Darkseid (DC)

"I am many things Ka-El, but here I am God."

- Darkseid

Darkseid is one of the major enemies in the Superman comics and media, a merciless tyrant and member of an extraterrestrial race of deities known as New Gods. He is widely regarded as one of the DC Universe's most powerful and malevolent villains of all time.

Origin
Darkseid was the son of a dictator who ruled over a horrifying planet called Apokolips. Darkseid killed his brother in order to succeed him to the throne. Never trying to hide his cruelty and malice, he sought to conquer the universe and rule over all with an iron fist. His sadism is perfectly obvious from the brutal way he treats the residents of Apokolips.

Smallville
Darkseid is one of the main antagonist in the season 10 of Smallville.

Superman: The Animated Series
Darkseid's first attempt to attack Earth was by brainwashing Superman to do so, due to the New Genesis that protected Earth. However, Superman's will power was far more powerful than the mind control and broke free of Darkseid's manipulation, causing his plan to fail. Later, Darkseid's planet Apokolips was attacked by the Kryptonian computer Brainiac and Darkseid was killed in the process when Brainiac's base exploded. When Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom tried to ressurect Brainiac, they unintentionally revived Darkseid merged with Brainiac who then launched an invasion on Earth. Superman beat him physically in Metropolis, but he soon trapped him and nearly murdered him with a Kryptonite knife. However, Lex intervened by using the Anti-Life Equation he found and used it against Darkseid, either destroying or absorbing him.

Grudge
Darkseid has harbored a fierce hatred of Superman ever since he stopped him from conquering Earth. In Justice League: Unlimited, Darkseid was eventually killed by Superman, but then, brought back inadvertently by Lex Luthor. He, then, sought to get revenge on Superman by destroying the Earth and killing Superman.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
At the start of the game, Darkseid and his Parademons were defeated by Superman and his Justice League comrades. As Darkseid was about to flee through his dimensional boom tube, Superman hit his nemesis with a heat vision thus destroyed the boom tube and seemingly destroying Darkseid. But this was not the case, instead, Darkseid was fused with Shao Kahn after he was blasted by Raiden creating Dark Kahn. After Raiden and Superman defeated Dark Kahn, the worlds were separated and Darkseid awoke in the Mortal Kombat universe. Without any powers to protect himself, Raiden brought Darkseid before the Elder Gods for judgment and they sent him to the Netherealm.

Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe Ending
In his ending, Shang Tsung tried to steal his soul, a source of immense power, but the Apokolips ruler reversed the soul drain to reduce the sorcerer to an old man. This allowed Darkseid to break free and Shang Tsung offered his life and servitude to him so as to spare his own life.

Amalgam Comics
After the successful Marvel Versus DC crossover series the two companies ran a limited edition series of meta-fiction known as Amalgam Comics, in this series Darkseid was merged with Thanos to create a new character known as Thanoseid.