Number 10 – Red Skull
Arch Nemesis – Captain America
Badassery – The Red Skull helped kill Captain America. Just let that sink in. He killed the man who embodied the American Spirit, the American courage and power, the man who wore the red, white and blue. And he did it by brainwashing Cap’s girlfriend into shooting him in the gut without her even knowing she was doing it, and then returned those memories to her after Cap was pronounced dead. If that doesn’t earn him a spot on this list, I’m not sure what does.
Number 9 – Galactus
Arch Nemesis – Fantastic Four
Badassery – Galactus eats planets. He doesn’t just travel to them, kill everyone, and then leaves. He travels there, kills everyone, then turns the planet into energy and eats it. Plus, he is the sole survivor of the universe that came before ours, putting him on a power level equal to the Phoenix. You know, the Phoenix Force that can alter reality with a thought. Yeah, he’s equal to that. Did I mention he eats planets as well?
Number 8 – Loki
Arch Nemesis – Thor
Badassery – Norse lore states that one day, the Norse heaven called Asgard will be plunged into chaos and war, resulting in the obliteration of all that we know. This is called Ragnarok. Loki was successful in bringing about Ragnarok. He is also responsible for creating the Avengers. He has tested Thor, his half-brother, countless times, both physically and mentally. He is also now in the body of a woman. Loki is the god of mischief and trickery, and he is very good at what he does.
Number 7 – Venom
Arch Nemesis – Spider-Man
Badassery – Venom is a badass because he doesn’t see himself as a villain. He is, in his eyes, a protector of the pure and innocent. It just so happens that he doesn’t see many pure and innocent people around. Oh, but that was when Eddie Brock was Venom. Now that the former villain Scorpion is the new Venom, Venom goes around eating people. Plus he was, for a time, posing as Spider-Man. While eating people. That makes him badass at heart, and he looks cool doing it.
Number 6 – Juggernaut
Arch Nemesis – anyone who ticks him off
Badassery – The Juggernaut cannot be stopped. No, like seriously. He once fought this guy, who incinerated everything but Juggernaut’s bones and helmet, and Jugs still kicked his ass. He really cannot be stopped. Oh sure, sometimes it looks like Jugs was stopped, but in reality the comic writers had to put in those times to make it look like the heroes won. The Juggernaut always comes back, because nothing, not even the writers, can stop the Juggernaut.
Number 5 – Apocalypse
Arch Nemesis – The X-Men
Badassery – There is a whole universe where Apocalypse enslaved the Earth. It’s called Age of Apocalypse. He is immortal, crazy powerful, has fought Dracula, and can shape-shift and give himself nearly any power. I really have a hard time believing it when the X-men beat him, but hey, they heroes have to win, I guess. Apocalypse comes complete with his four horsemen, War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death, and he commonly enslaves members of the X-Men to fulfill these roles, turning them on their former friends. His motto is Survival of the Fittest, which is pretty cool, but when backed by your name being Apocalypse, you’re pretty badass.
Number 4 – Magneto
Arch Nemesis – Professor Xavier
Badassery – Magneto has a love/hate relationship with the X-Men. He has been both their most persistent foe and leader in the past. In a sense, he really isn’t a villain, and all he wants is for the human race to submit to mutantkind, and allow them to take their rightful place as the next evolutionary step. Heck, he’ll even settle for getting his own island, which he did, right before it was annihilated by Sentinels. His whole badassery comes from the fact that you never really know what he is planning next. He might be your ally one moment, then your greatest enemy the next. All that and he wears a cape.
Number 3 – Thanos
Arch Nemesis – Death
Badassery – You have probably never heard of Thanos, so basically all you need to know is that he is in love with Death. Not the act of killing, but the physical embodiment of Death. Apparently he saw Death embodied as a beautiful woman, and ever since then has been trying to win her affection. In order to do that, he used an extremely powerful artifact to kill half of all the living things in the universe, at one time. He also captured and killed the Silver Surfer, then offered him as a gift to Death. Oh, but wouldn’t you know it? He revived the Surfer in front of Death just to spite her since she didn’t love him. So she made him immortal, and now he can never feel her embrace. Wait a minute. He killed HALF OF ALL LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE, in one moment. But at least he did it in the name of love.
Number 2 – Dr. Doom
Arch Nemesis – Mr. Fantastic
Badassery – Dr. Doom is one of the most powerful characters in the entire marvel universe. He is one of the top sorcerers, one of the top geniuses, and one of the top inventors. But his badassery comes from what he does to the Fantastic Four. For instance, Doom loves to use the FF’s children against them, whether as conduits for attacks, or traumatizing them. For all he has done, Doom was cast into Hell recently. But you think that would keep him down? Hell no. Doom hitched a ride on Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir and made it back to the world of the living. He has defeated the FF many times, is the Monarch of Latveria for life, and was almost chosen to be Sorcerer Supreme of the universe. That’s a full plate of badass accomplishments!
Number 1 – Green Goblin
Arch Nemesis – Spider-Man
Badassery – If being a badass means messing with your arch nemesis’s head, screwing with his life as much as possible, and loving every second of it, then nobody beats the Green Goblin. Let’s recap. Peter (Spider-Man’s actual name) is dating Gwen Stacy. Norman (Goblin’s actual name) seduces her, impregnates her, she gives birth to twins in France so Peter doesn’t know, then the Goblin throws her off a bridge, killing her in front of Spider-Man. Years later, the twins (brainwashed by Norman) torment Peter physically and mentally because they believe he killed their mother. Next, Norman messes with Harry, his son and Peter’s best friend, turning Harry into the second Green Goblin, who tortures and battles Spider-Man when Norman is thought to be dead. Then, out of a ridiculous set of events, Norman becomes the most powerful, influential, and important man on the planet, and begins to use his unlimited resources to hunt down Spider-Man, as well as all the other heroes. And those are just some of the wonderful moments that the Green Goblin has given Spider-Man over the years. Such an evil, diabolical, and, dare I say it, badass villain.
