The Justice League are DC's premiere superhero team that usually contains the most popular and most powerful heroes from the DC Universe, though there was a brief period of time when the various factions of the League were filled with second-stringers who frequently met their grisly ends in the pages of Justice League comics.
While a number of the most popular of the League have died or appeared to have died in huge crossover event series or their own respective titles, we're going to be focusing on those characters whose heartbreaking deaths either occurred in the pages of a Justice League comic or greatly impacted the of the Justice League.
Vibe And Steel Were Killed As Of Justice League Detroit
Following a failed attempt at stopping an alien invasion due to the of the League being too busy in their other duties, Aquaman disbanded the team and founded a new full-time version that operated out of a bunker in Detroit.
While this version of the team was fully dedicated to the League, they were considered underpowered and quickly abandoned by Aquaman. Professor Ivo sent his advanced androids to the JL's headquarters, where they proceeded to kill first Vibe and then Steel, which signaled the end of Justice League Detroit.
The Crimson Fox Sisters Were Both Killed In Action As Justice League
The Justice League team was split and spread across the world to operate from different branches that included the Justice League of America and Justice League of Europe, which introduced the twin sisters Constance and Vivan D'Aramis as the superhero Crimson Fox.
The twin sisters shared the singular identity and Vivian was the first to fall in battle against a magical monster known as Paunteur. Constance was killed later in the pages of Sandman by Mist alongside Blue Devil and Amazing Man when she tried to form a new JLE.
Mystek Died While On A Space Mission With Justice League Task Force
The mysterious character of Mystek first appeared in the pages of The Ray before she ed Martian Manhunter's Justice League Task Force, which further revealed her secret identity of Seong Barclay. She kept herself hidden by wearing powerful armor created by her father that allowed her to manipulate quark energies.
Mystek's placement on the JLTF was intended to build buzz for her own solo series, but when that fell through, Mystek's creator Christopher Priest killed the character off while on a mission in space in JLTF.
Ice Was Killed By Overmaster During The Judgement Day Crossover
The "Judgement Day" crossover saw the various factions of the Justice League assemble together to stop the overwhelming threat of Overmaster and his Cadre as they attempted to turn the Earth against the League while holding it for ransom.
The League was able to defeat Overmaster and stop his plans to destroy the Earth, but it left the team divided and cost them greatly, as long-time member Tora Olafsdotter/Ice was killed by Overmaster before they were able to defeat him.
Aztek Sacrificed Himself To Stop Mageddon And Save The JLA
Aztek was introduced in his own series before ing the JLA, which revealed that he was a man named Uno who had been trained since birth by a secret society to become Aztek the Ultimate Man in order to stop the prophesied end of the universe.
Aztek's powerful armor made him a valuable teammate on the JLA, though when the team encountered the war machine Mageddon (Aztek's prophesied evil) he was forced to sacrifice himself in order to save his teammates and fulfill his destiny.
Tomorrow Woman Was A Robotic Infiltrator Who Found Her Humanity
The superstar roster of the JLA added a few new following the new team's debut against the White Martians in the 90s, and the first official new member added to the team was the mysterious hero known as Tomorrow Woman, who ed all of her tests with flying colors.
It was soon revealed that Tomorrow Woman had been created by Professor Ivo and T.O. Morrow to infiltrate and destroy the League. However, Tomorrow Woman began to develop emotions and turned on her creators, sacrificing herself to save the JLA instead of destroying them.
Firestorm, Sue Dibny, And Jack Drake Were Killed In Identity Crisis
While the Identity Crisis mini-series wasn't technically a Justice League comic, it explored a specific era of the team and the dark decision they made that comes back to haunt the heroes after a series of deaths brings their secret out in the open. Identity Crisis featured the death of Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm, though the most heartbreaking deaths came in the form of those closest to the League.
Elongated Man's wife and former JLA assistant Sue Dibny was murdered first, which was followed by Robin's father Jack Drake (and Captain Boomerang). The murders were committed by Ray Palmer/Atom's ex-wife Jean Loring.
Metamorpho Died Protecting His Teammates During Planetfall
When the JLA restructured the team with the biggest heroes in the DC universe in the '90s, the previous iteration that included Metamorpho was left at the League's satellite headquarters to prepare for the new team's arrival. The skeleton crew of Justice League was attacked by the White Martians who destroyed the JL satellite.
Metamorpho was forced to use his shapeshifting powers to encapsulate his teammates inside himself as he became the shuttle home, though the re-entry into Earth's orbit resulted in Metamorpho's death as his body was rendered inert (though the character would later return thanks to his unique abilities).
Aquaman Sacrificed Himself During The Drowned Earth Crossover Event
The Drowned Earth crossover saw Aquaman and the Justice League unite to face off against three ancient alien Sea Gods that were unleashed by the Legion of Doom on their quest to unlock the cosmic Totality and unleash Doom on the DC Universe.
A Death Kraken was unleashed on Earth, which resulted in Aquaman's sacrifice to stop the powerful alien destroyer. However, it was later revealed that Aquaman's connection to the Life Force resulted in his transportation across the multiverse instead of his death.
Most Of The Justice League Was Murdered During The Obsidian Age
of the JLA were lost across time only to find themselves in ancient Atlantis, which had fallen under the control of the sorceress Gamemnae who had raised the sunken city and altered the DC timeline.
The Justice League were weakened due to their trip through time and were massacred by Gamemnae and her League of Ancients. The bodies of the deceased JLA were placed on pikes around Atlantis, though their ghosts were able to help save the day and restore the timeline in the future, resurrecting themselves.