The line between heroes and villains can get a little blurry sometimes, even in DC Comics. Similar goals can motivate both heroes and villains, and that sometimes leads to a nominal hero and villain becoming friends despite what differences they may still have. They could be slugging it out one week, only to be sharing a drink the next.
They may still be relatively rare, but there is a fair number of hero and villain friendships across the DC Multiverse. Despite the constant battles between good and evil that define DC Comics, the gap can still be bridged by similar personalities and common dreams.
10 Orphan/Batgirl And Clayface's Relationship Featured An Attempt To Reform
During James Tynion IV and Eddy Barrows' stint on Batman: Detective Comics, the Dark Knight was attempting to make a unified team out of Gotham City's disparate vigilantes. The team was called the Gotham Knights, and it consisted of Batman, Batwoman, Red Robin, Spoiler, Orphan, Batwing, Azrael, and Clayface.
During this time, the socially awkward and raised-to-be-an-assassin Orphan, aka Cassandra Cain, took a liking to Clayface. Basil was making a genuine attempt to do better, and Orphan was there to support him. Unfortunately, this all came crashing down when Hugo Strange drove Clayface to a rampage, and Batwoman tried to kill Clayface with a chemical weapon.
9 Martian Manhunter And Lex Luthor Are Retconned Childhood Friends
The Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, and Jim Cheung era of Justice League reframed the DC Multiverse forever, and one of the things it changed was the nature of the relationship between Martian Manhunter and Lex Luthor. It was revealed that a young J'onn J'onzz was brought to Earth long before Dr. Saul Erdel brought the adult Martian Manhunter to Earth.
In this retelling, Lex Luthor's father, Lionel, brought the young J'onn to Earth to study. However, young Lex took pity on the Martian and freed him. The two spent a lot of time together and became friends before J'onn was ultimately sent back to Mars.
8 Hawkman And The Shade Are Golden Age Compatriotes
In the most recent run of Hawkman by Robert Venditti, Bryan Hitch, Pat Olliffe, and Fernando Pasarin, the one-time Justice Society villain known as the Shade was sought out by Hawkman to help him beat a new and more powerful version of the Shadow Thief.
The Shade had walked both sides of the law in the past, and he and Hawkman had fought several times. However, the Shade was quick to help Hawkman take on the Shadow Thief and even tried to council Hawkman when the Earth-3 entity known as the Sky Tyrant began taking over Carter.
7 Hippolyta And Black Adam Are Ancient Allies
Black Adam is a morally complicated individual, and he has a strange measure of friendship with a few heroes. The first one is Hippolyta, who was recently revealed to be an ancient ally of Black Adam. The two of them, along with the Viking Prince, fought the powerful Frost King.
In the present, the two reunited to help the Justice League bring down the Frost King, and the two have since become full-fledged members of the League.
6 Hawkman, Atom Smasher, And Black Adam Have Their Rage In Common
Hawkman, due to his countless reincarnations across time and space, also has an ancient and complex relationship with Black Adam thanks to the alliance Egypt and Kahndaq once held. In the modern era, when Black Adam sought to free Kahndaq from the tyrants who had taken it over, Carter had a hard time not sympathizing with Teth Adam's plight.
Adam Smasher and a few other Justice Society affiliates took it a step further--they joined with Black Adam and helped him overthrow the brutal dictator of Kahndaq and establish a new government.
5 Superman And Black Adam Bond Over Believing In The Best Version Of People
Another strange friend to Black Adam is none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman. After the return of the Frost King and Black Adam's help in fighting off an invasion from Naomi's home dimension, Superman has expressed that he believes Black Adam can do better and become a true hero to the world over.
Black Adam has mostly shrugged off Superman's idealism, but he has accepted Big Blue's invite onto the Justice League--though it seems to be a way of proving himself to Hippolyta.
4 Wonder Woman And The Cheetah Are Both Pawns Of The Gods
Archenemies Wonder Woman and Cheetah started off as friends, but this was changed when Barbara Minerva was transformed by Urzkatarga into the Cheetah. Barbara became a pawn of Urzkatarga as well as a victim to her own feral instincts and jealousy of Diana.
For a time, though, Diana and Barbara were able to patch things up and freed the Cheetah from Urzkatarga's influence. Diana and Barbara became friends again, but Cheetah wanted to free Diana of her own patron gods and waged a war against Olympus. Wonder Woman couldn't allow this to go on unchecked, and she and Cheetah became enemies once again.
3 Green Lantern Guy Gardner And Arkillo Are Brawling And Drinking Buddies
After another defeat of Sinestro at the hands of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, the Sinestro Corps was left scattered and aimless. Meanwhile, the Green Lantern Corps was far below full power and without the Guardians to direct them. To try and bolster their numbers, the Green Lantern Corps, under the leadership of John Stewart, aimed to have the Sinestro Corps become their new allies.
One of the figureheads of the Sinestro Corps was the hulking Arkillo, and Guy Gardner knew how to get his respect and backing. The two had a brutal fistfight that almost killed both combatants. After this, however, Arkillo and Guy Gardner became close friends and partners on the hybrid Green/Yellow Lantern Corps. Unfortunately, Arkillo and the rest of the Sinestro Corps left the GL Corps after Sinestro's daughter, Soranik Natu, became enraged with John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, and the Green Lanterns.
2 Green Lantern Hal Jordan And Sinestro Are Classic Frenemies
Abin Sur was Thal Sinestro's partner in the Green Lantern Corps, so it was up to Sinestro to train Abin's replacement, Hal Jordan. However, it was Hal Jordan who exposed Sinestro's dictatorial activities on Korugar to the Green Lantern Corps, which led to Sinestro being labeled an enemy of the Corps and forging his own yellow power ring.
Despite this, Sinestro always maintained grudging respect for Hal that lasted through both of their deaths and resurrections. This was forced into the light when circumstance reunited Sinestro and Hal Jordan as partners in the Green Lantern Corps. The two helped one another survive the rise of the Third Army and the return of the First Lantern Volthuum. Through these adventures, Hal was able to become his own Green Lantern again, and Sinestro left to reunite his Corps under the returned Parallax entity. In the end, Hal asked Sinestro if they were ever truly friends. Sinestro replied, "That's the tragedy of it all, Jordan...Hal. We'll always be friends."
1 Batman And The Joker's Head Established A Companionship In Dystopia
In Batman: Last Knight on Earth by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, a clone of Batman is awakened by Bruce's own resurrection machine, and the clone leaves to wander the devastated planet to discern the origins of this apocalypse. On his path to do so, Batman finds a lantern with the head of the Joker alive inside.
Batman takes that lantern and carries the Joker with him for company. Now, at the end of all things, the two get along, as there is no one else to talk to. Over the course of the coming adventure, the two do find other survivors such as Wonder Woman, Bane, Scarecrow, and the original Batman--now the Apokolips-corrupted being called Omega. Despite this, both the Batman clone and the Joker's head survive and become close friends.
0 Comments