By Cole Kennedy
Darkseid, the ruler of Apokolips, has sported many striking costumes across DC's comic books, animated series and films.
Darkseid is easily one of the most iconic villains in DC Comics. The ruler of Apokolips is recognizable as a threat to the Justice League and DC's multiverse, but the terrifying New God doesn't have too many alternate looks in the comics. Fans wanting to see some of Darkseid's greatest looks will find them in DC's various animated series and movies.
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Darkseid rules with fear and an iron fist, and while he's never been particularly concerned with his own fashion, he does know how to turn heads, showcasing variations of his character design that have become just as memorable as the original. Across DC TV shows, live-action films, video games and comics, Darkseid wears some incredible costumes.
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10 Darkseid Held The Anti-Life Equation In Final Crisis
Grant Morrison's Final Crisis brought together heroes from across the multiverse to stop Darkseid from gaining the Anti-Life Equation. When Final Crisis begins, Darkseid is without a physical body; his essence jumps from host body to body, slowly losing strength. Darkseid is far from his imposing self, but his host bodies are appropriately creepy.
Darkseid wears a variation of his helmet with a slightly thicker jaw strap. His eyes look uncomfortably human as his physical form slowly decays. This was far from Darkseid's most intimidating look, but his appearance was unsettling nonetheless.
9 Darkseid Joined The Justice League Odyssey
The Justice League Odyssey team featured heroes like Starfire, Cyborg, Jessica Cruz and Azrael. Surprisingly, the team also featured Darkseid for a little while. No one believed this alliance would last. Darkseid is too powerful and orchestrates too many schemes to simply align with the League.
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This Darkseid was slightly different from previous versions, in characterization and appearance. Odyssey's Darkseid wore sleek, purple and silver armor that featured a hood instead of a helmet. Darkseid doesn't quite look the same without his ironic blue and black helm, but Odyssey's design was interesting.
8 Darkseid Invaded Earth In Justice League: War
The animated Justice League: War film adapted Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's premiere New 52 Justice League story arc where Darkseid and Apokolips invaded Earth. Darkseid stands at double the height of the Leaguers. His armor is a variation of the suit he wore in the comic, but his animated costume is bulkier with more gold. His helmet is also thinner and sleeker.
Darkseid didn't talk much in this DC animated feature, but he didn't have to. What he lacked in verbiage, he more than made up for in sheer strength, challenging the Justice League alone and easily defeating Green Lantern and even Superman.
7 Zack Snyder's Darkseid Is Terrifying
The Justice League film from 2017, directed by Joss Whedon, received mixed reviews. The tone was all over the place, with life-and-death stakes surrounded by jokes that fell flat. Zack Snyder returned to complete his vision of the film and Warner Bros. released Zack Snyder's Justice League, something everyone outside the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut community never thought possible.
Snyder shocked fans with Darkseid inclusion in the film. The fans, along with the Justice League, got their first glimpse at the live-action, cinematic version of the ruler of Apokolips... and he looked beautifully terrifying. Darkseid wears metallic armor and stands tall. He has very few lines of dialogue, but his commanding presence is felt immediately.
6 The New 52 Introduced A Brand-New Darkseid
The Justice League's first team-up was retconned in the New 52. Instead of fighting Starro in The Brave and the Bold, Geoff Johns and Jim Lee created the first arc of the new Justice League comic where the team fended off an invasion from Darkseid and Apokolips.
Darkseid descended to Earth and was bigger and stronger than ever before. Some fans were unhappy with this new version of the character. While the original Darkseid was cold and calculating, this new version seemed more aggressive and animalistic. Regardless of his personality, the New 52 Darkseid received an armored version of his classic blue bodysuit which included his Omega symbol.
5 Darkseid Battles The Anti-Monitor In "Darkseid War"
After the New 52 reset aspects of the DC Comics universe, Darkseid's character was altered slightly alongside the majority of the heroes. Darkseid first came to Earth searching for his daughter. Grail was a new character created by Geoff Johns who played a major role in "Darkseid War," the story arc that concluded Johns's run on Justice League.
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Darkseid battled the Anti-Monitor. As two of the most powerful Justice League villains of all time squared off, Darkseid received yet another costume upgrade. Darkseid was bigger and more menacing than ever before with glowing lines on his costume that resembled a Tron suit.
There are alternate universes in DC's main multiverse that house villains like the Crime Syndicate, evil versions of the Justice League, but DC's Dark Multiverses contains universes where the worst possible outcomes occurred.
In Dark Nights: Death Metal, the heroes of Earth-Prime encountered a powerful new version of Darkseid who apparently won the Final Crisis battle in his dark universe. This new Darkseid was as tall as a building, sporting horns and a red, blue and gold armor, and using members of the Justice League as his throne thanks to his victorious control of the Anti-Life.
3 Darkseid Returned In Justice League Unlimited
Darkseid served as the main villain of Superman: The Animated Series, making brief appearances until he mind-controlled the Kryptonian in the series finale. Darkseid returned several times in Justice League, serving as the DC Animated Universe's ultimate villain in the Justice League Unlimited series finale "Destroyer."
Darkseid's classic costume received a few upgrades and visual touch-ups. The animators gave his new costume some Fourth World patterns, armored shoulder pads and gauntlets. The white accents really added some visual diversity to his standard suit, and he looked more imposing.
2 Fans Customize Their Own Darkseid In Injustice 2
The first Injustice game was a massive success. Fans entered a new DC universe where Superman killed the Joker, started a regime, and took over the world while Batman created a team of rebel heroes and villains to stop him. Injustice 2 was inevitable, and Darkseid joined the roster of fighters.
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Injustice 2 gave players the option to customize DCs iconic characters. Darkseid's foundational armored suit in the game is beautiful, but all the variations to the armor and its color allow players to flex their creative muscles and craft their own Darkseid costume.
1 Darkseid's Premiere Comic Book Costume Is Iconic
Darkseid, with all his awesome, godlike power and villainy, actually made his comic book debut in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #134 of all places, by Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta. Kirby promised an imposing, overarching villain for his Fourth World saga. There was truly no villain like Darkseid in comics, though many, like Thanos or Apocalypse, would follow and try to emulate him.
Darkseid's blue helmet and sleeveless bodysuit is iconic. Slight variations of his costume stem from this original design. It's simple but effective and efficient.
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