Exploring Clark Kent's backstory on Smallville, the DC TV prequel drama introduced several super-villains from the Man of Steel's rogue's gallery. Long before the Arrowverse came to life on The CW, Smallville was the network's resident superhero show as it told Clark's origin story and what he had to go through before suiting up as Superman. While Clark didn't become Superman until the series finale, he still operated as a hero in both Smallville and Metropolis. In the later seasons, Clark became known as the Red-Blue Blur/The Blur since he was operating in the shadows.
But that didn't stop Smallville from using a huge chunk of Superman villains from the comics throughout the show's run. Despite Clark not meeting most of them until after he became the Man of Tomorrow, Smallville found some interesting ways of incorporating them into his origin story. While some of the villains were more memorable than others, it allowed the show to build its own take on the DC Universe around Tom Welling's Clark. While the Arrowverse and other DC TV shows tackle super-villains differently in today's comic book landscape, it is still intriguing to compare it to how Smallville did them.
Whether intentionally inspired or not, Smallville's villain concept ended up being used on FOX's Batman prequel show Gotham, as it allowed the Dark Knight's enemies to get their origin stories alongside Bruce Wayne before becoming Gotham City's iconic protector. By the time Clark became Superman, he had already fought most of his villains. While it was a new take on the Superman mythology, it allowed Smallville to stand out as a Superman property.
Aethyr
During the Smallville season 5 premiere, titled "Arrival," General Zod's disciples got introduced, who are minor Superman villains in the comics. One of them was Aethyr, played by Alana de la Garza, as they tried to get Kal-El to help them turn Earth into a new Krypton. However, Clark managed to get her sent to the Phantom Zone.
Amanda Waller
Smallville season 9 introduced one of DC's most iconic villains as Amanda Waller became a recurring temporary threat to The Blur. Portrayed by Pam Grier, Amanda debuted during the Justice Society of America two-parter as the head of Checkmate. It is unclear what exactly happened to Amanda after Zod went after her. Presumably, Zod murdered Amanda as he was seen firing his heat vision at her, but it was never clarified.
Bizarro
Smallville's take on Bizarro is slightly different from the comics as a Phantom Zone prisoner becomes the show's iteration of the Superman villain. In the seventh season, Welling plays a Zoner who needed to copy a Kryptonian's DNA to maintain his body. While Green Kryptonite made Bizarro stronger, he got weaker by yellow sunlight and Blue Kryptonite, which is what destroyed him in the end. However, Bizarro wasn't the final evil character Welling would play on the show.
Brainiac
In Smallville season 5, James Marsters joined the series as the DC Comics villain Brainiac, posing initially as a human named Milton Fine. Instead of being a Coluan like in the comics, Brainiac was a Kryptonian A.I. that ended up being corrupted by General Zod. But by Smallville season 8, Brainiac was defeated for good as the Legion of Super-Heroes took him back to their future and reprogrammed him into the friendlier Brainiac 5.
Bruno Mannheim
Smallville season 8 introduced the Intergang villain Bruno Mannheim, played by Dominic Zamprogna. In the nineteenth episode, titled "Stiletto," Bruno was a mob boss, who was the Ace of Clubs owner, for whom Jimmy Olsen worked during his darker period in life. However, Bruno was just one of the Intergang characters that Smallville used on the show.
Darkseid
For the tenth and final season of Smallville, the show introduced Darkseid as the last big bad that Clark had to take on before becoming Superman. While Darkseid was mostly in spirit/smoke-form, he would take human vessels, including Earth-2's Lionel Luthor.
DeSaad
One of Darkseid's Elite members, or Prophets as Smallville called them, was the villainous DeSaad, who was played by Steve Byers. This take on DeSaad was a nightclub owner who would prepare the human minds for Darkseid's corruption. DeSaad would use his psychic abilities to make victims go through the seven deadly sins before Darkseid could corrupt them. But Oliver ended up defeating DeSaad in Smallville's series finale.
Doomsday
In Smallville season 8, Doomsday got introduced as the big bad for that year, with the beast being part of Sam Witwer's Davis Bloome. When Doomsday would emerge and take over Davis' body, Dario Delacio would physically play him in a practical suit. Eventually, Doomsday and Davis were split up after the Justice League, comprising of Bart Allen amongst others, exposed the latter to Black Kryptonite.
Faora
During the eighth season in the episode "Bloodline," Durance's Lois got possessed by Faora, who temporarily escaped the Phantom Zone. But in Smallville season 9, Sharon Taylor played Zod's wife, both as a Kryptonian clone and the original one who died on Krypton. Faora's clone was killed by Zod towards the latter half of the ninth season.
General Zod
After Rosenbaum's Lex was possessed by General Zod in the sixth season, Smallville season 9 introduced Callum Blue as the iconic Superman villain. Similar to Faora, Blue played Zod's clone and the original version that died with Faora on Krypton. The Smallville versions of Zod and Faora ended up being the "parents" of Doomsday. After Zod's clone got sent to the Phantom Zone, the original Zod merged with the clone, giving him a physical body again.
Gordon Godfrey
During Smallville's final season, Michael Daingerfield played Gordon Godfrey, who was part of Darkseid's Elite. In the third episode, "Supergirl," Godfrey is introduced as a radio jockey who was anti-vigilantes, part of Darkseid's plan to corrupt humanity. While Godrey returned for the few final episodes, he was also stopped by the Green Arrow.
Granny Goodness
The first Prophet fans ever saw was technically Granny Goodness during the Smallville season 9 finale as she, while in disguise, brought Tess Mercer back alive. Christine Willes took over the role for the final season and is revealed to have raised Tess at the St. Louise's Orphanage. She used the orphanage to raise abandoned girls to become Female Furies. Just like DeSaad and Godfrey, Granny Goodness was defeated in the final episode of the series.
Lashina
One of the Female Furies to enter the Smallville universe was Lashina, who had a brief cameo during Granny's introduction episode "Abandoned" in the final season. While Lashina only appeared towards the end, Rochelle Okoye portrayed the DC villainess.
Lex Luthor
As much as Smallville was about Clark, the series followed the evolution of how Lex Luthor became Superman's ultimate enemy. Michael Rosenbaum played Lex for seven seasons and appeared in the series finale in 2011, as fans got to see how the two of them went from best friends to enemies. While he came from the dead in the series finale, Lex lost all of his memories, including his whole history with Clark.
Lena Luthor/Tess Mercer
While Cassidy Freeman was introduced as Tess Mercer in Smallville season 8, she was a combination of Mercy Graves, Lena Luthor, and Eve Teschmacher. But Tess eventually became one of Clark's allies in the later seasons. Tess discovered her birth name in the final season was Lutessa Lena Luthor, confirming she was Lex's canonical sister from the comics.
Livewire
Despite being a big Superman baddie, Leslie Willis had a short run on Smallville as she got introduced and killed off in the season 8 episode, "Injustice." Played by Anna Mae Routledge, Livewire was one of the members of Tess's short-lived Injustice League.
Mad Harriet
In "Abandoned," Mad Harriet was the primary Female Fury that Clark had to deal with while investigating Granny's suspicious orphanage. Played by Lindsay Hartley, Harriet was the leader of this version of the Female Furies.
Maxima
In the eighth season of Smallville, Charlotte Sullivan guest-starred as the DC baddie Maxima, who was the queen of Almerac. Maxima came to Earth after Clark's Fortress crystal accidentally sent out a beacon into space, as she believed she had finally found her "soul mate."
Maxwell Lord
A huge Justice League villain who has had a history with Superman is Maxwell Lord, who got introduced to the Smallville universe during the ninth season. Gil Bellows played a different version of Maxwell as he worked for Checkmate, operating as the Black King. During his two episodes, Maxwell was trying to find out The Blur's real identity.
Metallo
One of Superman's biggest foes got introduced in Smallville season 9 as Brian Austin Green brought John Corben, a.k.a. Metallo, to life. This version of John became Metallo thanks to Zod's people who experimented on him. After losing his sister, John had a massive grudge against The Blur for not being there to save her.
Mister Mxyzptlk
While he wasn't a fifth-dimensional Imp like in the comics, Smallville season 4 did its own version of Mister Mxyzptlk, who got renamed Mikhail Mxyzptlk. Played by Trent Ford, Mikhail was a metahuman with mind-controlling abilities and went to Smallville High.
Morgan Edge
Before Bruno was introduced in the eighth season, Smallville season 3 added Intergang's leader Morgan Edge. Like the Arrowverse, Smallville had two actors play Morgan, starting with Rutger Hauer before Patrick Bergin took over for him during the third season. Smallville's Morgan was a crime boss who Clark got involved with during his Red Kryptonite phase in Metropolis.
Nam-Ek
Zod's other disciple was Nam-Ek, who was played by Leonard Roberts in the Smallville season 5 premiere. Roberts returned in the following season premiere when Clark got temporarily stuck in the Phantom Zone.
Neutron
Another Superman baddie who was part of Smallville's Injustice League was Nathaniel Tryon, a.k.a. Neutron, who was played by Jae Lee. But like Livewire, Neutron was killed by Doomsday in his introduction episode.
Parasite
One of Superman's biggest villains, Rudy Jones, a.k.a. Parasite, was also introduced as part of Smallville's Injustice League. Played by Brendan Fletcher, this Parasite was slightly different as he could take away someone's powers permanently. The only way for someone to get their abilities back was if Rudy returned it to them.
Persuader
During Smallville's Legion of Super-Heroes introduction in the eighth season, Fraser Aitcheson played The Persuader, who showed up briefly from the 31st century. While much wasn't revealed about him, Persuader had an encounter with Clark as he attacked him with his Atomic Axe.
Roulette
In Smallville season 8, the show introduced Roulette, who was renamed Victoria Sinclair, as her real name is Veronica Sinclair. In the fifth episode, titled "Roulette," Victoria worked together with Chloe when trying to help Oliver come out of his depression.
Silver Banshee
Before Supergirl introduced her to the Arrowverse, Smallville season 9 introduced Siobhan McDougal, a.k.a. Silver Banshee, with a slightly different background. Portrayed by Odessa Rae, Siobhan was released from the underworld by mistake as her spirit began taking over various hosts.
Solomon Grundy
During Smallville's penultimate episode ahead of the series finale, the show introduced multiple big DC baddies that belonged to various Justice League members. As they were part of Toyman's Marionette Ventures, Solomon Grundy, played by John DeSantis, was seen sitting around the roundtable as the villains were getting their assignments.
Toyman
Through Smallville's three final seasons, Chris Gauthier played Winslow Schott, a.k.a. Toyman, who used to work for Queen Industries before he was fired. Despite being a Superman villain in the comics, Toyman was more depicted as a Green Arrow enemy. Toyman returned for the penultimate episode of the series as he brainwashed Lois, while she was having Clark's powers for a die.
Ultraman
Following his portrayal of Bizarro, Welling went on to play another twisted version of Superman. In Smallville season 10, Clark's Earth-2 doppelganger was introduced, and it was none other than Ultraman, who is part of Earth-3's Crime Syndicate of America in the comics. The Kents never found this version of Clark, but rather the Luthors as Lionel raised him into becoming a tyrant in their world. On Earth-2 (that was more or less based on Earth-3) Ultraman was known as a murderer, making him the world's most feared being.