While the Marvel Universe is filled with more than capable heroes who are usually able to save the day, there have been a few occurrences in the comics where the villain's master plan succeeds, either through the failure of the heroes attempting to stop them or regardless of their involvement.
Obviously, the villain can't always succeed or the world would have been destroyed a hundred times over, but there are still quite a few memorable moments in Marvel comic history where the villain actually manages to win in the end through whatever nefarious means.
10 The Supreme Intelligence Faked His Death In Operation: Galactic Storm
The Avengers found themselves in the middle of the Kree/Shi'ar War during 1992's Operation: Galactic Storm crossover event after they discovered that the aliens' use of a stargate near Earth's sun threatened their entire galaxy. The Avengers were unable to stop a powerful Nega-Bomb from destroying the Kree homeworld of Hala during the conflict, though they discovered a dark truth.
The Supreme Intelligence had masterminded the war and devastating attack in the hopes that it would help restart the Kree's stunted evolution. Some of the Avengers killed the Supreme Intelligence for his actions, though it was later revealed he had faked his death and everything was still going according to his plan.
9 Thanos Allowed Himself To Be Defeated During The Infinity Gauntlet
Thanos first gathered the incredibly powerful Infinity Gems during the Infinity Gauntlet storyline that saw the Mad Titan wipe out half the population of the universe on a whim, all in the hopes that it would cause Marvel's personification of Death to reciprocate his love.
Marvel's greatest heroes assembled to stop Thanos, though he soundly defeated and killed a number of them very easily. When he was finally defeated by Adam Warlock, it was revealed he had only lost because he allowed it to happen, as Thanos is habitually self-defeating.
8 Nighteater Tricked The World Into Thinking He Was a Hero In She-Hulk
A mysterious hero known as Nightwatch first arrived in the Marvel Universe in the '90s to participate in events like the Maximum Carnage massacre in New York before going on to star in his own title. The character appeared to die after his series was canceled, though he was later revealed to have faked his death and gone into hiding.
A later volume of She-Hulk revealed that Nightwatch was actually the former villain known as Nighteater. The villain was able to mystically alter the memories of the world into believing he was a new hero and forgetting his criminal identity for years before She-Hulk was able to discover the truth.
7 Kraven's Last Hunt Saw Him Replace Spider-Man & Go Out On His Own Terms
It's hard to call a plan that ends with a suicide a win, but Kraven the Hunter did technically accomplish his final mission in 1987's hard-hitting "Kraven's Last Hunt" storyline, which is highly regarded as one of Spider-Man's darkest moments.
After managing to drug and defeat Spider-Man, Kraven the Hunter buried him alive and impersonated him for two weeks as he viciously beat and apprehended criminals. When Spider-Man finally crawled out of his own grave, Kraven took his own life, denying Spider-Man his revenge as Kraven went out with his final "win."
6 Mister Fear Destabilized Daredevil's Life & Set Himself Up As A King In the Without Fear storyline
Mister Fear spent months scheming to pull off his ultimate attack on Daredevil in the "Without Fear" storyline, which saw him manipulate Matt Murdock's wife Milla Donovan with a psychopathic fear drug that further destabilized her weakened mental state.
His first victory came when he revealed to Daredevil that there was no cure for the drug, which ultimately left Milla institutionalized. His second victory came after he was incarcerated, as it was revealed that the fear toxin his body secreted made inmates and guards terrified of him, setting Mister Fear up as a king behind bars.
5 Ikol Secretly Took Over The Body Of Kid Loki In Journey Into Mystery
After the original Loki's death during the Siege event, he was reborn as a younger version of himself without the memories of his past evil deeds, which set him on a new path alongside his brother Thor as a semi-heroic Asgardian.
Unfortunately, a remnant of the old Loki's spirit survived and was transformed by Kid Loki into the bird Ikol, who then began to manipulate the young boy. Ikol was eventually able to convince Kid Loki to willingly give up his body, ending his innocent new life. Ikol was once again restored as an evil Loki, though Kid Loki's specter haunted his new form.
4 Norman Osborn Saved The World From The Skrulls In Secret Invasion
While he might be better known as Spider-Man's arch-enemy the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn also spent some time as the "reformed" leader of the government's Thunderbolts program, which he operated as his own strike force during the events of Civil War. His political power continued to grow as the Thunderbolts program seemed successful on the surface.
Norman Osborn was able to intervene during the climax of the Secret Invasion and strike the killing blow against the Skrull queen, making himself a hero in the public's eyes. He was able to leverage that along with his growing political power into his Dark Reign over the Marvel Universe as the Iron Patriot, director of H.A.M.M.E.R. and leader of the Dark Avengers.
3 Arcade Killed A Number Of Young Heroes During Avengers Arena
Following the debut of a wave of teenaged crime-fighters on teams like the Runaways and Avengers Academy, Arcade created a new island Murderworld and kidnapped a selection of young heroes from across the Marvel universe. Arcade's previous versions of Murderworld featured escapable but dangerous games, but Avengers Arena was different.
Arcade pitted the young heroes against each other à la Battle Royale, resulting in a number of gruesome deaths including some murdered by Arcade himself. Avengers Arena ended with Arcade's escape and newfound clout, and while the survivors were able to enact some revenge in the following Avengers Undercover series, Arcade still got off pretty lightly for the numerous murders.
2 Knull Was Awakened By Venom & Dark Carnage In Absolute Carnage
The Marvel Universe recently fell under the threat of the sleeping God of Symbiotes known as Knull, who began to make his presence known before the events of Absolute Carnage, where he took over a reanimated Cletus Kasady in order to bring about his full awakening.
While Spider-Man, the Avengers, and a few unofficial Marvel teams fought against Dark Carnage and his symbiotic armies, Venom was forced to make an impossible decision that ultimately resulted in the death of Dark Carnage, but also led to the return of Knull who then launched his attack on the Marvel Universe during the King in Black event.
1 Doctor Doom Took Over The World Then Gave It Back In Emperor Doom
Marvel explored lengthier self-contained stories with their series of Marvel Graphic Novels, which included 1987's Avengers: Emperor Doom and followed the ruler of Latveria as he created an invention to amplify the powers of the Purple Man and extend his control over the entire planet.
Doctor Doom's time as Emperor brought peace to war-torn locations across the planet and turned most of the Avengers into his private army, though after a small group of free Avengers mounted a rebellion, Doom allowed them to destroy the device containing Zebediah Killgrave as he had grown tired of governing the world's problems and abandoned his plan, leaving the world to its fate.
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