Villains are notorious for their dastardly deeds, most of which involve destroying heroes or trying to take over a city - or possibly the world. Every once in a while they realize there are dimensions, aspects of reality, reality itself, universes, and multiverses for the taking.
Depending on the series and who is making it, the power needed to become a god can change drastically. In the Marvel universe, there are a few ways to become a god, one of which is obtaining one or all of the Infinity Stones. No such thing exists in the DC universem so the means and power of the gods change quite drastically.
Merriam Webster’s provides 4 definitions for the word “God.” We are going to focus on the second definition provided which states that a God is a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship; one controlling a particular aspect or part of reality. Heroes like Batman to the lesser known Beta Ray Bill have ascended to godhood, but villains have as well.
From oddballs like Granny Goodness to villains born of hatred like Blackheart here are: 15 Supervillains Who Became Gods.
Loki
It is possible to say that Loki may have been born a god - after all, he is the adopted son of Odin. While he is the son of the frost giant Laufey, he did grow up thinking Odin was his father. In essence, he was granted godhood, as the Norse believed him to be the God of Mischief. But for tricksters and supervillains alike, it was not enough.
In Thor: Ragnarok, our first glimpse of Loki comes through his guise of Odin. While it does seem to be petty trickery, the fact is that it worked.
Yes, it was very short-lived but for a short time, the Asgardians believed him to be the king, gaining him access to being the ruler of one of the nine realms.
The First
From its inception, Buffy’s The First had a few points in favor of its apparent godhood. It had no corporeal form, and so could not die or be killed. It was the literal embodiment of the very concept of evil.
What The First did with its centuries of existence truly brought this menacing entity to otherworldly levels.
Because it could not take on human form, The First became a master of manipulation. Its superior intellect helped it to succeed in recruiting powerful allies, including armies of Uber Vamps (nearly destroyable vampires) and turning a once devout preacher into a straight-up psychopath.
Buffy and the Scooby Gang were able to thwart The First’s plans to rid Earth of the powers of good, but being immortal, it’s only a matter of time before this evil entity comes back even stronger than before.
Granny Goodness
“Lowlies” are an oppressed peasant class that inhabit the planet of Apokolips. Granny Goodness was born into the life of a Lowlie but was given an opportunity for better. Her opportunity showed itself in the form of training one of Darkseid’s hounds that she named Mercy. Goodness destroyed her trainer and later Mercy, convincing Darkseid to promote her.
As a New God, she possesses an enhanced physiology and immortality, along with super strength, speed, and stamina.
Thanos
As we all know, Thanos comes into possession of the six Infinity Stones, making him perhaps one of the most powerful gods across both comics and anime.
With each gem he obtained, he gained control over an aspect of reality. When he finally collected all six — after some pretty gruesome acts — he had control over time, space, mind, soul, and reality. Combined with the might of the Power Gem, Thanos gained immeasurable strength.
Thanos says it best, “With them, all facets of actuality can be controlled.” With the power of the Infinity Gems, and with a snap of his gigantic fingers, he can eliminate half of the universe he claims is teeming with life. A bold move when you consider that he was doing this all to impress Death.
Onslaught
Like Thanos, Onslaught didn’t have followers or believers that worshipped him, but he had power beyond reason.
Onslaught is the manifestation of Magneto’s ego and hatred toward mankind. Charles Xavier’s repressed urges and dark desires nurtured him, creating one of the most powerful beings in Marvel. But it was the passing of Dennis Hogan that broke Xavier, releasing Onslaught.
Onslaught temporarily captured both X-Man and Franklin Richards, bolstering his psionic abilities and granting him control over reality, or at least the ability to alter it to his will. Onslaught even possessed the power to defeat most of the Marvel universe, along with the ability to create a second Sun in an attempt to wipe out humanity after deeming them unworthy by destroying the climate.
Lex Luthor
Batman became the God of Knowledge, The Flash became the God of Death, and Shazam became the God of Gods. DC not only turned heroes into gods left and right during the events of the Darkseid War storyline, but also gave Lex Luthor a shot at reigning supreme. Although before Lex would become a god, he had to take a savage beating from Superman.
By the end, it did not turn out so bad for Lex Luthor. Sure, Superman beat him around and mocked him a bit. Then Lex was left on Apokolips, told never to return to Earth.
Shortly after receiving Darkseid’s power of Omega, he began to debate whether he would free Apokolips from tyranny, or become a tyrannical ruler himself.
The Joker
Nothing good can happen when a madman steals 99 percent of the power possessed by a 5th-dimensional imp. That is exactly what the Joker did to Mr. Mxyzptlk to gain reality warping abilities.
Joker had tricked Mr. Mxyzptlk into revealing his secret name, which allowed the Joker, for a short time, to create and run his own universe.
During his reign of the universe, Joker transformed the Justice League into hapless characters. The Flash was the winded hero The Flab, Wonder Woman was the House Maid of Might, and Aquaman became FishFace a hero that could not go into water.
He also seized the opportunity to make Batman his captive in order to torture and later eliminate him, and then bring him back to do it again.
Savitar
Here’s another version of Barry Allen that achieved godhood. Unlike The Flash from the Darkseid Wars storyline, Savitar created a mythos about himself.
The Flash from Darkseid Wars merged with the Black Racer in order to prevent Death from spreading uncontrollably throughout the universe, and he ultimately became the god of Death.
Using his intellect and rage, the plan Savitar formed was brilliant, to say the least. Making use of time travel, he managed to ensure his own creation, while simultaneously creating myths about his own godhood. This self-induced time loop created a legend that led to the supposed “God of Speed” amassing followers before Barry Allen had ever even dreamed of creating his Time Remnant.
This myth was so pervasive that Savitar was able to continue to gain disciples even as he was trapped in the Speed Force.
Dr. Doom
Victor Von Doom became a god after defeating The Beyonders and being powered by Molecule Man. As God Emperor Doom, he ruled over a makeshift world pieced together from scattered remnants of other universes, planets, and realms. This, in turn, enabled him to live in a world governed by himself, with Doctor Strange as his sheriff and right-hand man.
On Battleworld, some of Doom’s wildest fantasies came true. He married an alternate Sue Storm and went on to have two children with her, Franklin and Valeria, but also managed to create a somewhat utopian society.
Doom ended up finding life as a god and ruler more difficult than he had anticipated and eventually conceded that Reed Richards would do a better job.
Madelyne Pryor
Mister Sinister created Madelyne Pryor in hopes of her having a child. Madelyne Pryor was essentially a body blank until the original Phoenix committed sacrificed itself and a portion of Jean Grey’s mind gave the blank some consciousness, and of course a portion of the Phoenix Force.
Of course, Mister Sinister’s plan failed, but the clone he created did eventually give birth to Nathan Summers and eventually becomes the Goblyn Queen.
While Madelyne never really achieves full godhood, she is in possession of a portion of the Phoenix Force, which is essentially a god by definition.
The Phoenix Force is said to be a child of the universe and even aided in the creation of the devourer of worlds Galactus, one of Marvel’s most powerful and omnipotent characters.
Thane
The apple fell very far from the tree with Thanos and his son, Thane. You would probably assume that the child of the Mad Titan would strive to be like his father, or be brainwashed into believing the ramblings of a crazy person. In fact, Thane was originally an Inhuman who looked pretty normal until he was exposed to the effects of Terrigen gas.
Being Thanos’ son does not immediately make Thane a god, although he did wield the powers of altering the fabric of reality and encasing his enemies in amber.
Unlike his father, Thane did not achieve his godliness through the use of the Infinity Stones and Gauntlet, but by merging with the Phoenix Force.
Sousuke Aizen
Bleach’s Sousuke Aizen rose to his godhood in a different manner than Loki or Granny Goodness. He used the power of intelligence and illusion to obtain massive amounts of power. He took his sweet time rising to power, starting with the deception of all of the people close to him in his pursuit of the Hogyoku and sitting on a throne in Las Noches after amassing some followers.
Although he already had one Hogyoku, he needed to possess the second one created by Kisuke Urahara to wield the power of a god.
The Hogyoku grants the ability to dissolve the boundaries between that of a Shinigami and a Hollow. After Aizen merged both Hogyoku and himself, he did exactly that, ascending and transforming due to his soul being restructured.
Light Yagami/Kira
After Ryuk, a bored Shinigami, dropped the Death Note into the world of the living, Light Yagami’s path to godhood became secured. He rose to power through fear, and in a way, controlling death. Any name that goes into the Death Note, as long as he is picturing their face, will perish. After eliminating most of the world’s major criminals, the world lived in fear of Kira.
This is where it gets a bit tricky. Kira is what the people worship, but “Kira” actually can refer to a few different people. By the end, Light Yagami, Misa Amane, Kyosuke Higuchi, Teru Mikami, and Kiyomi Takeda all played a part in turning the idea of Kira into a god.
Darkseid
With whispers of evil being sown into the old gods as they slept, a brooding mud grubber by the name of Uxas was able to weaken the old gods and eliminate them one by one in order to become the god of Apokolips, taking the name of Darkseid.
Darkseid rules the planet of Apokolips with an iron fist and some tricky omega beams, on an everlasting conquest to wipe out free will with the Anti-Life Equation.
With his immense strength and a twisted mind, he has committed many villainous deeds and has given the entire Justice League a run for their money on several occasions. Once Darkseid discovered that there were more worlds, in his attempt to murder Kaiyo, he began conquering many of them, including Earth-2 and Earth-3.
With all of his power and legions of parademons, it is no surprise he has appeared in over 1,000 issues.
Blackheart
After centuries of Christ’s Town, New York being saturated with murder and misdeeds, Mephisto decided to create himself a son after the attempted assault of a girl named Sarah. The accumulative darkness of all of these misdeeds became the villain known as Blackheart. He learned his evil ways from his father after he destroyed both the attacker and victim who caused his birth.
Witnessing how characters like Daredevil and Gorgon behaved, Blackheart felt the need to seek a newer way.
After he fails to recruit Wolverine and others, he goes as far as manipulating his followers into being the Corrupt, who would go on to employ Wolverine, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider in an attempt to overthrow Mephisto, banishing him from hell and effectively ruling it.
What other villains have become gods? Let us know in the comments.
