Most Evil Marvel Gods, Ranked

The Marvel Universe is full of interesting gods, with deities from traditional mythologies like Zeus and Odin to original creations like Knull and Cyttoarak. Unfortunately, not all of these gods are benevolent heroes. Some instead prefer to use their power and influence to wreak chaos, destruction, and pure evil across the universe.

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From gods that have been led astray to beings of pure evil, these deities have enslaved entire worlds, destroyed entire galaxies, and threatened all of existence. Whether driven by a thirst for battle or a desire to destroy all life, these are the most evil gods in the Marvel Universe.

10

Ares

The Greek God Of War

• First Appearance – Human Torch #5 (1941)
• Creator – Carl Burgos
• Mythology – Greek

While not the most powerful member of the Greek Pantheon in Marvel Comics, Ares, the God of War, is known for his evil and cruel nature. It’s no surprise, given his title, that Ares loves war and everything associated with it, especially when he gets to witness the atrocities of Mankind during wartime.

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It has been said that Ares has been the cause of many horrific conflicts throughout history, corrupting the minds of Roman generals, manipulating the Knights Templar, urging Napoleon to become more brutal, and influencing the Nazi regime. Ares even joined the Dark Avengers and led the Siege of Asgard. Although he tried to atone for his sins, Ares was untimely involved in so much evil throughout history, earning him a spot in this ranking.

9

Loki

The God Of Mischief

• First Appearance – Venus #6 (1949)
• Creator – Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby
• Mythology – Norse

It’s no surprise that the God of Mischief, Evil, and Lies has a place in this ranking. Although it has varied between versions, Loki is almost always an evil and nefarious character, constantly seeking the throne of Asgard for himself. Whether trying to one-up his brother or take down his father, Loki has caused much death and destruction over the years.

During the Dark Avengers storyline, Loki portrayed himself as the Green Goblin to Norman Osborn, convincing him to launch a false-flag attack on a football game, causing the death of thousands of innocent humans to help justify Osborn’s invasion of Asgard. Outside his usual schemes, Loki has also tricked Thor into killing his friends, got his own mother killed, and annihilated Kid Loki.

8

Hela

The Goddess Of Death

• First Appearance – Journey into Mystery #102 (1964)
• Creator – Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
• Mythology – Norse

As daughter to the God of Mischief, Loki Laufeyson, Hela was destined to fall down the path of Evil from the start. Despite warnings from the Godesses of Fate, the Norns, on the day of maturity, Odin decreed that Hela would become the Goddess of Death and rule over Niffleheim and Hel (Hell).

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After years of ruling the realms of the dead, Hela became dissatisfied with her position and set her sights on the throne. It was this lust for power that set her down a dark path, warping and twisting her mind, causing her to do anything she could to seize more power, including prematurely taking the souls of innocent beings to help build her armies of death.

7

Cul Borson

The God Of Fear, Brother Of Odin

• First Appearance – Fear Itself (2011)
• Creator – Stuart Immonen, Matt Fraction
• Mythology – Norse

Cul, the brother of Odin, and son of Bor Burison, has always despised his younger sibling and longs to reclaim the Asgardian throne for himself. As the God of Fear, Cul thrives on suffering, pain, terror, and warfare, spreading fear wherever he goes. His obsession with fear has led him to make many evil decisions over the years.

Perhaps his most evil act was during the ‘Fear Itself’ storyline, in which Cul escaped his prison and unleashed a horrific terror on the Earth, the likes that Humankind had never seen before. During this storyline, he nearly destroyed Asgard, killed his nephew Thor (albeit temporarily), and nearly killed all of Earth’s mightiest heroes.

6

Cyttoarak

The God That Empowers The Juggernaught

• First Appearance – Strange Tales #124 (1964)
• Creator – Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Alex Toth
• Mythology – Marvel

Known by many names, Cyttoarak is a God-like entity that thrives on death and destruction. With names like the Destroyer, Master of the Raging Storm, and the Lord of Oblivion, it’s clear to see just how feared and revered Cyttoarak is among the Marvel Mythos. Cyttoarak is most well known for his avatar, the Juggernaught.

While residing in the Crimson Cosmos, Cyttoarak empowers and corrupts mortal beings into doing his dirty work. What makes Cyttoarak evil is his simple love of death and destruction. Unlike others on this list, he doesn’t have a grand plan or scheme; he simply loves to see people suffer.

5

Knull

The Creator Of The Symbiotes

• First Appearance – Thor: God of Thunder #6 (2013)
• Creator – Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman
• Mythology – Marvel

As the Eldritch God of Darkness, Knull seeks to rid the universe of the light and will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. When the Celestials began creating the universe, Knull was offered the role of the King in Black, to help maintain the light in the universe. Knull declined the offer by decapitating the Celestial and used its power to create the All-Black Necrosword.

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Seeking to plunge the universe into eternal darkness, Knull created the Symbiotes and began a genocidal war against the Celestials, other Gods, and life itself. For billions of years, Knull has been a being of pure terror across the universe, and there’s no telling how many lives he has taken during the campaign of evil.

4

Set

The First Murderer

• First Appearance – Marvel Tales #96 (1950)
• Creator – Robert E Howard, Mike Friedrich
• Mythology – Marvel

Created at the dawn of life on Earth, Set is one of the original Elder Gods, incredibly powerful beings with immense mystical powers. After releasing he could consume the powers of his fellow Elder Gods, Set killed his sibling Hyppus and absorbed his life force for himself. This act made Set the first murderer in history and led the rest of the Elder Gods down a dark path.

After the fall of the Elder Gods, Set retreated to his pocket dimension, unable to fully manifest on Earth. With this limitation, Set has been trying to regain his full power for billions of years, creating demonic beings like the Wolf-Men, Harpies, and Elderspawn to do his bidding. Over the years, Set has corrupted the minds of many individuals, forcing them to commit horrific acts in his name.

3

Mephisto

The Lord Of The Lower Depths

• First Appearance – Bible Tales for Young Folk #1 (1953)
• Creator – Stan Lee, John Busceme
• Mythology – Marvel

Although not technically the Devil, Mephisto is a powerful demon that rules over his dominion, which he likes to call Hell. Since his creation, Mehpiso has done many evil acts, like torturing the Silver Surfer and Doctor Stange, trapping the soul of Cynthia Von Doom, and being responsible for countless horrific deaths throughout the history of Mankind.

Perhaps the most famous example that shows Mephisto’s true evil is the One More Day storyline. After Aunt May is shot, Mephisto gives Peter Parker the ultimate deal, saving Aunt May at the cost of his marriage to Mary Jane. With no other option, Peter and MJ accept and before Mephisto removes their marriage from history, he cruelly shows them the daughter they would have had, had they never made the deal.

2

Chthon

The Creator Of The Darkhold

• First Appearance – Marvel Chillers #1 (1975)
• Creator – Mark Wolfman, Bill Mantlo
• Mythology – Marvel

Brother to a former entry on this list Set, Chthon is an Elder God and the writer of the most evil and powerful book in Marvel, the Darkhold. Chthon wrote The Darkhold, a book of pure evil, to help him maintain his influence on Earth while he was hiding away in his pocket dimension. Although powerful, the Darkhold drives its readers insane and corrupts their souls beyond repair.

Chthons goal is the destruction of all reality, and he has come close on many occasions. Some of his most evil acts were: taking control of the Scarlet Witch and whipping out nearly all the mutants on Earth, rewriting reality into his twisted paradise, and unleashing Vampires, Werewolves, and other demonic creatures into the world.

1

Amatsu Mikaboshi

The God Of Evil

• First Appearance – Marvel Chillers #1 (1975)
• Creator – Mark Wolfman, Bill Mantlo
• Mythology – Marvel

The Japanese God of Evil, Amatsu Mikaboshi, or the Chaos King, is an aspect of Oblivion, the cosmic entity that had existed long before the Multiverse began. His sole purpose of existence is to spread evil throughout the Multiverse. He doesn’t want to control or rule, he simply wants to destroy everything for all eternity.

During the Chaos War, Amatsu Mikaboshi declared war on all of existence, intending to return the multiverse to pure nothingness. He went on a rampage and consumed the life force of entire pantheons of gods, destroyed the Afterlife, defeated the likes of Odin and Zeus, and struck fear into the hearts of beings like Eternity and Infinity. What makes Amatsu Mikaboshi so evil is his simplicity, you cannot reason with him, you cannot begin to understand him, he simply wants to end everything and will stop at nothing to do so.

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