Itchy Trigger Fingers Aplenty
It’s pretty common knowledge that the lads over at the DC Universe tend to play a littler…rougher. Even when it comes to those that supposedly fight on the side of justice. These five may have the interests of the greater good at heart, but you’d better believe that their version of heroics comes with a guaranteed kill count!
#5: Roy Harper
The former sidekick of Green Arrow has had a pretty rough life. After the Teen Titans disbanded, the former Speedy struggled with drug addiction, a battle that has come to define his life as a superhero. Since kicking his addiction, he’s gone by both Arsenal and Red Arrow and continues to use a bow and arrow as his primary weapon. Like his former mentor, his skill at archery is almost peerless, and his variety of trick arrows makes him a powerful opponent for any supervillain. His dark past continues to haunt him, though, making him a potentially more dangerous opponent than many of his superheroic peers.
#4: Magog
Few heroes embody the image of the violent, no-holds-barred superhero better than this one. In the “Kingdom Come†Elseworlds story, the familiar heroes of the DC Universe have been replaced by a new and more violent generation of crime fighters. Chief among them is this horned hero, who murdered the Joker after the Clown Prince of Crime killed many of the Daily Planet staff, including Lois Lane. He later appeared in the mainline DC universe, the chosen champion of a demi-god with sinister motives. Armed with superhuman strength and endurance as well as a staff able to manipulate energy, his no-nonsense attitude and military training make him an extremely dangerous hero.
#3: Azrael
When Batman was left paralyzed after a brutal encounter with the supervillain Bane, the Dark Knight left this hero as his replacement. Raised by a religious order called The Order of Saint Dumas, the angelically named hero was trained as a deadly agent of divine justice. Bruce’s choice in replacement turned out to be a mistake, as his understudy grew increasingly violent and merciless. He even overhauled Batman’s costume, adding a variety of blades, claws and projectile weapons similar to the equipment he used in his previous identity. Things reached a breaking point when he allowed the serial killer Abattoir to die, prompting Bruce to return to take back the cowl.
#2: Jason Todd
And speaking of overly violent Bat-allies, this former Robin stepped into the role of Boy Wonder after Dick Grayson struck out on his own. But unlike his good-natured predecessor, the second Robin proved more reckless and violent. But before Batman could curb these tendencies, his second sidekick was killed by the Joker. After returning from the dead years later, he donned the identity of The Red Hood, a violent vigilante dedicated to dispatching the villains that Batman refused to kill.
#1: Rorschach
Alan Moore’s seminal “Watchmen†violently reinvented the superhero for the modern era, stripping away the glamor and myth-making of most superhero comics in favor of cold, hard reality. Perhaps the poster child for this ethos, this unhinged crime fighter comes across more like a serial killer than a hero, a cold and calculating bogeyman literally stained with the blood of his foes. His skill for inflicting creative violence has left numerous criminals and would-be supervillains dead or injured, and his violent war on crime even continued when he was arrested and incarcerated. He’s so scary that he even gives pause to the likes of The Comedian, a similar violent hero from the “Watchmen†universe.
Be sure to check out the video below to see our picks for the Top 10 DC Characters Too Powerful for the DC Universe.
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