10 Supervillains Who Made Other Supervillains

A supervillain's purpose is, in one way or another, to spread their wicked influence upon the world. They can do this by amassing riches, culling their enemies, acquiring a position of power, or by killing their arch nemesis.

But there is another way for a supervillain to leave a lasting legacy: create a supervillain of their own. There are many reasons why evildoers beget evildoers - desperation, money, power, fun, or boredom. There have been some circumstances where a supervillain created a malevolent entity completely by accident.

These sinister scoundrels have been crafted through mutation, cloning, experimentation, or simple procreation. Some people were turned into supervillains by being brainwashed. Other times, they were moulded from scratch.

Despite the fact a supervillain's creation is often intended to serve as a protege or partner, that is not always the case. There are times where their apprentice's ambition supersedes their creator's, making them a bigger threat than anyone could've expected.

Some of these characters have only made a few appearances while others have made a lasting impression, not just in the world that they inhabit but in the history of comics.

Before he was Mister Sinister, Nathaniel Essex was a respected scientist. In 1859, he was blown away by Charles Darwin's Survival of the Fittest hypothesis and so, vowed to dedicate his life to genetics. When he learned human evolution could be accelerated by tinkering with genes, he assumed his discovery would change the scientific community forever.

Instead, his claims were met with ridicule from his colleagues. The ancient mutant, Apocalypse, made himself known to Essex and informed him there was merit to his work and encouraged him to keep going.

Essex buried himself in his research to the point where he neglected his friends and family. Only when his pregnant wife died did Essex realise how consumed by his work he had become. To ensure Essex didn't lose focus, Apocalypse altered his DNA, transforming him into a mutant called Mister Sinister.

As the years went by, Sinister realised that Apocalypse perceived him more and more like a servant rather than an ally. This conflict gave Sinister a new purpose: to create a perfect mutant to destroy his master. Because his mission usually involves kidnapping and cloning mutants, Sinister finds himself in constant conflict with the X-Men.