10 Immortal Comic Book Villains (And How They Died)

Death is a funny thing in the world of comics and far less permanent than its real world counterpart. Often used to shock readers, popular characters who meet the axe are typically brought back down the line in order to re-shock readers. In the land of the heroes, seemingly immortal (or near enough to it) characters such as Superman and Wolverine have fallen foul of death only to triumphantly return later on down the road.

Immortality however, has always been a gift granted to villains more than heroes with countless ancient entities making their presence felt in the present day. One thing nearly all of them have in common: their undying ways come to swift and satisfying ends when they foolishly mess with the wrong hero (or even fellow villain in some instances). While death is about as permanent as a broken nail to these all powerful baddies, it’s often a big deal in the moment and a frequent curiosity lies in just how the heroes finally (temporarily) rid themselves of their hated foe.

Let’s take a look at 10 immortal villains and how they wound up meeting their maker.

The diabolical Nathaniel Essex is in fact the most youthful member of this list despite his having been around since Victorian times. A servant of En Sabah Nur, Essex was granted an all new, all mutated body from his master allowing him to manipulate his own molecular structure. So adept at this is the aptly named Mr Sinister that he can even regrow himself from a single cell if need be.

With his being ageless and a master regenerator, it’s safe to say Sinister’s hard to slaughter. Especially bad news for the Summers brothers this as Sinister’s had a long running (and rather unhealthy) obsession with them and their mutations.

All the same, Sinister’s succumbed to death a fair few times now and in a variety of realities. Most famously, Mystique took the mad scientist out by pressing him against the unconscious body of especially deadly X-Man Rogue until every last ounce of life in him had left the building. He has also died at the hands of Hope Summers more recently.

Sinister’s luck hasn’t been much better in the various alternate timelines spinning off from the X-Men. A major antagonist in the classic Age of Apocalypse series, Sinister is brutally taken out by the X-Men in the sequel series and is one of the few characters to ever fall victim to murderous violence from Professor X during the Mutant X series.