Give me your top three SuperVillains...

[Silver Moon]

MARVEL

Justin Hammer - An Ironman villain. No costume, no powers, just an evil old man with enough money to hire whatever villains he wanted to use as cannon fodder. He also created some really cool looking headquarters buildings to operate out of

Count Neferia - Started as a rich megalomanic but then got better. In the three-issue Avengers 164-166 he got Superman-like powers and a really cool costume then planned to take over the world. Wonderful three-issue long fight scene intermixed with great dialogue and wonderful early John Byrne artwork.

The Grim Reaper - Wonderman's brother, with another really cool costume including a scythe for a hand. Remained an interesting villain even after he died, coming back again and again as a member of the undead (which worked well given his title).

D.C.

Darkseid - Jack Kirby broke the mold when he created this one.

Terminator - A wonderful character, again with a really cool costume and loads of complexity. His playing "sugar daddy" to the traitorous Terra was a great but consistent turn of events. It's no wonder that the Teen Titans cartoon series uses him as the main villain.

Bizzarro - Not evil, but the mishaps and trouble caused by him should qualify him for villain status. Probably one of the silliest characters ever created but what great fun.

 

[Radiant]

Dr Doom, Magento, Thanos, the Joker, Lady Shiva. No need to say more about them from my side. So on to others:

Apocalypse: On himself the guy isn't that great. He constantly comes up with world destruction plans and the like and is nearly unstopable. Not too bad but bis best side is that he constantly improves heroes and villains to be his Dark Riders. Someone like him is perfect to recicle old villains or screw up heroes. Everyone gets scary after a session with Apocalypse, I never forgot how I looked then Archangel had his first appearance as Death.

Stryfe: Pure nasty buisness. He has near limitless powers and hates your heroes to no end. All he want is to destroy what's dear to them and in the end kill them. And btw he's your son from the future.
Of course he has tons of evil henchmen that are themself togh as hell since he only takes the best. Not your average goons here but guys who can take on the heroes one on one.

 

[WizarDru]

Ra's al-Ghul - The Joker is insane, but too easily falls into farce. Ra's was created in the late 60s as a reaction, giving Batman a nemesis who was his equal in wealth, power and brains. Combine that with the fact that Ra's daughter loves Bats, and the level of respect the two adversaries have (not unlike Holmes and Moriarity) and it's a solid winner to me (Hell, Ra's even refers to Bats as "The Detective". He just plain classy).

Doctor Doom - One of Kirby/Lee's greatest creations. Again, an arch-nemesis to the hero, both his equal and his rival. Doom is imperious, megalomaniacal and cold. But he is also fiercely defensive of his people, adored by the common Latverian, and not without pity or emotions. He seeks world peace. HIS world peace. For who is better suited to rule than DOOM?!?

Magneto - A being of incalculable power, who diverged down another path from Professor X. He is not always wrong, but again, he is so certain of his righteousness, that he is blinded to his own failings and hypocrisies. He sees himself as a hero striving against terrible odds, but using his powers to protect his people from the evil and the fearful. His history with the Holocaust and his complex motivations make him an empathetic villain, supremely summarized in the movies to a 'T' by Sir Ian.

Hmm. Interesting, to think that almost every one of the villains I truly enjoy (such as Post-reboot Lex Luthor 1986+, Justin Hammer, Darkseid and so on) are all evil opposites to the main characters for how they are introduced. Perhaps that's what makes a great villian, in my mind.