History Monster / DCFilms

** [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 2017 film]]: [[TheDreaded Steppenwolf]], military commander of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]], had [[GalacticConqueror burned countless worlds]] when he came to Earth, killing millions and raising them as monstrous Parademons, before he tasted defeat. Returning thousands of years later, Steppenwolf seeks to recover the lost Mother Boxes to enact his plan of wiping out life on Earth to turn it into a blasted hellscape like his own homeworld, hoping to offer Earth to his master [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and end his exile. Massacring the Amazon warriors guarding their Mother Box and later doing the same to the Atlanteans, Steppenwolf captures humans who may know of the third Mother Box, killing them when they don't have the info he wants and preparing to torture another until he talks. When the newly formed Justice League moves to stop him, Steppenwolf puts his plan into motion and unleashes his forces on civilians, intending to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate all life on Earth]] to erase the memory of his past failure.

-->-- '''[[Characters/DCEUDarkseid Darkseid]]''', ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''

** [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 2017 film]]: [[TheHeavy Steppenwolf]], military commander of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]], had [[GalacticConqueror burned countless worlds]] when he came to Earth, killing millions and raising them as monstrous Parademons, before he tasted defeat. Returning thousands of years later, Steppenwolf seeks to recover the lost Mother Boxes to enact his plan of wiping out life on Earth to turn it into a blasted hellscape like his own homeworld, hoping to offer Earth to his master [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and end his exile. Massacring the Amazon warriors guarding their Mother Box and later doing the same to the Atlanteans, Steppenwolf captures humans who may know of the third Mother Box, killing them when they don't have the info he wants and preparing to torture another until he talks. When the newly formed Justice League moves to stop him, Steppenwolf puts his plan into motion and unleashes his forces on civilians, intending to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate all life on Earth]] to erase the memory of his past failure.
** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': [[Characters/DCEUDarkseid Darkseid]], once known as Uxas, is the dark ruler of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]] hell-bent on finding the Anti-Life Equation to subjugate all life in the Multiverse. To this end, Darkseid conquers 100,000 worlds and terraforming them into a new Apokolips, cleansing them with fire and turning its inhabitants into soulless slaves aware but without freedom. Darkseid would later invade Earth upon learning it contains the Anti-Life Equation, and tries to [[HostileTerraforming terraform]] it, only to be defeated and driven back. Darkseid would later banish [[TheHeavy Steppenwolf]] from Apokolips, forcing him to conquer thousands of planets should he ever want to return. Upon learning that Steppenwolf found the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid orders him to scorch the planet; when Steppenwolf failed, Darkseid simply crushes his decapitated head. In the "[[Characters/DCEUKnightmare Knightmare]]", Darkseid kills most of the Justice League, brainwashes Superman into being his servant, and reduces the Earth into a barren wasteland.

** The insatiably cruel [[EvilOverlord Ahk-Ton]] himself ruled Kahndaq in ancient times with an iron fist while creating the Crown of Sabbac for ultimate power over the world. Having [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved]] numerous natives of Kahndaq to build his empire and mine for the material Eternium, he regularly threatens and sacrifices the lives of dissenters, including executing the slaves as a "reward" for their work. When [[Characters/DCEUBlackAdam Teth-Adam]]'s son Hurut becomes the champion for "Shazam", after Ahk-Ton tries to [[PublicExecution publicly execute]] him, and uses his powers to fight against him as Kahndaq's protector, Ahk-Ton [[YouKilledMyFather has his mother Shiruta murdered]], and Adam himself is gravely wounded in the process. When Adam is saved by Hurut transferring his powers to him, Hurut himself ends up being killed by Ahk-Ton's forces instead.
* ''Film/AquamanAndTheLostKingdom'': [[AncientEvil Kordax]], [[CainAndAbel younger brother of King Atlan]], was the ruler of the seventh kingdom of Necrus. Exploiting Orichalcum to fuel his burgeoning kingdom, Kordax is implored by Atlan to cease doing so, as his actions are poisoning the Earth. Paranoid that Atlan will take his power away, Kordax forges a special Black Trident out of Orichalcum infused with dark magic and uses it to forcefully turn all of his own people into undead slaves, making himself into [[OurLichesAreDifferent a Lich]] and waging war on Atlan before he is defeated and imprisoned by Atlan with his own blood. In the modern day, Kordax manipulates [[Characters/DCEUBlackManta Black Manta]] after the latter acquires the Black Trident, having Manta begin burning Orichalcum to cause an environmental collapse, killing off thousands of people both on the surface and in the sea in order to weaken his prison. He then has Manta kidnap [[Characters/DCEUAquaman Arthur]]'s son to try to sacrifice him in order to free Kordax's armies so he can once more ravage the world.

** [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow Professor Jonathan Crane]] is a [[PsychoPsychologist sadistic doctor]] who experiments on his patients with his fear gas, leaving them irreparably mentally shattered in some instances. Attempting to torture Rachel and Batman with said gas, Crane is eventually apprehended after having used it with [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows Ra's al Ghul]] to hold the city hostage. While the city is dying, Crane gleefully participates in the uprising to kill at will. In the intervening years following his freedom, Crane enjoys using the gas to [[WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight inspire others to serial murder]] and to destroy the minds of random drug customers. Finally freed from Arkham, Crane presides over {{Kangaroo Court}}s in [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBane Bane]]'s "utopia" of Gotham, sentencing countless members of the upper crust to certain death by "exile," including Jim Gordon and his police.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker The Joker]] is a self-described "[[ChaosIsEvil agent of chaos]]" out to give Gotham a "[[EvilerThanThou better class of criminal]]". Introduced by killing each of his goons after a bank robbery, the Joker proceeds to exploit the mob's desire to be rid of [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBruceWayne Batman]], casually murdering henchmen, politicians and police to force Batman to unmask himself. He also makes the lawyer attempting to unmask Batman a target; ties a crime boss to a pile of money which he then burns; kills a gangster by [[EyeScream making a pencil disappear...eraser-end first]]; blows up a hospital; leads police into a trap where they will shoot innocent civilians before getting killed by his men; attempts a PrisonersDilemma scenario to get a boatload of civilians and prisoners to blow each other up; and, primarily by manipulating a SadisticChoice leading to Rachel Dawes's death, and then by [[MindRape mind raping]] an injured Harvey Dent in the hospital, is the driving force behind his transformation into [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]]. The Joker's main motivation is fun, but he also wants to show that anyone and everyone can and will become a monster if pushed far enough, or even if just given the chance. He's proven wrong, but doesn't care, just giving an annoyed shrug and attempting to blow the two boats sky high with his own detonator.

** [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 2017 film]]: [[Characters/DCEUSteppenwolf Steppenwolf]], military commander of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]], had [[GalacticConqueror burned countless worlds]] when he came to Earth, killing millions and raising them as monstrous Parademons, before he tasted defeat. Returning thousands of years later, Steppenwolf seeks to recover the lost Mother Boxes to enact his plan of wiping out life on Earth to turn it into a blasted hellscape like his own homeworld, hoping to offer Earth to his master [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and end his exile. Massacring the Amazon warriors guarding their Mother Box and later doing the same to the Atlanteans, Steppenwolf captures humans who may know of the third Mother Box, killing them when they don't have the info he wants and preparing to torture another until he talks. When the newly formed Justice League moves to stop him, Steppenwolf puts his plan into motion and unleashes his forces on civilians, intending to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate all life on Earth]] to erase the memory of his past failure.
** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': [[Characters/DCEUDarkseid Darkseid]], once known as Uxas, is the dark ruler of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]] hell-bent on finding the Anti-Life Equation to subjugate all life in the Multiverse. To this end, Darkseid conquers 100,000 worlds and terraforming them into a new Apokolips, cleansing them with fire and turning its inhabitants into soulless slaves aware but without freedom. Darkseid would later invade Earth upon learning it contains the Anti-Life Equation, and tries to [[HostileTerraforming terraform]] it, only to be defeated and driven back. Darkseid would later banish [[Characters/DCEUSteppenwolf Steppenwolf]] from Apokolips, forcing him to conquer thousands of planets should he ever want to return. Upon learning that Steppenwolf found the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid orders him to scorch the planet; when Steppenwolf failed, Darkseid simply crushes his decapitated head. In the "[[Characters/DCEUKnightmare Knightmare]]", Darkseid kills most of the Justice League, brainwashes Superman into being his servant, and reduces the Earth into a barren wasteland.

* ''Film/BatmanFilmSeries'': Of the [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesVillains numerous villains]] faced by [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesBatman Batman]] and [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesBatFamily his allies]], this duo stands out:

* ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'': [[Characters/DCEUSteppenwolf Steppenwolf]], military commander of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]], had [[GalacticConqueror burned countless worlds]] when he came to Earth, killing millions and raising them as monstrous Parademons, before he tasted defeat. Returning thousands of years later, Steppenwolf seeks to recover the lost Mother Boxes to enact his plan of wiping out life on Earth to turn it into a blasted hellscape like his own homeworld, hoping to offer Earth to his master [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and end his exile. Massacring the Amazon warriors guarding their Mother Box and later doing the same to the Atlanteans, Steppenwolf captures humans who may know of the third Mother Box, killing them when they don't have the info he wants and preparing to torture another until he talks. When the newly formed Justice League moves to stop him, Steppenwolf puts his plan into motion and unleashes his forces on civilians, intending to [[OmnicidalManiac annihilate all life on Earth]] to erase the memory of his past failure.

* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': [[Characters/DCEUDarkseid Darkseid]], once known as Uxas, is the dark ruler of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]] hell-bent on finding the Anti-Life Equation to subjugate all life in the Multiverse. To this end, Darkseid conquers 100,000 worlds and terraforming them into a new Apokolips, cleansing them with fire and turning its inhabitants into soulless slaves aware but without freedom. Darkseid would later invade Earth upon learning it contains the Anti-Life Equation, and tries to [[HostileTerraforming terraform]] it, only to be defeated and driven back. Darkseid would later banish [[Characters/DCEUSteppenwolf Steppenwolf]] from Apokolips, forcing him to conquer thousands of planets should he ever want to return. Upon learning that Steppenwolf found the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid orders him to scorch the planet; when Steppenwolf failed, Darkseid simply crushes his decapitated head. In the "[[Characters/DCEUKnightmare Knightmare]]", Darkseid kills most of the Justice League, brainwashes Superman into being his servant, and reduces the Earth into a barren wasteland.

** Entire trilogy & ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight Gotham Knight]]'': [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow Professor Jonathan Crane]] is a [[PsychoPsychologist sadistic doctor]] who experiments on his patients with his fear gas, leaving them irreparably mentally shattered in some instances. Attempting to torture Rachel and Batman with said gas, Crane is eventually apprehended after having used it with [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows Ra's al Ghul]] to hold the city hostage. While the city is dying, Crane gleefully participates in the uprising to kill at will. In the intervening years following his freedom, Crane enjoys using the gas to inspire others to serial murder and to destroy the minds of random drug customers. Finally freed from Arkham, Crane presides over {{Kangaroo Court}}s in [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBane Bane]]'s "utopia" of Gotham, sentencing countless members of the upper crust to certain death by "exile," including Jim Gordon and his police.

* ''Film/JonahHex'': [[AxCrazy Burke]] is the right-hand man of [[BigBad Quentin Turnbull]], and matches his boss's emotionless cruelty with sheer psychopathic sadism. Assisting Turnbull in all of his crimes, Burke personally, and happily, [[ManOnFire burns]] Jonah Hex's wife and son alive, then holds Hex in place to be branded by Turnbull and left for dead. Fully aware, and approving, of Turnbull's plans to use his super weapon to wipe out thousands of innocents, Burke blows up an entire train to obtain parts for said weapon, killing the dozens of soldiers, citizens, and children on board, and later massacres the population of a small town to acquire the ammunition for Turnbull's super weapon. Kidnapping Hex's LoveInterest Lilah to use as a hostage, Burke takes sadistic glee in smacking her around; threatens innocents with death for kicks; and regularly [[MockingTheMourner taunts Jonah about his family's deaths]]. Dying while laughing at Hex's misfortune, Burke was a homicidal lunatic who seemed to only work with Turnbull to satisfy his lust for sadism and mass murder.

** ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'': [[Characters/BatmanFilmSeriesPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]], formerly Dr. Pamela Isley, relishing in her newfound power, [[AGodAmI declares herself Mother Nature]] and wishes to start anew for the world. Delighting in murdering numerous men with her painful [[KissOfDeath poison kiss]], Ivy tries to turn Batman and Robin against one another with her pheromones, seemingly murdering the sleeping Nora Fries to provoke Nora's husband, Mr. Freeze, [[DespairEventHorizon to true despair]]. Deciding to help him kill every living thing in the world after freezing Gotham solid, Ivy intends to [[InTheirOwnImage enact her own fantasies of creation upon the new world she creates]].

** Entire trilogy & ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamKnight Gotham Knight]]'': [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow Dr. Jonathan Crane]] is a [[PsychoPsychologist sadistic psychopharmacologist]] who experiments on his patients with his fear gas, leaving them irreparably mentally shattered in some instances. Attempting to torture Rachel and Batman with said gas, Crane is eventually apprehended after having used it with [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyLeagueOfShadows Ra's al Ghul]] to hold the city hostage. While the city is dying, Crane gleefully participates in the uprising to kill at will. In the intervening years following his freedom, Crane enjoys using the gas to inspire others to serial murder and to destroy the minds of random drug customers. Finally freed from Arkham, Crane presides over {{Kangaroo Court}}s in [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBane Bane]]'s "utopia" of Gotham, sentencing countless members of the upper crust to certain death by "exile," including Jim Gordon and his police.

** [[TheGeneralissimo Mayor General]]--later [[DragonAscendant Presidente]]--Mateo Suárez is the [[AxCrazy bloodthirsty]] henchman of Silvio Luna. In taking over Corto Maltese, Suárez directly participated in murdering the entire royal family and anyone still loyal to them, then after Luna dies, Suárez celebrates the occasion by [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals burning the late Presidente's birds alive]]. [[EvilerThanThou More savage and xenophobic than Luna ever was]], Suárez immediately begins making plans to unleash Starro against entire countries and slaughter millions. In his meantime, Suárez also subjects a captured Harley Quinn to a brutal round of torture.

** [[BigBad Ishmael Gregor]] is a mercenary, member of [[FantasticTerrorists Intergang]], and a descendant of King Ahk-Ton. Ishmael helped to throw Kahndaq into chaos, poverty, and oppression, even killing his own man for "beating" him too hard during an act. Ishmael, like his ancestor before him, intends to obtain the [[ArtifactOfDoom Crown of Sabbac]] to bring the armies of the Underworld onto the world, and he keeps people fearful, threatening acts of violence by Intergang. Once Ishmael manages to obtain the crown--through kidnapping and threatening Adrianna Tomaz's [[WouldHurtAChild young son Amon]]--he becomes Sabbac and leads the army into Kahndaq with the desire to solidify his firm grasp over it, before turning the world into HellOnEarth.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'': [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker The Joker]] is a self-described "[[ChaosIsEvil agent of chaos]]" out to give Gotham a "[[EvilerThanThou better class of criminal]]". Introduced by killing each of his goons after a bank robbery, the Joker proceeds to exploit the mob's desire to be rid of [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyBruceWayne Batman]], casually murdering henchmen, politicians and police to force Batman to unmask himself. He also makes the lawyer attempting to unmask Batman a target; ties a crime boss to a pile of money which he then burns; kills a gangster by [[EyeScream making a pencil disappear...eraser-end first]]; blows up a hospital; leads police into a trap where they will shoot innocent civilians before getting killed by his men; attempts a PrisonersDilemma scenario to get a boatload of civilians and prisoners to blow each other up; and, primarily by manipulating a SadisticChoice leading to Rachel Dawes's death, and then by [[MindRape mind raping]] an injured Harvey Dent in the hospital, is the driving force behind his transformation into [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]]. The Joker's main motivation is fun, but he also wants to show that anyone and everyone can and will become a monster if pushed far enough, or even if just given the chance. He's proven wrong, but doesn't care, just giving an annoyed shrug and attempting to blow the two boats sky high with his own detonator.
* ''Film/JonahHex'': [[AxCrazy Burke]] is the psychotic right-hand man of [[BigBad Quentin Turnbull]], and matches his boss's emotionless cruelty with sheer psychopathic sadism. Assisting Turnbull in all of his crimes, Burke personally, and happily, [[ManOnFire burns]] Jonah Hex's wife and son alive, then holds Hex in place to be branded by Turnbull and left for dead. Fully aware, and approving, of Turnbull's plans to use his super weapon to wipe out thousands of innocents, Burke blows up an entire train to obtain parts for said weapon, killing the dozens of soldiers, citizens, and children on board, and later massacres the population of a small town to acquire the ammunition for Turnbull's super weapon. Kidnapping Hex's LoveInterest Lilah to use as a hostage, Burke takes sadistic glee in smacking her around; threatens innocents with death for kicks; and regularly [[MockingTheMourner taunts Jonah about his family's deaths]]. Dying while laughing at Hex's misfortune, Burke was a homicidal lunatic who seemed to only work with Turnbull to satisfy his lust for sadism and mass murder.

%% NOTE: Due to the controversial nature of this trope, any changes (additions, removals, edits) should be discussed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=6vic3f9h1cy5qivsenw8llok here]].

-->-- '''[[Characters/DCEUApokolips Darkseid]]''', ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''

* ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], once known as Uxas, is the dark ruler of [[Characters/DCEUApokolips Apokolips]] hell-bent on finding the Anti-Life Equation to subjugate all life in the Multiverse. To this end, Darkseid conquers 100,000 worlds and terraforming them into a new Apokolips, cleansing them with fire and turning its inhabitants into soulless slaves aware but without freedom. Darkseid would later invade Earth upon learning it contains the Anti-Life Equation, and tries to [[HostileTerraforming terraform]] it, only to be defeated and driven back. Darkseid would later banish [[Characters/DCEUSteppenwolf Steppenwolf]] from Apokolips, forcing him to conquer thousands of planets should he ever want to return. Upon learning that Steppenwolf found the Anti-Life Equation, Darkseid orders him to scorch the planet; when Steppenwolf failed, Darkseid simply crushes his decapitated head. In the "[[Characters/DCEUKnightmare Knightmare]]", Darkseid kills most of the Justice League, brainwashes Superman into being his servant, and reduces the Earth into a barren wasteland.

* Related material can be found [[Monster/DCLiterature here]] ({{novelization}}s) and [[Monster/DCVideoGames here]] (video games).

* Non-canon material can be found [[Monster/DCLiterature here]] ({{novelization}}s and other literature) and [[Monster/DCVideoGames here]] (related video games).

[[AC:Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse]]

Animated works can be found [[Monster/DCAnimation here]].