The 10 Most Tragic Marvel Villain Origin Stories, Ranked

Comic book villains are born as the antithesis for the heroes that are held so dear. As amazing as the superheroes are in the Marvel Universe, the villains also showcase their deep-rooted amazing personalities through tragedy. But some of these villains that have entered the world of crime and mayhem cannot be helped.

A life of crime and villainy that is driven by the tragic circumstances that have happened in those seemingly normal people’s shattered lives. The villain’s existence can be seen as harrowing but can also lead to some of the most polarizing stories in all of comics. These are the 10 most tragic marvel origin stories, ranked.

10 Morbius, The Living Vampire

Apart from the fact that one must stay immortal as a vampire, the further tragedy exists in watching all your friends get old and die and also having to feed on humans for sustenance. Michael Morbius already had a tough enough childhood being born with a rare blood disease, but this disease also made his appearance grotesque. There was no normal childhood fun for the budding Nobel Prize-winning biologist. In an attempt to cure his rare blood disease, Morbius bound his DNA with a vampire-bat, thus remaining a pseudo-vampire for the rest of eternity.

9 Doctor Octopus

Otto Octavius became obsessed with furthering his career in science. This obsessing was led on by his mother who rejected the working-class lifestyle that Otto’s father wanted for his son and that tragically led to his death. Otto’s mother was the catalyst that led to Otto’s downfall. Otto held his mother’s opinion in such high regard, he called off his engagement to the woman of his dreams, when his mother disapproved of the union.

Otto’s mother began to date another man, which upset Otto and led to him chastising his mother. This anger ridden yelling led to his mother having a heart attack and dying. The mechanical arms that Otto developed to handle harmful materials became fused to his body in a freak science accident, and the anger that Otto held on to from the death of his parents, led to the creation of the infamous Doctor Octopus.

8 Hydra Captain America

No one in their right mind would have ever thought that Captain America, the golden boy of Marvel, could ever fall so far as to become evil. That idea became a reality in 2017 when the limited cross-over event, Secret Empire, began. In the most diabolical way that Captain America could fall to the villainous side of the spectrum, Red Skull was able to alter the memories of Steve Rodgers. Captain America then believed himself to be a sleeper agent for Hydra, working directly with Red Skull to bring about the fall of the American government. This fall would establish Hydra as the world’s leading superpower, leaving Captain America betraying his once-beloved namesake.

7 Lady Deathstrike

Yuriki Oyama, better known as Lady Deathstrike, has led a horrendous life of revenge. After a failed attempt at suicide bombing, Deathstrike’s father (Lord Dark Wind), was left with a horrendously scarred face. This life of shame led Dark Wind to scar the faces of his children, including Deathstrike’s, like some sick and twisted form of retribution. If it wasn’t awful enough to scar the faces of children, Deathstrike had to watch her brothers die in the service of her father. After attempting to free her love, Kiro, from her father’s servitude, Deathstrike had to deal with the ritual suicide of the man she loved. After all this loss, Deathstrike would adopt her father’s ideals to honor Japan, by any means necessary. This ultimately leads to the adding of cybernetics and adamantium to further the killing power of Lady Deathstrike.

6 Loki

Apart from having to live in the constant shadow of Thor, the god of thunder and lightning, Loki has had a tough life from childhood. Odin, Thor’s father, went to battle the Frost Giants of famed Asgardian lore. Laufey, the king of the Frost Giants, held his son away from the rest of his people. That son was Loki. Loki was hidden because of the shame that the king felt for his son’s size.

Loki could not ever be seen as a true Frost Giant, and coincidentally as an Asgardian either. Odin adopted Loki and raised him as his own, but held the secret that he was the person who had slain Loki’s true father. The trouble caused by Loki in childhood coined him the name “God of Mischief”. This mischief would turn into deep spiteful revenge, especially after hearing you were raised by the Asgardians, whose most hated enemies were the Frost Giants.

5 The Lizard

Curtis Connors began his life in a very honorable way. As a battle surgeon in the military, Connors attempted to save and heal as many GIs as possible. His heroics on the battlefield led to Connors receiving a terrible injury in the war, which led to the amputation of his arm. A scientist by nature, Connors became obsessed with the regenerative limb properties of reptiles. The obsession to use reptilian DNA resulted in Connors successfully regenerating his arm in an experiment, with one terrible consequence, he was transformed into a monstrous reptilian humanoid, known as The Lizard. Many attempts have been made over the years to finally find a cure that would ultimately keep Connors from losing his arm, and without becoming a snarling beast. The many attempts in an antidote left Connors sharing a double personality with that of The Lizard, forever stuck in the limbo of having an arm or remaining an amphibious beast that wants to take over the world.

4 Red Skull

Johann Schmidt, the infamous Red Skull, has been a terror for the Marvel Universe since his induction. Johann’s life began in the most tragic way possible. After Johann’s mother died during the birth process, Johann’s father (Hermann Schmidt) attempted to drown his infant son in the bathtub, an attempt that was stopped by the doctor on hand. Hermann then killed himself, which led to Johann being orphaned. The orphanage was none kinder to the budding supervillain. Johann spent most days alone, before befriending a shopkeeper’s daughter, named Esther. Johann became obsessed with Esther, to the point where he tried to force himself onto Esther. When she refused, Johann murdered Ester (with great delight), thus leading him into the life of villainy. Soon after Johann would join the Nazi regime and kill his way to becoming the 2nd in command to Hitler. Johann’s signature red mask led to the persona of Red Skull being created, and his thirst for power would grow so big, even Hitler would come to fear Red Skull.

3 Galactus

Galactus, the living God, was born as a normal man. Galan, better known as Galactus, was born on the planet Taa. This planet existed before the Big Bang, but an unknown cataclysmic cosmic event led to the destruction of many worlds amongst Galan’s home.

Through life being destroyed around him (and an attempt to flee in a ship), Galan’s world erupted, leaving Galan in the void of space before becoming fused with universal sentience and the remaining ship parts. The Big Crunch bred Galactus, but with a horrible twist. Galactus had to now consume planets to feed his insatiable hunger. Not only did Galan watch all his people perish, but as Galactus, he now had to consume whole worlds to survive. An ironic fate for anyone to live through.

2 Doctor Doom

Victor Von Doom’s tragic life began with the murder of his mother, Cynthia Von Doom, at the hand of Mephisto. Born to a Romanian tribe, Victor’s parent’s double life was held as a secret to their child. Cynthia and Victor’s father, Werner, both dabbled in the arts of magic. An existence that led to the murder of his mother, and also a life that was kept from Victor, to protect the wrath of the Baron who oversaw the tribe. When Victor’s father was called on by the Baron to heal his sick wife, Werner was unsuccessful, leading the Baron to blame Werner for the result. Werner fled with his son Victor, only to die on a mountainside clutching his son one last time and using the clothes he had to protect Victor one last time. Victor became obsessed with furthering his scientific and magic arts brain, creating an experimental machine, that went wrong, resulting in the expulsion of Victor and the disfiguration of his face. Upon his expulsion and traveling the world, Victor collapsed on a mountain and was taken in by monks. Victor adopted the monk’s teachings while creating a suit of armor and iron mask, one of which he stuck to his face before it cooled. Doom melted his anger and resentment to his skin forever, thus creating his super villainous alter ego, Doctor Doom.

1 Magneto

There is little in the argument against the tragedy that Max Eisenhardt experiences in comics as being the worst. Max was born into a Jewish family in the heart of the Nazi regime taking power. Max’s family would flee to Poland during Hitler’s reign, only to be captured during the invasion of Poland by the Nazis. Max’s family was sent to the Warsaw Ghetto, where they were betrayed and recaptured after an attempt to escape again. This escape attempt led to the execution of Max’s father, mother, and sister. Max was left alone in Auschwitz where he was forced to run the gas chambers that killed his people. Max would go on to finally escape the Nazi death camp before meeting Charles Xavier and changing his name to Erik Lehnsherr. Ths treatment the Jewish people felt imprinted in his head forever, Erik began to see the mistreatment of the mutants as the same prejudice, adopting the persona Magneto, and sadly attempting to retain the same “master race”(in mutants) ideology that Hitler held.

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This information was first published on https://www.cbr.com/marvel-villains-saddest-origin-stories-ranked/