The Best Rogues Galleries Ever

"A hero is only as good as his villain" is a maxim so timeless, we don't even know who said it in the first place. We have a slight addendum, though: A hero is only as good as his villains. No matter how compelling the bad guy, you can't have your good guy face the same malcontent in every episode, issue, or movie — that would get repetitive and dull. This is especially true today, with the most popular characters being featured across so much media (movies, TV shows, cartoons, cereal boxes) that they need new villains to keep things fresh. Comic book creators have known this forever, which is why most of the best rogues galleries in popular culture come from their pulpy pages. However, comic books aren't the only place to find charismatic villains — not by a long shot, in fact. 

What makes a great rogues gallery? The fancy-pants answer is a variety of villains who represent the myriad facets of the hero's psyche. They might also present grave threats to the good guy's attempts at normalcy, and force him to adapt each time they do battle. The other answer is considerably simpler: It's just a lot of villains who are really cool. However you define it, these collections of evil-doers are great at being the worst. These are the best rogues galleries ever!

Though it might seem strange today, for decades, the Marvel universe could be separated into three categories: "Spider-Man stories," "X-Men stories," and "everything else." The X-Men franchise truly is a mythology unto itself, with hundreds of characters spread across multiple timelines and even universes. However, whatever version of X-Men you're watching or reading, one thing is always the same: The villains are great. 

There are plenty of evil mutants to be sure, playing the yang to Charles Xavier and his X-Men's yin, including the shape-shifting Mystique, the feral Sabertooth, the slimy Toad, and the conniving Emma Frost. There are also non-mutants, like the unstoppable Juggernaut and the terrifying Sentinels. Time-spanning ne'er-do-well Apocalypse poses an intergalactic threat, and could easily go toe-to-toe with Thanos. The Phoenix Force could mop the floor with the purple-skinned bad guy. 

And then there's Magneto. While he may not be the most powerful or most famous X-Men villain, for our money, he's the best. Once a young Jewish boy scarred by the horrors of the Holocaust, he turns into a super-powered mutant with a deep-seated distrust of mankind. Magneto can shift from genocidal tendencies of his own to moments of genuine compassion for others. While Magneto is the most complex and charismatic, all of the X-Men's villains boast a depth that makes this rogues gallery one of pop culture's richest.

Superman is basically an invulnerable space god, so the fact he has any villains is pretty impressive. The fact that his rogues gallery is one of the best speaks to the creativity of the writers and artists who have been telling the Man of Steel's stories since the late 1930s. Superman was born during the latter days of the Great Depression, so his earliest enemies were mob bosses, slum lords, and general jerks who exploited the working poor. As the times changed, however, his villains changed as well. Today, they're a diverse bunch of planet-enders, interdimensional twerps, and terrifying geniuses with billions of dollars.

While Darkseid may not have the most creative name, he burst onto the scene as an intergalactic tyrant about two years before Marvel debuted Thanos. The mindless monster Doomsday, who basically just destroys things, made headlines by killing Superman. On the other end of the evil spectrum is Mr. Mxyzptlk, an omnipotent space imp from the fifth dimension who Superman can only beat with his wits, not his brawn. The list goes on, including space despots (Mongul), warlords (Zod), evil robots (Metallo), clones (Bizarro), and a parasitic alien intelligence (Braniac). But of course, Superman's greatest foe remains a lowly human: Lex Luthor. It just goes to show what someone can accomplish with a brilliant mind and tons of money.

"Dragon Ball Z" is known for its epic fights — and five episodes of talking leading up to those fights. But you can't have an epic fight without equally epic adversaries. When it comes to bad guys, "DBZ" boasts a motley crew of intergalactic baddies, making up inarguably one of the best rogues galleries in all of anime. While he eventually becomes a good guy, Piccolo begins as a formidable foe for young Goku to take on in the pre-Z series "Dragon Ball." Vegeta is another villain whose allegiances switch faster than shots from his Galick Gun, but in his prime during "The Saiyan Saga," the prideful egomaniac is bad news for the good guys. 

While every "DBZ" villain can hold their own in a match of fists, Cell is just as impressive in a game of wits: He's just as likely to outsmart his opponents as beat the tar out of them. The most devastating villain in the series has  to be Frieza, however, whose 100-plus episode reign of terror is unmatched by any other "DBZ" villain — or any other villain period. Frieza is so bad, he forces Goku to go Super Saiyan, introducing the franchise's most famous trope and taking the series into wild new directions. Considering we're talking about "DBZ," that's really "Saiyan" something.

If you're going to call yourself the King of the Monsters, you better have the rogues gallery to back it up. Godzilla definitely does, with a bevy of baddie behemoths that have transcended the tokusatsu genre to become pop culture icons in their own right. Some of Godzilla's co-stars get pretty kooky — which, let's be honest, is part of their appeal. Hedorah is a psychedelic smog monster made of toxic sludge. Ebirah is a giant shrimp-lobster creature. Gigan is a cyborg space bird with a buzzsaw in his belly. Gabara is an enormous ... well, we're not sure exactly what he is. As most American monsters look basically the same — seriously, the monster in "Cloverfield," the creature in "Super 8," the MUTOs in 2014's "Godzilla," and the Skull Crawlers in "Kong: Skull Island" could be cousins — we admire Godzilla's Japanese monsters for their originality. 

That said, the greatest of Godzilla's foes stand the test of time for their simplicity. Radioactive pteranodon Rodan, munificent moth deity Mothra, robotic doppelgänger Mechagodzilla, and Godzilla's greatest foe of all, King Ghidorah, are all fairly straightforward. Heck, we'll even add King Kong to the list, even though he's an American monster who arrived 21 years before Godzilla. We could add more (there have been 36 Godzilla movies to date), but we'll just say that on a list of rogues galleries, Godzilla's is one of the best — and definitely the biggest.

Spider-Man established himself as something special from the moment he swung onto the pages of 1962's "Amazing Fantasy" #15. Besides his colorful costume, quirky one-liners, and cool powers, Spider-Man is one of pop culture's most famous heroes because of his relatability. As a socially awkward nerd, some of his biggest "foes" are jocks, shyness, and getting dates. However, make no mistake: Spider-Man's stories aren't just the comic book version of "Saved By The Bell." His rogues gallery is not only one of the best in comics, but in all of popular fiction. 

Doctor Octopus, the mad scientist with four metallic arms welded to his spine, is unforgettable. Mysterio, the fish bowl-headed magician who produces powerful illusions has style to spare. Peter's beloved mentor-turned-reptile, the Lizard, is one of his most emotionally resonant villains. Scorpion. Kraven the Hunter. Rhino. Kingpin. We could go on. 

Spider-Man's most famous villain might be the tongue-lashing Venom at this point, who is such a big deal, his spin-off movie series is a blockbuster franchise of its own. Eddie Brock, Peter Parker's rival at The Daily Bugle, fuses with an alien symbiote to become the hulking monstrosity, who's twice as powerful as Spider-Man, but with none of his compassion. However, we think Spider-Man's true arch-enemy is the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn knows Spider-Man's secret identity and possesses zero scruples. He becomes Peter's worst fears personified, attacking the man in the mask and those he loves with glee.