DC has a claim no other publisher can make: it invented the superhero. Superman's debut in 1938 created the template of costume, secret identity and powers used for good. Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash and Green Lantern followed within three years. Most superhero characters published since are, in one way or another, answering what DC did first.
DC's characters work a little differently from Marvel's. They live in fictional cities such as Metropolis, Gotham, Central City and Coast City, and they tend to be symbols first and people second. This guide covers the Justice League, Batman's extended family, the Teen Titans and other heroes, and the villains, with first comic appearances where the record is clear. (The old characters.biz/dc address now points to this page.)
- Founded
- 1934 as National Allied Publications
- First superhero
- Superman, Action Comics #1 (1938)
- Home cities
- Metropolis, Gotham, Central City
- Flagship team
- Justice League (1960)
- Current film universe
- DC Studios' DCU, from Superman (2025)
The Justice League
The Justice League brings DC's biggest heroes together against threats too large for any of them alone. It started in 1960 as a revival of the 1940s Justice Society. The "Trinity" of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman sits at its heart, and the rest of the roster has changed with every era.
Superman (Clark Kent / Kal-El)
Man of Steel · Action Comics #1 (1938)
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, two teenagers from Cleveland, Kal-El is rocketed from the dying planet Krypton and raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas. Under a yellow sun he can fly and has super-strength, invulnerability, heat vision and more. What makes him interesting isn't his power but his decency: the most powerful man on Earth chooses to be kind, and works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside Lois Lane.
Batman (Bruce Wayne)
The Dark Knight · Detective Comics #27 (1939)
Bruce Wayne watched a mugger kill his parents in a Gotham alley and spent his fortune and youth turning himself into a weapon against crime. He has no superpowers: just training, gadgets, money and a detective's mind. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, he's been everything from a 1960s camp icon to a brooding noir figure. His refusal to kill is the line his whole mythology is built around.
Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira)
Amazon princess · All Star Comics #8 (1941)
Diana is a princess of the Amazons, raised on the hidden island of Themyscira, who leaves to stand up for peace and justice in the world of men. She has god-given strength, speed and flight, indestructible bracelets and the Lasso of Truth. Created by psychologist William Moulton Marston, she's the most famous female superhero in the world, a warrior who would rather persuade than fight.
The Flash (Barry Allen)
The Fastest Man Alive · Showcase #4 (1956)
Forensic scientist Barry Allen was struck by lightning and doused in chemicals, gaining a link to the Speed Force. He can run faster than light, vibrate through walls and travel through time, which he does far too often. His debut is usually treated as the start of comics' Silver Age. He died saving the multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) and was brought back in 2008.
Wally West
Kid Flash, then the Flash
Barry's nephew Wally was the first Kid Flash and a founding Teen Titan, and he took over as the Flash after Barry died. For many readers who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, Wally is the Flash. The Justice League cartoon used him as the funny, warm-hearted member of the team.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Test pilot · Showcase #22 (1959)
Hal Jordan was chosen by a dying alien to carry a power ring, a weapon fuelled by willpower that creates whatever its wearer can imagine. That makes him one of the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force. He's fearless to the point of recklessness. He's had a fall of his own, possessed by a fear entity and turned villain as Parallax, and a return.
Green Lantern (John Stewart)
Architect and Marine · Green Lantern #87 (1971)
John Stewart was one of DC's first Black superheroes, an architect whose constructs are always precisely engineered. The Justice League animated series made him its Green Lantern, so for a generation of viewers he is the one. Guy Gardner, a loudmouth, and Kyle Rayner, an artist, have also carried Earth's ring, and so have later Lanterns Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz.
Aquaman (Arthur Curry)
King of Atlantis · More Fun Comics #73 (1941)
Arthur is the son of a lighthouse keeper and an Atlantean queen, at home in neither world. He breathes underwater, survives the deep ocean's crushing pressure and commands sea life telepathically. For decades he was a punchline about talking to fish. Writers like Peter David and Geoff Johns, and Jason Momoa's films, rebuilt him as a serious warrior king.
Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz)
Last Martian · Detective Comics #225 (1955)
J'onn is the last survivor of a Martian race, pulled to Earth by accident. He can shapeshift, read minds, phase through walls and fly, and he's sometimes as strong as Superman. He's the Justice League's quiet heart: grieving, curious about humans and very fond of Oreo-style cookies.
Cyborg (Victor Stone)
Half-machine · DC Comics Presents #26 (1980)
Victor Stone was a promising athlete who was nearly killed in a lab accident. His scientist father saved him with experimental cybernetics. He began as a Teen Titan and was promoted to the Justice League in the 2011 relaunch. His stories ask how much of a person can be replaced before they're someone else.
Shazam (Billy Batson)
The original Captain Marvel · Whiz Comics #2 (1940)
Billy is a homeless boy who says the wizard's word "Shazam!" and becomes an adult hero with the powers of six gods and legends. He was originally published by Fawcett as Captain Marvel and, in the 1940s, outsold Superman. DC licensed and later bought the character, and renamed his books to avoid a fight with Marvel over the name.
Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
Archer · More Fun Comics #73 (1941)
Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who learned archery while marooned on an island. He started as a Batman copy with arrows and was reinvented in the late 1960s as an outspoken left-wing activist. His partnership and arguments with Hal Jordan in the early-1970s Green Lantern/Green Arrow books are classics. The TV series Arrow launched the CW's "Arrowverse".
Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
Superman's cousin · Action Comics #252 (1959)
Kara left Krypton as a teenager to look after her baby cousin, but her rocket was delayed and she reached Earth after he'd grown up. Unlike Clark, she remembers Krypton, and that grief and anger make her rougher around the edges than her cousin.
The Bat-family
Batman claims to work alone, and has spent eighty years adopting, training and arguing with partners. The Bat-family is DC's biggest supporting cast, and many fans like these characters more than Batman himself.
Nightwing (Dick Grayson)
The first Robin · Detective Comics #38 (1940)
Dick Grayson was a circus acrobat orphaned when gangsters sabotaged his parents' trapeze act. Bruce Wayne took him in, and he became Robin, the first kid sidekick. As an adult he became Nightwing, protector of the city of Blüdhaven and leader of the Teen Titans. He's as skilled as Batman but much warmer, and he's the character most other heroes trust.
Red Hood (Jason Todd)
The second Robin · Batman #357 (1983)
Jason was an angrier Robin who was murdered by the Joker in 1988's A Death in the Family, after DC let readers vote by phone on whether he would live. He came back in 2005 as the Red Hood, a vigilante who kills, and he's furious that Batman never avenged him. He's DC's clearest picture of what Batman's methods can break.
Tim Drake
The third Robin · Batman #436 (1989)
Tim worked out Batman's identity by himself and turned up to argue that Batman needed a Robin to stay sane. He's the detective of the family, more like a young Bruce in brain than in temperament. He later took the name Red Robin.
Damian Wayne
Batman's son · the fifth Robin
Damian is Bruce's son with Talia al Ghul, raised by the League of Assassins to be the perfect killer. He arrived in Gotham as an arrogant ten-year-old and has spent years learning to be a hero rather than a weapon. He's a sharp contrast to the Superman family's son, Jon Kent, and the two make a popular double act.
Batgirl / Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
Detective Comics #359 (1967)
Commissioner Gordon's daughter became Batgirl on her own initiative. After the Joker shot and paralysed her in The Killing Joke (1988), writers rebuilt her as Oracle, a hacker and information broker who ran her own team, the Birds of Prey. DC returned her to the Batgirl role in 2011, though Oracle remains much loved.
Alfred Pennyworth
Butler, medic, father figure
Alfred is the Wayne family butler who raised Bruce after his parents died. He stitches up wounds, mans the Batcave and delivers dry put-downs. Most versions make him the one person who can tell Batman he's wrong, and the closest thing Bruce has to a parent.
Commissioner James Gordon
Gotham police
Jim Gordon is the honest cop in a corrupt city and Batman's main ally inside the system. He's often written as the everyday hero of Gotham, a man who does the right thing without a mask. Batman: Year One (1987) gives him equal billing with Bruce.
Catwoman (Selina Kyle)
Cat burglar · Batman #1 (1940)
Selina Kyle is a thief with a code. She steals from the rich and won't kill, and she's been Batman's on-off love interest since her first appearance. She drifts between villain, antihero and hero depending on the decade. The question of whether she and Bruce can ever settle down has driven several major storylines.
The Teen Titans and other heroes
The Teen Titans began in the 1960s as a club for sidekicks. Marv Wolfman and George Pérez's New Teen Titans (1980) made them a hit by giving them grown-up drama. The 2003 cartoon introduced them to a new generation; see our Teen Titans characters page for that version.
Raven
Empath and sorceress · DC Comics Presents #26 (1980)
Raven is the daughter of the demon Trigon and keeps her emotions locked down because her powers, and her father, feed on them. She brought the Titans together to stop him. Her deadpan personality in the 2003 cartoon made her the show's breakout character.
Starfire (Koriand'r)
Alien princess · DC Comics Presents #26 (1980)
Starfire is a princess from the planet Tamaran who escaped slavery and found refuge on Earth. She flies, fires energy blasts and feels everything at full volume. Her long relationship with Dick Grayson is one of the Titans' defining storylines.
Beast Boy (Garfield Logan)
Shapeshifter · Doom Patrol #99 (1965)
A childhood treatment for a rare disease left Gar green and able to turn into any animal. He came to the Titans from the Doom Patrol and acts as the team's joker, which hides real loss.
John Constantine
Occult detective · Swamp Thing #37 (1985)
Created by Alan Moore and his collaborators, Constantine is a chain-smoking working-class magician from Liverpool who survives on bluff and gets his friends killed. His series Hellblazer ran for 300 issues and helped launch DC's adult Vertigo line.
Zatanna Zatara
Stage magician · Hawkman #4 (1964)
Zatanna is a real sorceress who performs as a stage magician. She casts spells by speaking them backwards. She has served with the Justice League and is one of DC's most capable magic-users.
DC villains
DC's villains are some of the most famous in fiction, and Batman's rogues gallery in particular is a set of distorted mirrors of the hero. Many of them are explored in our guide to villain types.
The Joker
Clown Prince of Crime · Batman #1 (1940)
The Joker has no confirmed real name and no settled origin. The Killing Joke suggests a failed comedian who fell into a vat of chemicals, but even he isn't sure. He commits murder as a punchline and treats Batman as the only audience that matters. He's the villain who tests Batman's no-kill rule hardest, which is why their feud keeps coming back.
Lex Luthor
Superman's nemesis · Action Comics #23 (1940)
Lex is a genius and, since the 1980s, a billionaire businessman who believes Superman's existence makes humanity small. He's served as President of the United States in the comics. He isn't trying to destroy the world; he's convinced he's the one who should be saving it.
Harley Quinn (Harleen Quinzel)
From villain to antihero · Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum until she fell for him and joined his gang. Created for television by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, she moved into the comics in 1999. Her break from the Joker, and her friendship and romance with Poison Ivy, turned her into a star in her own right. Margot Robbie played her on film.
Darkseid
Tyrant of Apokolips · Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (1970)
Jack Kirby's Darkseid rules the hellish planet Apokolips and seeks the Anti-Life Equation, which would let him control every mind in the universe. He's DC's biggest single threat, a god of tyranny who's patient and almost always calm.
Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley)
Eco-villain · Batman #181 (1966)
Pamela Isley is a botanist who was poisoned in an experiment and now has a bond with plant life. She's an environmentalist who considers humans a pest, and she's become an antihero in recent years, especially through her relationship with Harley.
Two-Face (Harvey Dent)
Fallen district attorney · Detective Comics #66 (1942)
Harvey Dent was Gotham's crusading district attorney and Bruce Wayne's friend until a mobster threw acid in his face. Now he makes every choice by flipping a scarred coin. He's the story of what happens when Gotham breaks a good man, and the one Batman always hopes to save.
The Riddler (Edward Nygma)
Puzzle obsessive · Detective Comics #140 (1948)
Edward Nygma can't commit a crime without leaving clues, because what he really wants is to prove he's smarter than Batman. He's played for camp in some versions and as a frightening serial killer in The Batman (2022).
The Penguin (Oswald Cobblepot)
Crime boss · Detective Comics #58 (1941)
Oswald is a short, mocked man from an old Gotham family who wanted respect and settled for power. He runs a nightclub as cover for a criminal empire. The HBO series The Penguin (2024), with Colin Farrell, made him a lead.
Bane
The man who broke the Bat · 1993
Bane grew up in a prison for his father's crimes, educated himself, and was given a strength drug called Venom. In Knightfall he wore Batman down by freeing Arkham's inmates, then broke his back. He's as dangerous for his strategy as for his strength.
Ra's al Ghul
Head of the Demon · Batman #232 (1971)
Ra's is a centuries-old eco-terrorist kept alive by the Lazarus Pits. He runs the League of Assassins and thinks humanity must be culled to save the planet. He respects Batman, calls him "Detective", and wants him as his heir and his daughter Talia's husband.
Deathstroke (Slade Wilson)
Mercenary · The New Teen Titans #2 (1980)
Slade Wilson is a former soldier whose experimental enhancement made him faster, stronger and sharper than any normal human. He's the world's most feared assassin. He started as the Teen Titans' great enemy, and his own family's tragedies make him more than a hired gun.
Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne)
Speedster from the future · The Flash #139 (1963)
Eobard Thawne is a 25th-century man who idolised the Flash until he learned he was destined to be his enemy. He uses time travel to torment Barry. Modern stories made him responsible for murdering Barry's mother.
Sinestro
Fallen Green Lantern · Green Lantern #7 (1961)
Sinestro was once the greatest Green Lantern and Hal Jordan's mentor. He believed order matters more than freedom and ruled his home planet by fear. Thrown out of the Corps, he founded the yellow-ringed Sinestro Corps.
Brainiac
Collector of worlds · Action Comics #242 (1958)
Brainiac is an alien intelligence that shrinks and steals cities to catalogue them, and it's the reason the Kryptonian city of Kandor survives in a bottle. It's Superman's most alien threat, a mind with no feeling at all.
Black Adam (Teth-Adam)
Shazam's dark mirror · The Marvel Family #1 (1945)
Black Adam was the wizard's first champion in ancient Egypt, and he was corrupted by power. In modern comics he's a ruthless protector of his homeland, Kahndaq, who thinks justice means killing. Dwayne Johnson played him in 2022.
Who played them: DC on screen
DC's characters have been recast many times across films, TV and animation. These are the best-known versions.
| Character | Live action | Best-known voice |
|---|---|---|
| Batman | Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Robert Pattinson | Kevin Conroy |
| Superman | Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill, David Corenswet | Tim Daly, George Newbern |
| Wonder Woman | Lynda Carter (TV), Gal Gadot | Susan Eisenberg |
| The Joker | Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix | Mark Hamill |
| Harley Quinn | Margot Robbie | Arleen Sorkin, Kaley Cuoco |
| Lex Luthor | Gene Hackman, Jesse Eisenberg, Nicholas Hoult | Clancy Brown |
| The Flash | Grant Gustin (TV), Ezra Miller | Michael Rosenbaum (Wally West) |
| Aquaman | Jason Momoa | — |
| Green Lantern (John Stewart) | — | Phil LaMarr |
| Catwoman | Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway, Zoë Kravitz | Adrienne Barbeau |
| The Penguin | Danny DeVito, Colin Farrell | — |
Themes and where to start
DC's heroes are often described as gods, and the best DC stories take that seriously. They ask what an all-powerful being owes to ordinary people (Superman), what a human can do when he refuses to accept the world as it is (Batman), and how a warrior can choose peace (Wonder Woman). The villains are usually those same ideas pushed too far.
- Animation — Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and Justice League / Justice League Unlimited (2001–2006) are the best single introduction to DC's characters.
- Graphic novels — Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, All-Star Superman and Wonder Woman: Gods and Mortals are self-contained and need no background reading.
- Teams — The New Teen Titans by Wolfman and Pérez, and Grant Morrison's JLA, show how DC's ensembles work.
- For mature readers — Watchmen and Sandman were published by DC and pushed comics into new territory.
Many of DC's most famous dynamics, such as Batman and the Joker or Superman and Lex Luthor, are explored in our guide to iconic rivalries. For a darker satire of the Justice League model, try The Boys, whose Seven are closely modelled on DC's heroes. For Marvel's answer to all of this, see our Marvel guide, and for Harley, Catwoman and Red Hood, see the anti-hero guide.
All DC character names A–Z
A–B
- Alfred Pennyworth — Bat-family
- Aquaman — Arthur Curry
- Bane — Villain
- Batgirl / Oracle — Barbara Gordon
- Batman — Bruce Wayne
- Beast Boy — Garfield Logan
- Black Adam — Teth-Adam
- Brainiac — Villain
C–D
- Catwoman — Selina Kyle
- Commissioner Gordon — James Gordon
- Constantine — John Constantine
- Cyborg — Victor Stone
- Damian Wayne — Robin
- Darkseid — Villain
- Deathstroke — Slade Wilson
F–H
- The Flash — Barry Allen / Wally West
- Green Arrow — Oliver Queen
- Green Lantern — Hal Jordan / John Stewart
- Harley Quinn — Harleen Quinzel
J–N
- The Joker — Villain
- Lex Luthor — Villain
- Martian Manhunter — J'onn J'onzz
- Nightwing — Dick Grayson
P–R
- The Penguin — Oswald Cobblepot
- Poison Ivy — Pamela Isley
- Ra's al Ghul — Villain
- Raven — Teen Titans
- Red Hood — Jason Todd
- Reverse-Flash — Eobard Thawne
- The Riddler — Edward Nygma
S
- Shazam — Billy Batson
- Sinestro — Villain
- Starfire — Koriand'r
- Supergirl — Kara Zor-El
- Superman — Clark Kent / Kal-El
T–Z
- Tim Drake — Robin / Red Robin
- Two-Face — Harvey Dent
- Wonder Woman — Diana of Themyscira
- Zatanna — Zatanna Zatara
Frequently asked questions
Who are the original Justice League members?
The Justice League of America debuted in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960) with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash (Barry Allen), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. Later origin stories, and the films, often swap the Martian Manhunter for Cyborg.
Who was the first DC superhero?
Superman, who debuted in Action Comics #1 in June 1938 and is usually credited with creating the superhero genre. DC had published comics since 1935, but before Superman they were mostly adventure, detective and humour stories. Batman followed in Detective Comics #27 in 1939.
Who is the strongest DC character?
Among heroes, Superman is the usual answer, with Shazam, Wonder Woman and the Martian Manhunter close behind. Cosmic beings such as the Spectre, Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor sit above them. Different writers draw the lines in very different places, which is why our power scaling guide exists.
How many Robins have there been?
Five main Robins in the mainstream comics: Dick Grayson (later Nightwing), Jason Todd (later Red Hood), Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne, Batman's son. Carrie Kelley is a famous Robin from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, which is set outside regular continuity.
Is Harley Quinn from the comics?
Not originally. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and was voiced by Arleen Sorkin. She was so popular that DC added her to the comics in 1999. She's now one of the company's biggest characters.
What is the difference between DC and Marvel?
They're rival publishers with separate universes. DC is older and its biggest heroes, like Superman and Wonder Woman, are often written as near-mythic ideals. Marvel's 1960s heroes were built around everyday problems. See our Marvel characters guide for the other side.