The DC Universe has a lot of incredible villains, many of which have been adapted into various movies, television shows, cartoons, and video games. But as intimidating as these villains are, many of them pale in comparison to how they’re presented in the comics. Often, these villains are far, far scarier in the comics than any show or movie.

To be fair, most superhero movies are meant for broad audiences, so it’s not uncommon for a villain’s worst aspects to be toned down or removed altogether. But fans who have never read the source material would be surprised to learn just how evil some of these villains can really be. Just DC’s adaptations generally do a good job bringing villains to life, but read on to see how scary certain foes actually are.

10 Maxwell Lord

First Appearance: Justice League #1

Pedro Pascal may have made for one of the most entertaining parts of Wonder Woman 1984, and the film did capture his opportunistic nature. But in the comics, Maxwell Lord is a much darker figure. Just before Infinite Crisis, Lord took control of Batman’s Brother Eye satellite and used it, along with his O.M.A.C. sleeper agents, to wipe superheroes off the face of the Earth. Lord is also a telepath, and took control of Superman around the same time. And if that isn’t bad enough, he once murdered Blue Beetle Ted Kord, an act that shocked comic fans everywhere.

9 Black Mask

First Appearance: Batman #386

To be fair, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) did a good job of communicating that Black Mask, played by Ewan McGregor, was an absolute psycho. However, while the movie gets a lot of humor from how ridiculous and over-the-top he is, the comics’ version is nowhere near as funny. Roman Sionis is a complete psychopath who has killed hundreds, including his own parents. He runs one of the biggest organized crime rings on Earth and doesn’t hesitate to take care of anyone threatening it (he even nearly killed Stephanie Brown during “War Games”).

8 Harley Quinn

First Appearance: Batman: Harley Quinn #1

Yes, everyone loves Harley Quinn in all the adaptations she’s been in, from Margot Robbie’s excellent DCEU performances to her starring role in Harley Quinn: The Animated Series. And while she’s come a long way since her villain days, Harley was an absolute menace. Harley has a hair-trigger temper and once nearly tried killing Jimmy Olsen for lying to her. She also blew up dozens of people, including children, using rigged video game systems. While Harley Quinn has really reined herself in since her more wild days, she’s still an incredibly scary person when she goes to her dark place.

Harleen's attempt to kill Jimmy can be seen in the "Bright Lights, Big City" arc of Harley Quinn.

7 Scarecrow

First Appearance: World's Finest #3

Christopher Nolan did an amazing job with Jonathan Crane during his appearances in the Dark Knight trilogy. However, fear gas only tells half the story when it comes to how truly disturbing Scarecrow actually is. This villain is a master of fear and routinely kidnaps innocent people to take part in his experiments. And, as shown in Batman and Robin Eternal, he showed no qualms ing his iconic Fear Toxin on children, using the poison to traumatize them so that they could be conditioned by international criminal Mother. Nolan’s Scarecrow is scary, but the comics’ version is a monster.

6 Hector Hammond

First Appearance: Green Lantern #5

Hector Hammond got the main villain role in the 2011 Green Lantern movie, but in the film he was more of a puppet for the fear entity Parallax. Unfortunately, that just downplayed how powerful (and unsettling) Hammond is on his own. In the comics, Hammond gains incredible mental powers after coming into with radioactive space material. But the trade-off is that his head grows several times the size of his body. Hammond desperately wants Green Lantern’s life and takes whatever opportunity he can to ‘sample’ some of Hal Jordan’s memories to vicariously live through the hero.

5 Black Manta

First Appearance: Aquaman #35

When it comes to villains, few are pettier than Black Manta. For years, David Hyde loathed Aquaman arbitrarily, until it was revealed Manta blamed the death of his father on Arthur. Manta attacked Arthur’s home and family for years in order to make him suffer. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom held back from anything bad happening to Aquaman’s child, but in the comics, Manta crossed a line and actually killed Arthur Curry, Jr. Manta’s hatred runs so deep, his helmet is even programmed to make him see everyone as Aquaman so that Black Manta can simulate killing his enemy repeatedly.

Black Manta's worst act occurs in Adventure Comics #452.

4 The Penguin

First Appearance: Detective Comics #58

Colin Farrell received a lot of praise for his portrayal of Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobb in both The Batman and The Penguin. And while the movie and show (particularly the latter) did a great job of showing how utterly vile the Penguin is, it’s nothing compared to the comics. As emotionally stunted as Oz is, his comic side is worse. He has systematically destroyed people’s lives for the most minor slights, such as laughing near him (making Penguin assume they were laughing at him). Of all the crime bosses in Gotham, Penguin is as unpredictable as he is depraved and menacing.

3 General Zod

First Appearance: Adventure Comics #283

Man of Steel ittedly did a good job of showing the worst aspects of Superman’s Kryptonian nemesis, General Zod. However, his determination to conquer the Earth and make Superman suffer is much stronger in the comics. He’s attempted to take control of the planet more than a handful of times (once, even using sleeper agents that successfully wormed their way into powerful and influential positions on Earth). And that’s not even getting into the emotional and physical abuse he’s put his son, Lor-Zod, through. Michael Shannon did the character justice, but Prime Universe General Zod is by far worse.

2 Darkseid

First Appearance: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134

Unfortunately for DCEU fans, Darkseid only got to show up for a small part in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. And while it does an effective job showcasing the New God as a serious threat, it only scratches the surface of the kind of monster he is in the comics. The ruler of Apokolips is the living embodiment of control, and he’s devoted his life to removing free will from the universe. Darkseid actually succeeded in controlling the DC Universe in Final Crisis and, for a brief time, managed to have almost all of humanity under his iron rule.

1 Reverse-Flash

First Appearance: The Flash #139

Reverse-Flash was a fan-favorite on the CW Flash show, and fans all know Eobard Thawne is the biggest hater in comics. Reverse-Flash hates Barry Allen, but before killing his mother, Thawne experimented with other ways of making his enemy miserable, such as killing one of Barry’s childhood friends so that the Flash was lonely as a kid. Thawne even messes with his own timeline to ‘perfect’ it, such as killing his little brother to make his life more tolerable, without a doubt making Reverse-Flash the DC Universe’s most insane and frightening villain.