Truth, Justice, The American Way… and turning on your friends! That, apparently, is what all good heroes are up to from time to time. Whether they've been brain washed, possessed, or are doing it "for the greater good," heroes from time to time have to get a little evil. Here at FEARnet, we love that! And as Comi- Con winds down we're taking a moment to look at our favorite turncoats in comic history! Warning: this is the most spoiler-y spoiler-filled article you may ever read.
Superman's Infinite Crisis Freakout
During DC Comics' tentpole 2004 event, Infinite Crisis, the publishers put out a storyline that featured one of the best sequences of a superhero getting mind-controlled we've ever seen. The plot line follows Maxwell Lord, one-time businessman, who has gone full villain. In The Omac Project, Lord control's Superman's mind, making him beat the snot out of Batman and really mess up Wonder Woman. He even uses his heat vision on Wonder Woman's face. Not cool, Supes, not cool. Superman is shown as fully under Lord's control, and it's not until Wonder Woman brutally snaps Lord's neck that Superman is freed from the control and will stop destroying everyone. Damn!
Ozymandias
This is one of the best turncoat's in comic history. If you haven't yet read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' masterpiece, Watchmen, then stop reading this and go buy it and read it (duh!). But you probably have… so you know where I'm going with this. Adrian Alexander Veidt, the genius/superhero known as Ozymandias, uses his intellect, vast wealth, and cold absolutism to "save" a world at the brink of nuclear war. By formulating a plan to make the world suspect an outside attacker, he unites everyone… at the cost of a few million lives. That's a pretty big betrayal, dude.
Everyone Against Captain America
Poor Captain America, when the chips were down and the going looked bleak during the Civil War saga, he stood for those who wanted to fight for freedom. No matter what side you chose in the milestone comic event, it was hard to argue with a lot of the points Captain America made. But the world Cap came up in was definitely not the same world we read about today in Marvel comics. So it was only fitting that this bastion of "The American Way" should get tricked, turn-coated, and eventually murdered by his one-time friends. Now sure, this is a major character from a major publisher, but he stays dead for, like, two years of publication! Impressive for a name as big as Captain America!
Rick Grimes
Life is rough in prison, that's a given, but add to that the zombie apocalypse and you're asking for a disaster. In The Walking Dead Rick Grimes and his survivors finally find a place that could shield them from all the insanity of the ruined world around them. But, when people are killed inside the prison and others are wrongfully accused, it's only a matter of time before tensions boil over. Rick was trying to establish order in the prison and when Dexter, an imposing inmate convicted of murder, tries to lead a non-violent insurrection, Rick betrays his "good guy" status. Using a zombie outbreak and the resulting chaos, Rick puts a bullet in Dexter's brain and so ends his resistance. Wow, Rick, the shitty world of The Walking Dead sure has hardened you.
No. 5
In this amazing, weird, under-appreciated Manga by Taiyo Matsumoto (the author of Tekkon Kinkreet), the whole series is based on betrayal. The hero of the story, an assassin named No. 5, betrays his group of global security guardians (amazingly called "the Rainbow Council of the International Peacekeeping Forces") for the love of a girl and goes on the run. Now they have to track him down and kill him, but he's their top marksman, and he won't go down without a fight. This initial betrayal sets a whole storyline in motion, and it's a comic that's filled with wonder, emotion, and weirdness. It's fairly likely that you haven't read this, as less than a 1000 copies of this comic were sold in America before the published pulled the plug, but if you can find a copy of it pick it up and check it out!