Ten Best Cartoon Supervillain Team Ups

Inspired by this rather awful article, “The 10 Greatest Supervillain Teams of All Time,” here’s my take on the 10 best cartoon supervillain team ups. For more villain team ups, TV Tropes has a good list here.

Now, for me, team ups consist of villains who usually work solo, but band together for those specific few episodes to take down the good guys. So groups such as Cobra and the Legion of Doom (from Super Friends) don’t count, because they work together by default anyway.

I really liked those team up episodes, because they were usually two-parters. Remember how “To Be Continued” always sent chills down your spine? Your imagination soared as you conjured up ways the bad guys who would win or enact their dastardly plan.

Inevitably Part 2 would be more exciting the heroes would face their darkest hour, allowing the villains to shine as a team. And even better, the heroes would triumph over impossible odds, allowing the heroes to shine as well. It’s peanuts and glitter for everyone.

Also, each villain in the team was usually powerful enough to be a threat to the heroes by themselves. Teaming them up surely spelt the doom of our protagonists. Right?

Well, not really. Our heroes would win. But anyway.

So in order, let’s go!

Shredder’s Rogues

10)Shredder’s Rogues (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Team Roster: Tempestra, Leather Head, Chrome Dome, Slash, Rat King, Antrax, Scumbug

First seen in: Night of the Rogues, S07E06

They didn’t have an official name in this episode – only Shredder referred to them as his rogues or as a rogues gallery. Hence I’ve coined the moniker “Shredder’s Rogues” although really, there should have been a more awesome team name for them.

Although I don’t think there was a Tempestra toy.

And in their first (and only) showdown, they actually defeated the Ninja Turtles! I saw only because there wasn’t a rematch. They actually fled after the Ninja Turtles gathered more allies like… Casey Jones. Splinter. Zach. April. Irma.

Actually I’m not very sure why they fled. Shredder also did say he wasn’t paying them anymore, but come on! Surely they could defeat the Turtles, Splinter, and four random humans right?

I guess not. They never teamed up again.

The Beat-Alls (Image from YouTube)

9)Beat-Alls (Powerpuff Girls)

Team Roster: Mojo Jojo, HIM, Fuzzy Lumpkins, Princess Morbucks

First seen in: Meet the Beat-Alls, S03E18

It was a toss up between them and the Rowdyruff Boys, but then the Rowdyruff Boys were evil clones of the Powerpuff Girls and they didn’t have individual personalities. On the other hand, Fuzzy Lumpkins and Princess Morbucks are kind of weak and stupid, so I was debating whether I liked this group very much.

The Beat-Alls with Moko Jono (Image from The Fluffy Bunch Wiki)

Also, their debut episode was a homage/parody of the Beatles, complete with band wrecker Yoko – I mean, Moko Jojo. I’m kind of on the fence about how funny it all was – the British commentator’s narration got old quite quickly.

Still, it was fun to see them defeat the Powerpuff Girls! There wasn’t a clear explanation why the absence of Mojo Jojo would weaken them enough to let the Powerpuff Girls defeat them, but I’ll let it slide. It was fun to see them team up, though they never did so again.

The Nasty Boys (Image from the Marvel Animated Universe Wiki)

8)Nasty Boys (X-Men: The Animated Series, 1992)

Team Roster: Mr Sinister, Gorgeous George, Hairbag, Ruckus, Slab, Vertigo

First seen in: Til Death Do Us Part, Part I, S02E01

Yes, I’m counting Mr Sinister as part of the group. Although their debut was as a group, Vertigo didn’t join till later, and we would see Mr Sinister going solo in later episodes. So to me, this kind of qualifies as a villain team up.

Mr Sinister has a creepy lair (Image from DRG4’s Marvel Cartoon Page)

What made them so fearsome was that before their first appearance, the X-Men never really faced a villain group that was powerful enough to take them down. They defeated the Horsemen and the Brotherhood pretty easily in Season 1.

But in the Season 2 premiere, they could barely hold their own against the Nasty Boys. In the Season 2 finale, they faced the Nasty Boys again – without their powers, and were pretty badly defeated. So any time they met the Nasty Boys, they would get trounced.

Their leader, Mr Sinister, had this weird metallic voice and a Wolverine-esque healing factor too. How were the X-Men going to defeat this villain and his nigh invincible team of bad guys?

And, and, and – the Nasty Boys only appeared in two-parters. How awesome is that? It further cemented their status as villains to be feared. Although I don’t recall them appearing after Season 2.

Individually, they’re not that intimidating. But it was the circumstances they were encountered in that really made them fearsome.

The Crime Cartel

7)Crime Cartel (Spider-Man: The Animated Series, 1994)

Team Roster: Kingpin, Silvermane, Owl, Hammerhead, four other unnamed Crime Lords

First seen in: The Insidious Six, SE01

They are not explicitly called the “Crime Cartel” per se, but Kingpin refers to them as a crime cartel and it sounds as good a name as any. Formed out of the eight most prominent Crime Lords of that era, we first see them at their AGM where they discuss Spider-Man. Specifically, how he was thwarting their plans.

The Crime Cartel really likes Spider-Man

Kingpin was already Spider-Man’s regular nemesis on the series, and you would only really see Silvermane in action later in the Season, but not the rest of the Crime Lords. So it was quite a let down, but it didn’t happen all at once, so the disappointment was a slow build up.

But as a impressionable young boy, I was like… woah. You mean Kingpin wasn’t the only Crime Lord around? You mean there were seven other Crime Lords that Spider-Man had to deal with who were just as powerful as him? You mean if Spider-Man defeated Kingpin, that wouldn’t be end of all crime? Spider-Man’s quest just became eight times harder!

Not really. But their meeting spawned another team that would be a serious threat to Spider-Man – the Insidious Six, the cartoon version of the Sinister Six.

The Council of Evil

6)Council of Evil (He-Man & the Masters of the Universe, 2002)

Team Roster: Skeletor, Count Marzo, Evilseed, Webstor, three Giants

First seen in: The Council of Evil, Part 1, S01E25

What’s memorable about this team up is that Skeletor was such a treacherous douchebag here. He sacrificed his original team to lure the Masters into a false sense of security… then he went to sic his newly formed Council of Evil on each hero when they were relaxing!

I don’t think Prince Adam couldn’t even take on one of them?

It was quite a contrast between Skeletor’s regular Evil Warriors and the new Council of Evil, because the episode opened with the Evil Warriors getting curb stomped, and Part 2 had the Council of Evil thrashing the Masters, albeit individually.

The best part? It was the Season 1 cliffhanger too – and only a Power Sword-less Adam was left to face them!

Of course, the Season 2 premiere had He-Man defeating almost all of them by himself, rendering them as a much less menacing threat. But at the end of Season 1, they were unstoppable!

They never teamed up again. Skeletor’s such a backstabbing douche.

The Nine Great Demon Generals (Image from Transformers Wiki)

5)Nine Great Demon Generals (九大魔将軍) (Transformers: Zone)

Team Roster: Abominus, Black Zarak, Bruticus, Devastator, King Poseidon, Overlord, Menasor, Predaking, Trypticon

First seen in: Enter the New Supreme Commander, Dai Atlas, Transformers: Zone OVA

Surprised that Transformers didn’t make the number one on the list? By default, because the Decepticons are one big faction by themselves, it’s difficult to have any real villain team ups – the villains are already in one big team.

Artwork for the Generals (Image from Transformers Wiki)

However, by the time of Transformers: Zone, the Decepticons were all but wiped out. Hence the horror when you saw that some of the Decepticons that you thought were dead (or forgotten about) were back! More powerful than ever before! Even worse, they sported two former Emperors of Evil – Black Zarak and Overlord!

Well, Overlord is more the Ambassador of Evil. But they were the BBEGs of two seasons ago – what great evil could be strong enough to make them their minions?

Everyone else was a combiner. Combiners, by defaults, were Special Teams. This was a Special Team made up of Special Teams! And since the Autobots were reduced to comic relief Micromasters, who could possibly stand up to them?

It’s a pity that this was the last animated episode for G1, so no episode ever showcased them again. But to give us a super villain team up in the final produced episode… thanks, Takara!

The Secret Society

4)Secret Society (Justice League)

Team Roster: Gorilla Grodd, Sinestro, Parasite, Clayface, Giganta, Shade, Killer Frost

First seen in: The Secret Society, Part 1, S02E17

I have tried to stay away from existing comic book groups, and the Nasty Boys was obscure enough to qualify (I hope). But the Secret Society just has to qualify for the one of the best villain team ups.

The Secret Society vs the Justice League!

Unlike the Injustice Gang, which appeared earlier on Justice League, almost all of the Secret Society’s members had debuted in the DCAU earlier – either in Superman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Animated Series, or on Justice League itself. Only Giganta and Killer Frost were new – as compared to the Injustice Gang, where only Lex Luthor and Joker had appeared before.

Secondly, the Secret Society was almost completely made up of the direct enemies of the individual Justice League members. Gorilla Grodd – Flash, Sinestro – Green Lantern, Clayface – Batman, Giganta – Wonder Woman, Parasite – Superman. Only Killer Frost and Shade were iffy, but Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl don’t have that many enemies anyway.

And best of all, they actually defeated the Justice League in combat! So when the Justice League fought them again, you were legitimately worried if our heroes would win – they lost in a fair fight the last time, how could they win this time?

The Secret Society would return as the Legion of Doom in Season 3 of Justice League: Unlimited, led by Gorilla Grodd again.

The United Alliance of Evil (Image from Rangers Wiki)

3)United Alliance of Evil (Power Rangers in Space)

Team Roster: Dark Specter, Astronema, Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Divatox, Elgar, Master Vile, King Mondo, Queen Machina

First seen in: From Out of Nowhere, Part 1, S01E01

I know Power Rangers isn’t an actual cartoon, but the whole tone and attitude of the series pretty much fits a cartoon series. And this is a really good villain team up! In any case, I think this was the 6th season of Power Rangers, and it opened with all of the BBEGs of the previous 5 seasons at a… party.

Dark Specter (Image from Power Ranger Planet)

This definitely spelt trouble. Just the BBEGs alone outnumbered the Power Rangers, and the previous season finale destroyed all their weapons, powers, Zords, and so forth. Even if they did manage to get their powers back, how could the Power Rangers triumph against such impossible odds?

To make it worse, it featured a leader, Dark Specter, who looked exactly like a nigh invincible opponent they had faced in a movie prior (Maligore), but more powerful. Right. I couldn’t wait for the inevitable Zord battle with the upsized villain, but sadly that never happened.

The name “United Alliance of Evil” was never really used in the series though, I think it was a fan adopted name. But anyways. The monsters they would create! Imagine if each episode sent a different BBEG to confront the Power Rangers! What kind of stories would result? How could the Power Rangers win?

The United Alliance of Evil would continue to appear throughout the season, only to face total defeat by the season (and in a way, series) finale.

The Eco-Villains (Image from Captain Planet Wiki)

2)Eco-Villains & Captain Pollution (Captain Planet & the Planeteers)

Team Roster: Dr Blight, Looten Plunder, Verminous Skumm, Sly Sludge, Duke Nuke, Captain Pollution

First seen in: Mission to Save Earth, Part 1, S01E23

Super Radiation! Deforestation! Smog! Toxics! Hate! By your polluting powers combined, I am Captain Pollution!

Up until this episode, Captain Planet never really had any trouble defeating anyone. Yeah they’d throw pollution at him to slow him down, but besides that, there wasn’t any villain who was Captain Planet’s physical equal.

Captain Pollution! (Image from Captain Planet Wiki)

Until Captain Pollution showed up.

Also, the villains hadn’t really teamed up before this episode – which made it even more interesting. Now the Eco-Villains were the true evil counterparts of the Planeteers, with their own rings and powers and everything. Except the Eco-Villains already had so many resources before getting their own rings and powers. How could the Planeteers triumph?

There are so many amazing things about this team up. It gave the bad guys their own summoning sequence for Captain Pollution. It introduced the idea of the polar opposites of the Planeteer’s powers (Fire – Super Radiation, Earth – Deforestation, Wind – Smog, Water – Toxics, Heart – Hate), and every episode thereafter was a hope that Captain Pollution would appear.

Pity he only appeared two more times. Oh well.

The Eco-Villains would band together like this one more time with Hoggish Greedly, under the leadership of Zarm – but with no Captain Pollution. Pfft. They weren’t that scary in that second team up.

The Fearsome Five (Image from Darkwing Duck Wiki)

1)Fearsome Five (Darkwing Duck)

Team Roster: Negaduck, Liquidator, Megavolt, Quackerjack, Bushroot

First seen in: Just Us Justice Ducks, Part 1, S01E20

Darkwing Duck carries a special spot in my heart. It was a goofy parody (not that I knew it was that) of the superhero genre that lasted 91 episodes! Longer than most cartoon adaptations of comic superheroes. And the villains were all larger than life, garishly colourful and surprisingly, artistically distinct enough for me to sort of draw them when I was a kid.

Fearsome Five vs the Justice Ducks!

If there’s one word to describe the Fearsome Five, it’s… colourful. Literally. Each villain carries enough personality (maybe except Liquidator) and a colour scheme to threaten Darkwing Duck for an entire episode. Put all five of them together and they would be unstoppable! And hilarious.

And it was the first time we ever saw Darkwing Duck’s evil twin, Negaduck! His name already sounded menacing (more so than Negaman, I’m sure) and with the superpowers of his fellow villains, who could stop the Fearsome Five, which was, phonetically, a treat to pronounce.

It didn’t help that the Justice Ducks were kind of… lame. Gizmoduck and Morgana were useful, for sure, but Neptunia and Stegmutt were just… annoying. I was surprised that they were even able to defeat the Fearsome Five, but well. Such was life.

The Fearsome Five was, and will always be, the best supervillain team up I’ve ever seen.