DC Hero and Villain Teams

This list includes the various teams of super-heroes and super-villains that inhabit the DC Universe. This does not include large organizations such as the Green Lantern Corps or Checkmate. Those entries can be found elsewhere.

This list is constantly being updated and is still under some construction.

Birds of Prey - Soon after she began operating as the computer hacker/information broker Oracle, Barbara Gordon came to believe it would be wise to rely on other heroes to act as her agents, outside of her regular association with the Batman and his own allies. After a brief partnership with Power Girl went sour, she began working regularly with Black Canary. Later on, the vigilante Huntress joined them as a trio.

Months after this, Oracle began regularly working with a larger team of female heroes whom she began to refer to as her Birds of Prey. Members would come and go depending on the needs of the mission, with the core members being Black Canary, Lady Blackhawk and Huntress.

Originally, Oracle operated out of Gotham City. Later on, she and the Birds of Prey were based in Metropolis. Most recently, they moved the operation to "Platinum Flats", California.

The Brotherhood of Evil - Originally, this group was formed by the villain known as the Brain so that he could exact revenge against Dr. Niles Caulder. The Brain blamed Caulder for his condition of being a disembodied brain trapped in a life-support system and likewise he swore revenge on Caudler's team the Doom Patrol, seeing them as Caulder's "children." Soon enough though, the Brain's goals expanded to include gaining super-human power and achieving world domination. The group once relabeled itself the "Society of Sin", but soon went back to its original name.

Although the group has gone through several changes and had several members over the years, the Brain and a gorilla he made intelligent named Monsieur Mallah have always been present in each incarnation.

The Doom Patrol - Stunt man Cliff Steele suffered an accident and only survived thanks to Dr. Niles "Chief" Caulder, who transplanted his brain into a robot body, making him Robotman II. Caulder then recruited Rita Farr (Elasti-Girl), an actress who had gained size-changing abilities she had difficulty controlling, and Larry Trainor, a pilot whose body had become radioactive and host to an energy creature called Negative Man. Now seen as freaks, Caulder suggested the three use their abilities to help humanity. The Doom Patrol focused on strange and bizarre phenomena that did not show up on the radar of most super-heroes.

When most of the original team was believed dead, a new Doom Patrol was started by a woman called Celsius. This team acted as more of a public super-hero team but disbanded after Celsius' death.

Later, the founders reformed the Doom Patrol with new members, and again focused primarily on bizarre phenomena and space/time anomalies. After one of the new members turned on the team, the group disbanded. A corporate sponsored super-hero team later called itself the new Doom Patrol, but they were short-lived.

Later on, after Caulder had successfully brought Rita back to life, the original team reformed, with a few additions. Due to revelations concerning Caulder's original motives in forming the first team, he is no longer the leader. The Doom Patrol tends to keep to itself, out of the view of other heroes.

Fatal Five - Five super-criminals who decided to join forces in the 30th century. These criminals are the cyborg Tharok, the mindless giant Validus, the magic-wielding Emerald Empress, the atomic axe-wielding Persuader, and the criminal Mano, whose touch causes destruction. The Fatal Five ruthlessly seek power and dominion and have often fought the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Helix - A group of villains who fought the team Infinity, Inc. The members of Helix were all people who'd been genetically engineered by a scientist who called himself Dr. Love. Helix has been defunt for years, but its former member Mr. Bones has remained in the public eye since he later became a super-hero himself (joining his old enemies in Infinity, Inc.) and for the past few years has been Director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.) and, understandably, is now usually called Director Bones.

Infinity, Inc. - The first team to use this name was a group of young heroes who were all either the children or successors to various members of the Justice Society of America. The group was started by Sylvester Pemberton (AKA Star-Spangled Kid I, later called Skyman), who wanted to take a chance on the young heroes when several of them had been turned down for JSA membership. Unlike many super-heroes at the time, the Infinitors immediately revealed their identities to the public and operated as work-for-hire protectors with the city of Los Angeles, allowing them to work officially with the police department.

The Infinitors were in operation for quite some time but then disbanded soon after the death of their leader Skyman at the hands of the villains Solomon Grundy and Harlequin II. Some of their former members later joined the Justice League or the later-reformed JSA.

During the series 52, Lex Luthor started the "Everyman Project" which granted meta-human abilities to volunteers. To advertise the project, he sponsored a team of his best and brightest test subjects, calling them the new Infinity, Inc. This team officially disbanded when Luthor's true motives and power-hungry plots were revealed, but several of the members continued to work together for support and friendship. They later went missing just before the events of the Final Crisis and their whereabouts are unknown.

Injustice Gang - The first group called Injustice Gang was formed by the mysterious villain Libra. Gathering several villains, Libra gave them devices which defeated members of the Justice League by leaching their energy and powers. Libra then absorbed the energies and powers into himself, revealing this had been his plan all along. Wishing to become a god, he attempted to absorb the energies of the universe itself but his body overloaded and erupted into energy.

Another villain team called the Injustice Gang later formed but were quickly defeated. Years later, Lex Luthor formed his own version of the Injustice Gang in an attempt to destroy the newly re-formed JLA. His efforts were thwarted and so he reformed the team again months later, this time intending not only to destroy the Justice League but to dominate the planet with the help of Queen Bee and her alien army. This group was likewise defeated.

Libra's original team was based in a satellite HQ that orbited Earth. After the original team was defeated, this based was abandoned but in recent years has been used as a meeting place for various villains wishing to hide between missions or conduct business with each other.

Injustice League Unlimited - When an alien named Agamemno attempted to destroy the Justice League of America, he recruited enemies of the various heroes and they jokingly referred to themselves as the Injustice League. This group nearly conquered the planet but were later defeated by the combined might of several of Earth's heroes.

Years later, soon after the reformation of the JLA following the events of Infinite Crisis, Lex Luthor, the Joker and the witch Circe gathered together a small army of villains which Luthor dubbed Injustice League Unlimited. They, like their predecessors, were defeated.

Injustice Society - A group of villains who formed during the 1940s to destroy the Justice Society of America and take over the world. They later reformed in the modern-age of heroes, briefly renaming themselves Injustice Unlimited as a joke on the fact that the children of the JSA had formed a team called Infinity, Inc. This team was defeated and years later, when the JSA reformed, a new group of villains was called together by Johnny Sorrow. Since his team's defeat, two more groups using the same name have formed and have tried to destroy the JSA.

Justice Experience - Years after the disbanding of the Justice Society, and about twenty years before the formation of the original Justice League, a group of people (some of whom had powers) decided to form into a team of adventurers called the Justice Experience. Though calling themselves heroes, this team barely ever fought truly dangerous criminals. Most often, the "villains" they fought were like-minded adventurers who wanted to become famous by pulling off bizarrely memorable crimes.

When an innocent woman was killed during a fight between the Justice Experience and the criminal group known as the House of Pain, the woman's widower Dr. Larry Trapp swore vengeance on all masked adventurers. Discovering the identities of the Justice Experience and the House of Pain, Dr. Trapp hunted them each down and killed them, with the exception of the hero called Bronze Wraith who was actually J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, in disguise. Dr. Trapp was later brought to justice by members of the JSA who came out of retirement specifically to find him. Many people today do not remember the Justice Experience team.

Justice League of America - The JLA is Earth's premiere super-hero team. They are Earth's biggest line of defence against super-villain terrorists and alien conquerors. The original roster included the Martian Manhunter, Black Canary II (Dinah Lance), Aquaman (Arthur Curry), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and the second Flash (Barry Allen) who was also the first leader. Although Superman, the Batman and Wonder Woman were all present at the team's formation, they remained reserve members until fully joining later. The team originally made their base in the Justice Cave (or "Secret Sanctum") in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, before later relocating to the famous JLA Sattelite which orbited Earth.

After several years, the JLA disbanded and reformed in Detroit with a smaller membership. After androids sent by the villain Prof. Ivo killed two of their members, the new team split. A new team later formed, thanks in part to industrialist Maxwell Lord, and called itself simply the Justice League. When this team gained U.N. approval and authorization to have various "embassy" bases in various countries, they took on the new name Justice League International.

Some time later, the JLI reformed into two major teams, Justice League America and Justice League Europe. Both teams had various membership changes before the JLE finally disbanded. During this time, a group of criminals attempting to reform made up the short-lived Justice League Antarctica. For a time, J'onn J'onzz was asked by the U.N. to organize a Justice League Task Force for special missions, with a rotating membership depending on what skills were required.

After the events of Zero Hour, the Justice League America reformed as its own group without U.N. backing. At the same time, J'onn later formed his own small group, which he continued to call Justice League task Force. And Captain Atom, believing that heroes should be pre-emptive rather than reactionary, formed his own group called Extreme Justice. When Extreme Justice caused an international incident, the U.S. government asked that the various Leagues disband (though, in truth, the JLA and JLTF were already beginning to go their separate ways).

The Justice League of America later reformed with most of the founders returning, establishing a new Watchtower base on the moon. The team regained the original group's reputation of being the premier super-hero team on Earth. Later on, the League established a split-off covert ops group called Justice League Elite which was tasked with stopping extra-normal threats to Earth before the situation got bad enough that it would require the presence of the true JLA. The group was led by Sister Superior (Vera Lynn Black), whose brother Manchester Black had been an enemy of Superman's and the leader of a group called the Elite. The group only lasted a few months before they disbanded.

Just before the Infinite Crisis affair, the team disbanded but reformed a year later and has now established two new bases, one being the Hall of Justice building in Washington D.C. and the other being the new Watchtower, a satellite citadel that orbits the Earth.

Justice Society of America - The world's first ever super-hero team. Formed in 1940, the original JSA consisted of Sandman (Wesley Dodd's), Earth's first Green Lantern (Alan Scott), the original Flash (Jay Garrick), the first Hourman (Rex Tyler), the Spectre (Jim Corrigan) and the first Dr. Fate (Kent Nelson). The team set the standard for other groups later to follow.

During H.U.A.C. investigations in 1951, the team was asked to unmask before the American public. The JSA chose to retire instead, though individual members would occasionally still act to protect the public, simply choosing to act more clandestinely. During a previous battle with the villain Ian Karkull, the JSA members had been bathed in strange temporal energies which left them with retarded aging rates and increased vitality. Thus, even though the surviving original members are now senior citizens, they can still hold their own in many battles.

The JSA's example inspired the formation of the Justice League of America many years later. A couple of years after the rise of modern super-heroes, the JSA resumed semi-active status. A few years later, the group disbanded when several members were killed during the event called Zero Hour.

Years later, several of the surviving members reformed the team with the new purpose of providing guidance to the successors or descendants of various (mostly Golden Age) super-heroes. Thus, the current JSA is a mixture of old and young heroes who all learn from each other and look at the group as a family unit.

The Legion of Super-Heroes - A group of heroes formed in the late 30th century, the LSH is comprised of teenagers from various different worlds of the United Planets organization and acts to protect those same worlds while also providing an example of inter-planetary unity.

The comics have shown three distinct versions of the LSH from three distinct versions of the future. The "classic" Legion was directly inspired by Superman and used time travel to visit him a few times when he was a teenager in Smallville. On several occasions, young Clark went into the future and had adventures with the LSH. This version of the LSH also spawned a spin-off group, the less-formidable Legion of Substitute Heroes, whose members had tried out for the Legion but were rejected. Despite being seen as jokes by some, the Subs still worked to help people in their own way and many of them hoped to one day graduate to true Legion status. The classic version has recently begun showing up again, now as young adults living in the 31st century.

The second version of the Legion (known as the Reboot Legion or Post-Zero Hour Legion) was very similar but lived in a future where 14 was the legal age to be considered an adult on most planets and were inspired by legends of super-heroes rather than Superman in particular. The third (or "Threeboot") version of the LSH (which was very short-lived compared to the other versions) did not form until the 31st century and was as much a social movement as it was a team, claiming that any teenager who wished to embrace change and variety rather than a cold, sterile universe of rules and taboos could consider themselves a fellow Legionnaire.

In all versions of the future, the Legion was founded by the three teen heroes Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad after they saved the life of wealthy businessman R.J. Brande. All Legionnaires wear a Legion Flight Ring, which serves as a badge of honor and also allows the user to fly. In the version of the future where the Legion is a social movement, the flight rings also hide the user from being detected by public surveillance.

In most versions of the future, the team's battle cry is "Long live the Legion!" In the Threeboot Legion, the team's battle cry was "Eat it, grandpa!"

Legion of Super-Villains - Formed by Cosmic King, Saturn Queen and Lightning Lord, the LOSV is a team dedicated to conquest and to the destruction of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The group's membership has altered several times over the years but it always includes various enemies of the Legion. Recently, it was revealed that just as the Legion was inspired by legends of Superman, the three founders of the LOSV were inspired by stories of Superboy-Prime, the crazed villain who sought to replace Superman and remake the universe as he saw it.

Marvel Family - The "Marvel Family"the heroes Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. (also known as CM3), all of whom gained their powers from the wizard Shazam. Each member of the Marvel family is a normal human unless they speak a magic word which gives them their powers and alters thir form somewhat. While in this super-powered form, their personalities are slightly altered as they are now magically imbued with otherworldly wisdom.

The man called Black Adam gets his powers from the same source and so he is sometimes referred to as the "Black Marvel" or the "Evil Marvel." Recently, Mary Marvel has also become evil and twisted due to various influences.

The Metal Men - Dr. Will Magnus, robotics expert and student of the mad scientist and A.I expert Dr. T.O. Morrow, invented a device combining chemistry and electrical engineering which he called the "responsometer." When joined with a metal substance, the responsometer could rework it into a humanoid being with a personality that seemed strangely reflective of the metal. Creating the robots Gold, Iron, Mercury, Lead, Tin and Platinum (later called Platina or "Tina"), Doc Magnus had his "Metal Men" act as adventurers in the service of the public, fighting mad scientists with bizarre war machines and advanced technological beings who endangered innocent lives.

In recent years, Doc Magnus also created a new female robot called Copper. For a time, Tin created his own girlfriend robot, whom he called Beautiful but which the other Metal Men never referred to by name.

The Monster Society of Evil - An army of monsters and villains from another dimension, organized by the evil worm known as Mr. Mind, en enemy of Captain Marvel's. Historically, the Monster Society of Evil was the first group to include villains the comic book hero had fought previously rather than introducing new characters specifically created to be part of the team. Pre-Crisis, the Monster Society included various Captain Marvel villains and were not exclusively beings from another dimension.

The Outsiders - Originally formed by Batman, the Outsiders was a super-hero team intended to operate in ways that the Justice League of America couldn't or wouldn't. While the JLA would be concerned with how they appeared to the public and was normally only a responsive force, only going into operation after a super-villain attack or emergency had begun, the Outsiders would pro-actively hunt down criminals and would operate more clandestinely, breaking laws and invading foreign soil and government facilities if they believed it was necessary to get the job done.

Batman eventually left the team and later it disbanded. Similar teams later formed under the same name, each one later disbanding. Batman returned to the group and reformed it under his guidance. Following Batman's recent apparent death, instructions he left for his butler Alfred Pennyworth has led Alfred to reuniting the original team (with a couple of new members), tasking them with a new mission to defeat a previously unknown enemy who is secretly behind various super-villain groups. To protect the team from this hidden enemy, the Outsiders now live "off the grid" and the members have agreed not to contact their families for months at a time.

The Secret Society - Also known as the Secret Society of Super-Villains. Wishing to quell the presence of super-heroes on Earth, the evil New God called Darkseid organized various villains and criminals into a "secret society." These villains caused much trouble for the Justice League and other heroes, but constantly fought over who should be in charge. When Darkseid was believed to be dead for a time, the group disbanded and another team using the same name was later formed by the villain the Wizard and then yet another team was formed by the villain Ultra-Humanite. Each of these groups was defeated by the Justice League and the Justice Society.

Many years later, Alexander Luthor of the parallel world called Earth-3 organized dozens of super-villains across Earth for his own ends. Masquerading as Lex Luthor, he referred to this group simply as "the Society" and organized a board of directors consisting of other criminal masterminds. This group was defeated by the combined might of Earth's heroes during the Infinite Crisis affair.

Months later, the villain Libra sought to re-organize the Secret Society under his leadership, uniting Earth's villains by preaching the doctrine of Darkseid, claiming that the evil New God would lead them into victory. The Secret Society acted as Libra's army during the story Final Crisis. By the end of this story, the group went their separate ways and it seems unlikely these villains will be anxious to form yet another Society any time soon.

Tartarus - Formed by the immortal villain Vandal Savage, Tartarus was meant to be an anti-Titans team (named after the prison of the mythological Titans). He forced the former Titan member Omen to help him recruit the team, not realizing she would deliberately choose villains who would be incapable of working alongside each other. Her plan worked and the team was defeated and has never reformed.

Team Superman - Though never officially a team, this term was used loosely to refer to whenever Supergirl, Superboy and Steel would work together, since all were heroes connected to Superman in one way or another.

Teen Titans - Some time after the formation of the Justice League of America, Dick Grayson AKA Robin I (now called Nightwing) wound up teaming up with fellow sidekicks Aqualad (now called Tempest) and Wally West AKA Kid Flash I (now called Flash III). The three of them later wound up joining forces with Donna Troy AKA Wonder Girl and this time it was decided that they would regularly get together as a team. The Teen Titans were not just a super-hero team, it was a club where teen heroes were able to speak freely with other teens about the unique experiences and problems their lives brought them, instead of always hiding everything for the sake of a secret identity. The team emphasized their family-like relationship with their battle cry "Titans Together!"

Another early addition to the team was Roy Harper AKA Speedy I (now called Red Arrow), so he is often considered one of the founders. Their base, Titans Lair, was in Gotham City.

The Teen Titans later disbanded, then reformed with a new roster and based themselves in the newly constructed Titans Tower in New York. As time went on, several members came and went. For a time, the group called themselves the Titans and worked with the government. This group disbanded, and another small group of Teen Titans later formed. Finally, the original team members reformed the group along with some younger heroes, again calling themselves simply the Titans. A while later, the Titans disbanded after the apparent death of Donna Troy.

Weeks afterward, a new group of Teen Titans formed, once again meant to be a club for teen heroes to have a place where they could be themselves. This new team, based in a new Titans Tower in San Francisco, has reformed a few times but is still in operation and is currently led by the second Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark). At the moment, the original founders, with a few other veteran members, operate as their own team that's simply called the Titans.

When the Teen Titans operated in New York, a group of imitators formed called themselves Titans West, led by Bette Kane AKA Flamebird, a big fan of Dick Grason. This group quickly disbanded, though Flamebird tried to get them together again some time later. When the Teen Titans later reformed in San Francisco, the villain Deathstroke formed a team of teen villains he jokingly called Titans East.

Terror Titans - A group of teenage villains led by the villain Clock King, the Terror Titans were formed to combat the latest group of Teen Titans. Recently, former Titan member Ravager II (Rose Wilson) has joined the group as a combat trainer.

Trinity - Whenever Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman work together, they are often referred to as the Big Three or the Trinity.

World's Finest Team - When Superman and Batman have teamed-up together, they have often been referred to as the World's Finest Team.

Young Justice - When Robin III (Tim Drake), Superboy (Kon-El) and Impulse (Bart Allen) teamed up together a few times, the three decided to get together regularly so they could hang out and enjoy a few adventures along the way. Dubbed "Young Justice" by the media, the team later welcomed other teen heroes to the group and acted like a club for young adventurers, much like the original Teen Titans had. Some time later, the team disbanded after a team-up between them and the Titans resulted in the apparent death of Donna Troy. Weeks later, several members of Young Justice joined the new Teen Titans team.