Superheroes and supervillains aren't the only metaphysical and supernatural beings in the DC Universe - in the darkest corners, there be monsters! Yes, there are the typical vampires and werewolves of classic horror, but there are also beings so bizarrely disturbing that they forever imprint on the reader's psyche.

If there's one thing that makes DC stand out from its distinguished competitor Marvel Comics, it's that things tend to get a little darker. With imprints like Vertigo and Black Label, DC has a long history of conceiving creatures so nightmarish they make the Joker seem tame. And while they may not be as well-known to the general public as Batman's rogues gallery, they will never be forgotten by those who have read their stories. These characters can be genuinely disturbing, so read on at your own risk.

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The Invunche

Invunche constantine

Appearing in Alan Moore and Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing #37, the invunche are based off creatures from Chilean folklore. In DC's stories, they are created by a horrific process too disturbing to describe here involving magic cream and the consumption of graveyard flesh. In Moore's series, the invunche serve as assassins for the Brujería, a coven of South American warlocks. One by one, a single invunche hunts down and kills each member of John Constantine's "Newcastle Crew." Eventually, it brings down Constantine as well, knocking out the Englishman and dragging him down to the deepest pit of the Brujería's lair. Though the invunche haven't made many appearances in comics, the appearance in Swamp Thing was memorable enough that one would later make a live-action appearance in NBC's short-lived TV series Constantine.

Nergal

Nergal Constantine

Speaking of John Constantine, this next arcane creature is heavily tied to the sorcerer's tragic origins. Before Constantine became the trench-coat wearing, chain-smoking con man DC fans grew to love, he was a failed musician turned amateur occultist. When he and a group of aspiring sorcerers learned of the demonic possession of a little girl named Astra, they traveled to a club in Newcastle to perform an exorcism. When they realized the entity within Astra was a powerful fear elemental, John decided the only way for them to banish it was to summon an even bigger demon - Nergal. Unfortunately, Constantine misspoke the incantation and Nergal quickly became an even bigger threat. In the aftermath, Nergal dragged Astra's soul to Hell, and the experience left Constantine badly traumatized.

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Like the invunche, Nergal was inspired by ancient folklore. First appearing in Mesopotamian legends, Nergal was the god of war, fire, and the underworld. Since being adapted into DC mythology by Jamie Delano and John Ridgway in Hellblazer #6, Nergal is described as a fallen Babylonian god turned demon whose sole purpose in life is to watch the innocent suffer. He has also been adapted in both animated and live action form - appearing in NBC's Constantine series as well as the animated movie Constantine: City of Demons, where he opens his own private franchise of Hell in Los Angeles. Though Constantine eventually became the man who had seen it all, Nergal was his original sin, and an overwhelmingly insidious villain in his early stories.

Barbatos and the Dragons of the Bat

Barbatos dragons

Though a relative newcomer to the DC Universe, Barbatos has become one of the most influential villains to ever terrorize the likes of the Justice League. Created by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Barbatos is essentially a destroyer-god tasked with devouring all the failed worlds within the Dark Multiverse. But Barbatos grew tired of his role and eventually killed his master, the Forger of Worlds, and then the Bat Dragon set his sights on reality above. Using Bruce Wayne as a portal, Barbatos sent his agents of darkness (nightmare versions of Batman) to Earth-Prime so they could drag it down into the depths of the Dark Multiverse. And in one alternate reality, he won.

DC's Tales From the Dark Multiverse told familiar short stories with dark and demented twists. The series ended with Tales From the Dark Multiverse: Dark Nights Metal. In this nightmare reality, Barbatos fuses with Bruce Wayne to become the Dragon of the End, and in turn mutates the core members of the Justice League into hellish kaiju-sized abominations. His envoy, the Batman Who Laughs, gleefully hunts down the surviving members of Earth's resistance. It's worth mentioning that even after Barbatos is defeated on Earth-Prime, the Batman Who Laughs continues to be a nightmare for the Justice League (and the rest of the Multiverse.) Barbatos takes his name from a figure in demonology known to be one of the dukes of Hell.

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Doctor Destiny

Doctor Destiny Sandman

Once nothing more than a goofy Justice League villain from the Silver Age, Sandman #6 by Neil Gaiman revamped Doctor Destiny into pure nightmare fuel. In his early days fighting against the likes of Batman and the Martian Manhunter, John Dee utilized a device known as the Materioptikon to bring bad dreams to life. Though he occasionally had his moments, Dee's luck eventually ran out and he was left to rot in Arkham Asylum, his ability to experience dreams shattered like his mind.

But Neil Gaiman brought the character back in a big way. As it turned out, the ruby gem typically seen on Doctor Destiny was actually the Dreamstone, an ancient talisman of Morpheus (aka the Sandman.) The Dreamstone was Dee's true source of power, the core of his Materioptikon technology, and upon reuniting with this tool of the Sandman's trade, Doctor Destiny goes on a rein of terror inside a hole-in-the-wall diner. Controlling the perceptions, emotions, and thoughts of the patrons, Doctor Destiny is an abject lesson on what happens when a twisted super-villain is suddenly handed the powers of a god.

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Stanley's Monster

Stanley's Monster

Much like Doctor Destiny, Stanley's Monster wasn't always nightmare fuel. First appearing as a backup feature in DC's The Fox and the Crow in 1966, Stanley Dover and his gargantuan companion (whom he names Spot) would later be rebooted in 1993 with an edgier take on the characters, officially giving the boy's pet a more satanic origin as the Beast With No Name. Ironically, it was Fatman Beyond star Kevin Smith who really took Stanley and his Monster to a dark place.

In Green Arrow: Quiver - art by Phil Hester and Ande Parks - it is revealed that the Beast With No Name was accidentally bonded to Stanley by his serial killer grandfather, who also happened to be named Stanley. Upon discovering the boy's relationship with the Beast, the man who would go on to become the Star City Slayer attempted to capture the purple demon in order to gain immortality. When the creature escaped, Stanley Sr. kidnapped his own grandson and tortured him to draw out his loyal companion. It eventually works, and the Monster known as Spot returns to save his boy and devour grandpa Stanley whole. Thankfully, Spot erases the memories of his best friend so he'll never need to know the vile hell his grandfather put him through.

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Kamara the Monkey King

Kamara Swamp Thing

First appearing in The Demon #4 in a story titled "The Creature From Beyond," Kamara is another nightmarish monstrosity made infamous by Alan Moore's Swamp Thing. Like Doctor Destiny, the Monkey King's powers are fear-based, only this little critter actually feeds on fear itself. When Swamp Thing's girlfriend Abigail begins her new job at Elysium Lawns, she meets a six-year-old boy named Paul, who is tormented by visions of a white monkey creature. The death of Paul's parents was deemed an accident, but it is later revealed by Jason Blood (the host of Etrigan the Demon) that they were slaughtered by a creature from Hell after playing with a cursed Ouija Board.

What makes Kamara so horrifying isn't just the way artists Stephen Bissette and John Totleben draw the hideous beast, but how Moore leads up to its reveal. Abigail first learns of the Monkey King through Paul's ghoulish drawings. Later, as the sickly-smelling creature spreads its pestilence of fear to the other residents of Elysium Lawns, more children begin drawing Kamara. The monster also has the power to take on the form of anything its prey fears, and when combined with the active imagination of traumatized kids, the results are haunting. The fact that the Monkey King views itself as Paul's pet in spite of the fact that it murdered his parents somehow makes the beast even creepier.

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The Rot

First appearing in 2011's Animal Man #1, the Rot was one of the New 52's more disturbing additions to the DC Universe. It is one of the great forces of existence, alongside the Red (which binds all animal life together) and the Green (which binds all plant life together.) However, the Rot (sometimes referred to as the Black) isn't powered by blood or chlorophyll; it is powered by disease and decay. But like the Green and the Red, this nightmarish sentient force of pestilence has had many avatars over the years - including Swamp Thing's greatest nemesis Anton Arcane.

What makes the Rot so horrifying isn't just Jeff Lemire's haunting writing, but Travel Foreman's vivid art. It leaves a stain on the reader's mind that just doesn't wash out, mostly by making a grocery list of random phobias and checking off each item. The Rot is body horror to its absolute extreme, able to slip into the skin of its victims and twist their bodies to its needs. And it can materialize anywhere there is decay, meaning it's practically omnipresent. It is the disgusting embodiment of sickness, and despite being a relatively new element to DC Comics lore, the Rot had a major presence in the DC Universe streaming series Swamp Thing.

Related: DC Just Gave John Constantine The Death He Always Deserved

While no one can deny that characters like Joker and Brainaic can be scary in their own way, it's the peculiar terrors that exist outside of DC's mainstream that really have a lasting psychological impact. DC Comics has made a lot of bold choices over the years, many of them involving its frequent forays into sincere horror. It turns out, when you own the most iconic heroes in the world, you need something really dark to balance them out.

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