbed. The thieves attacked Reardon, knocked him out, and then planted a bomb — as thieves tend to do. Reardon awoke before the bomb went off to see Batman. In his disoriented state, he attacked Batman, apparently believing he was a thief with a cape. He realized the truth as the bomb went off which aggravated his war wound, blinding him. His doctor then somehow moved his TWO optic nerves to his TEN fingertips, allowing him to see through his fingers. He then swore revenge on Batman, for some reason.

#6: Big Wheel

Here’s an example of what not to do if name-called. Jackson Weele was a businessman who embezzled money from his company. Fearing he might be caught, Weele hired the criminal, Rocket Racer, to steal evidence linking him to the crime. Racer instead used the stolen evidence as blackmail against Weele. Weele attempted suicide, but was stopped by Racer. During this entire story, Racer had been name-calling Weele — calling him, wait for it, “Big Weele”. Apparently being humiliated by that horrible nickname, Weele visited the Tinkerer — who created a large metal wheel with gadgets that can climb buildings. Weele then uses Racer’s taunt as inspiration, becoming Big Wheel. What if Racer called him something worse?

#5: Professor Zoom AKA Reverse-Flash

While The Reverse Flash’s revised origin is pretty interesting, his first-appearance origin is really silly. Eobard Thawne, a man from from the 25th century, found one of the Flash's suits in a time capsule. He was able to amplify the suit's energy, giving himself speedster abilities as long as he wore it. Reversing the colors of the costume, Thawne became “Professor Zoom” and went on a crime spree. However, the time capsule also contained a bomb (because: comics), which was activated once the capsule was opened. The Flash manages to deal with the bomb and defeat Professor Zoom, burning his yellow costume in a furnace.

#4: Crazy Quilt

Interesting: another criminal artist with a color problem. Paul Dekker was a very famous painter who also led a double-life as a crime lord; leaving his criminal plans for his henchmen in his paintings — the simplest way to communicate to others. His empire came crashing down when one of his henchmen double-crossed him — setting him up to be arrested. Dekker managed to get away, but he was blinded by a gunshot wound. He later volunteered for an experimental procedure that restored his vision. However, despite being able to see, he was left with sort-of reverse color blindness — only being able to see bright colors.

#3: Cheetah

We guess the moral lesson here is don’t steal someone’s spotlight or they might become a cat themed villain? Priscilla Rich was a popular socialite who also suffered from an inferiority complex and dissociative identity disorder. After being showed-up by Wonder Woman at a charity event, Priscilla attempted to kill her. When that inevitably failed, she retreated to her apartment enraged. While looking in the mirror, she saw a reflection of herself in a cheetah costume. Why a cheetah? You’re asking too many questions here. The reflection then commands Rich to construct a suit out of her cheetah-skin rug and become her true self. Rich does as she is told and became the first iteration of Cheetah.

#2: Composite Superman

To gain fame, Joseph Meach set up a stunt, which involved diving from a building into a tank of water. Unbeknownst to him, the tank leaked. Superman noticed and saved Meach before he landed; pointing out he would have dove into an inch of water. Superman also helped Meach get a job by offering him a janitorial position at the Superman Museum. Despite helping him TWICE, Meach still blamed Superman for his misfortunes. One night, Meach was struck by lightning while cleaning the Legion of Super-Heroes statuettes. He then discovered that he had the combined powers of all the members. He then set out to defeat his “tormentor” Superman — and Batman, too, because why not?

#1: The Matador

Manuel Eloganto was a skilled and famous bullfighter, who was known for his brutality in the arena — causing him to be unpopular among the audience. During what ended up being his final fight, the audience booed him so loudly that it distracted Eloganto — which led to him being gored by a bull. After his recovery, he swore revenge upon humanity. A level-headed response considering it was humanity's fault for Eloganto’s inability to pay attention — and how dare the audience boo him because they didn't like watching him brutality kill an animal. Finally, a villain with a pure and sensible motivation.