10 Insane Times Supervillains Lost Their Powers

Comic books have a long history of granting powers to people in creative and sometimes ridiculous ways. The origin stories that transform someone, who may or may not be a villain already, into a being of incredible power and energy, are some of what makes comic books a great medium.

Origin stories are fantastic, but what happens when someone who has a ton of power loses it suddenly? It's happened in the comics, cartoons, live-action series and films multiple times. A villain will be going about their business, carrying out whatever dastardly deed they're working on, and BAM! No more powers.

When this happens, it's almost always the fault of some do-good "hero" who is trying to save the day, but not always. A villain's hubris can bring them down just as quickly as a specific sound frequency or beam of concentrated radiation, so a hero isn't always to blame.

Whatever the reason for the loss of power and abilities, these villains have been on top of their game, only to lose out at some point. It may have brought them to justice, or even ended in their demise, but whatever the cause, these were some insane times a supervillain lost their powers.

The Green Lanterns have fought their fair share of enemies over the years, but the one villain who could be called the Corps' worst began as one of its greatest members. Sinestro was once the Green Lantern of Space Sector 1417, which was almost entirely devoid of all crime and lawlessness.

Eventually, it was revealed that Sinestro was only able to maintain such perfection was by becoming his homeworld's harshest possible dictator, ruling his people with an iron fist. When his duplicity and evil ways were exposed, he was put on trial on Oa, and swore vengeance against Hal Jordan and the Corps.

At this time, he was stripped of his Power Ring and sent to Qward in the Anti-Matter Universe, but this only gave him the opportunity to put on a Qwardian Power Ring, which used the yellow light of fear as its power source. Over the years, Sinestro would attack Jordan and the Corps multiple times.

After the "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Sinestro was captured once more, but this time, he was stripped of his ring and imprisoned inside the Central Power Battery on Oa.

While inside, he learned the secret of the Yellow Impurity and was only released to battle Jordan, who had been taken over by Parallax, the embodiment of fear in the universe.