Summary
Superheroes defy death on the regular, with some coming closer to it than others. Without a load of kryptonite or some magic debuffs, Superman is as bulletproof as his ‘Man of Steel’ moniker suggests. Whereas Batman is a gunshot, stab wound, gas attack, flash flood, etc., away from meeting his maker - theoretically, anyway. His ‘prep time’ often leaves no stone unturned.
However, no matter how powerful a hero is, writers have found a way to kill them off. Some deaths have beenunceremonious, depressing, and even gross, while others have been grand, dramatic, and even fitting or redemptive. If a superhero must die, they may as well go out as a superhero, which is what happened with theseiconic DC hero deaths.
8Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Flies Directly Into The Sun In Order To Save It
Hal Jordan may have been the original ‘space cop’Green Lantern, but traditionally, he wasn’t much in the personality department. Between the imaginative Kyle Rayner, the irascible Guy Gardner, and the stern John Stewart, he was quite bland. DC rectified this in the 1990s bydestroying his hometown, which turned him into the villain Parallax and made him one of Kyle Rayner’s new foes.
That changed withTheFinal Nightevent series. Put short, to save the Sun from the Sun-Eater, someone has to fly a ship right in the path of it going supernova to contain its blast. Superman agrees to do it. Then, Ferro tries to stop him by stealing the ship, but Parallax steps up to replace both. He flies into the center of the Sun, destroys the Sun-Eater, and dies using his powers to reignite the star.
7Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
Refuses To Betray His Friends And Chooses To Die
TheBlue Beetlehas been around since the 1940s and has come in a variety of forms. Many today are more familiar with Jaime Reyes, a teen hero who makes his Scarab armor play nice instead of going for the lethal option. But before him, there was Ted Kord, who made his own gear and equipment. He was like a more easy-going Batman in that he was rich, smart, and a combat expert, but he often joked around.
This is why few of his fellow heroes took him seriously inCountdown to Infinite Crisis, where he suspected there was more to a kryptonite theft case than met the eye. Tracking down his leads, he discovers hisold friend, Maxwell Lord, was using Batman’s AI Brother Eye to kill off the world’s metahumans. Beaten by an OMAC, Lord gave him the chance to switch sides, only for Kord to choose death over betraying his friends.
6Rorschach
Killed By Doctor Manhattan In Order To Maintain Order
Before DC bought the company, Blue Beetle, Question, Captain Atom, etc., were all originally heroes from Charlton Comics.Author Alan Moorewanted to use them for a superhero-themed murder mystery he had in mind, but he was ultimately rebuffed. If he had, then Ted Kord would’ve had a happier fate in Nite Owl’s place, and the Question would’ve had a worse one if he had takenRorschach’s place.
The character is only nominally a hero, being a far-right, violent brute with a strict moral code. There are no shades of gray in his world - just black or white. So, when he discovers the world’s temporary peace relies on keeping Ozymandias’ plot a secret, he can’t accept it. He’ll either tell the world or die trying, with no compromise. With his hand forced, Doctor Manhattan stops him permanently to maintain world peace.
5Terra
Brings A Building Down On Herself While Attempting To Kill Her Former Teammates
Like Rorschach,Terraisn’t strictly a hero. She was actually a narcissistic hitwoman who thought her earth-manipulation powers placed her above ordinary humans. She’d join forces with Deathstroke, where they planned to bring the Titans down from within by having Terra join the team as a double agent. But as far as readers knew, she was a new Titan who developed a bond with Changeling (Beast Boy).
The truth only came out when the Titans were captured and imprisoned in HIVE HQ. Once they broke out, Terra went berserk and tried tokill her old teammates. Despite Changeling’s best efforts to stop her, she ended up bringing the building down on herself. Though she was revealed to be a villain, the Titans gave her a memorial in Titans Tower and kept the truth a secret, cementing her as a hero to those unaware of what really happened.
4Robin (Jason Todd)
Dies In A Warehouse Explosion Because Of The Joker
Casual readers in 1988 might’ve been shocked to discover DC Comics was considering killing offRobin(maybe less so when they learned it wasn’t Dick Grayson). It’s a little unfair on the guy, but Jason Todd’s more rebellious, bratty attitude made him less popular in the role than his predecessor, who had long since switched to being Nightwing.
Inspired by an Eddie Murphy sketch onSaturday Night Live, then-editor Dennis O’Neil left Todd’s fate up to the readers. After the Joker tied Robin up, beat him with a crowbar, and left him in a warehouse set to blow up, readers had to call a 900 number to determine whether Todd died or narrowly survived the subsequent explosion. They voted for his death, which drove Batman to become a darker, more violent figure than before.
3Supergirl
Hit With A Fatal Energy Blast While Trying To Save Superman
The originalCrisis on Infinite Earthsstoryline was a game-changer for DC Comics. It was their first true universal reboot, where the Earths from multiple universes were replaced with one singular planet in one singular continuity. While it eventually splintered back into multiple realities, it was groundbreaking enough for fans to separate the DC Universe’s characters between their pre-Crisisand post-Crisisforms.
Many heroes and villains died in the event, withSupergirl’s death being one of the most iconic. She foughtCrisis’ main villain, the Anti-Monitor, directly to save her cousin Superman. During their fight, she destroys his earth-merging machine, only to take a fatal energy blast to the back. Though left at death’s door, she was able to wreck the Anti-Monitor, destroy his home base, and save the 5 Earths from merging.
2The Flash (Barry Allen)
Destroys An Anti-Matter Cannon But Dies In The Process
If killing off Supergirl wasn’t enough, the next issue would see ‘The Final Fate of the Flash!’ Just as Ted Kord’s passing opened the way for Jaime Reyes, Barry Allen’s last run asThe Flashwould lead his sidekick,Wally ‘Kid Flash’ West, to become one of the best speedsters to take up the red costume. Albeit in the new, post-Crisisworld.
Recovering from Supergirl’s beatdown, the Anti-Monitor plans to destroy the remaining Earths with a large anti-matter cannon he’s constructing on the planet Qward. Breaking free from the villain’s prison, Barry races around the cannon’s core to turn its anti-matter on itself. He succeeds in destroying the cannon, saving billions of lives, but reduces himself and his red costume to dust in the process.
1Superman
Defeats Doomsday At The Cost Of His Own Life But Is Later Revived
Supermanwould surviveCrisis, though he would spend the subsequent issues mourning his cousin’s death. Little did he know that he’d follow her into the grave six years later inThe Death of Supermanarc (kind of). Though it wasn’t permanent, it’s arguably the most iconic DC hero death ever. It started off with the Man of Steel trying to keep the Kryptonian monster Doomsday away from Metropolis.
Eventually reaching the city, Superman ultimatelyputs an end to the beast, but doing so costs him his life. Then, four people claiming to be Superman (Superboy, Steel, Eradicator, and Cyborg Superman) turn up. Lois Lane would eventually find the real deal left powerless in a coma. With Lois and Eradicator’s help, however, he would wake up, regain his powers, and save the day.
