Best and Worst Villains in DC Animation

[The Overlord]

I created a similar thread in the Marvel Animation forum, but I thought this would be fun to do it here too. Who are the best and worst villains in DC animation? Now you can define this any way you want, best adapted from the page to the screen, best improved from the comics, best original villain, etc and vice versa. Also, this can cover animated property that exists, TV shows or movies, going from the 1940s till now. Please explain your choices as well.

 

[VintageToonFan]

Brainiac from the Super Powers tie-in shows. I was always more into the Terminator-esque look and Stanley Ross' voice was incredibly menacing and the voice I imagine to come out of Brainiac when reading the comics. I just wish he had been used more.

Darkseid and his ilk were also used well in the Super Powers tie-in cartoons and I felt they added a much needed element of threat that the SuperFriends cartoons before the Super Powers tie-ins lacked.

The Scarecrow was actually pretty well used in the Super Powers Team episode The Fear. I felt he really gave Batman the fright of his life in that after making him relive his traumatic experience at Crime Alley (what's even better is that this episode also has what I consider to be Adam West's best performance as Batman).

The Prankster was pretty amusing in the 1988 Superman cartoon. I really felt the idea of him being somewhat obsessed by baseball was kinda neat and he did provide a few laughs. Plus, he was cast perfectly (Howard Morris is just sensationally crazy and funny in the role).

 

[khuddle]

Vandal Savage is my favorite because, while's not necessarily smarter than some of the other DC super-villains (eg. Lex Luthor, Gorilla Grod, Brainiac, and even Dr Freeze probably have more technical knowledge), he's a vastly better strategist than any of them. Savage isn't even intimidated by Darkseid, who's basically a God, and will go toe to toe with him as we saw in Young Justice: Season 3.

Ra's Al Ghul is my #2. While not quite as clever as some of the DC bigshots like Savage or Lex Luthor, he's suave and sophisticated and I love the way he refers to Batman as "The Detective" (which is really what Batman is; or, to be more precise, a ninja / detective).

Least favorite is Captain Boomerang. Talk about your crappy powers