History Sadist / ComicBooks

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Providing the page quote above is the flagrantly AxCrazy Black Mask, an EvilCounterpart of Bruce Wayne who went crazy and turned to crime after failing as a CorruptCorporateExecutive. Becoming a mob boss was how he found success, but torture was where he really found his passion in life, especially after he started feuding with ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}. In one particularly horrifying storyline, Black Mask kidnaps Selina's sister and brother-in-law, torturing the latter with power tools and then forcing the former to eat pieces of her husband's corpse after he succumbed to his injuries, [[EyeScream including his eyeballs]]. By the time Selina arrived her sister was driven thoroughly into insanity and her friend Holly Robinson was on the verge of meeting a similar fate. Black Mask gets his in the end though... [[DisneyVillainDeath sort of]].
** ComicBook/TheJoker is typically characterized this way as well. His original Golden Age incarnation was out simply to kill people and terrorize the city, and many later versions are, if anything, worse. Sometimes subverted, however, in that he's not out to just hurt others for [[ForTheEvulz its own sake]], but [[ItAmusedMe when it's funny to do so]], and he's been known to spare people when he finds it funny. For instance, in ''ComicBook/EmperorJoker'', he got annoyed when one of his minions killed Superman (who had been turned into a dog) because he didn't see any humor in it. In a ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' crossover, he also teamed up with the [[OmnicidalManiac Dark Judges]] but quickly got bored with doing ''nothing'' other than killing people.
** Ironically enough given the above, some incarnations of Batman ''himself'' verge on this, in particular his notorious [[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder ASBAR]] incarnation who gleefully brutalizes criminals while calling them strange things such as "boy of mine". Predating ABSAR Bats is ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', in which Batman declares with satisfaction that striking terror is the best part of his job. Interestingly enough, both of these stories were written by Creator/FrankMiller, though he is far from the only creator who has written Batman as being just as little ''too'' into beating up criminals.
* {{ComicBook/Bullseye}} gets so much enjoyment from brutally murdering and torturing people. So much so that he doesn't even bother spending money he gets from [[PsychoForHire his hit jobs]]. The money is just a handy way of keeping score of the people he slaughtered. There's a reason why he's considered the [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Marvel version of]] ComicBook/TheJoker.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Marquis of Death is one of these ''[[UpToEleven on a multiversal scale.]]'' He makes it a habit of torturing the heroes of a universe right before destroying it. He even outright states that he only does it [[ForTheEvulz for the fun of it]].
* The ComicBook/{{Midnighter}} is a violent anti-hero of the ASBAR Batman sort, being distinguished from the former by two traits: being an EmpoweredBadassNormal compared to Batsy's vanilla BadassNormal and being confirmed to be compared to Batsy (who has frequently been coded as such but would never be made one outright).
* Malekith the Accursed from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' demonstrates a penchant for torture and dismemberment that few can rival.
* In ComicBook/MoonKnight, there's a secret society of elite sadists who are both extremely wealthy and brutally sadistic. Membership is restricted to "very special" individuals, so latest members include a cutting-edge piercing artist who's become a billionaire from his work while enjoying piercing people to death as a side-hobby. During the induction feast, Moon Knight jumps in and claims he deserves to be a part of this. He's just as rich as these assholes and he says LOVES, LOVES torturing and brutally harming criminals in battle and he intends to do just that to the circle.
* ComicBook/{{Mystique}}'s FatalFlaw is her penchant for sadism, both of the physical and ManipulativeBitch varieties. This was most prevalent during her early years as a Ms. Marvel villain, in which she was more or less a DistaffCounterpart of Black Mask above, gleefully kidnapping and torturing Carol's friends and loved ones. This side of her took a backseat for a time after she became a RoguesGalleryTransplant into the ComicBook/XMen's baddie catalogue, though as the years went on her fervor for mutant rights waned while her original passion has returned. She's developed a particular love over the years for playing the LoveInterestTraitor to various X-Men, including Forge, Iceman, and even ComicBook/ProfessorX himself.
* The ComicBook/RedSkull sees ColdBloodedTorture as "recreation", frequently murders his subordinates for [[BadBoss no reason whatsoever]], trains himself by [[KingpinInHisGym fighting his underlings]] to the death without telling them it is "to the death", and seeks TakeOverTheWorld and [[GodhoodSeeker godlike power]] mainly because he wants to [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans terrorise as many people as possible.]] He joined the Nazi Party because he wanted a quasi-legal reason [[TheBully to assault and kill people]], and has expressed empathy for both his abusive, drunken father and his EvilMentor UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler- specifically, for their psychological need to have victims, be it family for his dad or [[FinalSolution the Jews]] for Hitler, and is himself guilty of numerous war crimes and acts of terrorism. His backstory suggests he is driven by a monomaniacal desire to take revenge on the entire world for his [[FreudianExcuse crappy life]]. He suffers the odd bout of depression, but can be cheered up by reminding him of [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk all the atrocities]] he has committed in his life. And then there is [[DomesticAbuse his treatment of Mother Night...]] The Red Skull's entire motivation for villainy is recreating the sheer bliss he felt when he murdered a Jewish girl who rejected his creepy advances back when he was a bitter angry teenager. ''He's so [[AxCrazy twisted]] that torturing and killing people are the only things that make him happy''.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** ComicBook/NormanOsborn has built his entire supervillain career around the torment of [[ComicBook/SpiderMan one man]], usually by targeting said man's [[RevengeByProxy friends and family]]. He is a misogynistic ControlFreak who was finally caught after it was discovered he was murdering his employees and nosy female reporters ForTheEvulz in his spare time, and his Green Goblin persona is an AxCrazy MadBomber whether or not it is Osborn himself [[SplitPersonality who is running the show.]] And he bullied and dominated the life of his only son Harry, in the delusional belief that this would make him more of a man.
** Another Spidey villain sadist is ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, whose mission in life is to go on ultraviolent killing sprees. He thinks the world is dull and uninteresting but can be made more colourful by spraying the streets red with blood. He is also a StrawNihilist who thinks the very idea that "murder is wrong" is just TheMan keeping you down, and that cowardice and weakness are the only reasons everyone else isn't killing too.
** Much like Frank Miller's Batmen above, some incarnations of ComicBook/{{Venom}} have been just a little too into punishing the guilty, especially early on when he was more or less a sadistic VillainProtagonist trying to ape Spider-Man. As CharacterDevelopment has mellowed him out over the years this aspect of him has gradually tapered off, though it made a brief comeback when he first became [[KnightTemplar Anti-Venom]].
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} likes to play TheStoic, but occasionally lets it slip how much he enjoys causing others pain, being especially prone to a PsychoticSmirk while abducting planets. Brainiac 13 is particularly sadistic; he could have killed Superman instantly, but took the time to torture him to death, because in his own words: "I have run simulations of your death 1,098,288,546 times; this one is a particular favorite."
** ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} is a sadist on a tyrannical scale. He has built a galaxy-spanning empire as well as a ReligionOfEvil entirely on the concept of spreading misery and suffering and his self-proclaimed right to control, dominate, and enslave all life in the universe. All of his underlings are absolutely terrified of him and he often has them tortured or killed for the most trivial offences — or for no offence at all. One of those, Desaad, is actually the God of Sadism, though of the depraved spineless bully variety rather than the relentless force of evil his master embodies.
** Minor baddie Jax-Ur is more or less a Kryptonian {{Expy}} of the infamous Nazi scientist Josef Mengele, with all the associated sadism and MadScientist motifs thereof. Note that most of his adaptations subvert this, save for his appearance in ''Film/ManOfSteel'' which played it very straight.
** UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} {{Superman}} villain Mongul is a psychological sadist of the first degree, who in the Superman story ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'' locked Superman into a [[LotusEaterMachine mental delusion]] that he can only escape by throwing away the things he cares about most. Superman was [[UnstoppableRage less than happy with Mongul]] upon finally escaping.
* ComicBook/{{X 23}}'s former handler, Kimura. Despite being a victim of emotional and physical abuse herself (and in fact having a childhood which in some ways paralleled Laura's), she joined the Facility both for the means to exact revenge on her tormentors ''and'' to put herself into a position where ''she'' could torment others. She was one of X-23's chief abusers, and routinely tortured her for the slightest of infractions; notably, after the mission where Zander Rice (who could justify an entry of his own) left her to die, Kimura actually punished her for ''surviving'' entirely because she was told X had been killed and her return to base meant it was a lie. She has pursued Laura relentlessly since her escape and is gleefully willing to murder and torture her loved ones for no other reason than to punish her for it, even when Laura offers to return to spare them.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** Most of the baddies from the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' were this, owing to the CrapsackWorld Nature of the reality where they ruled. The Dark Beast was the most prolific of the [=AoA=] sadists, but Abyss, Holocaust, the [=AoA=] Domino, and of course Apocalypse himself all reveled in the pain they inflicted on their victims.
** The Shadow King is an EvilCounterpart of ''X-Men'' BigGood ComicBook/ProfessorX, and nothing brings him greater delight than to inflict MindRape on his victims (which are always X-ladies [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty for some reason]]). Fortunately for the X-Men, he's so intent on getting his sadistic jollies off that he leaves himself vulnerable at crucial moments, allowing lesser telepaths like Psylocke to defeat him.
** Like the Shadow King, [[Characters/{{Cable}} Stryfe]] is a sadist who is frequently defeated because he places higher importance on tormenting heroes than killing them.
** Exodus of Magneto's Acolytes is an InformedAttribute case, as trading cards during the 90s made frequent mention of how cruel he was, but in the actual comics he was more an extreme case of PayEvilUntoEvil than an outright sadist (he tormented Fabian Cortez in the ''ComicBook/BloodTies'' story before killing him, but as Cortez was the very definition of an AssholeVictim and had just tried to use a little girl as a HumanShield, it's hard to argue that he didn't have it coming).
** And speaking of ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, during his 2014 solo title he exhibited a grim satisfaction similar to that of his one-time disciple as he hunted down and killed those he considered threats to mutantkind, though as with Exodus above it's easy to argue his actions were more motivated by PayEvilUntoEvil than sadism.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Volume 1]]'':
*** Priscilla Rich (ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}) kidnaps Gail Young and Brenda West to "hunt" them for fun even after she has already terrified Gail into working for her and has enough blackmail on Brenda to force her to and tortures them supposedly to force them to see they have no choice but to work for her since they have [[SuperSpeed no hope of outrunning and escaping her]] when such an action was entirely unnecessary and she straight up tells them she's doing it for her own enjoyment. She also turned away from killing Di when she had her asleep and at her mercy with a kife posed over her heart because she wanted her to suffer.
*** Queen Clea ''really'' likes watching captives be tortured to death. She will set things up so that prisoners who didn't bend to her will and submit to her during their first round of torture are killed in painful and creative ways, or put through some kind of dangerous gauntlet for her while she looks on.
** ''[[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 Volume 3]]'': Shortly after her first homicidal rampage Genocide realizes that there are things humans fear more than death and that she actually gets even more enjoyment out of causing suffering and pain than she does out of straight-up slaughtering people. This does not mean she now intends to allow her victims to live in the long run though.

** Trepan, in his brief appearance, is shown to take a certain joy in the thought of ripping out chunks of Megatron's mind. Notably, at this point in the timeline, Megatron hasn't done anything worse than 1) critique the Cybertronian orthodoxy and 2) write bad poetry.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': John Wraith: a consummate one who enjoys causing pain to keep his victims in line. His idea of fun is shooting a caged Wolverine with an assault rifle or breaking Rogue's arms and legs when he's bored. Wraith also had his men stab Wolverine, crack open his skull, and set him on fire before wiping his memories so they could do it all over again without Wolverine remembering their faces.