Darkseid (DC)

"I. Am. The. New. God. All is one in Darkseid. This mighty body is my church. When I command your surrender, I speak with three billion voices. When I make a fist to crush your resistance. It is with three billion hands. When I stare into your eyes and shatter your dreams. And break your heart. It is with six billion eyes. Nothing like Darkseid has ever come among you; nothing will again. I will take you to a hell without exit or end. And there I will murder your souls! And make you crawl and beg! And die! Die! DIE FOR DARKSEID!"

- Darkseid.

Darkseid (real name: Uxas) is one of the main antagonists in the Superman comics and other DC media. He is a merciless tyrant and a member of an extraterrestrial race of deities known as New Gods. He was 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 Drax 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 was perfectly obvious from the brutal way he treated the residents and slaves of Apokolips.

At one point, Darkseid formed a truce with his arch-nemesis, High Father. The two leaders exchanged their sons as a way of ensuring peace, as neither one wanted to risk having their son die by their own hands. Darkseid gave up his son, Orion while Highfather gave him his son, Scott Free. That truce lasted up until the sons were both adults, at which point Darkseid exploited a loophole in their truce by letting Scott escape Apokolips and head to Earth. With Scott hiding in neutral territory, Darkseid could resume his original plans for universal conquest.

Superman & The New Gods
Darkseid would make several attempts at conquering Earth, and believed that it held the source of the Anti-Life Equation, which would give him dominance over all life. His plans were always interrupted by the Man of Steel.

Other foes that Darkseid faced included the Forever People, a group of New Gods who could summon the revived version of Darkseid's brother Drax - known as the Infinity Man. Another enemy of Darkseid was Scott Free, known as Mr. Miracle. Mr. Miracle would constantly be chased down by Darkseid's officers who saw his escape as an act of treason. Mr. Miracle's escape abilities would always get him out of any of the confines they had constructed for him.

Darkseid's biggest adversary was his son, Orion. Orion would stop Darkseid's attempts to invade Earth numerous times before he attacked him on Apokolips. Orion would be the one who would finally kill Darkseid, but little did he know, Darkseid had ways of coming back

Superman consistently defeats earmarks in he ending forcing him back to Apololips.

Supergirl
In what was possibly his most sadistic move, Darkseid kidnapped Superman's cousin, Kara-Zor-El (later known as Supergirl), and had her brainwashed to be his servant. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda all teamed up and invaded Apokolips. Superman fought the brainwashed Kara, Wonder Woman and Barda fought the Female Furies, and Batman rigged several explosives that would destroy Apokolips. Darkseid, having no wish to lose his empire, agreed to release Kara. Immediately afterwards, he attacked Superman in Smallville and nearly killed Kara, but Superman forced him up against the Source Wall, where he was imprisoned and drained of most of his powers.

Final Crisis
Shortly after the Death of the New Gods story arc, it was revealed that the denizens of Apokolips had taken residence within several Earthlings. Darkseid himself became a nightclub owner known as Boss Dark Side. When his current human body begsn to age at a rapid rate, he transferred his essence to private investigator, Dan Turpin. As Turpin was lured into a secret lab run by Darkseid's minions, we saw that the Dark One had indeed taken root in Turpin's mind and was slowly eating him away.

While the main members of the Justice League were called out of action, Apokolips managed to cause untold anarchy, and killed and enslaved millions with the fully-formed Anti-Life Equation. Turpin, his skin solidifying and cracking, had begun to resemble Darkseid, but his will remained his own. When Turpin saw his reflection, however, he showed despair, knew that the Dark One had already taken over, and was just waiting for his submission. Eventually, Turpin came to the conclusion that there was no hope, that Darkseid's victory was inevitable, so he surrendered his body and soul, and allowed Darkseid full control of the Earth.

Batman, having discovered a bullet that was lethal to the New Gods, confronted Darkseid and told him that even though he was against firearms, he would destroy him once and for all. Darkseid threatened Batman with his Omega Sanction, to which Batman replied by pulling the trigger. Darkseid was left injured and Batman was sent back in time. Afterwards, Superman found what appeared to be Batman's charred corpse and was ready to kill Darkseid, when he realized that he would only kill Turpin. Darkseid laughed at Superman, and stated that Earth's greatest hero would become the enemy of humanity once he had assumed complete control.

At that moment, the two Flashes charged past Darkseid, and were followed swiftly by The Black Racer, the New God of Death. Darkseid was caught and purged from Turpin's soul. When the Justice League was tasked with removing all traces of Anti-Life from Darkseid's human minions, Superman was confronted once again by Darkseid, that time in spirit form. Superman erased him from existence by singing a note so high, that it could affect the immaterial. With that, Darkseid's reign of terror was ended.

New 52
Darkseid appeared in the new reboot of DC as the first threat the Justice league faces. After being beaten, Darkseid made it his mission to scour the Multiverse, and kill off all versions of the Justice League before he made his way back to the original universe where he suffered defeat.

Superfriends
Darkseid was the main antagonist in the final two seasons of Superfriends. He had the Joker as his stooge to help him invade and conquer Earth. He was also obsessed with making Wonder Woman his queen, as like most villains that followed a certain "evil designs/plans" trope, he didn't want to rule the universe alone. In fact, the very first episode of Season 5, The Bride of Darkseid, had him using a mind-control beam on her and explaining to her that he "chose her to be his queen".

Smallville
Darkseid was the main antagonist in the tenth and final season of Smallville.

DC Animated Universe
Darkseid is one of the main antagonist in the DC Animated Universe. His first attempt to attack Earth was by brainwashing Superman to do so, due to New Genesis protecting Earth. However, Superman's will power was far more powerful than the mind control and he broke free of Darkseid's manipulation, and caused 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 resurrect Brainiac, they unintentionally revived Darkseid who was merged with Brainiac and 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 that he found and used it against Darkseid, which absorbed them both into the Source Wall.

Batman the Brave and the Bold
In the episode "Darkseid Descending", Darkseid sent his army to Earth where they fought the Justice League, but they quickly took over. The Justice League tried to stop Kalibak and his army of Parademons from accessing a boom tube that would bring Darkseid to Earth. They failed, and he was able to come to Earth. Darkseid revealed that Batman was the first one to ever dodge his Omega Beams. Batman then used his honor to his advantage by challenging Darkseid to a fist fight. Darkseid nearly killed Batman until Batman lead him to the boom tube and the Question reworked it to transport him and his army back to Apokolips and then destroyed it. In the episode "Powerless", after losing his powers, Captain Atom tried to fight Darkseid in a training simulation, but was defeated by him.

Young Justice
In the episode "Endgame" of Young Justice Darkseid was shown on Apokolips with Desaad and Glorious Godfrey. It was revealed that he and Vandal Savage were in cahoots, and they now had possession of War World.

DC Extended Universe
Darkseid will appear as the Bigger Bad in Justice League and possibly be the main antagonist of the DC Extended Universe. But it is unknown who will portray him.

Grudge
Darkseid 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, he was brought back inadvertently by Lex Luthor. He, then, sought to get revenge on Superman by destroying the Earth and killing him.

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 his heat vision and thus destroyed the boom tube and seemingly Darkseid. But that was not the case. Instead, Darkseid was fused with Shao Kahn after he was blasted by Raiden and Dark Kahn was created. 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 Darkseid's 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. That allowed Darkseid to break free and Shang Tsung offered his life and servitude to him so as to spare his own life.

Injustice: Gods Among Us
Although not being playable in the console version, Darkseid was made playable into the iOS version, where he was an unlockable character. Darkseid was available in the Challenge Pack and the Most Wanted Pack, where he was considered a power character.

He appears in Injustice 2 as a pre order bonus DLC character.

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.

Powers

 * New God Physiology: Like all New Gods, he lives outside of normal time and space possesses genetic and evolutionary stability, perfection. He's immortal, stronger, faster, and more intelligent than most if not all other life-forms.
 * Superhuman Strength: Darkseid is an extremely powerful, who possesses colossal super-strength. Darkseid can easily overpower and any being, he can bend and break virtually any material, even the strongest of metals, once breaking a Green Lantern Ring with his bare hands, he can lift extremely heavy objects, and decimate mountains with his might. He possesses enough strength to overpower Superman and Wonder Woman with nothing but brute strength. However, Darkseid has been consistently defeated by Superman. This suggests that at his best, Superman is capable of defeating Darkseid.
 * Superhuman Speed: Darkseid can react, maneuver, run or move nearly as fast as the Flash. He would often surprise Superman by appearing right behind him. Darkseid can react in microseconds.
 * Superhuman Stamina: Darkseid can maintain continuous movement and strenuous exercise for unlimited periods of time without ever getting weary or tired in the process. He doesn’t require nourishment, or sleep.
 * Invulnerability: Darkseid is nearly immune to all forms of damage, be it physical (internal or external), mental, emotional, spiritual and even conceptual. He can survive unaided in a vacuum.  He is also immune to all diseases.
 * Immortality: Darkseid can live indefinitely, as he cannot age, wither, or degrade. It is near impossible for him to die.
 * Omega Effect: Darkseid wields a cosmic energy field called "Omega Effect". This effect allows him to transverse through time (chronokinesis) and space (teleport), enabling him to break barriers and force-fields.
 * Omega Beams: Darkseid's focuses this power as a form of energy that he can fires from anywhere on his body, usually his eyes. It is capable of teleporting the target to any location Darkseid chooses and recall them later or erasing the target from the universe and similarly reform them. He has pinpoint control over his Beams, his perfect aim allows it to travel in straight lines, bend, twist or curve. Nothing can withstand his Omega Beam.
 * Telepathy: Darkseid can easily read, attack or invade minds of others anywhere in entire Universe.
 * Mind Control: Darkseid can control the actions, thoughts and speech of any living thing just by thinking. In the scope of this ability, he can apparently, control and take over 100 individuals at once easily.
 * Psionic Possession: Darkseid's can possess an individual and negate any superhuman abilities may have.
 * Telekinesis: Darkseid can mentally influence the movement of objects and people with his mind.
 * Matter Manipulation: Darkseid can transmute and manipulate matter, and in extension atoms, at will.
 * Molecular Dispersion: He is also able to dissipate and disperse the molecules of an object or organism, effectively erasing them from existence.
 * Size Alteration: Darkseid can manipulate his size, density and mass just by thinking, enabling him to become any size he wants. He can control every molecule of his body, allowing him to assume any form or trait wishes.

Abilities

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Darkseid possesses intelligence that surpasses even the greatest minds in the universe. He has perfect memory, & is able to perceive all cause and effect relations, and can deduce the path to any effect, allowing him to plan, analyze, and take action with absolute efficiency. With this he is an excellent strategist and leader, and has proven that not only sheer force of strength and power has aided him in battles.
 * Tactical Analysis: He is a master planner and strategist and his armies are nearly unbeatable under his leadership. As a strategist, he can always achieve optimal results, perfectly anticipating all variables and their opponents' every move. These calculations can lead to extremely complicated planning in the long run, which always ends up being successful. In short, he is flawless tacticians. They understand everything, are always several steps ahead of everyone else, are impossible to catch off-guard, and always achieve the best possible results.
 * Intimidation: With his frightening visage and ruthless nature, Darkseid instills fear in friend and foe alike, something he no doubt enjoys.
 * Expert Combatant: Darkseid is a highly-trained Apokoliptian warrior. He has held his own against powerful opponents, such as Superman. Despite his impressive fighting skills, however, Darkseid rarely resorts to personal combat to defeat his foes. Instead, he uses his servants to defeat his enemies for him. Apparently, Darkseid only fights opponents he deems worthy, such as Superman, Batman or Orion.
 * Indomitable Will: Darkseid possesses an extraordinary control over his emotions, despite his reputation of anger and hatred towards all living things. His son Orion lacks such willpower.

Trivia

 * Darkseid was voiced by Michael Ironside in the DC Animated Universe, who also voiced Sam Fisher.
 * Darkseid was the main antagonist of Justice League: War and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.
 * Darkseid is mentioned in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as an impending threat. He is implied to become the main antagonist of the DC Extended Universe.
 * Darkseid is the inspiration for Thanos of Marvel comics, as stated several times by Thanos original creators. However, there are significant differences between the two characters. Although Thanos was inspired by Darkseid, the similiarities between the two characters are only on a superficial level as Thanos is not really interested in enslaving the universe like Darkseid and he's mostly motivated by his desire of being loved by Lady Death, nor was he intended to be a metaphor of tyranny like Darkseid.

​External Links

 * Darkseid on TVTropes.