DC's Strongest Villain Is So Powerful, They Make Darkseid Look Like A Joke

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Published Sep 13, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT

Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites.
Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: Across the Omniverse, The Bad Batch, and Watch Men.

There is no shortage of threats in DC Comics. The superheroes have to deal with the smaller ones, like the Rogues and their dastardly plans to rob banks all the way up to cosmic beings looking to enslave every living thing and building the universe in their image. When it comes to the really big threats, the ones that bring all the heroes together, Darkseid is often held up as the omega. The grandest and most terrifying villain of all.

There's good reason to look at Darkseid and tremble: he is a big scary fish in the ocean of DC Comics, and when he shows up, everyone knows things are serious. But even the Lord of Apocalips isn't the biggest fish in that ocean. There aren't many who can stand up to Darkseid one-on-one and expect to not only walk away, but to win. In that small club stands one figure who may very well be the biggest fish. At least, the biggest fish readers have seen. The one who rose from the darkest trenches of the universe and was so terrifying, even Darkseid hid from her. She is Perpetua, the one who created all life in the universe and could very well end it any time she wants.

Perpetua Is One Of The Hands

Perpetua sits on her cosmic throne in DC Comics

The creation myth of the DC universe is, to say the least, a little confusing. But there are certain elements that have solidified, like the Source of All Things being the first and most powerful being that created everything that has come since. One of the first things the Source created was the Hands, a group of sixth dimensional celestial beings who were tasked to go out and create multiverses. But when she learned that upon the completion of her multiverse she would die, Perpetua built an incomplete reality, turning it into a wheel that would constantly rotate between Crisis and Rebirth, giving off energies that would sustain her.

With her creation never truly completed, Perpetua was able to survive, but what she had done went against the wishes of the Source. Learning what Perpetua had done, the Source sent the Cosmic Raptor to imprison Perpetua in the Source Wall. Encased in the wall, Perpetua bided her time and schemed, eventually using Barbatos, the Batman Who Laughs, and Lex Luthor to regain the power she needed to break free from the Source Wall.

And, in the clearest sign of just how powerful Perpetua is, when she was free, Darkseid hightailed it to the Ghost Sector, where her powers wouldn't affect him. Yes, Perpetua is so powerful that Darkseid ran and hid.

Perpetua Has The One Thing Darkseid Desires Most

The one thing that has kept Darkseid from being able to rule over all is that pesky Anti-Life Equation. If he were able to get his hands on it, Darkseid could defeat the New Gods and the heroes with ease, but the power has constantly eluded him. But, for Perpetua, the Anti-Life Equation is a pittance of her power. Not only does Perpetua have it, it means so little to her that she gave it to Mobius to get him to join her side. To her, it's little more than a signing bonus for a new employee.

Perpetua is the creation of the multiverse that the DC universe sits in. There is no power on that side of the Source Wall that can defeat her. Tragically — for her — that was exactly what happened. Infused with the last of Dr. Manhattan's energy and having obtained the remnants of the Source Wall that once held her, the Darkest Knight — formerly the Batman Who Laughs — was able to trap Perpetua once again. And while Perpetua may be imprisoned, she is not fully destroyed. This, being comics, obviously means that she can return at any time, ready to once again threaten all reality, bending it to her will all while Darkseid cowers in the corner hoping she doesn't notice him.

Cast Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Jason Momoa, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevingne, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Zachary Levi, Dwayne Johnson, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Strong, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Djimon Hounsou, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Ali Wong, Ewan McGregor, Idris Elba, John Cena, Michael Keaton, George Clooney, Xolo Mariduena

Created by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson

Character(s) Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, The Joker, Shazam, Darkseid, Amanda Waller, Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Deadshot, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Black Adam

Movie(s) Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aquaman, Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, Zack Snyder's Justice League, The Suicide Squad, Black Adam, Shazam! The Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle, Superman, The Brave and the Bold

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