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These morally ambiguous characters draw the audience in even more because it’s not only fun to try and guess what they’ll do next, but the fans also like to wonder how they would act if they were in their shoes. The most ruthless DCEU characters aren’t to be trifled with, and it only makes them that much more memorable.
5 Joker
Even though he doesn’t have as much space in the DCEU as he does in the comics, Joker remains one of the most ruthless characters. He knows no boundaries and simply does what he wants. Unlike other villains, he has no remnants of morality left; he functions as the agent of chaos and is smart and unpredictable, which makes him dangerous.
Joker’s ruthlessness is best demonstrated in two different scenes. In the club scene, he kills a man simply for making a few flirtatious remarks toward Harley Quinn, who’s more than capable of taking care of herself. Even worse is Joker killing Robin, Batman’s right hand, a friend, and a child. The movies never show Robin’s death but heavily hint at the fact that Joker was the one responsible for the murder of the young superhero.
4 Amanda Waller
Despite the fact that she supposedly stands on the side of good, Amanda Waller has ruthlessness to her that many villains could be envious of. Waller believes that the end justifies the means and isn’t afraid to kill those under her command as long as it fits her purpose. First, she plays with fire by recruiting Enchantress into her villainous team, the Suicide Squad. Then, when the Suicide Squad turns things around and wants to save innocent people endangered by Starro, Waller threatens them to stop.
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When they don’t, she’s ready to kill all the Suicide Squad members by blowing up the bombs implanted in their necks, even though it means hundreds, thousands of people will die because of Starro. Amanda Waller has a lot of power in her hands as the leader of the Suicide Squad, but she doesn’t always utilize the power responsibly (with great power comes great responsibility). Combined with her seeming lack of respect for human lives, she’s one of the most morally complex characters in the DCEU.
3 Batman
Of all the DCEU superheroes, Batman is the most ruthless one - even though he’s still nowhere as bad as the villains he and other superheroes face on a regular basis. Batman had experienced a lot of loss and tragedy in his life. That made him careful, bitter, and at times almost paranoid; it gave him a hard time trusting others. When all these character traits combine, they result in the fact that Batman doesn’t always make the best, most informed decisions. For example, he allows his fear of Superman, whom he perceives as an alien threat, to cloud his mind.
That, in turn, makes it easier for Lex Luthor to manipulate Batman and drive the two superheroes against each other. They fight, and despite Superman’s superior powers, Batman is winning because, unlike other heroes, he doesn’t mind fighting dirty and is ready to take lives, Superman’s included. The good news is that at the end of the day, despite Batman’s ability to be ruthless, he’s able to stop and rethink his actions, as the iconic ‘Save Martha!’ scene proved in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). But if Batman ever switched sides, he would be an excellent villain, as his previous actions show.
2 Doomsday
Even the most hardened and ruthless DCEU villains sometimes have a shred of humanity left, a soft spot for a single person. That’s not the case with Doomsday who’s a killing machine, nothing else. Created by Lex Luthor, who combined his DNA with the one of the deceased General Zod, Doomsday is a powerful creature, a behemoth full of violence and anger. It looks like Doomsday isn’t capable of thinking; he has only one goal - to destroy.
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To make matters even worse, he can absorb what others throw at him, making it very difficult to defeat him. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman manage it with their combined effort, but Superman is already weakened by then and pays for defeating Doomsday with his life.
1 Ares
As the literal God of War, Ares doesn’t see evil and good the way people and superheroes alike do. Instead, he believes that people are ultimately responsible for their own evil actions, even when he’s the one who helps them destroy each other. Ares has no illusions or sympathy for the human race, and that makes him exceptionally ruthless.
He’s even ready to kill Wonder Woman simply because of the difference of opinion. Ares is ready to see the whole world burn as it keeps on waging war. Fortunately for everyone, Wonder Woman manages to stop him, not only thanks to her powers but also to Steve Trevor’s selfless sacrifice of his own life.
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