Some of the best love stories begin with a superhero or super-villain. It’s strange to think about, but in this modern day and age comic books are a fantastic source for romantic relationships. Throughout history, entertainment has included romance in one form or another. From the Greek tragedies and the days of Shakespeare to modern films like The Notebook and Titanic, romance has been a huge influence on the entertainment realm. Yet, in the comi𒉰c book world, romance has taken a whole new meaning, having theꦺ power to influence life or demise situations like nothing else before it. Yet, the most dangerous, strange and unusual romances in the comic book industry have to be between a hero and a villain.
Yes, as strange as it seems, heroes often get romantically involved with villains. What people sometimes forget is no matter what side of the law these characters fall on, they are just people. They are people 🏅(or aliens, robots, etc), who have feelings, emotions, and needs just like anyone else. Whether heroes fall to the dark side, villains rise up above their dark past and become heroes themselves, or two people surrender to one night of passion, these individuals have emotions that tie them together, no matter what their history or the battles that are to come.
That’s why today we 🍸are going to explore the 25 romances that have bloomed between heroes and villains in the comic book world. Some of these 🐎are known to comic fans, while others will truly shock you.
25 When A Bꦡat Loves A Cat 🍃
One of the more popular instances of a hero falling for one of their villains has to be Batman and Catwoman. For decades the budding romance between billionaire turned vigilante hero Bruce Wayne and expert thief Selina Kyle has been explored, with each steadfastly holdin🧔g onto their own beliefs yet torn by their love for one another. Batman has been a long-standing symbol of justice, refusing to relent on his war against crime and those who perpetuate it.
Yet, while he’s never relented against mobsters like the Penguin or madmen like The Joker, less dangerous criminals like Catwoman have been given more leeway on the hero’s radar.
Catwoman is definitely one of those criminals. Their relationship has been teased often, with their fights and chases across the city of Gotham, often turning flirtatious and Batman often not being as hardline against her crimes as he is with the likes of The Riddler or Penguin. More recently it was announced that Bruce Wayne and Selina Ky𒊎le were finally going to tie the knot, but as you’ll see later in this article, Batman has a history of romances with various villains in his rogues gallery.
24 🅷 Two Mutants Divided By Ideals🔥
One of the more popular X-Men characters from the Marvel universe has to be Rogue. The mutant woman who has a white streak in her hair and is unable to touch anyone due to her power to drain other’s powers and life force with just a single touch, Rogue had an on and off relationship with the Cajun thief and mutant Gambit, but found herself torn when she began a relationship with X-man villain and all-powerful mutant, Magneto. Known as the master of magnetism, Rogue and Magneto’s relationship started in an alternate comic book universe known as Age of Apocalypse, but soon found their way into the mainstream comics. When she had to choose between Gambit and Magneto, she chose the latter and found herself in a doomed-to-fail relationship with the villain. This relationship is also strange as Rogue was an X-Men member, who was tasked with defending mutants and humanity, whereas Magneto hated humanity and wanted mutants to beco✨me the superior species on the planet. This is weird to think about a♎lso if you look at the film universe of the X-men, where Rogue was played by a young Anna Paquin and Magneto was played by the much older Ian McKellen.
23 Gods And Monsters 🎃
Back in the Marvel universe, fans of the MCU might remember in the 2016 film Dr. Strange that the main villain running things behind the scenes was Dormammu. The all powerful being of a dark dimension, it took the power o🥂f the time stone and Dr. Stཧrange to convince him to leave Earth alone, and even then he only did so to escape a time loop, not because he was able to be stopped.
This showcases the true power of the villain, who ruled over an entire dimension, not just a single planet. Yet, in the comics, Dormammu had a sister named Umar, who was just as powerful and intense as he was. In this comic book story, the heroes sent their own unstoppable and intense hero, The Hulk. The Hulk was Bruce Banner, a scientist turned into a heroic beast after a gamma experiment gone wrong. Fans know him thanks to his role in the MCU, but the hero has a hugely complex history in the comics. You’d think these two powerful beings would come to blows and have a spectacular battle. Yet when the time came, Umar used her feminine charms and looks to seduce the Hulk instead, creating the most awkward date/roman🐭tic evening in the comics.
22 🍸 She Loved The Mask…Not The Man
One of Marvel’s most utilized romances between a hero and villain of sorts has to be꧃ Spider-Man (aka Peter Parker) and Black Cat (aka Felicia Hardy). The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and expert jewel thief were an unlikely pair. Peter Parker was a normal high school kid who became a hero after being bit by a radioactive spider, gaining super strength, agility and much more. Felicia Hardy, meanwhile, was an🐼 accomplished jewel thief that grew quite an infatuation with the web-slinger, loving his power and strength.
While Peter eventually married his best friend and love interest Mary Jane Watson and his first romance was with Gwen Stacey, Peter had a unique relationship with Felicia.
The two went on to become a vigilante team of sorts when she revealed her villain days were not something she was particularly in love with, and yet the two eventually separated. You see, it turns out she fell in love with the hero himself, Spider-Man. Yet, she couldn’t find it within herself to love the man beneath the mask, finding no attraction to the kid and nerdy man he was outside of his heroic l🦹ife.
21 🦩 Attorney Client Privilege Gone Too Far 😼
This next romantic pairing was really just a one time moment betweജen a villain who had reformed himself for a brief time and joined the X-Men and a hero from another reality that took the place of our universe’s hero instead. Those characters were She-Hulk and Juggernaut. She-Hulk was Bruce Banner’s cousin, who gained the hulk’s power but retained her own personality, staying in hulk form forever. The Juggernaut was a longtime X-Men villain who used an an🎃cient artifact to gain the power of the Juggernaut, unable to be stopped once he was running and gaining superior strength as well.
You see, an alternate reality version of She-Hulk met up with the reformed Juggernaut, the all-powerful brother of Charles Xavier. Both the former villain and hero were incredibly strong and powerful, and while serving or pretending to serve as his attorney, Jennifer Walters and the Juggernaut gave into temptation, spending one night with each other. The superpower infused cousin to the Hulk himself, Jennif💞er fromꦬ our universe was in disbelief when others mentioned her one night with the Juggernaut, fighting the accusations passionately as she remained unaware of her alternate universe counterpart’s actions.
20 ꦉ🏅 A Prophecy Of Love
Catwoman was not the only woman Batman fell in love with that walked on the dark side of the law. While she was the most morally upright and would go on to marry the Dark Knight, another woman with ✤a much darker past once captured his heart. The daughter of the Demon’s Head Talia Al🀅 Ghul and Bruce Wayne had an off and on relationship with one another. Though they cared for one another and brought about a passion like no other within themselves, Bruce could never give all of himself to her, as she insisted along with her father that Bruce was destined to take the mantle of the Demon’s Head, the leader of the League of Assassins.
Yet, Bruce refused to end t🏅he life of anyone he faced in combat, including the immortal Ra’s Al Ghul who constantly tried to destroy Gotham. Because Talia was so ingrained into the League, she never joined Bruce. Yet the two remain intertwined as they did have a child together. Bruce learned years after he was born that he had a son named Damien, who although trained in the ways of the League was given to Bruce and raised to be the newest Robin.
19 ♕ Can A Shapeshifter Love A Wolverine?
The answer is yes and no𝔍. You see, one relationship fans may not realize occurred in Marvel comics was between Raven, aka Mystique, and Wolverine. For years the two characters have been mortal enemies, never giving off an impression of a deeper connection physically or emotionally other than their hatred for one another. Yet, these two wild, animalistic superpower-based characters once had a very deep connection with one another. The immortal, self-healing and metal clawed hero briefly joined the same gang as Mystique in the year 1921, and the two had a brief romance.
However, their relationship became strained as the two didn’t view the world the same way, and eventually, she pushed Logan out of a moving train.
That kind of violent split between a couple can have longstanding consequences. Since then their relationship has remained that of enemies, with the two often clashing and Mystique even getting romantically in🎶volved with Logan’s hated enemy Sabertooth, aka Victor Creed. Yet, in one alternate timeline their relationship together (between Logan and Raven), resulted in a son being born named Raze, who had the powers of both his shapeshifting mother and self-healing and clawed father.
18 ♉ Across The Spectrum
One relationship in the DC universe started well before there were heroes or villains. Ferris Aircraft VP Carol Ferris hired an arrogant and comical fighter pilot named Hal Jordan to test out new aircrafts her company was building. While working together the two fell in love with one another and began a roma🌟nce that would last for years. However, during that time, Hal was in a crash that led to him meeting the perishing Abin Sur, a Green Lantern whose ring chose Hal to be his replacement when he passed.
Becoming the Green Lantern of Earth, Hal trained with the Green Lantern Corps and became a member of the Justice League. However, his romanc💟e with Carol faltered when an alien race known as the Zamarons chose Carol to be their queen, and gave her the power of the Star Sapphire. Un🎐happy she loved Hal, a Green Lantern, they corrupted her to become his enemy, with the two clashing often through the years. However, she finally broke free of that rivalry and formed the Star Sapphires, her own group that utilized the power of love in their abilities. She’s recently been portrayed as a hero, not a villain.
17 🌺 🐼 Rise Of The Phoenix
One pairing in the Marvel universe that started off as an innocent romance between two heroes turned into a complex tale when one of the heroes was turned to the dark side. Ironically, it’s not the character fans would expect, at least if they’ve been following Scott Summers for the last decade. Especially after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, where Scott Summers took on the power of the Phoenix𝄹 and actually e🐭nded the life of his lifelong mentor and father figure, Charles Xavier.
Since that moment Scott has had a very dark time in the comics, with even his past self meeting the new Scott and hating what he becomes. While in recent years in the comics, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, has been taking on a more villainous role himself, he was originally a stand-up hero and team leader of the X-Men. At this time he dated Jean Grey, a powerful mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. However, she soon became possessed by a galactic entity known as the Phoenix. This storyline, known as the Dark Phoenix storyline, saw her gaining the power to destroy an ent💮ire galaxy, and the X-Men had to stop her.
16 Seeing Double ꧅
Cyclops has a bad history with dating. Much like Batman in the DC Universe, Scott Summers has dated numerous women with villainous pasts, present times and even future villains. One thing that allows heroes to date villains unknowingly is the use of clones. This is a hugely popular comic book storyline, where classic heroes and characters are cloned by villains in some lab, programmed to get close to the person the real hero was involved with before their demise, and infiltrating their lives until the villain unleashed their creation. One of the more popular instances of this was in Spider-Man’s Clone Conspiracy storyline in the Marvel universe.
This next villainess he dated was actually an evil clone of his first love Jean Grey.
Named Madely🍸n Prior, she was🐓 actually cloned by the evil Mr. Sinister. Mr. Sinister is a popular X-Men villain with a history of cloning others, including himself. His expertise in all things genetics has made him one of the heroic groups top villains to battle. The relationship between Madelyn and Scott dwindled soon after it began, with Madelyn becoming violent when he rejected her. When Scott left her, she went on to become the Goblin Queen.