Doom Patrol: The 10 Best Characters

With Doom Patrol being renewed for a fourth season, fans can expect a lot more interesting storylines surrounding the superpowered individuals. The Niles-engineered accidents that the heroes were subjected to long before they came to The Manor have proven to be the best things that happened to them. However, their special abilities haven’t stopped capable villains from hunting them too.

Both the villains and heroes on the streaming series have impressed fans in different ways during the 3 seasons that have aired so far. Others have had arcs that go deeper than just saving or destroying the world while some have remained outstanding by simply making good use of their special abilities.

10 Rita Farr, AKA Elasti-Girl

When Niles Caulder exposes the former Hollywood star to toxic gases in line with the Immortus Initiative, her body develops the ability to be elastic. She initially struggles to adapt to the changes but eventually accepts who she is.

Rita’s character development is superior to that of many other characters on the show. As the story progresses, she gradually develops from a fame-obsessed narcissistic person to a very kind one. Despite initially being consumed with Hollywood fame, she learns how to control her powers and dedicates her life to helping both her colleagues and ordinary citizens.

9 Crazy Jane

Kay Challis has many personalities, but Crazy Jane is her most dominant one. The Jane personality serves to maintain a state of equilibrium in The Underground where the rest of the personalities reside.

Jane is a compact character overall. One of the lesser-known facts about Doom Patrol members is that she is exclusive to the series, so both show and comic fans get to learn something new every day. Through Challis’ other personalities, Jane is able to tap into over a dozen different kinds of powers, making her one of the strongest characters. Through her, themes of childhood trauma and depression are also brought up, as it’s revealed she was abused as a child.

8 Eric Morden, AKA Mr. Nobody

Due to a Nazi experiment he underwent in Paraguay, the omnipresent antagonist can travel through different dimensions and alter reality. He can also break the fourth wall and is aware that he is a character in a TV show.

Morden has all the best qualities of a supervillain. He keeps communicating with the audience and making Niles’ patients suffer just for fun. And like other great villains, he forms a powerful evil organization with a rather scary name, known as the Brotherhood of Dangerous Animals. He almost defeats the heroes on several occasions too, including the times he kidnaps Niles and manipulates Cyborg.

7 Victor “Vic” Stone, AKA Cyborg

Vic becomes a hero after receiving cybernetic enhancements from his dad, Silas. Initially a member of the Titans, he joins the Patrol team because of his great friendship with The Chief.

Vic scores more points than other characters due to the fact that he is the more famous one. Having been part of the Titans and the Justice League, even casual fans are very familiar with him. Still, the show treats him fairly by not focusing too much on him or making him too perfect. He has his flaws, both in strength (as he is almost defeated by Mr. Nobody) and in love (as he falls for the terrorist Roni Eves).

6 Niles Caulder, AKA The Chief

The medical doctor is responsible for bringing all the Doom Patrol members together and offering them shelter. His scientific knowledge is vast, enabling him to handle complex experiments.

As a father figure to the Doom Patrol members, Niles always looks out for them. He isn’t without powers, as he is gifted with longevity, an ability mostly seen in MCU characters that have taken the Super Solider serum. He has skeletons in his closet too, something that prevents him from being an overly perfect character. He is quite devious as well, as it’s revealed that he was partly responsible for the accidents that gave the heroes their powers.

5 Larry Trainor

The former United States Air Force pilot has the Negative Entity to thank for his powers, as it merges with him after his plane crashes. The Bureau of Normalcy then saves him, placing him with the rest of the heroes.

The love-hate relationship between Larry and the Negative Spirit feels a lot like that of Eddie Brock and Venom in the Marvel comics. The two initially clash but soon learn to co-exist in harmony. Apart from doing heroic acts, Larry has plenty of individual character arcs. One of those involves family struggles. He desires to reconcile with his estranged son Paul but that fails to happen becomes Paul is solely focused on capturing him. Larry’s sexuality is also explored too, showing that even superheroes need love.

4 Cliff Steele, AKA Robotman

The former NASCAR driver has most of his parts transferred into a robotic suit after a car accident decimates most of his body. Accepting his fate, he chooses to be part of the Doom Patrol.

Steele is the easiest character to sympathize with. Watching a robot trying to learn about his human daughter is as odd as it is tearjerking. He is an overall fun character for a variety of reasons. He is a better driver than most humans, thanks to his experience on the racetrack. He knows how to entertain his friends too, often dancing in front of them after having learned many moves while he was still a human. He is also one of the few characters on the show that can boast of immortality since his robotic parts make him immune to aging.

3 Flex Mentallo

Flex can do literally anything by simply flexing his muscles or different parts of his body. After learning about his powers, the Doom Patrol members rescue him from the Bureau of Normalcy where he had been held captive for years.

The outlandish superhero’s “Muscle Mystery” is one of the most unique powers in Doom Patrol and it provides plenty of comic relief on the show. He has also impressed by causing people to fly by just flapping his ear lobes. Mentallo is also so proud of who he is that he never bothers to hide his identity like most of the other heroes.

2 Laura De Mille, AKA Madame Rouge

FormerLY a member of the Sisterhood of Dada as well as the Brotherhood of Evil, Rouge time-travels to 2021 to steal information from Niles Caulder. However, she ends up losing her memory.

Rouge’s inability to control her powers because of her amnesia is part of what makes her an intriguing character. Her numerous “oops” moments leave fans in a dilemma on whether to hate her or root for her. Her transformation from antagonist to hero is also an interesting arc. She is one of the few baddies on the show that get to reform and make an attempt to destroy her former evil organization.

1 The Candlemaker

The sole focus of this deity is to turn Earth into wax. He is forced into Dorothy Spinner as a curse but she manages to manipulate him and turn him into an ally.

The Candlemaker gets bonus points for being the only being to defeat all the Doom Patrol members, something even Morden couldn’t achieve. His powers are quite unmatched too. By being able to melt everything around him, he is impossible to defeat. Even better is that he can bring the worst thoughts of his opponents into life and use them as his agents. All these traits make Candlemaker the most powerful antagonist on the show.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1213 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

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