DC Comics’ journey started with the World’s First Superhero, Superman, and they introduced lots of popular heroes in the comics like Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Shazam, and many more.
But, we are here to discuss the 20 strongest DC characters who sit on top of the table in power rankings.
Many famous characters like Shazam, Batman, and the Old Gods are not able to make this list, but this countdown is true to its core, and we will try to provide all the justified reasons for the characters who are in it.
So, Without any further ado, Let’s dive into the most powerful DC characters of all time.
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#20 Wonder Woman
First Appearance: All-Star Comics #8 in December 1941.
Known For: As a defender of peace, justice, and equality, Princess Diana of Themyscira a.k.a Wonder Woman represents humanity, love, and feminism.
Though her origin story was revised more than once, Wonder Woman was introduced as the first strongest female superhero during the rise of masculine superheroes like Superman, Batman, and Captain America.
As someone who shoulders woman empowerment, The first few Wonder Woman comics were full of controversies, but she is now the symbol of hope for those in need.
In recent comics, Diana Prince is the biological daughter of Zeus and Amazonian queen, Hippolyte, and is the youngest Greek god in the DC Comics.
As a member of the Trinity, She was one of the founding members of the Justice League. If you are very keen on Wonder Woman, we highly recommend watching a 2017 movie named, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women.
#19 Captain Atom
First Appearance: Space Adventures #33 in March 1960.
Known For: Captain Atom is often seen as a rival to the all-powerful Superman in the comics and cartoons. He is famous for his role in The Flashpoint storyline as the evil Aquaman used him as a weapon to eradicate all forms of life on the earth.
Captain Atom is the outcome of a secret government experiment that went wrong. As a result, Nathaniel Adam was transported 18 years into the future, and his skin was fused with an alien metal.
Thus, Superman’s part-time rival, Captain Atom, was introduced in the comics.
Our DC anti-hero receives his powers from Quantum Field and is also a member of the Justice League.
This nuclear-powered superhero often struggles to maintain his form and power. To put it simply, our glowing hero is a threat more than a hero who was extensively used for the government’s purposes on several occasions.
You can call him the government’s version of countering Superman.
#18 Perpetua
First Appearance: Justice League Volume 4 #8 in September 2018.
Known For: Perpetua is the main reason behind the Crisis on the infinity earth, but she is more famous as the mother of the World Forger, The Monitor, and the Anti-Monitor, who are three powerful characters in DC Comics.
As one of the most powerful and oldest entities in the DC Multiverse, Perpetua is from a race known as the Super Celestials.
Her origin story started billions of years ago when the Judges of the Source gave a task to all the Super Celestials to create new life within Omniverse.
One among the Super Celestials, Perpetua desired to kill the judges by harnessing seven hidden forces to create a Multiverse as a weapon.
Yes, She is the one who influenced Mobius to cause the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Later, Mother of the Multiverse harnessed all this crisis to battle against the Justice League.
#17 Doctor Fate
First Appearance: More Fun Comics #55 in 1940.
Known For: Doctor Fate is known for his shining golden helmet and cape. The famous version of this fictional character is Kent Nelson who specifically deals with magic-related threats.
Doctor Fate of the DC Comics is not at all a character like Marvel’s Doctor Strange.
It’s a title. One who wears the iconic golden helmet of Nabu will possess the power of Doctor Fate.
Many people held the title, but famous versions of them in the comics are Kent Nelson, Kent V. Nelson, Khalid Nassour, Inza Cramer Nelson, and Jared Stevens.
The titleholder of Doctor Fate is provided with an amulet, a cloak, and a golden helmet by the ancient Nabu.
As a deity, Nabu instructs Doctor Fate and also informs him about upcoming threats.
DC’s Sorcerer Supreme is one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America and also teamed up with Justice League on several occasions.
#16 Great Darkness
First Appearance: Swamp Thing Volume 2 #50 in 1986.
Known For: Great Darkness, a.k.a, the Great Evil Beast, is one of the four strongest antagonists of DC Comics. His emergence during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earth is the most note-worthy appearance in the comics.
Great Darkness is the pure manifestation of evil and is also referred to as God’s dark side.
Despite being one of the strongest entities in the DCU, he is considered a newborn entity.
The Presence, who is the God of DC Comics, easily defeated Great Darkness. During the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, Brujeria, a group of mystics tried to reach the Great Evil Beast, but the ritual had a disastrous outcome.
This evil cosmic entity awoke as a furious beast and caused numerous disasters.
The three strongest angels, Lucifer, Azrael, and Beelzebub allied to defend Hell when the Great Evil Beast attacked their realm.
#15 Eclipso
First Appearance: House of Secrets #61 in 1963.
Known For: Eclipso is the original and first incarnation of the spirit of God’s wrath before Spectre.
Eclipso is one of those supervillains on our list whose origin story was changed more than once by the writers.
This character began his career as a minor villain, but the 1992 Darkness Within miniseries changed his fate and made him a big cosmic-level threat to Earth’s superheroes.
During his time as the Spirit of Vengence, He was held responsible for the Great Flood. After blaming him for the inevitable, The incident caused him to flip the switch.
Eclipso was corrupted by the evil forces and was banished from Heaven by sealing him in a black diamond, also known as the Heart of Darkness.
That black diamond can only contact a victim who is in great pain and suffering. After his fall, he is believed to have become an agent of chaos.
In the comics, Dr. Bruce Gordon became the first host of Eclipso when he was in mortal danger.
#14 The Flash
First Appearance: Flash Comics #1 in 1940.
Known For: Many characters had the title of The Flash, but the most notable among them is Barry Allen’s incarnation.
Wally West’s Flash is not far behind as he is superior to Barry Allen in some aspects. Barry is also one of the founding members of the Justice League.
Ezra Miller is recently in the news for his troubled personality, but the character he is playing in the DCEU had also caused trouble on numerous occasions.
The speedster may have a weak physique as compared to the powerhouses of the League, but his speed force makes him one of the deadliest characters in all of DC Comics.
The Flash is responsible for the Flashpoint which caused a major turnaround in the DC Universe like Thomas Wayne became Batman and Aquaman and Wonder Woman became evil.
Barry Allen has the power to reset the timeline whenever he wants, and his ability to run faster than light allows him to do so.
#13 Parallax
First Appearance: Green Lantern Volume 3 #48 in 1994.
Known For: Parallax is one of the seven emotional entities of the DC universe and the source of power behind the Yellow Lantern Power Battery.
This evil being is the physical manifestation of fear and is given power by the ‘Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum.’
Talking about his origin, he was imprisoned by the Guardians of the Universe after causing notorious yellow impurities among the Green Lantern Corp’s power rings.
Legendary Green Lantern, Hal Jordan was corrupted by Parallax’s powers, which drove him to insanity.
This also resulted in this yellow monster’s freedom from its seal for the first time. The cosmic entity lives inside the Yellow Lantern Central Power Battery and later possessed Kyle Rayner and Sinestro.
Any Green Lantern may fall victim to it if he becomes afraid of something.
#12 Orion
First Appearance: New Gods #1 in 1971.
Known For: Orion is the son of DC’s supervillain Darkseid. This fictional character is famous for his controversial debut as he was created by the legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby after he conflicted with Marvel.
Orion is one of the strongest superheroes in DCU, and his physical strength is on-par with Superman and Wonder Woman.
As a half-brother of Kalibak and Grayven, He was not raised by his father instead Orion was used as a tool to bring peace between two warring planets, Apokolips and New Genesis.
His mind struggles with the conflict between his benevolent upbringing and the violent nature in his blood.
This aspect makes him an anti-hero as he struggles to maintain balance in his personality. Orion is one of the best fighters and is the god of war among the new gods.
He is the face of a new superhero among the race of New Gods and helped Justice League on numerous occasions.
#11 Nekron
First Appearance: Tales of the Green Lantern Corps #2 in 1981.
Known For: We all know that death is certain for every living creature, and Nekron is the physical manifestation of death and darkness in the DC Comics.
Nekron primarily appeared as a villain to the Green Lantern Corps, but he is a cosmic-level threat to all life that exists.
He has the ultimate power of reviving any dead person and can manipulate those souls to do his bidding.
The ruler of the Land of Unliving does not stop there as he created the Black Lantern Corps, and is also the leader of it.
Our skull-looking super-villain made numerous attempts to break free from his realm and was tackled by superheroes.
His most notable villainous act was that he was solely responsible for the events of Blackest Night as he trapped Anti-Monitor in the Black Lantern’s power battery.
#10 Elaine Belloc
First Appearance: Lucifer #4 in 2000.
Known For: Elaine Belloc is the secondary protagonist in the Lucifer comic book series and her journey is recorded in that series like a shounen protagonist of an anime.
We can assure you that Elaine did not feature as a side character in the comics. Rather, her character was a developing one like Lucifer in this plot.
Her appearance was limited to only this series as she never appeared in any other DC Comics.
A young girl with special powers, Elaine’s story started when she encountered her uncle Lucifer.
As she started to get involved in the adventures of the King of Hell, she came to know that she was actually a half-angel.
She also uncovered her origin of being the daughter of the great Archangel, Michael Demiurgos.
Her adventures with Lucifer ended when she took over the role of her grandfather, The Presence, and became the ruler of Heaven.
#9 Mister MXYZPTLK
First Appearance: Superman #30 in 1944.
Known For: As one of the oldest supervillains in the DC universe, Mister Mxyzptlk always gives a hard time to Superman. Our cute and familiar-looking fictional character has appeared in almost every Superman animated series.
Mister Mxyzptlk is one of the funniest super villains on our list and always loves to bother Superman.
His role in the comics is complicated as he acts as a villain and sometimes as an anti-hero, but he is one of the oldest characters in the DC comics.
Our little supervillain appeared as a trickster deity in the Golden Age of Comics.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. His appearance can fool anyone, but his power is beyond anyone’s limit.
This imp is from the fifth dimension and has the power to do anything that he wishes. His powers also have a few drawbacks, and that is why he is not the strongest character in DC.
#8 The Decreator
First Appearance: Doom Patrol Volume 2 #32 in 1990.
Known For: The Decreator is a powerful cosmic being who has no personality, as he does not represent good or evil, but is more of a force of nature.
The large one-eyed evil deity was mistakenly created by God while creating the universe. He has not left any significant impact on DC Comics, but he surely is one of the strongest beings.
During the time of creation, God uttered “Let there be light” but it also had the opposite effect.
He is the first shadow of the DC universe after uttering those Biblical words.
The Cult of the Unwritten Book summoned this large creepy eye to reverse the creation of the world. This invincible creature appeared as a giant eye in the sky.
#7 The Spectre
First Appearance: More Fun Comics #52 in 1940.
Known For: The Spectre is one of DC’s famous superheroes, but he is more popular because his look is pretty similar to Marvel’s Doctor Doom. In the DC comics, His duty is to unleash God’s vengeance upon evil.
The Spectre acts more like an anti-hero, and he continuously changes his hosts. The most prominent hosts among those were James Corrigan, Hal Jordan, and Crispus Allen.
Our caped vigilante is the Spirit of Vengeance and acts as a powerful agent of the Presence who appears to guide many characters in the comics to find their path.
The Spectre is an aspect of the Presence, but he was once an angel named Aztar.
As an omnipotent being, DC’s vengeance of God has access to almost every power but is vulnerable to his mortal host body, which can be destroyed.
#6 Lucifer Morningstar
First Appearance: The Sandman #4 in 1989.
Known For: DC’s Lucifer is a capricious one with the same devilish attributes from the Mythologies. As a ruler of the Underworld, He can control any demon he wants.
We cannot leave the most charming male behind on our countdown as he is one of the strongest beings in the DC universe.
He is none other than the Biblical character we all love so much, The king of hell aka Lucifer Morningstar.
After his failed rebellion against God, he was sent to rule hell. Though the original Devil was the strongest among all the angels, he always had a rivalry against his brother Michael Demiurgos.
After ruling Hell for ten billion years, the King of all demons decided to leave his domain behind and became the owner of a piano bar called “Lux” in Los Angeles.
Another demon from Hell, Mazikeen also came with him to assist him in running the bar. To watch our anti-hero differently, we encourage you to watch Lucifer on Netflix.
Now, We’re into the top 5 most powerful DC characters of all time. These are the big shots in all of DC and are really strong.
#5 Anti Monitor
First Appearance: Crisis on Infinite Earths #2 in 1985.
Known For: This robot-looking Anti-Monitor almost destroyed all of the matter by killing untold billions of lives. LaMonica Garrett has recently played the role of this fictional character in the Arrowverse.
We can’t make our list without the strongest son of Perpetua aka Anti Monitor.
Though Perpetua’s full extent of power is still unknown in the comics, Anti Monitor is way stronger than his other siblings.
The ruler of the Anti-matter Universe is the counterpart of the Monitor and is as old as the DC universe itself.
His powers can manipulate the entire Anti-matter Universe and also lead to the major event of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In this mini-comic series, Anti Monitor a.k.a, the Guardian of Fear, played the role of a primary villain and was defeated by the unity of heroes and villains of the DC universe.
The son of Perpetua also provided help to the Sinestro Corps and the Black Lantern Corps.
#4 Superman Prime
First Appearance: DC One Million in 1998.
Known For: Superman is considered to be the most popular comic book superhero in the world.
Throughout the years, there have been several versions of him, but Superman Prime or Superman One Billion is the strongest among all the Superman versions.
Superman Prime who was introduced by Grant Morrison comes from the 853rd Century and is the ultimate version of the Man of Steel.
He is around 85,000 years old and is the living extension of our yellow Sun. This version of Kal-El decided to leave Earth in the late 21st Century after the death of all the people he loved.
The Kryptonian travelled the whole DC Universe beyond time and space and started living in his fortress of solitude in the centre of the Sun. This prime version of Superman’s power multiplied because of the time he spent in the sun and reached an almost infinite level.
If this isn’t convincing enough, We can also replace this version of Man of Steel with Cosmic Armor Superman who is literally a plot device.
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#3 Darkseid True Form
First Appearance: Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 in 1970.
Known For: Darkseid needs no introduction as he is considered the biggest baddy in the DC Universe. He had destroyed lots of planets in search of the Anti-Life Equation.
Darkseid is always the biggest threat to Earth, and Justice League has defeated him on numerous occasions.
The ruler of Apokolips was always engaged in warring against New Genesis, the home planet of the New Gods.
It was Highfather, the leader of the New Gods and Darkseid’s brother, who revealed the secret of Darkseid as his grey-coloured rocky skin appearance was not his true form.
After killing all the Old Gods, Uxas, the alter ego of Darkseid, became too powerful by absorbing the powers of those deceased Gods.
He has always manifested himself as an avatar in each universe and has a fraction of his true form’s power.
Little is known about his true form, and we saw some of his glimpses only in the Final Crisis. It was also revealed that True Darkseid is a multiversal level threat.
If you want to know everything there is to Darkseid’s True Form then here it is.
Want To Know Everything About Darkseid’s True Form?
#2 Dr. Manhattan
First Appearance: Watchmen #1 in 1986.
Known For: Our blue, glowing, and half-naked superhero is the strongest character in the Watchmen storyline and is also one of the founding members of the superhero group Watchmen.
Doctor Manhattan is not a typical hero as some of his actions give us the vibes of an anti-hero.
Moore took inspiration from DC’s other superhero, Captain Atom, and presented Manhattan as “A Supreme Super-hero.”
Doctor Jon Osterman, a nuclear physicist was caught in a government radioactive particle test called Manhattan Project.
At first, the Government was not able to find Jon’s body and declared him dead but after a few months, Doctor Osterman’s consciousness began to retake material form.
He was able to revive his whole hairless, blue-skinned body on November 22 and took the form we all see in the comics.
Doctor Manhattan was always an emotionally detached, godlike superhero, and after his breakup with his girlfriend, Laurie Jupiter, He abandoned the human race and started living on Mars.
#1 The Presence
First Appearance: More Fun Comics #52 in 1940
Known For: This entity with the look of a middle-aged man is the father of Lucifer and Michael and the God of the DC universe.
The Presence is the most powerful being in the entire DC Comics.
The creators, Jerry Siegel and Bernard Bailey presented this character as a fictional version of the Judeo-Christian God.
As the father of Lucifer, he played a much bigger role in developing the character of DC Comics’ Lucifer.
In a human form, DC’s version of Abrahamic God has appeared like an ageing gentleman wearing a dark suit with a bowler hat on the head, an umbrella on his arm, and a grey moustache on his face.
Though he was lesser known among the cosmic characters in the old comics, The New 52 version of The Presence is the maker of the Council of Eternity and has manifested himself several times in front of others.
I hope that we are successful in providing enough proof for the above characters to be on this list.
Though Michael Demiurgos, Zeus, and many other cosmic beings are not on this list. DC Comics is evolving every year by introducing new characters with more powers, and they sometimes reintroduce old characters too.
So, maybe we’ll have a new inclusion after a few years but for now, These are the most powerful characters in all of DC comics.
Want to know the most powerful characters in the Marvel comics?
Marvel’s Strongest Characters Are Here
I did mention we also have a well-researched article on the strongest characters in all of fiction?
The Best Of The Best Characters From Fiction
Have a look at these countdowns and see which list wins if they ever fought against each other.
That’s all for today folks and keep visiting averagebeing.com for more fun superhero content.
