History Characters / NewGodsDarkseid

* FormulaForTheUnformulable: The Anti-Life Equation is a MacGuffin in Franchise/TheDCU, normally sought out by Darkseid. What, exactly, it is varies DependingOnTheWriter, but it's generally a mathematical formula for complete mind-control. Somehow.

* EldritchAbomination: This is the nature of Darkseid's true form, being an anthropomorphic construct who dwells in Fourth World, embodying evil and anything associated with it. What makes it an abomination is not just the vast amount of power it holds, but also its size and destructive potential, as if Darkseid was to ever allow it's true self to exit Fourth World, the entire multiverse would collapse from his sheer size and power, as seen in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''.

** He forces his minions into murdering their pet animals as a way to teist and corrupt their minds into serving him, as demonstrated with Desaad.

* FalseFlagOperation: In ''Action Comics #600'', he tried to take out Superman and Wonder Woman by sending Kalibak, disguised by Apokolips tech as Superman, to attack Wonder Woman, and Amazing Grace, disguised as Wonder Woman, to attack Superman. His plan was to get Superman and Wonder Woman to each believe the other to be an enemy in disguise, so that they would fight each other when they next met. And indeed they did fight each other...all the way to Darkseid's throneroom, whereupon they dropped the act. As Superman told Darkseid, "Just because we're mere mortals, that doesn't mean we're stupid!"
* FasterThanTheyLook: Darkseid usually gives out the impression of being a Mighty glacier, being lax with his combat stance, and not putting much effort into his speed. In reality, he's [[LightningBruiser ridiculously fast and reflexive]]; he deliberately half-asses his effort because he's aware that he's too powerful to be fought back by most enemies he comes across, hence his supposedly slow fighting style.

* FreudianExcuse: Downplayed-Darkseid was always an evil being ought for conquest. However it was the death of Suli, the only person he ever loved, that not only drove him to the edge, but would make him a monster who [[TheConqueror wished not only conquest]], [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans but to crush the spirits and wills of all he ruled.]]

* HorrifyingTheHorror: He's on both ends of the trope; his presence and reputation terrifies '''everyone''', hero or villain and Darkseid is all to happy to enforce that.
* HumanoidAbomination: He is revealed to be this from Final Crisis onward. The Darkseid from the Post-Crisis timeline and even back in Pre-Crisis is just an avatar projected by the true Darkseid that dwells in Fourth World, who is anthropomorphized energy being who cannot leave his realm unless the sheer evil and power he possesses jeopardizes the entire multiverse.

* LegacyCharacter: Implied and Zig-Zagged. His death in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' should have meant that evil no longer existed, since Superman and the JLA had killed not just Darkseid's avatar but Darkseid himself (That is, the EldritchAbomination existing outside of time and space and is the AbstractApotheosis of Evil). Naturally there were still villains, so ContinuitySnarl? Maybe, but remember that Dr. Hurt had inside him the Hyper-Adapter, wich holds a substatial fration of Darkseid's essence. Remember too when an agonising Hurt proclaimed that "Darkseid was trying to incarnate in the Dotor". Finally, wasn't Hurt who proclaimed that he was "evil incarnate" and, "the hole in everything", "the piece that never fits", which would be titles more apropiate for a CosmicFlaw or an AbstractApotheosis (Kinda like Darkseid during Final Crisis?). That's right, Hurt not only was Darkseid's good and faithful servant, but after his death he was on his way to becoming the new vessel for Darkseid to reincrnate in.

* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', Darkseid is dying and, unable to comprehend being unable to rule the universe within his grasp, decides to unleash his true form outside of Fourth World, which would result in the destruction of the entire multiverse if not stopped.

[[Characters/SupermanCentralRoguesGallery Central Rogues Gallery]] ([[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Alexander "Lex" Luthor]], [[Characters/SupermanBizarro Bizarro]], [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Vril Dox/Brainiac]], [[Characters/SupermanCyborgSuperman Cyborg-Superman]], '''Darkseid''', [[Characters/SupermanDoomsdayCharacter Doomsday]], [[Characters/DCComicsLobo Lobo]], [[Characters/SupermanMisterMxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk]], [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]], [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryPhantomZone Phantom Zone Criminals]] [[[Characters/SupermanGeneralZod General Zod]]]) | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryAToL A-L]] | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ M-Z]] ([[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]])\\

* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: His debut in issue 134 of ''Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen'' on a monitor used by Morgan Edge depicted Darkseid as wearing a white helmet and having a Caucasian skin tone, a noticeable contrast towards his more familiar appearance of wearing blue armor and having grey skin. He also used to have normal-looking eyes before they were eventually changed so they were colored red and lacked pupils.

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' '''[[Characters/{{Superman}} Main Character Index]]'''\\

Darkseid has been featured in several works outside comics, primarily serving as an opponent to Franchise/{{Superman}} and more recently to the Franchise/{{Justice League|Of America}}, while continuing his search for the Anti-Life Equation.

* AdaptationalBadass: Darkseid spent most of his existence as a character seeking out the Anti-Life Equation, and didn't find it until 2001. In the Comicbook/{{New 52}}, he ''starts off'' knowing the Anti-Life Equation and Comicbook/{{Earth 2}} nearly falls because of it. [[spoiler:Justified because he has the memories of his pre-Flashpoint self.]]

** In a more meta-case, while he is often considered to be, and was actually ''designed'' to be, the ultimate evil for Franchise/TheDCU, there are a few villains who rival or even overshadow him in terms of scope, power, or influence[[note]]Which by no means makes him a pushover: All the following villains are capable of causing [[ApocalypseHow universal-scale-total-extinction-events]] ''at a minimum'', and many of them would call such as act [[ButForMeItWasTuesday "Tuesday"]][[/note]], such as the [[Characters/TheMultiversity Anti-Monitor]], [[ComicBook/BlackestNight Nekron]], [[ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar Imperiex]], arguably [[Franchise/GreenLantern Krona]], and [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis Mandrakk]], the latter of whom played Darkseid like a fiddle without the latter even knowing about it. However, Darkseid is certainly ''one of'' the most ultimate villains for the verse.

* BatmanGrabsAGun: It's notable that ''he is the exception'' for heroes who otherwise strictly adhere to the rule that ThouShaltNotKill. Both Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} will take the gloves off and kill him if the situation is dire enough - Batman will [[TropeNamers even shoot him dead]]. Darkseid is simply so high on the SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat that, in ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis'', not killing him was not an option.

** Was more or less the undisputed GreaterScopeVillain of the DCU following ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. [[spoiler:With Darkseid's death in ''Final Crisis'', [[Franchise/GreenLantern Nekron]] appears to have replaced him.]]
** In the [[Comicbook/{{New52}} DCU reboot]], Darkseid is the first BigBad the new Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} faces.

** Franchise/{{Superman}} is based on the idea that the strong have an obligation to protect the weak, and that people should not be led, but trusted to do what's right themselves. Darkseid is the perfect counter for the idea of a good man who essentially has the powers of an alien god, by being an alien god who knows exactly how to prey on the evils of man. Superman also represents Hope, while Darkseid embodies unrelenting Despair.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: ''Comicbook/ForeverEvil2013'' reveals his new origin in the Comicbook/{{New 52}}. [[spoiler:Many millennia ago, Uxas was an ordinary mud farmer, who put the Old Gods against each other, and when they were weakened by their war he took the opportunity to kill them and take their power for himself. Izaya was married to Darkseid's sister, who got critically hurt during the Old Gods war with each other and he begged his god to save her. Due to Izaya still having faith, The Lord of The Sky passes on one final blessing to him. Since then, Izaya was the Highfather and he and Darkseid were the ComicBook/NewGods.]]

* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: [[spoiler: In ''Comicbook/ForeverEvil2013'', the mudfarmer Uxas discovers that this is the source of power of the Old Gods]].

** [[spoiler: In his origin, revealed in ''Comicbook/ForeverEvil2013'', he was a simple farmer who ''killed'' the Old Gods and took their powers to himself.]]

* OffingTheOffspring: In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', Darkseid murders his son Orion with a [[ItMakesSenseInContext time-traveling, god-killing bullet]]. Later on, [[spoiler: Franchise/{{Batman}} uses [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the same bullet to mortally wound Darkseid]]]].

* PowerCopying: Darkseid is vastly more powerful than all other New Gods, for two reasons- first, the Omega Force, an evil energy that he and only he is wicked enough to contain, which he stole for himself; and second, waging war on the pantheons of other worlds, slaying those gods, and stealing all of ''their'' powers for himself. He tried to do the same to the [[Franchise/WonderWoman Olympian pantheon]] at least once as well, but was beaten back before that EvilPlan could be completed.

* RageAgainstTheHeavens: His StartOfDarkness, according to the Comicbook/{{New 52}}. The reason the Old Gods are dead? Uxas got pissed at them constantly amusing themselves by fighting and causing massive collateral damage to the mortals like him who lived at their feet, so he ''killed them all'' and stole their power, becoming Darkseid.

* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis''. First Franchise/{{Batman}} shot him with a god-killing weapon. Then, [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry Allen and Wally West]] tricked him into hitting himself with the Omega Beam. Then [[TheGrimReaper Black Racer]] destroys his body until nothing is left of it. Then Franchise/WonderWoman binds his essence. And it still takes Franchise/{{Superman}} singing the musical equivalent of TheMultiverse, with the help of the Miracle Machine, to kill him!]]
** [[spoiler:Even that is a SubvertedTrope. As shown in [[Comicbook/{{New 52}} the reboot]] of Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}, Darkseid wasn't just rebooted from ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}''. If the mental tortures and memories given to Superman in the new OriginsEpisode of the League are to be considered, he was just transferred into the [=DCnU=]]].
--->'''Franchise/{{Superman}}:''' [[spoiler:The images they pumped into my brain. The death and torture Darkseid's spread across a... [[TheMultiverse multiverse]]. I think I saw... me]].

** [[{{Comicbook/Earth2}} Earth-2]] has him involved with the Fury Death, the last survivor of Mars, and she even bears/[[spoiler:bore]] his child.
** Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} in the New 52 showcases how he begat a daughter on Apokolips who causes nothing but chaos everywhere she goes; ironically enough it was her capacity to travel between realities that set his sights on terraforming every universe he comes across into an extension of his hell world.
*** Interestingly enough, he may have chanced upon Prime Earth home of said Enemies who had halted his incursion into their reality long before he ever met them; as he had fathered yet another child named Grail to a rogue Amazon. At the very same time [[Franchise/WonderWoman Diana of Themyscera]] was born no less.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: At various points in his history, Darkseid has been primarily associated with the ComicBook/NewGods, the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, Franchise/{{Superman}}, and the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. As for his roles, he either serves as [[BigBad the main antagonist]] and/or the ArchEnemy of someone, namely Orion and Superman, who personally hate Darkseid more than anyone else. He's also been the BigBad of at least three {{Crisis Crossover}}s involving the entire DCU.

* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: He uses technology and science (well, comic-book science) for his powers, but there are few who dare tell him that they are not advanced enough. In an issue of ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', he chastises Metron, New God of Science, for ignoring magic, and proposes alliances with magical heroes and villains in Cosmic Odyssey. This implies Darkseid's familiar with magic, he just prefers his own methods.

* SuperStrength: This guy can trade blows with ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' and occasionally come out on top. He's in the absolute top tier of DC bruisers.

* TimeAbyss: Has existed [[Franchise/WonderWoman for at least 15,000 years]], [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes exists 1000 years from now]] and if ''ComicBook/DCOneMillion'' is any indication will still be around dozens of millennia beyond that.

** Franchise/{{Batman}} made Darkseid have a minor VillainousBreakdown (and got pummeled for it) by threatening to blow up Apokolips and revealing that he had the means to do it. However, Darkseid then agrees to Batman's terms by saying that had Superman or Wonder Woman tried that, he'd have called their bluff since they "do not have the strength of character to destroy an entire world." But Batman is a human, a species that kills their own kind to win battles, which he considers admirable.

** Darkseid had an even bigger one during the ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar'' event, in ''Wonder Woman'' Vol. 2 #173, after Franchise/WonderWoman and ComicBook/{{Raven}} restored his powers, and did it in such a way that a bit of Wonder Woman's inherent love and compassion found its way into Darkseid's soul. Darkseid could only stand still, [[StunnedSilence shocked to silence]] when he realized that Franchise/WonderWoman had hurt him in the worst way possible.

[[Characters/SupermanCentralRoguesGallery Central Rogues Gallery]] ([[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Alexander "Lex" Luthor]], [[Characters/SupermanBizarro Bizarro]], [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Vril Dox/Brainiac]], [[Characters/SupermanCyborgSuperman Cyborg-Superman]], '''Darkseid''', [[Characters/SupermanDoomsdayCharacter Doomsday]], ComicBook/{{Lobo}}, [[Characters/SupermanMisterMxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk]], [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]], [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryPhantomZone Phantom Zone Criminals]] [[[Characters/SupermanGeneralZod General Zod]]]) | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryAToL A-L]] | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ M-Z]] ([[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]])\\

* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: In ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', Orion killed Darkseid and took his place. Unfortunately, he tried an election and won by what he called "an obscene plurality". He realized despite his good intentions, he and Darkseid were [[InTheBlood not so different]], something Superman is disappointed by. Orion is more philosophical about it in a LikeFatherLikeSon kind of way. Actually, the problem there was that the people of Apokolips are [[AlwaysChaoticEvil as insanely evil as their fallen lord]], and giving them freedom just resulted in them preying on each other worse than before. So yes, killing Darkseid just made Apokolips worse.

* ArchEnemy:
** To the rest of New Genesis, the JLA, and the whole of the DCU. Darkseid is ''so'' evil and ''so'' powerful that he trumps almost all other villains, and is at the top of every hero's personal hit list. For his own part, Darkseid loathes and/or seeks to dominate everything that lives and has pursued personal vendettas against everyone at one point or another.
** He's obviously the most personal foe of Orion and Highfather, with both of them representing the paragon of New Genesis's values and ethics whereas Darkseid is the best representation of Apokolips's depravity. Of course, he's biologically related to them, with Orion being [[ArchnemesisDad second son]] and Highfather being [[CainAndAbel his older brother]] [[RelatedInTheAdaptation in Post-Flashpoint]].
** Darkseid also personally fulfills this role towards Superman outside of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, and General Zod. Much like Orion and Highfather, Superman's values and ethics are a complete contrast to what Darkseid represents and the Lord of Tyranny has the notable distinction of being Superman's most hated enemy to the extent that he is more than willing to kill Darkseid at every opportunity they get.

* VillainsDyingGrace: Sometimes, Darkseid sentenced his enemies to... the torment of life as a being with free will. He even turned ComicBook/YoungJustice's Secret back to a normal human girl as a form of this once she betrayed him. However, since EvilCannotComprehendGood he missed that he was actually giving her [[IJustWantToBeNormal exactly what she wanted in the first place.]] The application of this varies, of course. The ComicBook/SuicideSquad earned this once he realized they dared to invade Apokolips, but the survivors were pretty much made of SurvivorGuilt from then on, most notably with ComicBook/AmandaWaller, who's become borderline suicidal with some of her risktaking since. Similarly, in the DCAU, this is Darkseid's vengeance on Superman at the end of his series, with implications that humanity never wholly trusts Superman again. [[spoiler: Unlike in mainstream continuity, this does last in DCAU, and leads to one of Superman's closest friends in his series to join Project Cadmus in JLAU.]]

** [[{{Squick}} And creepier still]] was when ComicBook/{{Eclipso}} tried to pawn ComicBook/MaryMarvel to him so that she might become his concubine in ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'', though in Darkseid's defense he was more interested in her potential as a powerful minion.

* LegacyCharacter: Implied and Zig-Zagged in a case of FridgeHorror. His death in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' should have meant that evil no longer existed, since Superman and the JLA had killed not just Darkseid's avatar but Darkseid himself (That is, the EldritchAbomination existing outside of time and space and is the AbstractApotheosis of Evil). Naturally there were still villains, so ContinuitySnarl? Maybe, but remember that Dr. Hurt had inside him the Hyper-Adapter, wich holds a substatial fration of Darkseid's essence. Remember too when an agonising Hurt proclaimed that "Darkseid was trying to incarnate in the Dotor". Finally, wasn't Hurt who proclaimed that he was "evil incarnate" and, "the hole in everything", "the piece that never fits", which would be titles more apropiate for a CosmicFlaw or an AbstractApotheosis (Kinda like Darkseid during Final Crisis?). That's right, Hurt not only was Darkseid's good and faithful servant, but after his death he was on his way to becoming the new vessel for Darkseid to reincrnate in.

* InvincibleVillain: The problem with the character is that it's either BadassDecay or this trope, more commonly the latter. Even when written right, Darkseid is so powerful that most things can't even phase him, much less beat him. Read the ''ComicBook/Earth2'' series for an example of this trope in full force.