I don’t know what you’re feelings are, but the holding out of a moistened finger to the winds reveals that the most recent X-Men Apocalypse was pretty apocalypticaly awful. Especially when held up against the shining gem of Captain America Civil War. Whereas Civil War did a great job on giving depth to it’s large cast of characters, while delivering a well-paced, grounded plot; Apocalypse did little to give its character’s character aside from their super powers and the one or two awkwardly written line. And the pacing of the Apocalypse is a pretty much a god-awful mess. Just until right after the scene with Erik in the forest, I was with it, but then things devolved into an over-crowded screen over over-powered mutants (who subsequently made the likes of Beast and Mystique look kind of lame) and too much CGI…which is a shame, because Apocalypse is one of my favorite super villains and I really wanted the film to land.

In honor of Apocalypse, I’ve compiled a list of my top 6 world-ending super villains. These aren’t your average Matadors or Calendar Men. These are the big heavy hitters who through their genius and abilities have placed the world in double jeopardy.

DC

Doomsday AKA The Destroyer AKA The One Who Killed Superman

DC super villains are of epic proportions. When you have a superhero who can fly, shoot lasers from his eyes, is bulletproof, and whose biggest weakness is a green stone, you kind of need villains that are a bit more than evil geniuses. Take Doomsday for instance. He’s a deadly monster born in pre-historic krypton. He has feelings (mostly hate and a desire for destruction) and the more things he destroys, the more powerful he becomes. Also, he more more less becomes immune to whatever comes close to killing him. Uh oh. You can probably guess from the name, but Doomsday ends up beating superman to death with his fists.

Brainiac AKA The Terror of Kandor AKA the Collector of Worlds

Ok. So Braniac is an evil genius. But he’s not only a really evil genius, he’s also a really genius evil. Sometimes portrayed as an AI (my favorite) or sometimes portrayed as just a really freaking smart humanoid, Braniac combs across the galaxy conquering civilizations and learning everything about them before shrinking them down and placing them in alien mason jars. He’s sort of like your neighbor with a penchant for collecting vinyl records, only instead of record he collects civilizations. He has “12th-level” intellect (humans have on average 1) and a great ability for learning. He’s Ultron on super-powered steroids.

Darkseid

Darkseid’s not that bad of a dude. All he wants to do is find the anti-life equation and dissolve any free-will. Ok, he’s basically like an intergalactic Hitler. From his home-base planet of Apokolips, Darkseid sets out to dominate the universe and create it in his own image. It helps his case that he is one of the New Gods and so basically has some of the strongest superpowers that heroes have ever seen. Whereas Doomsday is terrifying because he just wants to destroy, Darkseid is terrifying because he wants to control. Both gave me nightmares as a kid.

Honorable mentions: Trigon, The Anti-Monitor, Mongol Sr., Mr. Mxyzptlk

Marvel

Thanos AKA “Avatar of Death”

As a rule of thumb, DC super villains are Gods; whereas Marvel super villains are evil entities of human-sized proportions. The characters on the list buck that trend, including Thanos. Born on Saturn to a family of Eternals (the offshoot of humanity endowed with superpowers and entrusted with defending the universe) it was soon pretty phenotypically clear that Thanos carried genes of the Deviants (an offshoot of humanity endowed with superpowers and bent on destroying the universe). One thing leads to another and Thanos soon set hiss heart on pleasing Mistress Death by killing lot and lots of people…including nearly everyone on his home planet. And the devastation doesn’t stop there.

Anyone who’s familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe knows that Thanos is waiting in the wings to wreak some serious havoc. Is it a little lame that he’s reliant on a Nintendo Power Glove? Sure, but still, Thanos is a force to be reckoned with.

Apocalypse AKA Genesis AKA The First One AKA Clown Face

Going back to earth thousands of years ago, we see Apocalypse. Born in ancient Jordan, Apocalypse is one of the first mutants. Because he looks so weird, he gets abandoned as a baby, only to be adopted by the leader of a band of desert raiders who are all for a “survival of the fittest” lifestyle. This is going to turn out good…a number of things happen, including our poor little Genesis go and getting his heartbroken and then we see his powers revealed through rage. Over time Apocalypse develops more mutant powers than anyone else. Our man goes around convincing the world that he’s a god. Although Apocalypse is a powerful dude, some of his greatest power comes in his manipulation of others. Aside from turning the warlord Ozymandias into a blind clairvoyant made of living stone who does his bidding, Apocalypse goes around demanding that civilization’s fight at his behest. And he always has a dope entourage of enhanced and deadly mutants.

Galactus AKA Devourer of Worlds AKA God of Oblivion AKA The hunger that does not cease

Galactus is  a name that screams 1966 and the bulky pink helmet he wears definitely attests to as much. Still, Galactus is one of the most destructive forces in the cosmos. How? HE EATS PLANETS. He litterally EATS planets. A long time ago there in the previous universe (before our Big Bang) there was a dude named Galan. When his universe was about to end, Galan merged with the “sentience of the universe” (the astract entity that can warp eterntiy and space and ocassionally manifests itself in the likes of Thor and Storm) to live a little bit longer i.e. forever. After gestating for billions of years, Galactus emerged with superpowers, and an insatiable appetite for worlds. He’s a being beyond the limits of human morals. And he eats worlds. Nuff said.

Honorable Mentions: Living Tribunal, The Beyonder, Anihilus, and the Living Tribunal

Anyone you think should be added to this list? Let me know @EstebanRules.