11 Comic Book Characters Who Killed Their Loved Ones

6. Superman

Orion Final Crisis
DC Comics

In the continuity of the Injustice universe, Superman is positioned as the main 'big bad' who is intent on ruling with an iron first. The moment that cemented this heel turn was the Man of Steel killing the Joker by pulling out the Clown Prince of Crime's heart.

Given how Supes is so often the bright shining light of comics, this act was a jarring one - but it was one that you could perfectly understand the logic behind, even if you did think the Boy Scout went a little too far.

The reason for Superman killing the Joker, of course, is because the Jester of Genocide had duped Kal-El into killing Lois Lane. And not just Lois Lane, but the couple's unborn child whom Lois was carrying.

Using a mixture of Kryptonite and a fear toxin, Mr. J had Superman hallucinating and believing that Lois was actually Doomsday. With the Joker having rigged the trigger for a Metropolis-based warhead to Lois' heart, it's not only his 'one true' who dies when Superman kills "Doomsday", but the whole of Metropolis too.

While he wasn't aware of what he was doing, the Big Blue Boy Scout still tragically killed his wife and unborn child, plus countless millions of other innocents.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.