These are the terrible, evil, and sometimes weird: the enemies who threaten Max and the rest of the world.

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Recurring Villains

Skullmaster

Voiced by: Tim Curry

The Big Bad of the entire series. He was once a Lemurian and Virgil's best friend and prized student some 10,000 years ago. However, he turned evil and sought to conquer the world. His machinations led to the fall of Lemuria.

In the 10,000 years since he has plotted, destroyed at least one other major civilization (which may be Atlantis), and even overthrown the ruler of the underworld, all in the name of increasing his own power and one day becoming the master of all creation. By the end he is one of the most threatening and successful villains in cartoon history.

Skullmaster first appeared in episode 1, "A Bellwether In One's Cap" and appears many, many more times throughout the series. He also had four toy appearances: "Mighty Max Trapped In Skull Mountain", "Mighty Max Storms Dragon Island", "Mighty Max Head-To-Head With Hydra", and "Mighty Max Assaults Skullmaster".

Arch-Enemy: To Max of course, him being the Cap-Bearer who was prophesied to be the one to destroy him. He's also this to Virgil, both once being master and apprentice before he desired to rule the world by gaining the cosmic cap.
All Myths Are True: In "Let Sleeping Dragons Lie", when dealing with the Norse necromancer Ravendark, Skullmaster goes by the name Loki. However, it's not made clear whether Skullmaster really was Loki in the same way that Norman was Thor and the Doom Dragon was Jörmungandr... or if he's just using the name to get Ravendark to do what he says.
Ambition Is Evil: The sole reason he became evil was simply out of his thirst for power, seeking the Cap so he'll use its power to rule the world as a god.
Ax-Crazy: He's monstrously vicious and sadistic, not above harming children (Or threatening to eat them), and will used cataclysmic methods to achieve his end goal, and making pretty graphic death threats (which he would likely fulfill considering who he is).
Bad Boss: Skullmaster bears little to no loyalty for his minions and is more than happy to sacrifice them to get what he wants. Notably, he uses the souls of all his followers to re-power his Crystal of Souls in the finale.
Big Bad: Skullmaster is the driving force behind the series. Max was chosen as the Mighty One to stop him, and though there are other villains, it is Skullmaster who poses the biggest threat to the world
Bond Villain Stupidity: Usually averted, but he has fallen victim to this on a few occasions, most notably in the end of "Blood of the Dragon". He has Max and his allies cornered on a beach with nowhere for them to go. Max bluffs surrender and Skullmaster, rather than just kill him, decides that it would be more deliciously evil to let him surrender and prove to his allies and the hero-worshipping people of Dragon Island that he's nothing but a coward... this buys time for the floating island to move close to a portal, and for Max and crew to escape.
Card-Carrying Villain: Not that there's much to figure out with a name like Skullmaster. He's an extremely powerful and competent villain for a kid's cartoon, and seems to take such delight in being evil sometimes.
The Chessmaster: Skullmaster has so many Batman Gambits, Xanatos Gambits, Evil Plans and Backup Plans in play at once that it defies belief.
Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Skullmaster betrayed his mentor and destroyed his own home out of his hunger for power. He would manipulate and discard those who are no longer useful to him in his pursuit for power, not even his minions are safe from this.
Defeat Catchphrase: "CURSE YOU, CAPBEARER!"
Determinator: No matter how many times Max ruins his plans, Skullmaster always has another plan ready. It nearly works out for him in the end, too.
Disintegrator Ray: It turns out the Crystal of Souls can be used directly as a weapon, firing a beam of energy that vaporizes anything it hits.
Evil Sorcerer: Combined with his bodybuilder physique and use of Big Freaking Sword, making him a Magic Knight.
Evil Sounds Deep: Thanks to Tim Curry.
Evil Former Friend: Skullmaster is this to Virgil.
Evil Overlord: He rules the Underworld for a time, is an Card-Carrying Evil Sorcerer with a army of monsters at his disposal, being a Bad Boss as per usual, has a powerful weapon that steals souls, and is a Godhood Seeker with desires to rule the world. Can't be more Evil Overlord than that.
Expy: Skullmaster is very reminiscent of Skeletor from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983), what with being a skeletal sorcerer who's main nemesis is a heroic blond, but with everything comical about him cut out and thrown into a fire (in effect making him more reminiscent of Skeletor's counterpart from the 1987 Masters of the Universe film).
Godhood Seeker: His ultimate goal is to seek the Cosmic Cap and use it, along with the Crystal of Souls, at Stonehenge, during the Winter Solstice, to make himself a god with power over time itself.
Hero Killer: With a surprising body count. His first major kill (that we see) being Hanuman. Before that, in a flashback we find out he killed the previous Mighty One, who was a seasoned warrior, showing how dangerous he is to a kid like Max.
I'm a Humanitarian: Almost all of the threats he makes towards Max involve eating him. He seems to mean it too.
Large and in Charge: Skullmaster appears to be somewhere between one and a half to two times the size of an average human. He's even bigger than Norman!
Large Ham: Naturally. He is voiced by Tim Curry, after all.
Leaking Can of Evil: He was trapped in the center of the Earth 5,000 years ago by Max's predecessor, but was able to command his minions on the surface of Earth despite being trapped in Skull Mountain. Max lets him out at the beginning of the second season.
Looks Like Orlok: Skullmaster is an ancient warrior-sorcerer with chalk-white skin, fangs, claws, pointy ears and lack of nose (who's also very buff).
Manipulative Bastard: His greatest trait, anyone who doesn't know him can fall victim to his plans very easily and even then he still manages to find a way to trick his enemies into giving him whatever he needs.
The Minion Master: He's got an army of underworld creatures at his command, and is constantly adding new and horrible creatures to it.
Near-Villain Victory: Came dangerously close in the series finale. His Crystal of Souls was rebuilt and re-powered, and he brought all of Max's previously slain villains back to life. There was also virtually nothing Max, Norman or Virgil could do to stop him, since he could easily track them down. He gets what he needs to complete his final plan (the portal cap) and the world would have been his if Max hadn't interfered in the middle of the ceremony at the last second, when he rewound the timeline back to the beginning when Max first got the cap.
Obviously Evil: Deathly pale skin, evil-looking cape complete with High Collar of Doom, skull-like face, pointy ears and sharp claws, deep voice that almost sounds like a perpetual growl, has (on more than one occasion) vocally expressed his desire to kill and devour a preteen boy... and if that's not enough, his name is Skullmaster!
Omnicidal Maniac: He's not above summoning a destructive dragon to shatter the Earth to release him from his prison nor corrupting a being of Good and Evil to distrupt the balance and causing the end of the world.
A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: In addition to being Virgil's Evil Former Friend, he was also his prize student, until he turned evil.
Villainous Breakdown: Even if it does not result in his defeat, Skullmaster is absolutely furious about Max interrupting the ritual that would have achieved his victory and seems aware the hero is giving himself another chance at beating him.
Where I Was Born and Razed: Was born a Lumerian, then was the one who caused the destruction of Lumeria.
Your Soul Is Mine!: Skullmaster's Crystal of Souls is powered by souls, just as the name implies. Unlike most cases of this trope, the Crystal can only absorb souls given up willingly. Of course both times this happened was because he tricked the people into doing so. (The first time, he tricked the inhabitants of a city by causing a disaster and convinced the people they could be saved if they gave up their souls to him, thus keeping them from dying. With the tribespeople of Dragon Island, he tricked them into drinking dragon's blood, which turned them into his mindless slaves. It didn't take much to repower the crystal after that.)

Warmonger

Voiced by: Frank Welker

Skullmaster's second-in-command, a red-skinned humanoid demon creature. Warmonger is the second most commonly appearing regular villain in the show, right after Skullmaster. He is based on a villain from the playset "Mighty Max Trapped In Skull Mountain" which, as noted below, was his one and only toy appearance, though evidence has been uncovered of an unnamed mega head playset based on him, which was never released.

Adaptational Badass: Warmonger only ever appeared in one toy playset: "Mighty Max Trapped In Skull Mountain." In the corresponding mini-comic, he was an ineffectual minor villain whose only notable accomplishment was getting splattered by friendly fire from Skullmaster's catapult. Compare to the cartoon, where he's quite capable in his own right and has even stood against Norman a time or two.
Ascended Extra: Warmonger's role in the first season was very limited, relegated mostly to appearing in the background and bossing around Skullmaster's other minions. As of the second season, he was confirmed to actually be Skullmaster's second-in-command and given a much larger role.
The Dragon: Warmonger serves as Skullmaster's second-in-command, and the commander of his forces.
Evil Sounds Raspy: Both the second-in-command to the Big Bad, and has a thin and raspy voice.
Horned Humanoid: He's a humanoid monster with horns, as part of his demonic appearance.
Spared by the Adaptation: As mentioned in Adaptational Badass, in the mini-comic he was killed by friendly fire from Skullmaster's catapult, which never even came up in the series. Subverted, though, as Skullmaster Shoots the Dangerous Minion intentionally in the series finale.
Spikes of Villainy: Warmonger's shoulder pads.
The Starscream: He's generally pretty loyal, but there are moments when he makes it clear he wouldn't mind being top dog. Notably, he doesn't hesitate to take the opportunity to back-stab Skullmaster in the episode "I, Warmonger."
Vocal Dissonance: Warmonger's hulking appearance would suggest a deep, booming voice, rather than the thin, raspy voice he actually has.

Cyberskull

Voiced by: Danny Goldman

A genius programmer named Morlen Kurt who goes mad after credit for his masterpiece video game is stolen by a ruthless mega-corporation. He transfers his mind into Cyberspace and plots to Take Over the World.

Cyberskull appears in the episodes "The Cyberskull Virus" and "Cyberskull II: The Next Level", and he is one of the villains resurrected by Skullmaster's magic in the final episode. Cyberskull is based on the villain from the toy playset "Mighty Max Bytes Cyberskull" and "Mighty Max Shuts Down Cybot".

A God Am I
Cyberskull: I am no longer a man! I am a god! A DIGITAL GOD! HAHAHAHAHA!
Berserk Button: He hates being called a nerd. Max gets him to lose his focus by claiming that he's just the same pathetic nerd he's always been.
Computer Virus: The Cyberskull Virus was originally a separate thing, before Morlen snapped and decided to merge it with his own mind.
Contagious A.I.: In his second appearance, Cyberskull reveals that he can transfer himself to other computer systems wirelessly, and uses this to escape destruction a few times, until it turns out that by stealing all the electricity in the world he also shut down all the computer networks, and he has no place to go at the end.
Didn't Think This Through: Cyberskull's plan in his second appearance was to use all the electrical power on Earth to power a large robotic shell for him to inhabit. When Max eventually bests him, he realizes the flaw in his plan: Being a digital entity, he can only escape into cyberspace, and stealing the entire world's electrical power shut down all computer networks and he has nowhere to go.
Digital Abomination: Formerly a jilted computer programmer Morlen Kurt, whose Dementoid game program was stolen by a Mega-Corp technology company, illegally hacks into the company and accidentally turns himself, using an advanced computer chip, into Cyberskull. He mutates into a monstrous digital humanoid and becomes powerful enough to manipulate and reprogram reality itself to the point of declaring himself a god and altering the world with ease by entering Earth's computer network. He'd come off as more horrifying than Jobe Smith from The Lawnmower Man if his apotheosis into an insane digital god took full effect. If not for Max's own skill at video games, the entire Earth would have been overtaken by Cyberskull.
Hard Light: What Cyberskull is in his first appearance.
Humongous Mecha: Builds one to be his new body in his second appearance.
Killer Rabbit: He briefly uses the body of a tiny Cyberskull action figure...which happens to possess incredibly advanced Frickin' Laser Beams that make it a match even for Norman.
The Minion Master: In his second appearance, after revealing himself to have become a Contagious A.I., Cyberskull reveals that he can even take control of humans. By putting a special lapel pin on his victim (actually a wireless transceiver) he can take control over them, and he uses this to create an army of Mind Controlled minions to take Max and friends captive.
Reality Warper: Cyberskull's Hard Light form is this. He can transform physical objects into energy and insert them into Cyberspace, at which point he can do whatever he wants with them.
Tron Lines: Everything related to Cyberskull's Cyberspace and Hard Light shenanigans appears like this.

Dr. Eggbert Zygote

Voiced by: Kenneth Mars

A Mad Scientist, whose goal is to create a Superior Species of humans by using a machine to rapidly evolve/devolve living beings.

Dr. Zygote appears in the episodes "Zygote's Rythm" and again in "Zygote Music." He is originally from the toy "Mighty Max Blows Up Dino Lab."

Artificial Limbs: He has a robotic hand.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: The way that Zygote is finally defeated. As explained by Virgil, he has moved beyond such concepts as good and evil, and thus no longer has any reason to fight Max.
Zygote: I think... I feel... I know! Oh, the music, the music! How beautiful it is! It is the music of the stars... (Flies off into space.)
Bald of Evil: Although he isn't completely bald like his toy counterpart, he's still an evil Mad Scientist with male pattern baldness.
Body Horror: Rapid evolution is not a pretty thing to behold. His former lab assistants/human guinea pigs didn't turn out right, either.
Devolution Device: How Zygote plans to create his species of perfect humans. It can also be run in reverse, rapidly evolving targets to a more advanced state.
Evilutionary Biologist: His goal is to create a more perfect form of human. In practice, he mostly just makes monsters.
Karma Houdini: Ultimately he got what he wanted with no ill effect
Mad Scientist: Obviously. All of his schemes are motivated by his pursuit of knowledge and while he claims he is doing it for the betterment of the human race, he takes way too much enjoyment in inflicting Body Horror upon whoever stumbles upon his work or gets in his way.
Manchild: Definitely has shades of this in his dealings with Max.
Dr. Zygote: My dinosaur can beat up your dinosaur!
Max: Oh, now we're real mature!
My Brain Is Big: His cranium is ginormous in his evolved form. And he becomes a floating one entirely in his penultimate form when he appears again.
One-Winged Angel: Zygote attempts to pull this off in his fight against Max, using his Devolution Device in reverse to become a more advanced species of human. It's subverted, though, as his new form does have incredible psychic abilities, but he has absolutely no clue how to use them. He does figure it out in time for his next appearance, though.

Talon

Voiced by: David Warner

"It has been so long since I have tasted pulp and bone!"

A giant soul-eating skull carried by an equally giant bird (called the Carrion Vulture in the toyline), which was confined to the astral plane at some point in the distant past and wants very much to be set free. His attempts at escape cause natural disasters on the physical plane, which draws the attention of the heroes and leads to his (temporary) release.

Talon menaces Max and company in season 2 episode 10: "The Souls of Talon" and again in the series finale. He is loosely based on the villain Clawber from "Mighty Max Crushes Clawber."

Complete Immortality: As long as the Mystic Disc of Immortality is kept in Talon's treasure hoard in his realm of the astral plane, he can't be killed or even injured.
Eldritch Abomination: It's unclear exactly what Talon is or where it came from, but he's clearly something magical in nature, and pure evil.
Giant Flyer: Talon's method of locomotion.
Feathered Fiend: The second half of Talon, referred to in the toy as the Carrion Vulture.
Leaking Can of Evil: Talon was sealed in the astral plane by the Powers That Be and could only escape with the cosmic cap. Angry at being denied access to the human world, Talon's bird attacks the gateway to the physical world, which (unbeknownst to Talon) causes natural disasters in the human world, drawing the attention of the heroes and leading to his release. Fortunately, he's put back at the end of the episode, all of the souls he's gathered are released, and the rupture he created between worlds is repaired.
Literal Split Personality: The skull and the bird seem to be two halves of the same being, as evidenced by the fact that the skull goes into an unconscious state whenever the bird releases its grip on it.
Skull for a Head: The first half of Talon, giant in size and covered with what seem like strips of rotting flesh. It's also the half that is capable of speaking.
Vacuum Mouth: How he captures the souls of the living from a distance. He also tried to pull this on Max at the climax of his first appearance, but rather than just pull out his soul, he appeared to be actively trying to eat Max.
Your Soul Is Mine!: Talon is capable of pulling souls out of peoples' bodies and inhaling them. It's not known what, if any, benefits devouring souls gives him, though. If anything, he just seems to enjoy it.

One-Time Villains

Spike

Voiced by: Brad Garrett

A barbarian warrior who killed Norman's father 10,000 years ago and tried to kill Norman as well, only to fail and be frozen beneath an icy lake. After being accidentally released by modern day archaeologists he is determined to finish what he started.

Spike is the villain of the episode "Norman's Conquest" and is very loosely based on the horror head toy "Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man."

Adaptational Attractiveness: The toy he was based on, "Ax-Man," featured a pale green, blood-soaked, corpse-like face with bloodshot eyes and stakes and razors embedded in its skin. He also used a chainsaw, making him essentially a slasher villain. In the cartoon, Spike is just a large muscular brute with sticks bloodlessly embedded in his face.
Ambiguously Brown: His skin color is a few shades darker than the other characters, but not in a way that makes it clear what race he is. Justified in that his tribe predates all current Earth cultures.
Ax-Crazy: To call him batshit crazy would be an understatement. Whenever he's trying to kill someone, he giggles like a maniac.
Bald of Evil: His head is completely shaved, save for a ponytail.
Blood Knight: He openly admits that he has no reason to attack Norman's father, right before doing so anyway.
The Bully: He's a sadistic bastard who gets off on the fear he inspires in his targets, even including Norman.
Combat Sadomasochist: Spike greets most attempts at hurting him with laughter and scornful taunts. Most prominently, when he is knocked off of his feet by Erlik and impales his face, his response is this:
Spike: You think you can hurt me with a twig? You can't hurt me! Feels good!
Disney Death: When Norman accidentally lured him off of a cliff when he was a child 10,000 years ago, and then again when Norman manages to basically shove him off of a cliff at the end of the episode. Given Spike's displayed toughness, in all likelihood, he probably isn't dead at the episode's end...
The Dreaded: Even Norman is afraid of him. In fact, along with spiders, he is one of only two things Norman is scared of.
Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: He finds the fear he induces in others absolutely hilarious, and is constantly laughing at them. When Norman tricked him over a ledge 10,000 years ago, after Spike vowed to return, kill Norman and eat his heart, he started laughing and was still laughing when his handhold gave way and dumped him into the frozen river so far below.
Evil Sounds Deep: Especially when voiced by Brad Garrett.
If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: When Norman gets his hands on Erlik's axe and, confidence restored, starts pushing Spike back, Spike tries to invoke this to convince Norman not to kill him to avenge his father. Norman decides he can live with that and knocks him off a cliff.
Implacable Man: He swore to kill Norman 10,000 years ago and is determined to keep that promise.
Spike, 10,000 Years Ago: We have unfinished business! I'll come back and find you. And then I'll kill you and eat your heart!
Spike, Episode's End: I'm not through with you yet!
Mad Eye: In several shots in the episode, his right eye is narrowed to a squint whilst his left eye is bulging wide and staring - the best example is when he clambers onto the train after Norman tells the team about his first meeting with Spike. The differently sized eyes really help convey just how absolutely whacked out this guy is.
Nigh-Invulnerability: He gets a bunch of branches stabbed into his face, falls into a frigid lake and is frozen for 10,000 years, is dropped into a trash compactor, gets dragged behind a train, jumps off a bridge and still he keeps chasing Norman. Oh, those sticks in his face? He put one of them there himself!
Psychopathic Man Child: His manner of speech when trying to intimidate his enemies are what you'd expect from a child on the playground, not from an adult warrior. The fact that he manages to be honestly scary in spite of that says a lot. Beyond that, aside from intermittent bellows of fury, he sounds like he's having the time of his life as he chases after Max and company, constantly bellowing with laughter.
Red Right Hand: Of the Nightmare Face variety. While fighting Norman's father he tripped and landed face-first on a log, ending up with a bunch of branches impaled through his face. Not even fazed, he broke one off and shoved it into his nose to prove that he Feels No Pain.
Scarily Competent Tracker: The heroes manage to escape through more than one portal, but that just buys them time. No matter where they go, Spike will find them.
Sealed Evil in a Can: More accurately, Frozen Evil In A Lake. He's accidentally dug up and revived by archaeologists at the beginning of his episode.
Self-Mutilation Demonstration: The stick jammed up his nose? He stuffed that one there himself after impaling his face to prove that he can't be hurt.
Smug Snake: When Norman gets the confidence to fight back after Max and Virgil bring him Erlik's axe, Spike suddenly has an Oh, Crap! look. Norman shatters his sword, and he's reduced to saying that If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!.
Norman: I can live with that.
Spikes of Villainy: On his right pauldron. And IN HIS FACE.
Super-Strength: Our introduction to the character involves him tossing cars around a junkyard like throw pillows. When dropped into a car compactor that seals shut on him, he pushes back with such force that it explodes. He then topples a electromagnet-equipped mobile crane by yanking on the magnet. It's only when Norman gets his father's war axe that he gains the confidence that lets him fight Spike to a standstill.
Swapped Roles: He has the heroes on the run for most of the episode, and Norman is terrified of fighting him. Once Virgil and Max bring Norman Erlik's axe, Spike is the one crapping himself in fear after Norman shatters his sword.
Would Hurt a Child: Spike will go after anyone who catches his attention, and doesn't care how old they are.

Ravendark

Voiced by: Jim Cummings

A nordic sorcerer who appears in the episode "Let Sleeping Dragons Lie". He was long ago cursed to take the form of a bird of ill omen, which Skullmaster exploits by posing as the "dread lord Loki" and offering to remove the curse if Ravendark will awaken the Doom Dragon, which will then destroy the world and release Skullmaster from his prison.

Ravendark and the Doom Dragon are both based on villains from the toy "Mighty Max Slays The Doom Dragon."

Creepy Ravens: Ravendark is cursed to turn into a raven whenever he tries to exit the Doom Dragon.
"Darkness von Gothick" Name: "Ravendark."
Evil Sorcerer: He's stated to be a necromancer, though we don't see him perform any actual necromancy, unless waking the Doom Dragon counts.
Heel–Face Turn: Once he realizes his "dread lord Loki" is actually Skullmaster and that Skullmaster broke his promise to remove the curse. Unfortunately for Ravendark, in his case Redemption Equals Death.
Omnicidal Maniac: Waking the Doom Dragon means he gets to return to being a human full-time. It also means the Earth gets torn in half. He planned to escape by traveling to another world.
Red Right Hand: Ravendark's eyes are both different colors, neither of which is normal for a human. (One has red sclera with black iris, the other is pure white.)
Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Ravendark is forced to take the form of a raven, except when inside the cave of the Doom Dragon.
Wizard Beard: Although it may or may not be by choice; he's basically been forced to live inside the Doom Dragon's stomach for most of his life and he probably doesn't have many shaving implements in there.
Your Soul Is Mine!: In order to stop the Doom Dragon and thwart Skullmaster's escape bid, he has to sacrifice his blood and soul to the ancient beast.
- In the final scene, a lone raven flies from the Doom Dragon's slumbering body, leaving a big question mark over his survival.

The Doom Dragon

Voiced by: Jim Cummings

An enormous dragon, featured in the episode "Let Sleeping Dragons Lie." It is foretold that when he is awakened he will "rupture Odin's rift, tearing the world asunder." Along with the other villain of that episode, Ravendark, he first appeared in the toy "Mighty Max Slays The Doom Dragon."

Adaptational Badass: Compared to the Doom Dragon in the show, the figure that came with the original toy is tiny, being presented as roughly the same size as a human.
All Myths Are True: Like how Norman was apparently Thor, Lancelot and even Samson before the series began, Doom, over time, was also known as Jörmungandr, the Midgard Serpent and Ouroboros. He also has elements in common with Nithogg, a dragon trying to tear through the trunk of the giant tree supporting the nine worlds of Norse myth (which would accordingly destroy the world).
Ascended Extra: In some adventure storybooks based off the playset "Mighty Max Storms Dragon Island," he joins forces with Skullmaster proper against Max for a final showdown. They both meet their demise when Max fires the Arrow of Death at them. Blasting its way straight through Doom's head and out through Skullmaster's heart.
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: "50 foot" is under-selling it. He's so massive that when asleep he can be mistaken for a mountain range.
Awakening the Sleeping Giant: A literal example. He's evil and giant, but on no one's side but his own and wishes to adhere to his destiny to tear open the world. Skullmaster wishes to exploit this by tricking Ravendark into awakening the dragon for him, since this will allow him to escape from his prison within the planet. It's downplayed, in that Skullmaster is wise enough to keep his distance and wants to benefit from the destruction Doom will cause. In the toyline, the two of them even work together later.
Breath Weapon: As befits a dragon, he has the ability to breathe bursts of fire.
Cave Mouth: Doom is so massive that Max mistakes his mouth for a large cave.
Don't Wake the Sleeper: Seriously, don't. The Doom Dragon sleeps on top of a massive fault line called "Odin's Rift," which he intends to pull apart, breaking the entire Earth in half.
Dragon Hoard: He hoards treasure like dragons do, except its all kept in his stomach, probably since he's too big to fit into any cave.
Failed a Spot Check: He fails to notice that Ravendark is responsible for his awakening and is currently inside him about to be responsible for sending him back into an eternal slumber.
Friendly Enemy: He's well-acquainted with Norman, who he knows as Thor the Thunderer, and even wants to strike up a little conversation before they do battle.
Generic Doomsday Villain: He doesn't even have a motive for wanting to destroy the planet, except that he's evil.
Giant Equals Invincible: Subverted. He's impervious to conventional attacks, even the hammer of Thor does nothing but annoy Doom. Norman demonstrates, however, hitting massive rocks with enough force at him will indeed hurt the beast.
Godzilla Threshold: Waking him up spells the world's doom. Max practically makes an unintentional pun about this as well.
Heavy Sleeper: How does 10,000 years sound?
Incoming Ham: The moment he starts speaking, he doesn't hesitate to chew the scenery.
Invincible Villain: Doom cannot be vanquished, merely put back to sleep.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: With a name like Doom Dragon, you can bet he's not going to be friendly.
Purple Is Powerful: He has purple scales and is by far the largest enemy Max and his friends face, along with being nearly Nigh-Invulnerable. Although in the playset, he's colored green instead.

The One With No Name (Creator of Corpus)

An unnamed (though not for lack of trying) mad scientist. Tired of being constantly ignored by everyone around him, he created a Blob Monster called Corpus to get his revenge for him: a sort of sentient glue that seeks out and devours more of whatever it's originally applied to. (For example, when applied to a piece of metal it sought and devoured metal, when applied to a human it sought out and assimilated humans.)

The creator of Corpus appears in the episode "The Missing Linked." As the episode is based very, very loosely on the horror head "Mighty Max Survives Corpus" it is likely that the scientist is Mort, from that same playset.

All There in the Manual: Or rather, All There In The Merchandise. Although the character is never given a name in the episode it is, as mentioned above, likely that he is Mort from the Corpus playset.
Freudian Excuse: Despite his brilliant intellect, he was ignored by everyone, driven out of his hometown, and forced to work in the town junkyard, which he turned into his own laboratory. He created two Corpus creatures - one from humans and one from automobiles, which he used to completely destroy his home town and everyone in it, before moving on to the surrounding villages.
Large Ham: They called him mad! But he'll show them! Soon those nobodies will all know his name!!!
Mad Scientist: Along with Gloved Fist of Doom and Einstein Hair (complete with receding hairline)!
No Name Given: Not by choice. Every time he attempts to say his name, he gets interrupted by someone. Becomes a Running Gag in the episode as he also tends to repeat whatever he was interrupted with as his name, before realizing and correcting himself.
Mad Scientist: Soon, they will all know my name! Yes! And my name is—
Max: Mud, if you ask me!
Mad Scientist: Mud! Yes! ...wait... no! No, that is not my name!
Pet Monstrosity: The aforementioned Corpus.

Dr. Robert Scorpio

Voiced by: Charles Kimbrough

A scientist from The '50s who went underground when he thought the world was ending. Unfortunately his bomb shelter had leaks, and happened to be underneath a nuclear test site. Forty years of isolation being slowly contaminated by nuclear fallout has left him... a little touched in the head.

Dr. Bob Scorpio comes from the episode "Scorpio Rising." He is loosely based on Scorpion, a villain from the toy "Mighty Max Stings Scorpion" along with a small bit of Nuke Ranger from "Mighty Max Fights Nuke Ranger."

Accidental Misnaming: Dr. Scorpio calls Max basically everything except "Max."
Adaptational Heroism: Or rather, Adaptational Slightly-Less-Evil...ism. As mentioned below, Dr. Robert Scorpio is an Obliviously Evil Knight Templar. Contrast this to his toyline counterpart, Scorpion, a willing lackey of Skullmaster who was in charge of running the supervillain's Toxic Materials Mine.
Affably Evil: He does seem to be a pretty nice guy, what with his 1950's manners and ettiquette, just... that radiation poisoning. He even admits that likes Max's spunk when he's defeated and forced back underground at the end.
Composite Character: While his name and love of giant scorpions definitely come from the villain Scoprion, his evil plan to overload a giant nuclear reactor and destroy all life on Earth comes directly from another villain, the Nuke Ranger.
Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: Upon deciding that Max is actually a Soviet spy, he decides he'll have to punish him. He even tells him "This will hurt me more than it hurts you" as he pulls out a shotgun.
Friend to Bugs: He loves his scorpions, and the bigger the better.
Go Mad from the Isolation: According to Max's calculations, Dr. Bob spent roughly 40 years underground, with no one and no thing to keep him company except the scorpions that crawled into his bomb shelter. He probably would've gone nuts even without the radiation poisoning.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Using the word "nuke" or "nuclear" seems to be a Berserk Button for him. Notably, Max mentions nuking (as in microwaving) an apple pie, Dr. Bob mistakes it for the other kind of "nuke" and gets quite irate before laughing it off and telling himself it's just some strange new slang.
Insane Troll Logic: Scorpio is tired of being all alone underground, but he can't live without radiation. His solution? Flood the world with radiation so he can return to the surface! Of course, doing so will kill all of the normal humans, meaning he'll still be alone, and kill all of the plants and animals so he won't have any food either.
Madden Into Misanthropy: It's implied being trapped in a radioactive bunker for 40 years made him despise mankind as a whole despite his friendly demeanor. He was all too willing to have the planet and its people saturated with poisonous radiation just so he could return:
Max: What kind of world will it be with no people?
Scorpio: Quiet.
Just Between You and Me: Dr. Bob explains his entire evil plan to Max after "adopting" him, not realizing Max is The Hero who intend to stop him.
Max: I met the mad scientist! I know what his plan is!
Virgil: How on Earth did you find out?
Max: He told me. Mad scientists do that.
Mad Scientist: Dr. Scorpio does have an actual Ph.D, but it's not clear exactly what his field of study is. He seems to be some strange combination of entomologist and nuclear physicist.
Obliviously Evil: He's basically a Well-Intentioned Extremist (he thinks America has been conquered by the Soviet Union and wants to fight back), with a Hair-Trigger Temper and a tendency to go a little Ax-Crazy at times. He really does believe that he's the good guy, though, even as he attempts to destroy all of Nevada.
Standard '50s Father: The doctor attempts to be this to Max, even outright calling him "son."

Freako

A man who was born with a deformed, clown-like face. Growing up being mocked as a hideous freak, he decided to take revenge on the world by using magic funhouse mirrors to turn children into sideshow freaks.

Freako appears in the episode "Clown Without Pity." He is based on the villain of the horror head "Mighty Max Out-Freaks Freako."

Body Horror: Freako's entire episode is built around this trope. The freaks he creates are hideously deformed even compared to himself, and watching it happen thanks to the magic funhouse mirrors is pretty awful.
Freudian Excuse: Spending your whole life being made fun of for looking like a freak would make anyone a little angry.
Monster Clown: He was born with extremely pale skin, swollen bright red lips, and a deformed face that makes him look vaguely like a clown. After being made fun of for it his entire life he decided to take on the monster clown persona willingly in order to get revenge.
Nuclear Mutant: Although cartoon Freako was born as a freak, the toyline version of Freako was mutated into a clown by radiation, and uses radiation to mutate children into freaks like himself.

Lockjaw

The demon of violence who was summoned in ancient times by The Strangers, a tribe of barbarians who hoped to destroy Norman and his clan. Norman and Virgil managed to defeat the demon and bound it in chains of adamnite and sealed it in an immortal tree, buried its axe under a mountain, and threw the key to its chains into the bottom of a lake. Cut to the present day when, in an amazing coincidence, someone chopped down the tree, bulldozed the mountain, and drained the lake.

Lockjaw menaced the team in the episode "The Axeman Cometh" and was based loosely on the villain Big Red from "Mighty Max Tangles With Lockjaw."

Adaptational Badass: Big Red from "Mighty Max Tangles With Lockjaw" was apparently a mundane serial killer armed with an axe. Lockjaw is actually a Physical God and the Anthropomorphic Personification of physical violence.
Anthropomorphic Personification: Lockjaw is the personification of physical violence.
Bound and Gagged: He was bound in chains of adamnite, and gagged with an adamnite plate that locks under his chin, keeping his jaw from opening, in order to prevent him from using his destructive scream, or really making any vocalization other than growling.
Complete Immortality: Becomes a big part of the episode's moral message; the urge to commit violence can not be defeated by more violence, nor can it be destroyed. It must be contained.
The Corrupter: Its very presence corrupts human minds, making them more violent. In someone who is already very violent, like Norman, it drives them into a berserk frenzy.
Glowing Eyes of Doom: Lockjaw's eyes glow red right before he uses his destructive scream.
Hades Shaded: His skin is very dark grey.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Twice, both times involving his destructive scream. The first time is in a flashback, when his scream in the middle of a battlefield causes so much damage on both sides it convinces both parties to stop fighting and take him down instead. The second time is the end of the episode, when his scream causes an avalanche and he's buried under it.
Horned Humanoid: Of the goat-like variety.
Made of Evil: He's not just violent, he's literally the physical incarnation of the concept of physical violence.
Mythology Gag: In the toyline, the villain Big Red was a psychopathic lumberjack who became a serial killer. In the series, Lockjaw is released from his confinement by unwitting lumberjacks.
Pronouncing My Name for You: Apparently it's actually pronounced "loke-yah." Max, of course, insists on pronouncing it like it's spelled.
Sealed Evil in a Can: As mentioned, he was bound in adamnite chains and sealed inside a giant tree. A more justified example than most, since he's a manifestation of an abstract concept, and the episode makes clear he can't actually be killed.
The Speechless: Subverted. With his jaw locked shut he could only grunt and growl, and this combined with his status as "unfeeling killing machine" led Max to think he was going to be this. Cue Max's surprise when Lockjaw's faceplate is removed...
Super-Scream: Lockjaw's greatest power and the reason why his jaw was...well, locked. His screams of rage destroy everything around him.
Unstoppable Rage: Besides embodying violence, he's also unkillable thanks to being a demon.

Mummy King Venom

Voiced by: Frank Welker

An ancient pharaoh and apostle of Apophis who has lived as a mummy for 3,000 years, extending his un-life and his power by means of a sacred rite of renewal and a mystical ankh. After Max and Bea are accidentally transported to Egypt Max takes the ankh not realizing what it is. Venom sends his servants to America to retrieve the ankh and the girl Max gave it to, who they plan to use as a sacrifice to extend Venom's life and power even further. This brings Max and Bea back to Egypt to confront him and save their kidnapped friend Jiffie.

Venom appeared in the episode "Snakes and Laddies." He was based off the Mummy King (later renamed Venom) from "Mighty Max Conquers the Palace of Poison" and "Mighty Max Strikes Fang." His giant serpent might be based on the giant snake from the shrunken head "Wraptile."

Adaptational Villainy: The U.K. Mighty Max comics incarnation of Venom is far worse than that of the cartoon.
Death by Adaptation: In the toyline, after being defeated once he returns again to threaten Max a second time, and even then he's not actually killed. In the series, he doesn't make it past his first appearance.
Idiot Ball: When exposed to moonlight the Ankh of Power burns and eventually kills whatever living thing it touches, trapping their life force to be later consumed. We have seen, however, that grabbing it by the chain it hangs from is perfectly safe, and you'd think Venom would know this considering he's owned the thing for 3,000 years... so trying to grab the ankh directly after Max throws it on the ground was pretty dumb.
Large Ham: Mock him, fool, but once he has taken your life force from the Ankh of Power, no less than Apophis himself shall honor him! Soon, he and he alone shall be master of cosmic destiny!
Mummy: The Mummy King, even.
Nepharious Pharaoh: Or apparently "the last of the Supreme Pharaohs!"
Pet Monstrosity: The giant serpent, and in the toyline Pharaoh Phang.
Would Hurt a Child: Although he does express remorse over it, he is nonetheless perfectly willing to use even children as sacrifices in his rite of renewal. In fact, in a surprising display for a kids' show, the opening sequence of the episode shows him doing just that with a captured boy.

Nadja

Voiced by: René Auberjonois

A demon sorcerer and former servant of Kali, until he betrayed her was sealed inside a statue for his insolence. After finally being released, he planned to summon an avatar of Kali and control it so that he could conquer India.

Nadja appeared in the season two episode "Good Golly, Miss Kali." He was based on the villain Pharaoh Phang from the battle warrior playset "Mighty Max Strikes Fang".

Adaptational Badass: In the toyline, Pharaoh Phang was bigger, but was a mere servant of Venom. In the series, he's on his own and he's the one doing the controlling... to the point that he's able to brainwash a god!
Leaking Can of Evil: He was sealed in the form of a foot-or-so tall statue in a museum, but was able to secure his release by manipulating humans through their dreams.
Super Spit: His giant snake form is capable of spitting poison.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: Has the ability to transform into a giant snake.

Torrlak the Torturer

Once upon a time, Torrlak was one of Odysseus' soldiers. When Odysseus defeated and blinded the cyclops Polyphemus, Torrlak stayed behind to feed the cyclops which, having been blinded, could no longer fend for itself. Over the years, Torrlak went insane and now terrorizes the inmates of a particularly heinous Hellhole Prison in Turkey.

Torrlak appears in the episode "The Day of the Cyclops", and is based on the villain Torturer from "Mighty Max Outwits Cyclops."

The Dragon: To the cyclops' eye. Torrlak feeds it... because for some reason an eyeball needs to eat.
Made of Iron: When they fight in Torrlak's lair, Norman strangles Torrlak with a chain, throws him into an iron maiden, and then drops the iron maiden into a pit of spikes. None of that manages to kill him.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A name like to "The Torturer" doesn't exactly have positive connotations.
Pet Monstrosity: The cyclops' eye, at least in the toy. In the series, it's Inverted as Torrlak is the eye's servant.
Really 700 Years Old: Scholars typically date the events of The Odyssey to 1188 BC. If Torrlak lived from then to 1993 (when the show is probably set) then he's about 3,181 years old.
Spared by the Adaptation: Subverted. In the toy's mini-comic, Torrlak was killed when he accidentally ran into an iron maiden and was shut inside. In the show, he survived the iron maiden trap, as explained in Made of Iron, above... only to later be thrown into a fire and presumably burned to death.
The Speechless: His only vocalizations are wordless grunts and growls, and the occasional howl of rage.

Lao-Chu Shenwan

Voiced by: Glen Chin

The Emperor of Rats foretold in Chinese legend, resurrected after 10,000 years and prophesied to destroy the world of humans with the help of his rat children. He also like traps, and rather than fight Max and team himself he seals them inside a magical maze formed from the ruins of his own temple.

Lao-Chu appeared in the episode "The Year of the Rat". He was based on the villain Rattus, from the toy "Mighty Max Traps Rattus."

Adaptational Badass: Rattus wasn't exactly a wimp - he had some decent technology and a number of mutants under his control, but he still only had Earthly strength. Lao-Chu, on the other hand, is an actual god and apparently an envoy of the Underworld, with actual demons at his command.
Benevolent Boss: Although hateful toward most other beings, Lao-Chu is very loving to his rats, who refers to as his children. Although his role in prophecy is to end the world of humans, his actual stated goal is to turn the world into a paradise for his rats. As Norman himself said about Lao-Chu's resurrection:
Norman: It's good. ...if you're a rat.
Bond Villain Stupidity: So you're confronted by a hero who is best known for his cleverness and quick-thinking and who wants very badly to destroy you. You have him surrounded with literally thousands of your minions and he has no hope of penetrating your magic barrier. What do you do? If you said "lock him in a maze, the center of which contains the only thing capable of destroying me" then congratulations, you're just as stupid as Lao-Chu.
Demonic Possession: The Lao-Chu that the heroes encounter is actually a possessed human, an archaeologist named Ki Wan who unwittingly summoned Lao-Chu's spirit and was taken over by it. Lao-Chu then used Voluntary Shapeshifting (presumably) to transform Ki Wan's body into a human-rat hybrid.
Expy: His toy incarnation is an even better example due to being a mutant and living in the sewers, but the humanoid rat in a robe is very reminiscent of Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Fantastic Racism: Lao-Chu utterly despises humans, mostly because of the way they mistreat his rat children. When Max first appears before him, he calls humans out for using rats in laboratory experiments and proclaims rodents to be a Superior Species.
Lao-Chu: What creature is more intelligent than the rat? Why else would you humans use us for your experiments?
Fighting a Shadow: Even if one could get past his magic, they would only succeed in destroying whatever human body Lao-Chu happened to be inhabiting. His real life force is contained within a red jade heart at the center of his maze-like temple. Even if one breaks the heart, that only destroys Lao-Chu's ability to manifest in this plane of reality. The real Lao-Chu is still alive and well in the Underworld and can return if his heart is put back together, or after 10,000 years.
Kill All Humans: It's his role in prophecy but, as stated in Fantastic Racism, it's made clear that he would still try to eradicate humanity even if it wasn't his job.
The Minion Master: He is the ruler of all rat-kind and all rats on Earth are driven to do his bidding, but he also has some more powerful minions, including a giant rat and a demon minotaur in his maze.
Rat Men: He looks like a humanoid rat with very shaggy fur.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Lao-Chu himself existed in another dimension and could only be given life in this world when a human found and activated his red jade heart on the seventh night of the seventh month, when the seven lights of Tsu-Sheng are in the sky.
Transformation of the Possessed: After taking the body of the archaeologist Ki Wan, he transforms his new body into a human-rat hybrid with very shaggy fur. Judging by the statue in his temple, this is probably what his true self looks like as well.
Uncertain Doom: At the end of the episode, a few rats are seen gathering and scurrying off with the pieces of Lao-Chu's jade heart, presumably with the intention of putting it back together and searching for another human host to revive their master.

Hydra

Voiced by: Michael Bell (Good Side) and Neil Ross (Evil Side)

A god-like dragon who lives on an island located at 0° longitude, 0° latitude. Hydra embodies the balance between good and evil in the world. Skullmaster's influence allows Hydra's evil side to take over and it threatens Max and team in the episode "I, Warmonger."

Hydra comes from the toy "Mighty Max Head to Head With Hydra."

Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Hydra is a kaiju-sized monster.
Breath Weapon: Hydra can breathe fire.
Eye Beams: Hydra's primary weapon in the show is these. They're apparently powerful to be a threat even to Skullmaster. Or not, since he didn't actually die.
Multiple Head Case: Hydra has two heads. One of them is good, the other is evil. They protect the balance of power in the universe by... arguing philosophy with each other for all time.
Talking the Monster to Death: How Max defeats Hydra in the toy's mini-comic. Skullmaster still uses his magic to let Hydra's evil side take over. Max convinces Hydra that letting one side win will upset the balance, destroying the world and Hydra with it. Realizing this was Skullmaster's plan, Evil Hydra chases Skullmaster away with its fire breath, then willingly relinquishes control so that the balance will be preserved. In a way, he does something similar in the cartoon, since his emergency Lemurian powers aren't strong enough to overpower Hydra entirely, he focuses on one side and loudly proclaims its the bigger threat, fostering an argument between the two heads that eventually gets them back into their usual back-and-forth arguing, focusing more on one another than destroying existence.

The Conqueror

Voiced by: Jim Cummings

A lion man who Norman must survive combat with for a full day, in order to gain another 10,000 of life. He appeared in the episode "Dawn of the Conqueror".

Cat Folk: He's a humanoid lion.
Heel–Face Turn: After Norman defeats him, he is very respectful to him and only cares about being able to interact with humans, though he still gets mad when the humans run from him.
Hoist by His Own Petard: In the end, Norman defeats him with his own hammers.
Worthy Opponent: The reason he's part of this ritual is because he has to keep fighting until someone can best him in combat. He openly states that Norman has earned his respect after Norman beats him.

Comic Book Villains

Master Brain

Karma Houdini: While Master Brain's automated weapons were destroyed, thus stopping his scheme, he gets away and receives no repercussions.
Kill All Humans: Master Brain's scheme involves disguising automated weapons as toy robots and smuggling them across the world to ensure humanity's extinction.

Skull Warrior

Cyborg: His right arm and right eye are artifical, being made out of metal.
Only in It for the Money: While most of Max's other adversaries seek to Take Over the World, the Skull Warrior only wants to get paid.

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