Apokolips (Darkseid) | New Genesis | Other Characters
Apokolips is the dreaded domain of Darkseid. It is the polar opposite of New Genesis.
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In General
- Always Lawful Evil: Its inhabitants actually like their world the way it is, being cheerfully
Lawful Evil, almost to a man. People who don't either die or leave. - Anthropomorphic Personification: Most of them represent specific concepts. For instance, Darkseid is the God of Tyranny, DeSaad is the God of Torture, and Granny Goodness is the God of Child Abuse.
- Death World: As the worst Dystopia one could imagine.
- Hell: The New God equivalent of it.
- I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: Its name is a corruption of "apocalypse", and pronounced the same way, too.
- Mordor: A Science Fantasy equivalent, but Apokolips is a dark, polluted, hellish planet with little to no sun and where everyone is Always Chaotic Evil.
- Physical God: As New Gods.
- Polluted Wasteland: Worst part is, this is probably one of the lesser horrible things you'll find on this planet.
- Putting on the Reich: According to Jack Kirby, Darkseid and his forces were intended to be Nazis turned up a notch.
Darkseid
AKA: Uxas
The Big Bad of the Fourth World, and later a prominent villain for The DCU as a whole, see his own article for detailed info.
Darkseid's Family
Yuga Khan
AKA: Zonuz
The original ruler of Apokolips and the most powerful New God that has ever lived, he is the father of Darkseid and Izaya. Prior to the beginning of the series, his quest to understand the Source caused him to unintentionally merge with the Source Wall, but he does briefly return only to get back in the Source by the end of that event.
- Abusive Parents: He's much worse to Darkseid than Darkseid is to his children.
- Adaptation Name Change: In the New 52, Yuga Khan is an alias, and his real name is Zonuz.
- And I Must Scream: He spent eons stuck in the Source Wall, and was forced to see across the universe but never act. He revealed he had to also watch the murder of his wife Heggra repeatedly at the hands of Desaad.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: His efforts to understand the Source.
- Bad Powers, Bad People: In the New 52, he has access to the "Torment Sanction," a host of cosmic effects primarily focusing on the suffering of others and creation itself.
- The Dreaded: Let's put it this way: Darkseid is already feared across the entire universe, and Darkseid himself fears him.
- Energy Absorption: He can control and absorb the life force of entire planets and destroy worlds just by passing over them.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: As evil as he is, he loves his wife Heggra. Murdering Queen Heggra seemed like a good idea at the time to Darkseid and Desaad, but when the two were confronted by an unleashed Khan ages later... Uh Oh!
- Even Evil Has Standards: Possibly. When Yuga Khan confronts Desaad over the fact he poisoned his wife, Desaad tries to save his own skin by giving the excuse he was only obeying Darkseid and is not responsible for his own actions. Yuga Khan agrees, then blasts him into oblivion. While this is primarily revenge, the way he phrases it ("then both I and the universe are better off without you") implies he's also genuinely disgusted by Desaad.
- God of Evil: His position in the New 52, as revealed in Darkseid War, is the god of evil and torment.
- Greater-Scope Villain: To Darkseid. He was much more ruthless and powerful than his son and he made him a villain in the first place.
- Large and in Charge: His intimidating stature alone may prevent one from putting their power to the test - even Darkseid himself dared not face him.
- Last of His Kind: He was the last survivor of Galactica, the Third World, and therefore, he was the last Old God.
- Predecessor Villain: The original Apokoliptian conqueror before his son Darkseid took over.
- Seeker Archetype: He seeks the secret of the Source itself, and is obsessed with finding out the nature of its existence. He also notes that he doesn't care for domination or conquest like his son, and mocks him for caring about creature comforts over knowledge.
- Too Powerful to Live: In the only issue he appears he is virtually invincible and unstoppable, and becomes part of the Source Wall by the end as the only way to take him out of the story at all. Played With in his appearance in the Shazam! one-shot for Darkseid War, as he appears, but is restrained and used to siphon his power quickly.
Heggra
The mother of Darkseid and Infinity Man, and the sister of Steppenwolf. After her husband Yuga Khan was absorbed into the Source Wall, Heggra became ruler of Apokolips, after which Darkseid manipulated her into declaring war on New Genesis. Disapproving of her son's affair with Suli, Heggra had Desaad poison her; in retaliation, Darkseid had Desaad covertly kill Heggra as well, securing his rule over Apokolips.
- Abusive Parents: Was cruel and domineering to her son, even assassinating the one person he ever loved.
- Adipose Rex: She's quite fat.
- Death by Irony: Killed by the same man she hired to kill Suli.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: She apparently had a good relationship with her husband, as one of the first things Yuga Khan did after briefly regaining control of Apokolips was to execute Desaad for killing her.
- Evil Matriarch: Not only was she Darkseid's mother, she wanted him to be evil.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: As Darkseid's mother, she's appropriately horrible.
- Gone Horribly Right: Heggra wanted Darkseid to be an evil bastard that would rule Apokolips with an iron fist. When Darkseid fell in love with the kind-hearted scientist Suli, Heggra realized her influence was turning him into a nicer person so she had Desaad kill Suli with poison. As a result, Darkseid arranged for her to be poisoned by Desaad as well and went on the path that would make him the monster he is today.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Though Darkseid was already evil, it was Heggra who solidified him into the cosmic tyrant we know and fear.
- Posthumous Character: She's been dead for decades by the start of the Fourth World saga.
Steppenwolf
The uncle of Darkseid and general of the armies of Apokolips. Steppenwolf is one of Darkseid's most loyal and trusted servants, primarily because he has no interest in ruling Apokolips, he much prefers hunting and leading the Parademons. He is a genius tactician who rides a hoverbike with the same power as Orion's Astro-Harness.
- Back from the Dead: He was killed by Highfather in revenge for his wife's death, but Darkseid managed to resurrect him.
- Beard of Evil: Steppenwolf is characterized for his stylized goatee.
- Cool Helmet: Frequently wears a horned helmet.
- The Creon: Despite being one of Darkseid's strongest servants, he has no desire to usurp or take control and is content in his position of leading the Parademons.
- The Dragon: One of only a handful of servants Darkseid trusts, since Steppenwolf has no desire to govern.
- Egomaniac Hunter: He lives to hunt the most dangerous prey he can find.
- Evil Uncle: Subverted; even though he's Darkseid's uncle (and evil), he's very much loyal to his nephew.
- Four-Star Badass: Or the equivalent of one in among Darkseid's inner circle. He's one of his nephew's most powerful and most intelligent commanders by a considerable margin, often acts as one of Darkseid's main vanguards when conquering worlds and is the one who leads the military forces of Apokolips whenever Darkseid decides to make a big move.
- Horns of Villainy: He's almost always wearing a horned helmet that makes him look like a devil of sorts. For a good reason.
- Posthumous Character: In Kirby's run on the New Gods comics, he's been dead for years. He's later resurrected.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: For his return Post-Flashpoint he traded his green huntsman outfit for a black and red armor.
- Secondary Color Nemesis: His costume Pre-Flashpoint was a mostly green huntsman outfit.
- The Strategist: Despite his incredible skill in combat, he prefers to study and probe his enemies first.
Kalibak the Cruel
Darkseid's son by his first wife Suli. Often serving as Darkseid's right-hand man, his greatest wish is to prove himself a worthy heir to his father, but that will never happen, considering the kind of person his father is.
In Final Crisis, Kalibak first possessed a human thug; after his host died, Darkseid's scientists created a bestial tiger-man body for him to inhabit. He was killed in combat by Tawky Tawny.
- Abusive Parents: Darkseid at the best of times holds Kalibak in total contempt, and Kalibak runs afoul of Darkseid's penchant for You Have Failed Me often.
- Agony Beam: The Beta Club has one.
- Bad Boss: One time he fried one of his subordinates with his Beta Club for questioning his orders.
- The Brute: Mainly serves as his father's muscle.
- Butt-Monkey: Tries time and again to accomplish something to gain his father's approval and time and again he fails. He is also often berated by a thoroughly unimpressed Darkseid.
- Depending on the Artist: Does he have human-looking feet, or just two gigantic toes on each foot? Since Kirby himself drew him both ways, it's up to the artist drawing him; of course, it could just be that not all his boots are actually shaped like his weird feet.
- Dumb Muscle: He's strong enough to trade blows with Superman but he's not terribly smart.
- The Dutiful Son: He tries oh so hard to be this. While he's not very good at it, his genuine loyalty to Darkseid is the reason why he gets a bit more leniency than his treacherous (and even stupider) half-brother, Grayven.
- Eye Scream: He's blinded by Grail when she fires her Omega Beams directly into his eyes.
- Friendly Enemy: In Mister Miracle (2017) he's willing to sit down and negotiate with his step-brother while their respective planets are at war with each other. Compare this to his usual interactions with Orion.
- Green and Mean: His armor is usually green, and he's one mean, fighting machine at the service of his father.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Towards his brother Orion. Darkseid favors Orion, while Kalibak gets little respect.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: He has actually shown a gentle side on a few occasions, but he does not want anyone to know about it, especially not his father, who values evil and cruelty over gentleness. This is perhaps evidence of his mother, who was herself a kind-hearted woman.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: While one might not expect it of a Physical God named 'Kalibak the Cruel', he tends to be depicted as the most endearingly tragic and inept of Darkseid's inner circle. He's Dumb Muscle, a Butt-Monkey, and a "Well Done, Son" Guy with a Hidden Heart of Gold who routinely manages to squander his impressive natural talents to be extremely bad at being bad.
- Mighty Glacier: While his strength is comparable to Superman's, he's not nearly as nimble.
- Pitiful Worms: He has a tendency to refer to people as "earth-worms".
- Primal Stance: Occasionally seen on this position, signifying his savagery in combat.
- Tragic Keepsake: He's all Darkseid has left of Suli, which is why Darkseid always resurrects him (eventually) should Kalibak run afoul of his father's Omega Beams.
- The Unfavorite: Orion is Darkseid's favorite son. Kalibak is treated as an annoyance. Still, he ranks above Grayven in respect, for whatever that's worth. Curiously, Kalibak is the son of the woman Darkseid truly loved, while Orion is the son of the woman Darkseid's mother forced him to marry after poisoning Kalibak's mother.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: One of his most consistent goals is gaining the approval and respect of his father. He always fails in this.
Grayven
Darkseid's third and youngest son, he plots to overthrow his father and take over Apokolips. He also dislikes being compared to his father, a comparison that he cannot escape since he is very much a pale imitation of Darkseid with his rocky skin and weaker Omega Beams.
- Antagonistic Offspring: He planned to overthrow his father and take over Apokolips.
- Bastard Bastard: His mother wasn't one of Darkseid's wives, and of Darkseid's sons, he's easily the least sympathetic of them.
- Canon Foreigner: Grayven's the most frequent example in Apokolips stories, as he was not created by Jack Kirby, and made his debut outside of the New Gods comics.
- Eye Beams: He is the only one of Darkseid's son to have an inherited his ability to produce Omega Beams, but his are much weaker.
- Smug Snake: Believes himself to be the next Darkseid, despite being less competent than Kalibak.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Looks the most like his father, ironically he's also the least favorite son.
- The Starscream: He's constantly trying to overthrow his father and take his place. Needless to say, he's very unsuccessful at it.
- The Unfavorite: Darkseid hates him the most of his three sons, for the simple reason that he has nothing to redeem himself in his father's eyes. Orion may fight on the side of good, but at least he's a strong warrior and an accomplished man. Kalibak may be an incompetent Butt-Monkey, but at least he's unfailingly loyal, and is all Darkseid has left of his mother. Grayven, meanwhile, is a Diet-Coke version of Darkseid who tries to be The Starscream.
Grail
Darkseid's daughter introduced in The New 52. Born from an Amazon mother, she surfaces during Darkseid War to ensure Darkseid's continuance when it looks like the Anti-Monitor may kill him.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: She's suspiciously similar to Marvel's Gamora, the badass evil daughter of Thanos, who is Darkseid's Alternate Company Equivalent. Grail happened to be created around the same time Gamora became more popular due to the MCU.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: If there's something she shares with Darkseid, is her dark grey skin and red eyes.
- Ambition Is Evil: She's naturally addicted to power, much like her father.
- Badass Decay: When she was introduced, she managed to defeat several members of the Justice League by herself. At the start of Wonder Woman (Rebirth) she wasn't as powerful, but still a threat that was capable of killing Zeus's children in single combat and was a match for Diana in combat. But during the "Return of the Amazons" arc she's effortlessly defeated by Diana in single combat and gravely injured when shot in the leg with a normal arrow by Nubia.
- Blood Knight: She enjoys a challenging fight, which Darkseid disapproves and wishes she were more pragmatic.
- Dark Action Girl: As expected from the daughter of an Amazon and Darkseid, she's a capable female warrior and dedicated to Darkseid's cause.
- Divine Parentage: Her father is a New God and her mother is an Amazon woman from Earth, and she has the Physical God powers of any of the New Gods.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Acted as The Dragon to the Anti-Monitor, but was planning to acquire the Anti-Life powers for herself the whole time.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: While her skin is grey, it's often a very light tone, which contrasts with her long dark hair.
- Enfant Terrible: As a child, she used her Omega Beam on a couple of Roman soldiers who harassed her mother; she giggled as they died.
- Even Bad Women Love Their Mamas: Although she has some hang-ups over being raised as a living weapon, she genuinely loved her mother.
- Evil Counterpart: To Wonder Woman. An Amazonian demigoddess that was born on the same day as Diana.
- Eye Beams: She inherited the Omega Beam from her father. Hers are more powerful, as Wonder Woman's bracelets can block Darkseid's Omega Beam, but her beams broke them to pieces.
- Foil: To Grayven. While Grayven was Darkseid's son and wanted to step out of his shadow, Grail is his daughter and is wholly loyal to him. Also while Grayven is The Unfavorite of all Darkseid's children, Grail is the child Darkseid is closest to.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Myrina raised her to be The Chosen One who would bring about Darkseid's death, but Grail ended up trying to control, and later serving, him instead.
- Home Nudist: Oddly, she's often shown to be naked in the cave where she lives (although Censor Shadow, Godiva Hair Toplessness from the Back and Shoulders-Up Nudity are used to conceal any actual nudity). This is somewhat Justified at first since she was conducting some kind of ritual, but other issues still show her hanging out there in the nude, either for Fanservice or to show off the cool tattoos she has all over her body.
- In the Hood: The capes she usually wears come with a hood, which she occasionally wears up such as her very first appearance.
- Kill the God:
- Was raised by her mother to kill Darkseid, although that didn't turn out well.
- She hunts down the sons of Zeus in Wonder Woman (Rebirth) in order to give their lifeforce to Darkseid.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: She inherited many of Darkseid's physical and personal traits, and despite her mother raising her to suppress her evil nature, they gave out in the end.
- Monochromatic Eyes: Her eyes are red with no pupils, just like her father's.
- Nature Versus Nurture: She's naturally pre-disposed towards evil due to being Darkseid's daughter but her mother Myrina tried to raise her to suppress her evil tendencies. But Myrina's obsession with killing Darkseid just made Grail see herself as a weapon and she succumbed to her evil nature.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Her eyes tend to flash red when she's being malicious.
- Retcon: During Darkseid War she seemed to hate Darkseid and only revived him to put him under her control, and seemed to struggle between being good or bad. During her final appearance, she promises the baby Darkseid she will Raise Him Right This Time and attempt to redeem them both. When she appears in Wonder Woman (Rebirth), the idea to Raise Him Right This Time is gone and she's simply serving as a loyal servant to Darkseid.
- Sinister Scythe: She wields a scythe that was forged by Hades that can harm gods.
- Statuesque Stunner: As expected from an Amazonian and New God, she's a very tall woman at 6'4".
- Strong and Skilled: Has the Super-Strength of a New God and has been trained in the Amazonian fighting techniques since she was a child.
- Superpower Lottery: Due to being a hybrid offspring of an Amazon and a Darkseid, she inherited the powers and abilities from both lineages, such as Super-Strength, Super-Toughness, Omega Beams, Immortality and the ability to use many Amazonian spells and rituals, as well as being trained in their fighting style.
- Terms of Endangerment: Tends to call Diana "Angel" mockingly.
- Thinking Up Portals: She's able to teleport around places by creating portals.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Unlike her brothers, Grail takes after her mother and is far more human-looking and conventionally attractive when compared to her father.
- Where I Was Born and Razed: In Wonder Woman (Rebirth) she invades Themyscira and forcefully transforms several Amazons into Parademons for Darkseid's army, but she's eventually defeated by Hippolyta and Jason before she can truly destroy the city.
Darkseid's Elite
Darkseid's inner circle. After the God of Tyranny himself, these are the most potent and evil beings of Apokolips and the main instruments through which Darkseid works his dark will.
Amazing Grace
One of Darkseid's greatest minions, she pretends to organize a rebellion every once in a while. When it inevitably fails, the people are left hopeless again, solidifying Darkseid's control once more. She is Glorious Godfrey's sister.
- Compelling Voice: Her main power.
- Dating Catwoman: She was Superman's girlfriend, after Darkseid briefly rendered Superman amnesiac.
- In the Hood: Wears one.
- Mole in Charge: Her entire function on Apokolips.
- Resistance as Planned: Her role consists in posing as a Rebel Leader while being The Mole for Darkseid; obviously this results in her "rebellions" inevitably being crushed, leaving people hopeless and further solidifying Darkseid's control over the planet.
- Stripperiffic: Her outfit has a prominent cleavage and a distinct Vapor Wear.
Desaad
Darkseid's advisor and chief interrogator. This spineless, wormy little man dreams of one day ruling Apokolips himself. He is Bernadeth's brother.
- Adaptational Ugliness: He was initially just a really ugly man prior to the New 52. Since then he resembles the Grim Reaper with leathery skin.
- Agony Beam: Many of his devices have one.
- Asshole Victim: Desaad is constantly abused and sometimes straight-up killed and later revived by Darkseid. While another example of how atrocious a boss Darkseid is, Desaad is a weasly, disloyal sadist who's almost as evil as Darkseid himself, so it's impossible to feel bad for him.
- Ax-Crazy: It comes in the territory of being a raving sadist and the representing god of said personality. Desaad is very giddy about getting his hands on someone and performing all sorts of torture on them.
- Black Cloak: Wears one, although the color varies depending on the portrayal but most often it's a shade anywhere from a dark purple to a bright magenta.
- Butt-Monkey: He is tortured or executed after every failure or betrayal, but he's a god, so it doesn't stick. Not like he doesn't deserve it.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Well, Darkseid does kill him. A lot. But never for very long, since he's too valuable to completely destroy.
- Combat Sadomasochist: He became one of these while he possessed Mary Marvel. He seemed to get off on Supergirl striking her and started to blatantly come on to her the more Supergirl fought.
- Death Is Cheap: Desaad has been killed more times than anyone can count but because Desaad is so vital to Darkseid, he never stays dead long. Each time Darkseid is forced to resurrect him claiming "this is the last time."
- Demonic Possession: Desaad possessed Mary Marvel during Final Crisis, apparently reveling in turning the pure young heroine into an oversexed murderer. He was exorcised when Captain Marvel Junior used Shazam's lightning to turn Mary back to her mortal self.
- Dirty Coward: He's not very brave.
- Emotion Control: He is able to enter into people's minds to manipulate their emotions.
- Emotion Eater: Also demonstrated the ability to feed himself of their worst sentiments even without manipulating them, thus becoming more powerful.
- Evil Genius: As Darkseid's Dragon should be. Anything from torture devices to super-science are his domain.
- Hate Sink: No one likes Desaad. Darkseid and even his eviler father Yuga Khan constantly voice how awful a person Desaad is and many make no attempt to avoid disrespecting him in his presence. While Darkseid is just as if not more evil he still has enough charisma and grandeur to make him a likable villain, while Desaad is just a spineless and arrogant Sadist nobody respects.
- In the Hood: Wears it.
- Meaningful Name: He is named after the Marquis de Sade.
- Mind Control: Not often used, but he's capable of these and can use them to make people his People Puppets from galaxies away or casually cause Mind Rape for his amusement.
- More Despicable Minion: An interesting case where his master is just as evil as him. However, while Darkseid is a grand force of evil and has a grandiose presence that makes him as likable as he can for someone as malicious as him, Desaad has none of that and his evil is more directly repulsive, with the man himself being a slimy coward. Even Darkseid tends to admit that Desaad is a vile piece of work that he could barely tolerate.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: He's a wimp with no fighting skills compared to the other gods, but he's still much superhumanly stronger and tougher than an ordinary human as a Physical God in his own right and immune to things like the The Scarecrow's fear toxin or plagues. When properly fed on enough negativity, he's strong enough to easily toss around Kryptonians.
- Obviously Evil: Like his master.
- Sadist: He is actually the God of Sadism, though of the depraved spineless bully variety rather than the relentless force of evil his master embodies. He lives to experience the pain of others to the point of addiction, having built advanced machines just to let him savor pain.
- Smug Snake: Arrogant but (relatively) weak.
- The Starscream: He wants to rule Apokolips, but he's too afraid of his master and derided as a spineless sycophant by his peers.
- Torture Technician: Desaad is well known for his torture techniques, serving as Darkseid's personal inquisitor. Considering the Fourth Worlders are embodied Platonic Ideals - apparently - this makes him the God of Torture. Everything from manipulating words with his venomous tongue to tearing bits and pieces from someone's flesh, and his skill at his trade extends to having tortured Gods to near death.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Desaad was once an innocent boy on New Genesis until Darkseid made him believe his beloved pet cat ate his pet bird. Convincing Desaad to avenge the bird by burying the cat, Desaad was horrified when the bird returned alive, after the cat had suffocated underground. Blaming the bird, Desaad killed it and with his heart thoroughly corrupted, he returned to Apokolips with Darkseid.
Devilance the Pursuer
God of the Hunt
The god of the hunt, Darkseid's chief tracker. He was a one-time foe of the Forever People, used to bring about the Grand Finale to their original series. Devilance was eventually killed by Lobo.
- The Bus Came Back: Showed up out of nowhere in 52 to make life difficult for three characters lost in space. He hadn't been seen since the Forever People left him there.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In his original appearance, he can counter anything that the Forever people and even similarly "do-anything" Infinity Man tries.
- Off with His Head!: This is how Lobo killed him.
- Scarily Competent Tracker: He wouldn't be Darkseid's main tracker if he didn't had the skill to track down his prey.
Doctor Bedlam
Darkseid's chief scientist, who is a disembodied entity who inhabits a number of robotic clones called "animates".
- C-List Fodder: Has never really been as prominent as Darkseid's other lieutenants, like Granny or Godfrey. He's reduced to dying offscreen in Death Of The New Gods.
- The Disembodied: His true form is pure psychic energy that can induce fear in people, but he usually appears possesses his "animates," blank-featured robots that resemble his original form while his mind occupies them.
- Evil Genius: His main job is as Darkseid's top scientist, specializing in means of inciting mass hysteria.
- Psycho Serum: His Paranoid Pill.
Glorious Godfrey
AKA: G. Gordon Godfrey / Rev. G. Godfrey Goode
Darkseid has Godfrey pose as a televangelist to turn the people against their superheroes and preach the gospel of "Anti-Life" — unthinking obedience, making them easier to conquer. He is Amazing Grace's brother.
He set the events of the Crisis Crossover Legends in motion by assuming the mortal guise of "G. Gordon Godfrey", a Pompous Political Pundit who drove the U.S. public to distrust its superheroes. He eventually overplayed his hand dramatically, and his attempt to wear the stolen helmet of Doctor Fate punctuated his defeat.
During Final Crisis, Glorious Godfrey possessed a human man and posed, again, as a televangelist to distract people from Darkseid's plan. He dies when his host body burns out and Darkseid refuses to create a new body for him.
- Ascended Extra: He actually was never a prominent character in the original Fourth World saga. As time went on, he became as prominent as Desaad and Granny Goodness due to his role in manipulating the public. His G. Gordon Godfrey persona managed to earn him a cameo on Justice League, and recurring roles on both Smallville and Young Justice (2010).
- Bad Habits: Wears them.
- Compelling Voice: That can turn the masses into an angry mob out to destroy the resident superhero.
- Dark Messiah: He is the New God who preaches Anti-Life as a gospel that victims willingly accept, and not just a MacGuffin for mass mind-control.
- Divide and Conquer: His strategy.
- Glorious Leader: His role (it's even in his name)
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's been used as a Take That! against both right-wing pundit G. Gordon Liddy and left-wing pundit Al Sharpton. The message here, apparently, is that mass media and extremists in general can be bad. In Final Crisis, not only was he a parody of Sharpton, but his appearance invoked Don King.
- According to Kirby's assistant and biographer Mark Evanier,
Godfrey was created as Kirby's Take That! to the fire-and-brimstone religious rhetoric of the 1970s-era Billy Graham.
- According to Kirby's assistant and biographer Mark Evanier,
- Pompous Political Pundit: G. Gordon Godfrey is a textbook example of this trope, arrogantly inciting the public against his targets of choice.
- Religion of Evil: He started out running revival-tent shows that preached Anti-Life, telling his followers, the Justifiers, that they could now justify all their darker impulses.
- Smug Snake: He is not as glorious as he believes himself to be.
- The Starscream: During the Legends Crossover, he ultimately plans on stealing Doctor Fate's helmet to add to his powerful army on Earth and overthrow Darkseid.
- Would Hurt a Child: Proves that he would and does in Legends.
Granny Goodness
The leader and trainer of the Female Furies. Although she is an elderly woman, she is one of the most wicked and dangerous beings alive.
Granny incarnates on Earth in Final Crisis, first as a human pimp and later in the body of the Apokolips-born Green Lantern, Kraken. In this form, she captures Batman for the Evil Gods and nearly conquers Oa in Darkseid's name, but is exposed by Hal Jordan.
- Apron Matron: A sick parody of one.
- Bad Samaritan: Runs orphanages... For horrible purposes.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Commonly treated as a joke by comic fans, Granny Goodness has the best track record of not getting her butt kicked by super-heroes and the New Gods, and commits acts of brainwashing and horrific abuse without any consequences upon children 24/7 on Apokolips. Truth is, she's only silly if you've never actually read a story about her.
- Co-Dragons: Alongside Steppenwolf. While Darkseid technically doesn't have a second in command or even really needs it, Granny is more often than not portrayed as one of Darkseid's most competent, intelligent and most dangerous follower, as well as alongside Steppenwolf being one of Darkseid's elite who is most often in his good graces....as much as someone like Darkseid can have good graces. While Mantis is technically the second strongest member in Darkseid's inner circle, he's too much The Starscream to be trusted in such position while Granny's Undying Loyalty is 100% impossible to deny. While Steppenwolf comes as Darkseid's top warrior and most skilled general, Granny being the one responsible for the Female Furies as well as being one of Apokolips's most cunning members is also incredibly impressive.
- Combat Sadomasochist: She outright states that she likes pain when fighting Amanda Waller.Granny: Did that hurt? Good. It was supposed to.
Amanda Waller: Yeah, it hurt. [rifle-butts her] Does this? It's supposed to!
Granny: That's all right, dearie. Granny likes pain.- What's more, Granny instills this in her "children." Those raised by Granny are taught that pain and torment are the truest expressions of love.
- Evil Old Folks: She's technically younger than Darkseid, but looks old in a way we understand.
- Evil Orphanage Lady: She runs Orphanages Of Fear, to break children's spirits and weed out potential recruits.
- Fluffy the Terrible: Not only does her name count, but her lethal attack dog was called "Mercy".
- Freudian Excuse: A flashback story established this as why she's evil: she was made to train alongside an attack dog named Mercy, whom she felt love for. Rather than kill it as her final test of loyalty to Darkseid, she killed the commander who told her to instead. This caught the attention of Darkseid, as she argued to let Mercy live as the dog was a loyal and powerful servant. Darkseid then ordered Mercy to kill Granny. When Granny killed her beloved pet in self-defense, Darkseid was so impressed that Mercy was so well-trained as to be more loyal to him than Granny, that he granted her inner-circle status. And Granny pretty much lost what little goodness remained in her heart as a result of having to kill the only being she ever loved.
- Ironic Name: She's anything but good.
- I Was Quite a Looker: She used to be an extremely in shape bald woman who could rock a skintight outfit.◊ In her present appearance, age has definitely taken its toll, although oddly her hair has grown back.
- Never Mess with Granny: Seriously, not unless you have a small army of badasses backing you up, due to being one of Darkseid's most feared shock troopers. Though in Kirby's original stories, she is a Non-Action Guy and relies entirely on weapons provided by Darkseid and the graduates of her "orphanages". When she chooses to actually fight she's quite dangerous to any experienced Badass Normal, having once casually reflected bullets fired from a BFG at close range by Amanda Waller and nearly killing her outright.
- Terms of Endangerment: Her trademark. She tends to refer to other people in a grandmotherly way, even though she doesn't even bother with Faux Affably Evil.
- Torture Technician: She is this, and most of her victims are children.
- Undying Loyalty: There's a reason Granny is so highly placed in Darkseid's inner-circle: she genuinely worships him, and it shows in her training. Granny has trained the Female Furies to be loyal to Granny first, but Darkseid foremost, meaning that in a test of loyalty, the Furies will choose Darkseid.
- White Hair, Black Heart: She has white hair due to being an old woman, and definitely not a nice person.
- Would Hurt a Child: Her orphanages are designed to torture Apokalyptan children, both physically and psychologically, into becoming loyal servants of Darkseid.
Justeen
Lady Justeen is a replacement to Desaad as Darkseid's second-in-command. She has tried to murder Desaad on one occasion, just to get closer to Darkseid.
- Chainmail Bikini: Wears a revealing armor that exposes her legs, arms and midsection. Being a New God and not a frontline fighter helps.
- The Dragon: Used to be Desaad's second in command.
- Horns of Villainy: She wears a horned helmet and she can be just as despicable as Desaad.
- Meaningful Name: The name Justeen is a play off the Marquis De Sade's novel, Justine. She has nothing in common with the character, except her name, but de Sade's writings led to his name becoming the etymology of Sadist makes it fit nonetheless.
- The Mole: Infiltrated New Genesis under the guise of a New God named Meteorra.
- Sacrificial Lion: She's the first major Apokolips' casualty during Death of the New Gods.
- Scary Black Woman: She looks like a dark skinned woman and specializes in torture and assassinations.
Kanto
AKA: Iluthin
Darkseid's personal assassin and weapon master. Kanto is a master of both courtly intrigue and fencing, and ruins men just as efficiently with the pen as with the sword. He dresses in the manner of a Renaissance nobleman.
- Affably Evil: While he's a ruthless assassin, he's still surprisingly pleasant.
- Agent Peacock: For an enforcer of the greatest dictatorship in the universe, he's quite the dandy.
- Beard of Evil: He has a closely-trimmed goatee.
- Combat Pragmatist: Defeated his predecessor by poisoning his drink before revealing himself. According to Kanto this is something he learned from the Borgia.
- Evil Mentor: Cesare Borgia served as one to him.
- Legacy Character: Walt Simonson revealed that Kanto is the traditional name of Darkseid's assassin, and this Kanto is the fourteenth.
- The Lost Lenore: Claudia Borgia, the only woman he ever loved. Her death at his predecessor's hands basically killed any good in him.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Kanto's appearance is based on both Cesare Borgia and Errol Flynn. As it later turns out, he knew Cesare Borgia personally, and was even mentored by the man.
- Purple Is Powerful: His costume is mostly purple and he's Darkseid's top assassin.
- Wicked Cultured: And no wonder. A Simonson story revealed that he was exiled in his youth and grew to manhood with the actual Borgias as a loyal soldier and messenger.
- Worthy Opponent: He and Mister Miracle see each other as such. In their first encounter, Kanto has Scott captured, but lets him go after he survives several attempts at killing him, earning Kanto's respect.
Mantis
A renegade bug from New Genesis, he led a colony of bugs from New Genesis to Apokolips. There, in return for his loyalty, he was made a New God by Darkseid.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Especially in the original Kirby stories, he's more interested in conquering for himself than in advancing Darkseid's agenda. However, as Darkseid notes, his egotism and short-sightedness make him mostly useful as an advance scout.
- Energy Absorption: He has the ability to absorb all forms of energy, including Green Lantern light.
- Green and Mean: His appearance is mostly green and he's one nasty costumer.
- One-Track-Minded Hunger: Spends most of his time in hibernation, as merely being awake rapidly drains his power. Fortunately, there's always some food near.
- The Starscream: Canonically a close second to Darkseid in terms of power, though his inability to sustain himself for long keeps him from challenging Darkseid for supremacy.
Mortalla
One of Darkseid's concubines, she became the lover of Orion.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: Her skin is pale blue.
- Dark Mistress: She had this role for Darkseid and intended to do the same for Orion.
- Dating Catwoman: With Orion.
- Forced Sleep: She can make anyone sleep with the touch of one of her hands.
- Manipulative Bastard: It's made clear fairly early on that she is serving her own, or Darkseid's agenda, not Orion's.
- Replacement Goldfish: Was chosen as Darkseid's new concubine do to her resemblance to his dead, first wife. Though we have only her word on this, and she is shown to deceive Orion about other things.
- Touch of Death: She can kill a person by touching them with one of her hands.
Virman Vundabar
A vicious little man who was raised in Granny Goodness's orphanage just like Scott Free, Virman is one of Granny's greatest successes. He is preoccupied with military efficiency, especially that of the Prussian Empire of Earth, on which he based his persona. His niece Malice is one of the Female Furies.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: His lavish Prussian fashion made him this.
- Beware the Silly Ones: His affectations like his accent and his name make him difficult to take seriously, and he's a terrible coward in person. He's also very good at his job. This even gets a Lampshade Hanging in his first appearance, where Mister Miracle points out that Vundabar foolishly takes his persona seriously, but is still quite deadly.
- Germanic Efficiency: His persona is based on this.
- High-Class Glass: Wears a monocle.
- Kaiserreich: His attire and even his interest in Earth's Prussian culture made him this trope.
- The Napoleon: Shortest member of Darkseid's officer and one of the most vicious.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His appearance was based on Benito Mussolini.
- No Sense of Humor: As part of his Germanic Efficiency persona.
- The Strategist: Like Steppenwolf, but more towards unpowered enemies.
- We Have Reserves: Is perfectly willing to sacrifice his own troops to increase casualties among the enemy.
- Wicked Cultured: Well, unlike Kato, his sophisticated tastes were based on Prussian aristocracy.
The Female Furies
Darkseid's elite female warriors, founded and led by Granny Goodness. They serve him without question. Supergirl, Mary Marvel, and other powerful women have served on this team, usually thanks to Brainwashing (with an exception or two).
The Female Furies (as a whole)
- Amazon Brigade: Darkseid's troop of elite female warriors.
- Bodyguard Babes: With faint implications of being a Royal Harem.
- ...with Squick undertones for some like Bernadeth, Mad Harriet, and especially the child-like Malice Vundabaar.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Darkseid doesn't need a personal guard by any stretch of the imagination, he's just above wasting his time on personally destroying anyone stupid enough to try something.
- Dark Action Girl: The Furies are a group of female warriors that serve Darkseid, although how evil each one is tends to vary.
- Heel–Face Turn: In Kirby's original series Lashina, Stompa, Mad Harriet, and Bernadeth actually joined Mister Miracle and Big Barda (due to their loyalty to Barda). This period is usually forgotten about because they inexplicably vanish from the series and a later Kirby story briefly shows them working for Apokolips again.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: A group of distinctive Dark Action Girls with their own internal politics and motivations, all firmly at least a step above the mooks that Apokolips has to offer.
- Undying Loyalty: To Granny Goodness, but to a much greater extent to Darkseid. To the point where they'll turn on Granny at Darkseid's command without a second thought.
Alianna Hubbard
A human woman recruited by the Furies. Do not underestimate her.
- Strong as They Need to Be: As Mister Miracle found out the hard way, her strength and speed is augmented to rival her comrades.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She has not reappeared at all since her original comics appearance in 1978, but her membership with the Furies gets mentioned occasionally with nothing revealed about what's become of her since.
Artemiz
Bernadeth
Co-field leader of the Furies. She shares this duty with Lashina, whom she doesn't get along with. She is Desaad's sister.
- Demoted to Extra: Though one of the most prominent Furies in the comics, she barely ever appears in animation because she doesn't really fit in battle scenes except to bark orders, which is Granny's job in animation.
- Forehead of Doom: Her defining feature. She's got an unflattering haircut and her actual face is shriveled up.
- Gonk: Uglier than her brother.
- Green and Mean: Her outfits are always green and she's one of the most unpleasant of the Furies.
- Kill It with Fire: Her knife makes anything she stabs burst into flames
- My Brain Is Big: Look at her, her head is huge.
- Punny Name: The last bit "-deth" for death.
Bloody Mary
A vampire that can control her victims and use telekinesis.
- Eye Beams: Simulate telekinesis. Unfortunately for her, other people can grab them and yank her by them.
- Mind over Matter: She's a telekinetic.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Aside from her Horror Hunger and pale skin, she demonstrates none of the traditional weaknesses.
- People Puppets: She can use her victims as puppets through telekinesis.
Gilotina
Her swords, and karate chops, can slice through any matter like a hot knife through butter.
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: As stated above her blades can cut through improbable materials with ease and without damaging them.
- Ascended Extra: She is featured more prominently in animation than in the comics. Most likely because the animation creators really want to include a Fury swords-woman in battle scenes.
- Dual Wielding: She wields a pair of swords.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: For a time she defected and worked at Cadmus alongside Guardian II as security.
- Light Is Not Good: Dresses in white and has blonde hair, yet is just as bloodthirsty as the other Furies.
- The Pollyanna: After her initial appearances, she's positively cheerful about slaughter, torture, and mayhem.
- Punny Name: A guillotine is a tool of execution which works via a sharp dropping blade.
- Razor-Sharp Hand: When she doesn't have her swords, she will simply use her hands for a similar effect.
Knockout
AKA: "Kay Fury"
A Fury who decided to escape to Earth when she saw the opportunity, developing an obsession with the young hero Superboy. She eventually joined the Secret Six and fell in love with its leader, Scandal Savage.
- Affectionate Nickname: She calls Superboy "pup", which starts out in a grey area between this and Terms of Endangerment, shifts to affectionate, and then shifts back into that grey area.
- Amazonian Beauty: She's known for being a tall and muscular Head-Turning Beauty, although her muscle tone varies Depending on the Artist.
- Bathing Beauty: One of her favorite things about Earth is the luxurious showers, and has had a couple of Shower Scenes over the years. She is particularly happy about shampoos, which apparently aren't a thing in Apokolips.
- Battle Couple: She fought alongside Scandal many times after they became a couple.
- Blood Knight: Knockout loves a good fight and is furious in Superboy when she realizes Dubbilex tricked the rest of the Furies away with mental trickery to make them think they'd successfully killed her when they tracked her to earth even though she knew she had no chance of surviving the battle she was still enjoying it.
- Combat by Champion: Dreamed of taking on Big Barda, her trainer and ex-champion of the Furies, to prove she Surpassed the Teacher. Their only fight was forced to end in a draw, and then Death of the New Gods prevented them from having another encounter.
- Cute and Psycho: Superboy's relationship with her ended badly when he realized that she killed For the Evulz and tried to make him do the same.
- Dating Catwoman: She flirted with Superboy, and it is implied that she took his virginity.
- Domino Mask: Usually wears one as part of her Knockout costume.
- Evil Counterpart: For Big Barda. Both go through similar journeys, but while Barda is unquestionably on the side of good, Knockout is an Anti-Hero at best.
- Fiery Redhead: She's a boisterous loudmouthed redhead.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: She doesn't bother to use weapons, instead she uses her fists.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Made some half-hearted attempts to reform before joining the Secret Six, a decidedly unheroic team.
- It Doesn't Mean Anything: She had a little trouble understanding why Scandal got so upset when she caught her in bed with Deadshot.
- Leg Focus: One issue of Superboy (1994) opened with a Splash Panel of just her legs as she danced.
- Leotard of Power: A green leotard is her most iconic Knockout costume.
- Made of Iron: She can shrug off bullets or other minor attacks.
- Ms. Fanservice: Usually acts as a big sexpot in whatever book she happens to be on, but especially Superboy (1994) and Secret Six where she was frequently wearing revealing clothes or in many stages of undress.
- Official Couple: With Scandal Savage.
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: A common Running Gag is her pulling people for a kiss that leaves them in this state.
- Really Gets Around: Knockout is very promiscuous due to her upbringing in Apokolips. She has casual Victory Sex with Deadshot after their team survives a battle with the Doom Patrol, but the Earth-raised Scandal is very pissed off to find out her girlfriend casually slept with another man.
- Redhead In Green: Her battle outfits are always green. And a few times she's in evening dresses and casual clothes that are green.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Left Apokolips because she realized Earth is a lot nicer place to be than the hell-hole that is Apokolips.
- Sex Goddess: She's called the "Goddess of Sex and Fighting" for a reason. Both Scandal and Deadshot have talked about her being a very skilled and aggressive lover. She's even joked this is why she's called Knockout.
- Sexy Mentor: Acted as The Mentor to Superboy, teaching him how to fight better, but would also constantly tease and flirt with him.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Doesn't mind being seen walking out of the shower naked by her Secret Six teammates, although in her Superboy (1994) appearances she once got angry at Conner Kent for peeping on her while she was having a Waterfall Shower.
- Statuesque Stunner: Taller than all the other Secret Six members except Bane and King Shark, and stands face-to-face with Barda.
- Super-Strength: She's able to match blows against Kryptonians.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Invoked. She inserted herself in Superboy's life as a fighting trainer while trying to get in his pants.
- The Tease: She greatly enjoys acting aggressively flirtatious or sexual to get a rise out of people.
- Token Non-Human: As part of the Secret Six, she was the only member of the team who wasn't originally from Earth.
- Unequal Pairing: With Superboy, a young inexperienced clone who was sort of a teenager but less than three years old in actuality whom she was trying to manipulate and control while she was unquestionably an adult.
Lashina
Co-field leader of the Furies. She also works undercover as a prostitute when Granny Goodness requires it. Infamously infiltrated the Suicide Squad, an act Batman failed to do.
- Ascended Extra: Lashina's a relatively minor character in the original comics, but expect her to be the voice of the Furies in any other medium.
- Batman Gambit: Her infiltration of the Suicide Squad relied on people either not knowing that Duchess and Lashina were the same person, or watching for signs of her faking Laser-Guided Amnesia. Had anyone seriously confronted her, she'd have been stranded without a back-up plan.
- Bondage Is Bad: A straightforward example, though unlike most cases, she's too overtly vicious to find a willing partner.
- Brains and Bondage: Though not immediately obvious, she's clever enough a strategist that she manipulated the Suicide Squad into attacking Apokolips without most of the team having the first clue of her real nature.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Faked during her time in the Suicide Squad.
- No-Nonsense Nemesis: To Big Barda. They don't get to fight often, but they engage in some of the more vicious fights in comics.
- The Squadette: As "Duchess" of the Suicide Squad, her identity when left stranded and amnesiac on Earth.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's in Maxima and Starfire's league, height-wise.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: She's implied to have an attraction to Superman. The animated series takes this a step further and implies that they were lovers while he was brainwashed.
- Whip of Dominance: As expected from someone named Lashina, she has a electrically charged steel whips that can extend, retract, and wrap around targets. Her costume is purposedly designed to resemble a dominatrix and Depending on the Writer, she can have a sadistic and domineering personality.
Mad Harriet
A psycho with razor-sharp claws.
- Amazing Technicolor Population: She's almost always illustrated with yellow skin and green hair.
- Ax-Crazy: When you have "Mad" on your name, it's clear you're not very stable.
- In a Single Bound: She can jump incredibly high as well.
- Progressively Prettier: This depends on the artist, but she's a lot more attractive in Superman: The Animated Series than usual.
- Psycho for Hire: The most psychotic amongst the Furies, which is saying something.
- Slasher Smile: She rivals The Joker in that area.
- Villainous Friendship: Speaking of the Joker, Harriet met and even befriended Harley Quinn during a mission to Earth. Bernadeth scolded her for it.
- Wolverine Claws: Her main way of fighting are clawed gauntlets.
Malice Vundabar
A little girl dressed like Alice from Alice in Wonderland. She has her shadow monster, Chessure, devour her victims. Malice is Virman Vundabar's niece.
- Alice Allusion: A very dark case of this, but she's a New God named Malice, dresses up like an old-fashioned British little girl, and can summon a monstrous smiling shadow.
- Enfant Terrible: She's a dangerous little girl who controls a demon to attack her targets.
- Living Shadow: Chessure is a monstrous living shadow that maims on Malice's foes.
- Slasher Smile: Chessure has a literal one.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Likes to pretend to be a little girl in distress, to lure her unfortunate victims in for Chessure to eat.
Speed Queen
She skates along at extreme speed.
- Meaningful Name: Only known as Speed Queen, she's the fastest of the Furies.
- Rollerblade Good: Unlike other Speedsters, she uses rollerblades.
- Super-Speed: It's right there in her name.
Stompa
This beefy woman's legs are so strong that she can generate earthquakes with her stomps.
- Brawn Hilda: She's the plainest and most muscular of the Furies.
- The Brute: The tallest, beefiest and most muscular of the Furies, so this is her main role.
- Kick Chick: Taken to an extreme in this case.
- Red Is Violent: Her costume is mostly red and yellow, and she's just as ruthless as the other Furies.
- Shockwave Stomp: Her trademark is making earthquakes with her stomps.
- Third-Person Person: Occasionally Stompa refers to herself in third person.
Wunda
She has light based powers.
- Light Is Not Good: She has powers related to light, but she's far from a good person.
- Token Minority: The only known Female Fury who is dark-skinned.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Only appeared once and hasn't reappeared since 2005.
Other New Gods of Apokolips
Agogg
A hulking minion of Darkseid specifically sent to bring back a terminally ill person whom Desaad believes has most if not all of the Anti-life Equation in him.
- Appeal to Flattery: How the ill person convinces him to spare the KO'ed Orion and Lightray after surrendering; after all, he's the one he came for and those two couldn't possibly be a threat to one as strong as he.
- The Brute / Hair-Trigger Temper: A nasty disposition with the strength to go with it; only by constantly remembering his orders does he keep from tearing his quarry apart.
- Curbstomp Battle: Whether they confronted him directly or caught him off-guard, Orion and Lightray were no match for him.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Became a victim of this when the man threw himself off the balcony and made it seem like Agogg was responsible. Darkseid simply would not believe the person would sacrifice himself like that, and accused Agogg of trying to keep the equation for himself, demanding he reveal it to him immediately or be incinerated on the spot. It doesn't end well.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Nursery his target used to frequent to entertain the young patients had better help Agogg locate him quickly.
Sleez
Darkseid's exiled minion. Can control minds, but he's only interested in turning people into sex-slaves.
- Even Evil Has Standards: On the receiving end of this. This guy is so creepy and awful that even Darkseid is disgusted by him, to the point where he banished him from Apokolips entirely.
- Fat Bastard: He's a bit on the stocky side in addition to being a totally depraved creep. He once brainwashed Superman and Big Barda into doing a porn video.
- Gonk: Looks more like a goblin than a New God.
- Green and Mean: Has green skin and is sadistic.
- Meaningful Name: His name is a homophone of "sleaze" and he's a rather loathsome dirtbag.
- No-Respect Guy: He can override free will, which you'd think would make him an invaluable minion of Darkseid, but since he only uses it to fulfill his sexual urges it instead got him kicked out of Apokolips.
- Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Arguably. An unpopular character with readers for decades, Gene Luen Yang found a way to make him more interesting in the pages of New Super-Man by making him the god of self-destructive desires in general, not just lust.
- Slimeball: His whole gimmick is turning his victims into strippers and porn actors.
- Tombstone Teeth: A massive set of dentures.
Darkseid's Minions
The Deep Six
- Biomanipulation: Their original gimmick, since most of them have the power to mutate living organisms with their touch. In several stories, including their original appearances, this verges on the ability to create Organic Technology.
- Body Backup Drive: Used to bring them back, as they were killed off in their first arc. Before they die, they "spawn" versions of themselves, who inherit the memories and personalities of the originals as and when they die.
- Fish People: Just look at them.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: They are a group of amphibian warriors who serve Darkseid on the sea.
Justifiers
Darkseid's elite warriors, they are composed of various people brainwashed to serve him.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Courtesy of Glorious Godfrey, all of them are to one degree of another.
- More than Mind Control: Their original appearance in The Forever People had them as zealots of Godfrey's church of Anti-Life, reveling in the idea that they could "justify" targeting anyone they hated.
- Evil Mask: The Final Crisis incarnation of the Justifiers takes advantage of the Anti-Life Equation to create helmets that brainwash anyone wearing them into another Justifier mook.
- Canon Welding: In Final Crisis, the Secret Society of Super-Villains are brainwashed into becoming the new Justifiers, which follows up on Darkseid's role as the Man Behind the Man for the original Bronze Age of Comic Books incarnation of the Society.
- Catchphrase: "Anti-Life justifies my hate!"
- Does This Remind You of Anything? / A Nazi by Any Other Name: In their original appearances in The Forever People, the Justifiers are seen burning books they consider "decadent," rounding up people they consider "human trash," smashing windows and vandalizing store windows. Just to drive it home, there's an (apocryphal) quote by Adolf Hitler right on the first page of the issue, depicting a crowd of Justifiers chanting their mantra.
- Elite Mooks: Glorious Godfrey's, and in Final Crisis, Darkseid's.
- Powered Armor: Wear it.
Parademons
The normal shock troopers and foot soldiers of Darkseid.
- Henchmen Race: They're both bred from stock and modified clones of Apokoliptian citizens, but their only purpose is to serve as Apokoliptian soldiers, and they serve their superiors (Darkseid foremost) without question.
- Mooks: To Darkseid, usually employed to invade other planets or to oppress the citizens of Apokolips when his normal soldiers aren't doing their jobs properly.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Its show that a handful of Parademons can develop minds and personalities of their own and become peaceful beings, unlike the vast violent and mindless majority that are blindly loyal to Darkseid.
- Undying Loyalty: They follow Darkseid's will mindlessly.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Due to their limited sentience, they are often killed without hesitation by other heroes. Best exemplified in the DCAU where Superman himself uses his heat-vision on them during his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Zerg Rush: Their true strength lies in their large numbers and unrelenting savagery.
