Whether they be from Marvel, DC Comics, or a company outside the big two, comics books are filled with violent superheroes. While most heroes have a moral code or a set of ethics that prevents them from going too far, certain heroes don't limit themselves to a sense of justice. Some DC heroes can be downright terrifying, even more so than their villains.

Meanwhile, over at Marvel, even The Avengers can be cruel. Keep in mind that DC and Marvel are largely marketed toward children, so even when these heroes can be unhinged levels of violence, they can only go so far while creative teams work within their censors. Alternatively, the same can't be said for publishers like BOOM! Studios, Image Comics, Dynamite, Dark Horse, etc. Without softer limitations, the heroes housed under those branches can be all the more violent, standing shoulder to shoulder with the most dangerous comic book superheroes.

10 Not Even DC Censorship Can Hold Back Lobo's Violent Streak

First DC Comics Appearance: Omega Men #3 by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen

Despite being sanitized by DC Comics, Lobo's still their most brutal antihero. By definition, Lobo is an agent of chaos. Therefore, he's at his most effective and believable when taken off the leash, both in-universe and creatively. Again, a company like DC Comics can only go so far in their portrayal, but when it comes to him, DC lets Lobo get away with more than they are willing to let the average superhero get away with. If Lobo is going to get chaotic, he usually goes to the full extent possible.

This is the same man who was hired by the Easter Bunny to kill Santa Claus, and instead of just killing him, he decapitates him, massacres all the elves in his workshop, and then proceeds to use his sleigh to drop bombs across the world. Talk about excessive.

9 Omni-Man Maintains His Heroism Despite His Crimes

First Image Comics Appearance: Supreme #53 by Alan Moore and Chris Sprouse

Omni-Man receives a lot of comparisons to Homelander from The Boys. While their degrees of violence are similar, the biggest difference is that Homelander is not a superhero, but a maniacal villain posing to the public as a superhero. Omni-Man, meanwhile, aspires for change in a way that validates his redemption arc in Invincible. There was a time when he was an antagonist, and the crimes he committed were awful, but his death was harsh for someone who earned his redemption.

From the moment he massacred his fellow Guardians of the Globe, audiences started viewing Omni-Man as too far gone for retribution.

That being said, it's understandable if not every reader is warmed by Omni-Man's redemption when he actively commits genocide across multiple planets across the galaxy, and that's just the savagery he commits off-. From the moment he massacred his fellow Guardians of the Globe, audiences started viewing Omni-Man as too far gone for retribution.

8 Absolute Batman is Even More Violent than the Canonical Version

First DC Comics Appearance: DC All In Special #1 by Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder

The original Batman within the official DC Universe canon has been known to roughhouse criminals a little too hard, but his Absolute Universe counterpart gives him a run for his money. While the OG Batman can get violent, Absolute Batman has a violence problem. While the Absolute Universe's Batman maintains a no-kill rule, just like most Batmen within the multiverse, his no-kill rule spawns less out of a moral code, and more out of a pathological sense to punish his opponents as severely as possible that they wish they were dead.

The Batman of DC's main continuity was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

He's thoroughly studied the body to the point he knows how to avoid an artery whenever he enforces a punch or a cut. He's fashioned his suit to be a weapon, including a detachable Bat Symbol for an ax, a spiked cape, and ears that can be knives.

7 Wolverine Has the Most Violent Superhero Powers

First Marvel Appearance: The Incredible Hulk by Len Wein and Herb Trimpe

Wolverine's claws alone make him among the most violent heroes in the Marvel Universe, and the way he uses them puts into question his hero status. He's never been a man keen on maintaining a no-kill rule, and it is rare for him to display a shred of sympathy for anyone before ripping them to shreds. What's scary about Wolverine isn't his claws, but his efficiency and willingness to be exactly the animal that people fear him of being. His potential for violence is almost as terrifying as his penchance for it.

"I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do best isn't very nice." - Wolverine in Wolverine by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont

After all, this is the same Wolverine who has been shown to be capable of ripping to shreds every single member of the X-Men in an alternate reality where he becomes Old Man Logan. He was tricked into thinking they were the team's rogue's gallery. With that in mind, everyone should be grateful he opts to use his treachery for good, or else Wolverine would have destroyed several heroes by now.

6 Moon Knight Takes His Addiction to Violence Too Far Whenever Possible

First Marvel Appearance: Werewolf by Night #32 by Dough Moench and Don Perlin

Largely due to his mental health struggles, Moon Knight is addicted to violence. Rather than work on himself and tone down his violence as much as he's aware of it, Moon Knight feeds into it. Moon Knight breathes off the thought of dishing out pain to the opposition. On the one hand, dishing out such punishment is something he deems necessary to keep criminals off the streets and put a permanent end to the cycle of evil that plagues the Marvel Universe. On the other hand, he enjoys it too much.

Otherwise, he wouldn't commit such unlawful acts as slicing off faces and wearing them, torturing his victims, gouging their eyes out, carving his insignia into their foreheads, etc. The list goes on, and as long as there is a Moon Knight in the Marvel Universe, it's only going to get longer.

5 Spawn is More Brutal Than Anything Seen From Marvel or DC

First Image Comics Appearance: Spawn #1 by Todd McFarlane

A sound argument can be made for Spawn being the most violent superhero that doesn't belong to either DC Comics or Marvel. At the risk of further hyperbole, it's just as accurate to call Spawn the most brutal comic hero from any company, Marvel and DC included. Spawn exists to be one of two things: dark and badass as all heck. With a character design like his, he has the badass part down pat, but as far as going dark, creative teams never pull back when it comes to unleashing Spawn's brutality.

Spawn is literally a hellspawn, and as such, he unleashes hell on anyone he decides is deserving of their fate. What he does to child murderer Billy Kincaid alone (which includes possibly the most sadistic use of an ice-cream scoop and popsicle stick ever put to page) has earned him the title of most brutal hero.

4 Hulk is Fueled by Violence

First Marvel Appearance: The Incredible Hulk by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

The Incredible Hulk is Bruce Banner's inner rage personified. Just like with any child who has not learned how to control their violence yet, Hulk unleashes every ounce of rage within him in a violent outburst. Whereas a child might knock over a table or two or shove other kids out of their way, the Hulk topples cities, charges through vehicles, and leaves an utter path of destruction in his wake. Anyone unlucky enough to be on his path before he cools down gets to feel the Hulk's rage firsthand.

The Hulk is also canonically an extension of Bruce Banner's Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Even when he's not the Hulk, Bruce Banner isn't the pacifist everyone thinks he is. Before anyone even had the chance to get angry, Banner was known to torture adversaries like The Abomination. As it turns out, Hulk and Bruce Banner are two peas in a pod when it comes to violence. They just dish it out differently.

3 Red Hood Sures Batman's Violent Nature

First DC Comics Appearance: Batman #357 by Gerry Conway and Don Newton

Jason Todd has always battled with his anger issues. He is someone who wears his emotions on his sleeves, and back when he was Robin, that was a problem. Most infamously, when he allegedly kills a serial ab by pushing him off an apartment building in Batman #424. It becomes an even bigger issue as a resurrected adult who throws caution to the wind at all times. At least as a Boy Wonder, he had Bruce Wayne keeping him in check before going too far. As an adult, having adopted the Red Hood namesake, no one can tame Jason except Jason.

He goes as far as he allows himself to go, and for someone with a checkered past trying to change, that proves difficult. Jason has gone back and forth over the years between having a kill rule, not having one, using lethal force through guns, or non-lethal weapons. It's a testament to just how unhinged and unstable Jason can be.

2 The Punisher Once Punished the Marvel Universe

First Marvel Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man #129 by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., and Ross Andru

It would be impossible to exclude a man who calls himself The Punisher from conversations about superheroes who violently punish their enemies. In Frank Castle's case, it is a miracle he is in the good graces of other superheroes, given how far removed he is from their code of ethics. Not every superhero abides by a no-kill rule, but his unapologetic, relentless attitude to violence, something that The Punisher is obsessed with. Garth Ennis' Born series puts into perspective just how violent Frank is.

There, in a lore-altering twist, his Punisher crusade began with him pleading with Death to put him at war with the world forever. Even more shocking, The Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe shows how Frank's violent obsession can push him to take out everyone if he wants to.

1 Deadpool Also Killed the Entire Marvel Universe (And is Even More Unpredictable)

First Marvel Appearance: The New Mutants #98 by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza

However, Frank Castle isn't the only borderline psychopath to commit such a feat. Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe showcases Wade Wilson doing the same, but it also points out the stark difference between him and the man who did the deed first. As cold as Frank can be in his punishments, he's also calculated and everything he does is with a purpose. For Deadpool, sometimes even he doesn't know what he's doing until he does it. Deadpool has unleashed some R-rated violence before, but oftentimes, he does so at random. He's just that much of a deranged individual.

Every part of the comics industry has its fair share of violent superheroes, but some can say that Deadpool may be the most violent of them all when compared to anyone else in Marvel, DC Comics, or other publishers for the sole reason that he's an unpredictable danger to everyone around him.