Supervillains have a special knack for turning their romances into messy, toxic relationships, and there are several examples in DC Comics.

Relationships of any stripe can be toxic. Nevertheless, romances with supervillains are a special brand of challenging. Some supervillain couples prove surprisingly wholesome, like Tigress and Sportsmaster or Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, while superhero-supervillain romances help balance each party somewhat, like Green Lantern and Star Sapphire or Plastique and Captain Atom.

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Of course, many (if not most) supervillain relationships go south. After all, it's hard to maintain a healthy partnership when one or both individuals are motivated by greed, lust for power, or a desire to watch the world burn.

The following article contains content readers might find triggering, such as sexual assault and non-consensual relationships.

"Toxic" is an enormously generous way to describe the exploitative nature of Deathstroke's relationship with Terra. Fifteen-year-old Tara Markhov, aka Terra, infiltrates the Teen Titans on Deathstroke's behalf in the storyline The Judas Contract, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Pérez.

Terra frequently calls Deathstroke names, and the Terminator's thought bubbles illustrate his patronizing contempt for Markhov. However, this otherwise troubling relationship is outright wrong considering the two also have a sexual relationship. This is inherently abusive as Terra is underage and therefore cannot give consent to a middle-aged man.

While his devotion to Nora is understandable, Mr. Freeze's obsession with "fixing" his wife is extraordinarily toxic. As is the case in most instances of the 'fridged woman' cliché, Nora Fries has no agency. Instead, her tragic circumstances serve to motivate her husband.

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Even if Nora made Victor her medical proxy prior to her cryonic freezing procedure, the experimental and unsupervised nature of Victor's treatments renders that consent moot. The situation is toxic to Mr. Freeze, too: Nora's stasis in the liminal space between life and death means he cannot enjoy Nora's last days with her, nor can he grieve and process his loss.

In Strange Love Adventures' final storyline, Dinner For Two, written by Ram V and drawn by Phil Hester, the Riddler's college boyfriend, Antoine Moray, details the circumstances of their relationship. The whole recounting is just a few panels long but still manages to depict a toxic relationship.

Antoine explains how he met Ed Nygma in their college production of Othello, and it's implied Nygma went on as Iago's understudy because he broke the principal actor's wrist. The ensuing relationship between the two also wasn't healthy. Antoine admits he was inattentive, and in true Riddler fashion, Ed viewed Antoine as a puzzle to solve rather than a multidimensional human being.

Some villains have no scruples whatsoever. However, Floyd Lawton demonstrates a soft spot for his daughter and a begrudging sort of loyalty to his teammates, be they part of Task Force X or the Secret Six.

Therefore, it's surprising he turns on Jeanette: his lover and fellow member of the Six. Jeanette insists on saving Artemis of Bana-Migdall from slavery during an assignment, but Lawton opposes her, going so far as to shoot her to prevent her from rescuing the Amazon. Luckily, Jeanette is nigh-immortal, so the bullets barely affect her, and she swiftly dumps Deadshot (albeit while choking him).

Blaze, the demonic daughter of a succubus and the wizard Shazam, all but confesses her responsibility for turning Adam into Black Adam. Blaze appeared to Adam (Shazam's champion at the time) in Ancient Egypt as a woman, whom he married. She then encouraged him to usurp the throne following the Pharaoh's death.

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Centuries later, Blaze returns to manipulate Black Adam once again. On the flip side, Isis, Adam's wife in other timelines, is a positive influence and helps restore much of his compassion, even after he becomes Black Adam.

The unlikely duo of Cheetah and Zoom isn't as charming as it sounds. In a Wonder Woman/Flash crossover event, Barbara Minerva's Cheetah breaks Zoom out of prison and manipulates him into helping her develop superspeed, claiming she can help protect him from the heroes of the world.

Zoom does help Cheetah achieve superspeed, but not before their evil partnership becomes sexual (even though Hunter Zolomon still considers himself married). The self-proclaimed "hero" also takes the opportunity to goad Barbara into slaughtering Priscilla Rich, reasoning she'll only unlock her true potential once the original Cheetah is gone.

David Hyde charmed Xebellian Lucia to locate a map with directions to a mystical black pearl. Before she realized who David was, she became pregnant, and he left her when she misdirected him from the pearl.

Years later, Black Manta returns and attacks Lucia, still seeking the pearl. As the two battle in San Francisco Bay, Manta accuses her of betrayal, angry she misdirected him and hid her pregnancy. She rightfully points out how their relationship was based on betrayal from the get-go. At least something—or rather, someone—good came of Manta and Lucia's union.

A relationship between Lex Luthor and anyone is all but doomed. Luthor's ego is too big and unwieldy to accommodate a partner's emotional needs, and his marriage to Ardora is proof of this.

Ardora is a resident of the planet Lexor. Though aware of Luthor's previous crimes, she forgives and marries him and the two have a son together. While Lex initially disavows his evil ways and spends some time in wedded bliss, his resentment towards Superman is so consuming, he inadvertently catalyzes a series of events that eventually kills Ardora and their son. In the New 52, Ardora and Luthor don't marry, and he doesn't hesitate to lie to her about his identity when they meet on Apokolips.

Seeking an accepting community, Arella joined a satanic cult. Through a cult ritual, she met Trigon, Destroyer of Worlds, and he chose her to sire his heir. Arella hid from Trigon during her pregnancy and gave birth to Raven, who became a Teen Titan and now uses her powers as a Cambion to stop evildoers (including her father).

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Different iterations of Raven's conception story give Arella varying levels of agency in her relationship with Trigon. However, their relationship is always a toxic one, since they're not on equal footing. Even though Arella is always a "willing" participant, she never has a full picture of the situation, since Trigon only reveals his true nature or intentions after she's already pregnant.

Harley Quinn and the Joker are unrivaled in their capacity to sow chaos, not just in Gotham, but in their own relationship. Joker is abusive and Harley is codependent. All in all, their romance isn't romantic; it's horribly toxic.

Luckily, Harley left the Joker in the years after their relationship debuted in Batman: The Animated Series. She continued to return to him in some timelines where their dangerous cycles began anew, but current versions of Quinn typically see her in a healthy romantic relationship with Poison Ivy.

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Jenna is a writer and a graduate of Bryn Mawr College. She is a DC nerd (and a regular nerd) with a soft spot for sitcoms. She lives in the Boston area with her family and cat.

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