Cataclysms aspire to bring about the end of the world, universe or multiverse they are in. To apply, said characters must be trying to destroy the entirety of the universe their story take place, so destroying planets when the story occurs in a whole galaxy like Star Wars does not count. Cataclysms have vast power and are similar to Dark Lords. Sometimes they can be Dark Gods or Godlike Figures. Cataclysmic villains may also be ones that previously caused massive destruction without completely destroying anything.

In extreme cases, they can also be reality-butchers as they have successfully destroyed or ruined entire universes, dimensions or realities. They are the worst of the Destroyers and Homicidal, usually having no redeeming qualities. However, some of them can still have redeeming traits, even to the point of being genuinely affable (e.g. Count Bleck, Gloomius Maximus, Bartleby, Yuno Gasai, Galactus, Beerus, Sailor Galaxia, Rex Dangervest, and White Woz).