Comic Book Supers: Can You Identify Which Are Heroes and Which Are Villains?

ENTERTAINMENT

By: Ian Fortey

7 Min Quiz

Image: DC Films/ RatPac Entertainment/ Atlas Entertainment/ Cruel and Unusual Films/ Warner Bros. Pictures

About This Quiz

Did you know that Marvel Comics claims to have a library of over 8,000 different characters ranging from the big guns like Spider-Man to the weird ones like Stilt-Man to the utterly baffling Throg, a frog who wields Thor's hammer Mjolnir? DC Comics has several thousand as well that even include the Warner Bros characters like Elmer Fudd and Tasmanian Devil, who have crossed over with Batman and Wonder Woman in the past. And if you want to factor in the books published by smaller publishers like Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Valiant Comics, IDW, Boom, Aftershock and every other indie, we can probably get over 100,000 characters in total. That's just a heck of a lot of comic book characters.

Even if you go to just by the ones that have shown up in movies, you're looking at everyone from Aquaman to Hellboy to Supergirl to Wonder Woman. With so many heroes and villains to try to keep straight, you be forgiven if you overlooked a few, forgot a few others and just couldn't remember what side everyone was fighting on. But now's your chance to show off your superhero and supervillain knowledge chops by taking the quiz and figuring out who's who on each side of the hero and villain divide.

Only one of these X-Men characters was a hero; the rest are villains. Who's the good guy?

Bishop made his first and only appearance on screen in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" before being unceremoniously destroyed by Sentinel robots. In the comics, he's a warrior from the future sent back to prevent a terrible catastrophe. Kind of like Cable, but not.

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One of these characters is a hero who's also a teenage girl. Which is it?

In the movie "Kick-Ass" and its sequel, Hit-Girl was played by Chloe Grace-Moretz. In the comics, she's supposed to be 10-years-old at first and then 11 for the sequel while the movies make her a little bit older. Grace-Moretz was about 14 when the movie was filmed.

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Mystique has appeared in numerous X-Men movies. Is she more often a villain or a hero?

We first met Mystique on film in 2000's "X-Men" when she was a full villain. In the sequel, she straddled the fence and helped the X-Men for a while. In "The Last Stand," she was also a fence-sitter, and when Jennifer Lawrence took over in the new timeline, she was almost all hero with a few stray moments.

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Who's the villain in this crew of mysterious beings?

This was a tricky one! Mordo started out good then became a villain by the end of "Dr. Strange." The other characters are dark to be sure, but they're still all heroes for the most part. Morbius will be in his own self-titled movie in the Spider-verse while Nic Cage played Ghost Rider, and Hannibal King was a Blade sidekick.

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What the heck is an X-23?

X-23 was the code name of Laura in the movie "Logan." She's a cloned daughter of Wolverine and possesses most of his same powers and attributes, with the bonus of a dangerous little foot claw. She's a hero and a mutant.

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Only one of these characters has always been a hero; the others have strayed to villain. Who is it?

Captain America's buddy Sam is the Falcon, and he's stayed good the whole time he's been heroing. Magneto, as we know, goes back and forth frequently, and Sinestro started as a Green Lantern before going Yellow. The Winter Soldier got brainwashed into being a bad guy.

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One of these oddly named characters is a good guy, but who?

Groot from "Guardians of the Galaxy" is a full-on superhero from this list, but in the comics, that wasn't always the case. He started as a monster early on before someone turned him into the loveable tree everyone recognizes today.

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Venom has made two appearances on the big screen. Hero or villain?

Venom first appeared played by Topher Grace in "Spider-Man 3," and he was a full villain. Later he was played by Tom Hardy in his own self-titled film in which, while certainly a little rough around the edges, he was a hero, so he's been one of each.

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There's a villain in here, but who is it?

Baron Zemo is the baddie on this list, who you might remember from "Captain America: Civil War." Whistler was Blade's mentor and friend, Wong is the librarian from "Dr. Strange," and Abe Sapien is the fishy fellow from "Hellboy."

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One of these three is a villain and the rest are more like anti-heroes. Who's the villain?

Doomsday is 100% villain on this list; he's the guy who killed Superman! Not to be trusted. But the others are presented as heroes even if they do a lot of shady stuff. Harley Quinn was the Joker's sidekick; Spawn is literally from Hell, and Deadpool was a contract killer so, yeah. Still heroic, though.

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Which of these Daredevil characters was a hero?

Though he was undoubtedly a little crabby, Stick was a hero who taught Matt Murdock how to fight. The other characters were villains, and Bullseye and Kingpin even got to pull double duty in the TV show and the movie.

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The Green Lantern had a rough go on the big screen. Which of these characters was still a good guy at the end of the movie?

The only 100% good guy on that list is the very weird Kilowog, who is an alien member of the Green Lantern Corps. Hector Hammond is a villain who just chooses not to use an alias, and clearly anyone named Sinestro has to be bad, even if he spends most of the movie as a hero. Parallax was a very sinister special effect.

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Who's the bad guy from Thor's world here?

Volstagg and Fandral are two of Thor's friends and members of the Warriors Three. Heimdall was the guardian of the Bifrost bridge, but Fenris was no hero. In "Thor: Ragnarok" Fenris is the giant wolf minion of Thor's evil sister Hela.

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You have one hero in this colorless mix; who is it?

Only Black Widow, a founding member of the Avengers, is a hero here. Black Manta squared off with Aquaman, Blackheart had to deal with Nic Cage's Ghost Rider, and Black Tom Cassidy ran afoul of Deadpool.

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One of these students from Xavier's Institute went rogue; who was it?

Across all of the movies and timelines, only Pyro turns away from the teachings of Professor X to join Magneto. Colossus is always a good guy and shows up in several films as more than one actor, while Iceman and Shadowcat are always good as well.

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Hey, remember the Fantastic Four? Only three of these are heroes, and one is not, so who is it?

Victor Von Doom's name kind of gives him away as a bad guy, and he is indeed Dr. Doom, one of Marvel's greatest villains (though in fairness he took over as a hero from Iron Man in the comics for a while, too). The others are Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards, the Invisible Girl Sue Storm and The Thing Ben Grimm.

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Do you know which of these is not a villainous member of the Sinister Six from Spider-Man movies?

Nightcrawler is from the "X-Men" franchise and is a blue-skinned mutant who can teleport. Electro is a Spider-Man villain portrayed by Jamie Foxx on screen, Michael Keaton portrayed Vulture, and Paul Giamatti portrayed Rhino.

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The Watchmen have been on TV and the big screen, but which one was a villain?

While there's some nuance to some of the characters in "The Watchmen," you can't argue that the Comedian wasn't a villain. He was a very bad man in that movie. Hooded Justice and Nite Owl were good guys, and Dr. Manhattan seems pretty good, especially on the TV show.

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If you remember "Constantine," you know which of these characters was a good guy, right?

Papa Midnight, played by the amazing Djimon Hounsou, was neutral leaning towards good in the movie "Constantine." On the other hand, both Balthazar and Lucifer are demons, while Gabriel is a very untrustworthy angel.

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Which of these super powered women is up to no good?

Storm and Jubilee are both members of the X-Men, while it's pretty obvious who Wonder Woman is and that she's a big-time hero. But Ghost, on the other hand, was the villain from "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

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Just because you're older doesn't mean you can't be super. Which of these old-timers is a villain?

Ian McKellen was 61 when he first portrayed the villainous Magneto on film. The other three are heroes — Professor X as portrayed by 60-year-old Patrick Stewart, Odin played by 74-year-old Anthony Hopkins, and "Ghostrider's" Caretaker, played by 63-year-old Sam Elliot.

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One of these fly-boys is a villain, but which one is it?

No one needs to be told that Superman is a hero, as are the Falcon from the Avengers and the Fantastic Four's Human Torch. That said, Archangel from "X-Men: Age of Apocalypse" was a straight-up villain though he was one of the X-Men in the comics.

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Who doesn't like an all-powerful cosmic character? Only one of these is a hero though; who is it?

The Silver Surfer is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, not that you'd really know it from his movie appearance. He was a good dude, though, unlike his evil master Galactus, the Green Lantern villain Parallax, or Peter Quill's dad Ego.

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You thought they were dead, but they weren't! Which of these death-defying characters is a villain?

Each of these characters was killed in one of their movies. Black Panther got to come back in the same move, Deadpool exploded himself but not enough to die, and Superman died and then came back in the next movie. But the only villain is Red Skull, who seemed to die in "Captain America" then reappeared years later in "Avengers: Infinity War."

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Ryan Reynolds is the ultimate superhero, except for the one time he played a villain. Who was that again?

As weird as it sounds, Ryan Reynolds has played two Deadpools. One is the one we all loved, who is a funny hero. The other was the much less-beloved character from "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which, as you may recall, the other Deadpool kills by traveling back in time in "Deadpool 2."

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Armor really makes a hero, except for the one villain on this list, which is whom?

Juggernaut is the villain in this group, whether that's the Vinnie Jones version from "X-Men: The Last Stand" or the CG version voiced by Ryan Reynolds in "Deadpool 2." The other three are all heroes who just happened to be heavily armored.

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You know which one of these characters is a hero, right?

His name isn't very friendly, but Beast is the hero here, a long-time member of the X-Men. Dr. Sivana was the villain from "Shazam" while Malekith tangled with Thor, and the Collector showed up in "Guardians of the Galaxy."

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Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's a bird. Which bird is a villain here?

Only Michael Keaton's Vulture is a villain here. The Falcon is, of course, one of the Avengers while the Crow was a spirit of vengeance who put right wrongs, and Black Canary will be front and center in DC's "Birds of Prey."

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Someone here is not a Batman villain. But who?

Batman has one of the most extensive rogue's galleries in all of comics, and that includes Scarecrow, Bane and Ra's Al-Ghul. Nightwing, however, is not a villain but his former sidekick Dick Grayson, who once went by Robin and can be seen in "Batman and Robin" as well as "Titans."

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Who's the heroic alien on this list of otherworldly beings?

Even though he seemed rough around the edges, Yondu turned out to be a decent guy in the end. Unlike Thanos, of course, not to mention his sinister crony Ronan the Accuser and Laufey, King of the Frost Giants.

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One of these no-nonsense ladies is a hero. Who is it?

Even though Jessica Jones can be a little aggressive and foul-mouthed, she's still a hero. Enchantress from "Suicide Squad," Lady Deathstrike from "X-2" and Poison Ivy from "Batman and Robin" are decidedly not heroic.

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Which of these green supers is just no good?

Green may be lively and vibrant, but that doesn't mean Green Goblin is anything but one of Spider-Man's worst foes. The other three, Green Hornet, Green Arrow and Green Lantern, are all in the hero column, though.

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Can you spot the hero?

Vision was created more or less by accident in "Avengers: Age of Ultron," but proved to be so good he could actually lift Thor's hammer, so that's something. Ultron was, of course, the evil robot, not unlike The Sentinels in X-Men while Whiplash was played by Mickey Rourke in "Iron Man 2."

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You don't need to be human to make a difference, but who's the inhuman villain here?

Hellboy, Groot and Rocket Raccoon are all heroes who aren't particularly human but still get the job done. Mr. Mind, on the other hand, is a full-on villain who you may remember if you stuck around for the mid-credit scene in "Shazam." Yes, he's a caterpillar from space.

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The Summers family are all heroes or villains. Who's the villain here?

The X-Man Cyclops was at the center of a massive superhero family. Cable, who you may remember from "Deadpool" is actually his son. Havok, from "X-Men: First Class," is his brother, and in the comics, he marries Phoenix.

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Can you spot the hero here?

Of course the Flash is the hero here; he's been in "Justice League" as well as on his own TV show for many seasons. Steppenwolf was the big bad in "Justice League," while Apocalypse is an X-men villain, and Black Manta fights Aquaman.

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Three of these are Avengers, but one sure isn't. Who?

Iron Man, Hawkeye, and Captain America are all founding members of the Avengers, so their position shouldn't be in dispute. On the other hand, Surtur was a giant, fiery monster that destroyed Asgard in "Thor: Ragnarok."

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These ladies are all cool as cucumbers but only one is a hero. Who is it?

Poison Ivy has always been a thorn in Batman's side, while Lady Deathstrike is one in Wolverine's. The Dark Phoenix is the bad version of Jean Grey, but Domino is just straight up good times, as seen in "Deadpool 2."

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Are you still super if you have no real powers? Yes! Who's the powerless hero here?

These four are all just regular dudes. Well, maybe talented dudes, but not super. Green Arrow is a hero who is an expert archer, while Lex Luthor is a sinister genus, Two-Face was horribly scarred and turned evil, and the Riddler just likes riddles.

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There's one villain here. Who are they?

The Falcon and the Hulk are Avengers, while the Thing is in the Fantastic Four. And if you remember Ed Norton' "The Incredible Hulk," then you likely remember the villainous Abomination, who is like the Hulk but evil.

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