10 Most Brutal Comic Book Villains

When it comes to fear-inducing monikers, Deathstroke the Terminator is certainly an effective name to go by.

For Slade Wilson, he's one of the most badass villains under the DC Comics banner, and he's a standout villain of modern-day comic books, period.

Where Deathstroke is concerned, it's rarely personal, for his heinous acts are so often carried out purely for business reasons. A hired gun who commands the big bucks, Wilson has a unique set of skills that many other no-good sorts are eager to make use of.

Think Liam Neeson in the Taken series but turned up to eleven, with a dash of sadistic pleasure thrown in for good measure, and you have the fundamentals of the Deathstroke character.

Slade is so efficient, he's one of the very few people who Batman struggles with in one-on-one combat - and given how the Caped Crusader is viewed as one of the very best hand-to-hand fighters on the planet, that gives a further indication of just how good Deathstroke is at what he does.

In terms of brutality, Slade has nuked Bludhaven, he's created more dead bodies than most, has gleefully killed animals, abused his children, and had sex with a minor - all in order to complete whichever mission he's been tasked with, usually with a hefty payday being all that Deathstroke is bothered about.