10 Greatest Female Supervillains Ever Created (Marvel & DC)

For every good male supervillain, there’s a giant list of the greatest female supervillains. And for all the great female supervillains, there are always better ones ready to be created. The history of comics is littered with female characters that can control plants, minds, fists, and those whom they have a relationship with.

Of them, who stands out above the rest? Of all the female supervillains, who are the greatest female supervillains? Great question. We will deal with that in today’s post, so without further ado, let’s check out our list of the greatest female supervillains ever created!

15. Cheetah

Barbara Ann Minerva, known as the Cheetah, is most notable for being a villain of Wonder Woman and is connected with the Legion of Doom, Suicide Squad, and Checkmate. Originally an archaeologist and friend of Wonder Woman, Barbara was transformed into the Cheetah after being captured by the plant god Urzkartaga, granting her feline powers. After she got powers, she turned on her lifelong friend and found herself with a new identity.

14. Typhoid Mary

Mary Alice Walker, later revealed as Typhoid Mary, initially appears timid with no memory of her other personas’ actions. However, due to childhood abuse and dissociative identity disorder, her Typhoid persona emerges with increased athleticism, a high fever, and a tendency for violence.

Typhoid Mary works for the Kingpin, kills, and possesses pyrokinesis. A more malevolent persona named Bloody Mary surfaces later, targeting abusive men. Over time, Mary develops additional personas beyond these.

13. Scarlet Witch

The reason for Scarlet Witch being so low is not her lack of popularity but because she is not always strictly a villain, there were instances in which she appeared on the wrong side of the law, but most of the time, she is just trying to do best with what she has.

12. Lady Deathstrike

Lady Deathstrike’s sole objective was to kill Wolverine, believing he stole her father’s research on fusing adamantium to the human skeleton. After multiple defeats, she sought Spiral’s help to transform her into a cyborg, granting her superhuman abilities, adamantium claws, and the ability to interface with computers.

While she has recently joined forces with Weapon X, Lady Deathstrike’s dark and dangerous past continues to shape her path

11. Granny Goodness

Granny Goodness is a Jack Kirby creation who is responsible for training Darkseid’s soldiers. While her methods are very effective, they are violent and brutal. However, it isn’t the training of Darkseid’s soldiers that’s most impressive. What’s most impressive is that Granny Goodness is responsible for an elite set of female warriors called the Female Furies, most notably of which is Big Barda.

Granny Goodness embodies everything that Darkseid and Apokalips stand for. She is evil to the core and defines exactly what it means to be a supervillain. 

10. Enchantress

Of all supervillains yet to make an appearance in the MCU, none are more perplexing than Amora The Enchantress. After all, her confidante and usual criminal partner, The Executioner, has already appeared. This aside, The Enchantress is one of the comics’ most feared female supervillains. Here’s why.

Amora is one of the pre-eminent magic users in Asgard and one of the strongest Asgardians in general. Aside from her undeniable good looks, Amora is proficient in mind control and other methods of sorcery. Because she is Asgardian, she is near immortal and uses her exceptionally long life to succeed with many of her schemes.

9. Talia al Ghul

Like so many before her, Talia developed feelings for Batman and over the years, has used this to her advantage. She has manipulated and played Batman for a fool time and time again. There may be no better example than when she was pregnant with his child. After learning the news, Batman became obsessed with doing whatever he could to ensure the baby’s health and survival. This is why when Talia told him she lost the baby, he was devastated. Of course, this proved to be untrue and she eventually gave birth to Damian Wayne.

Faking an unborn’s death is as low as a person can go. But this is what makes her a lock for this list. Talia is one of the best female supervillains because she is willing to go to lengths that so very few would go to.

8. Poison Ivy

When you control everything around you, you’re bound to be one of the best female supervillains ever. 

Poison Ivy can and does control Mother Nature. She makes trees bend; forces roots up from the ground, creates poison spores, and more. Pamela Isley was a promising botanical biochemist whose work led the field. Unfortunately, she was subjected to various experiments that gave her a new sense of right and wrong. The experiments allowed her to control plants and use their natural secretions to subdue her enemies. 

What separates her from the others on this list is that she is an environmentalist at heart. She believes that a) plants have just as many rights as humans and b) humans are a detriment to the world. The combination of the two makes her a threat to everyone she encounters.

7. Elektra

Like many others on this list, Elektra has been the on-and-off love interest of another hero. In her case, that hero is Daredevil. His feelings for her run deep. Unfortunately, hers are not on the same level. 

Elektra is the perfect assassin. She will take a job no matter the consequences or who it’s for. She’s even worked for the likes of Kingpin. More than many, Elektra’s morals can be bought. It’s for this reason that her inclusion of as never second-guessed.

6. Black Cat

A comic book supervillain who dresses like a cat has an on-and-off relationship with an important hero, uses that relationship for her benefit, and discards said hero when she is done. Yes, Black Cat may be a copy of Catwoman, and yes, it’s pointless to say otherwise, but that doesn’t detract from how great of a supervillain she is. 

Felicia Hardy has been a fan favorite since her debut back in 1979. What she lacks in strength and size, she more than makes up in intelligence and ingenuity. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, is an accomplished gymnast, and has weapons at her disposal that would make the army jealous. 

5. Emma Frost

The last few decades have brought about a renaissance for Emma Frost. In her first appearance, she was the very powerful telepath in the Hellfire Club. She, along with Jason Wyngarde (Mastermind) was instrumental in the transformation of Jean Grey to the Dark Phoenix. 

What makes her unique as compared to many other mutants is that she possesses a secondary mutant power. Her second power allows her to transform her entire body into a diamond-like form thereby preventing attacks of all sorts against her. This, of course, means both physical and mental attacks. 

4. Harley Quinn

Most know that Harley Quinn was created outside of comic books. It wasn’t until after her creation of Batman The Animated Series that Harley Quinn found her way to published print. Harley Quinn is the on-and-off girlfriend and partner of the Joker. While their relationship leaves something to be desired, her personality doesn’t. She’s bubbly and is always looking for a good time. And by good time, I mean she’s looking to wreak havoc on the world. 

What makes Harley so dangerous is not that she’s aligned herself with Batman’s greatest enemy. What makes Harley so dangerous is that inside she’s just as much of a monster as he is.

3. Hela

Even though this is not the list based on powers, I had to include Hela this high because of two reasons. First, she suddenly rose to prominence with her inclusion in the MCU, and second, she is easily the most powerful on the list. Hela is the goddess of death, and even Odin trembles in her presence.

2. Catwoman

When you think of quintessential Batman enemies, Catwoman always comes up. Not only did Catwoman make her debut around the same time as Batman, but she has also endured and become better over the ages.

What separates her from so many other Batman’s enemies is that she exploits and uses his feelings for her against him. Once she has what she needs she almost always discards him like yesterday’s garbage. Catwoman is as deadly as she is beautiful and it’s this combination that has translated to her success.

1. Dark Phoenix

As a mutant, Jean Grey is immensely powerful. She is a telepath whose powers are near on par with Professor Xavier’s. During one of the most iconic stories in comics, Jean Grey bonds with an alien entity known as the Phoenix Force. After the two combined, she arguably became the strongest mutant in the galaxy. This caused the attention of the entire X-Men universe to shift to her. Of all the eyes now looking at her, none were more important than the Hellfire Club.

As a member of the Hellfire Club, the Phoenix’s full potential was unlocked and the two became the Dark Phoenix. As the Dark Phoenix, she was capable of decimating entire galaxies in mere seconds. And she did.

Who would make it to your list of greatest women supervillains? Let us know in the comments!