10 Smartest Comic Book Villains

1. High Evolutionary (Marvel Comics)

The High Evolutionary may seem like a strange inclusion on a list that specified no cosmic entities, but the fact is that he started life as a human and, through sheer intelligence and intellectual development, he became so much more.

Born as Herbert Edgar Wyndham in Manchester, England, he became fascinated with genetic experimentation and manipulation thanks to the fact that he took an interest in the work of Nathaniel Essex - the man who would become Mister Sinister. Due to experimentation on his own genetic material, his highly enhanced brain and cybernetic exoskeleton, the High Evolutionary has come to obtain almost god-like powers, such as the ability to evolve and devolve life-forms on a planetary scale, matter manipulation at a subatomic level, matter creation, energy manipulation and projection, cosmic awareness, precognition, telepathy, telekinesis, extra-dimensional travel and size alteration. On one occasion, thanks to the powers he has developed through his own research, he actually managed to hold his own against the planet-devouring Galactus for a prolonged time in battle. The High Evolutionary has also created his own army of hyper-evolved animals that he calls the New Men AKA the Knights of Wundagore. They wield weapons that the High Evolutionary created himself and which have displayed some anti-mystical properties, as demonstrated by a lance wielded by the Beast that was actually able to damage the Darkhold €“ an ancient mystical book of magic spells that has otherwise proven nigh invulnerable.

His exoskeleton €“ a device of his own creation €“ provides him with a massive degree of protection from physical attacks and also provides him with life support (filtering or recycling his air and providing sustenance when needed). If he is badly damaged, the suit can also heal his wounds and can completely restore him to life using records of his genome and brain activity patterns, such as the time the suit restored him fully after a very angry Hulk had beaten him into goo.

Basically, any human who can evolve himself, through research, into possessing the power of a god deserves to be top of a list like this.

So there you have it - the ten smartest comic book villains (excluding cosmic entities and gods etc). Did you like this article? Do you agree with the entries on this list? Which other comic book villains deserve a mention in terms of their smarts? Let us know in the comments section below. And please feel free to follow me on Twitter!