20 Greatest Arrowverse Villains
Bad times don't last, but bad guys do.
Every great superhero needs at least one great supervillain. The better the bad guy, the more invested we are in the outcome and the more the story gets its hooks into us.
That’s why a great villain is so important... but what actually makes a great villain? It’s not whether they can beat the good guys, or even come close - plot convention generally requires the antagonist to be taken out in the final act regardless of how awesome they are (or aren’t).
No, it’s some compelling combination of factors: something that intrigues you, makes you keep coming back to see what happens next. They could have a fascinating relationship or dynamic with our hero, or they could have a unique look or power set. Their appeal could lie in the story they’re a part of, or (in the case of villains on the stage or screen) simply in the sheer brilliance of the performance.
The TV shows that make up the Arrowverse have had their fair share of damp squibs and missed opportunities over the last seven years, presenting forgettable takes on classic comic book moustache-twirlers like Ra’s al Ghul, The Thinker and Vandal Savage. But there have been far more dreaded devils than dreadful douchebags in the Arrowverse to date...
20. Mallus
Initially, Legends Of Tomorrow’s season three did its level best to present primordial demon Mallus as a terrifying harbinger of doom.
Escaped from his prison of centuries, this sinister force of darkness corrupts and possesses more than one person in true Exorcist style while the team desperately try to find a way to put the djinn back in the bottle.
Unfortunately, the climax to his tenure as the show’s Big Bad completely eradicated any menace that had been built up over the preceding seventeen episodes, with the combined Legends using their ersatz Infinity Stones to create a super-Beebo, a blue fluffy toy empowered with the ability to destroy the millennia-old demon.
Mallus would be a lot higher on this list if they hadn’t gone for the Ghostbusters ending and had their supervillain creamed after a WWE-style spotfest with a plushie.