When most people think of famous super villains, the names "Lex Luthor" or "The Joker" immediately spring to mind. Even bad guys with seemingly ridiculous character names like "Doctor Octopus" can enjoy a formidable reputation after beating superheroes like Spider-Man several times.
Unfortunately, for every Doctor Octopus or Doctor Doom out there, there are also dozens of third-rate bad guys with ridiculous super powers and even worse character names.
Forget being able to strike fear into the hearts of men with their monikers – these bad guys probably got their super villain names from bar bets gone horribly wrong.
Kite Man
Introduced in Batman vol. 1 #133, Kite Man is a minor super villain in Batman’s rogues gallery who uses kite-themed weaponry in his crimes. In an episode of the superhero cartoon Batman the Brave and the Bold, viewers learned Kite Man tried to recreate Ben Franklin’s kite-flying experiment as a boy – while wearing metal dental braces and standing in a bucket of water.
The resulting shock drove him insane and left him with a kite-fixation.
Amazingly, Kite Man’s super villain name is nowhere near as silly as his real name – Charles "Chuck" Brown. That’s right – although comic book writers could only suggest the connection, many readers picked up on the inference that Kite Man was really Charlie Brown, who went criminally insane after the kite-eating tree devoured one too many of his kites.
The Walrus
Following in the tradition of Spider-Man’s animal-themed super villains like the Lizard, Doctor Octopus, and the Chameleon, The Walrus was a dim-witted Marvel villain seen in The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 1 #185 who liked to brag that he had the proportionate speed, strength, and agility of a walrus!
Incredibly, this boast proved surprisingly effective – upon hearing this claim, Spider-Man began laughing uncontrollably, leaving him wide open to the Walrus’ sucker punch.
Unfortunately, soon after, the Walrus was soundly thrashed by the third-rate super hero the Fabulous Frog-Man before being beaten by Spider-Man, who only had to tap the super villain with one finger to knock him unconscious.
Paste-Pot Pete
Yes, that really is his name. After designing a paste gun that could immobilize enemies in quick-hardening paste or dissolve barriers with acid, chemist Peter Petruski embarked on a life of crime – but found his super villain name only made Spider-Man collapse into yet another fit of helpless laughter.
Rather than take advantage of Spider-Man’s vulnerable condition, Pete stormed off in a huff and promptly changed his name to The Trapster. But the damage had already been done – virtually everyone in the super hero and villain community remembered Pete’s original super villain name and never let him forget it.
The Steel-Jacketed Man
Maybe it sounded better on paper. In an attempt to break into the big-time, small-time crook Carlie Donewicz let a scientist turn him into a super-strong steel man.
Unfortunately, Carl’s super villain name annoyed one hero who complained "Steel-Jacketed Man" took too long to say. (In a case of the pot calling the kettle black, that superhero’s name was "Jack-in-the-Box").
Eventually Carl shortened his name to "Steeljack" and tried going straight after becoming disillusioned with crime and serving a long prison sentence.
Ironically, his road to redemption set him against an insane ex-superhero who wanted to kill many of Carl’s criminal friends in a warped attempt to become a hero again.