List of Secret Society of Super Villains members

The Secret Society of Super Villains is a team of comic book supervillains in the DC Comics universe. Over the years they have featured a large number of ne'er-do-wells as they attempt to subvert the superheroic population of the world for a variety of schemes.

Darkseid's Society

These members of the Secret Society of Super Villains were secretly gathered by Darkseid when the group was first founded in 1976 through their splintering after the discovery of their benefactor's true identity. Since then, various leaders like Lex Luthor, the Wizard and the Silver Ghost have taken over or re-formed the Society, including old and new members in the roster.

In "JLA" #119 (2005) it was revealed that Catwoman was an early member of the SSOSV briefly as well (Catwoman was mentioned in the text of "Secret Society of Super Villains" #1 as being a member, though the penciller omitted her from the issue; this brief mention is the only known connection of Catwoman to the SSOSV prior to the present). Also, it was revealed that Despero brought back the memories of the members back, and was responsible of the subsequent attack of the Society.

Ultra-Humanite's Society

The next incarnation of the Secret Society was organized by the Ultra-Humanite, who organized foes of both the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America.
* Ultra-Humanite
* Brainwave
* Monocle
* Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
* Ragdoll (Peter Merkel)
* Cheetah (Deborah Domaine)
* Floronic Man
* Killer Frost (Crystal Frost)
* Mist
* Signalman

Underground

When the JLA resurfaced with the Big Seven members, Brainwave started to gather a new Secret Society to take down the newly formed Justice League ("JLA 80-Page Giant #1"), but Brainwave was actually Martian Manhunter in disguise -- the formation of this Society was a trap made by the League to defeat more supervillains in the same time.

Members gathered by Brainwave-Martian Manhunter were:

* Amos Fortune
* Black Hand
* Blockbuster (Roland Desmond)
* Captain Boomerang (Digger Harkness)
* Cheetah (Barbara Ann Minerva)
* Cheshire
* Crazy Quilt
* Deadshot
* Doctor Alchemy
* Doctor Sivana
* Fiddler
* Floronic Man
* Gorilla Grodd
* Heat Wave
* Hector Hammond
* Killer Frost (Louise Lincoln)
* Major Disaster
* Monocle
* Poison Ivy
* Prankster
* Psycho-Pirate (Roger Hayden)
* Riddler
* Royal Flush Gang without the King
* Scarecrow
* Solomon Grundy
* Star Sapphire
* Wizard

Members in other branches (apparently):
* Captain Cold
* Felix Faust
* Goldface
* Kobra
* Metallo
* Mister Mind
* Ra's al Ghul
* Two-Face
* Vandal Savage
* Rainbow Raider

Luthor's Society

Organized by Alexander Luthor, Jr. in the guise of Lex Luthor, the Society formed over rumors of the JLA mindwiping Dr. Light. With a ruling council of six members overseeing a structured roster of 200 strong ("Villains United" #1), the Society is a grave threat to superheroes of the world. The Joker is notably absent from this roster, because he is the only villain the other villains all feared — and rightly so, as Joker murdered several of the society's roster in revenge for being left out.

The Society's council

* Lex Luthor (Alexander Luthor, Jr. in disguise)
* Black Adam (betrayed by the Society)
* Talia al Ghul
* Doctor Psycho
* The Calculator
* Deathstroke the Terminator

Members of The Society

Deceased members

* A Hyena was executed as an example in "Villains United" #3.
* Doctor Polaris exploded after being subject to the exposed form of an irate Human Bomb towards the beginning of "Infinite Crisis" #1.
* Fisherman was gunned down by detectives Marcus Driver and Josie MacDonald in "Gotham Central" #37.
* High-ranking members of the Gotham branch of the Royal Flush Gang were seemingly taken out by the Joker in "Infinite Crisis" #2.
* Rag Doll (Peter Merkel) was killed by Johnny Sorrow in "JSA Classified" #7.
* Crispus Allen (as the Spectre) struck down Star Sapphire (Debbie Darnell) in the first half of "Infinite Crisis" #6.
* Psycho-Pirate had his "Medusa" mask forcibly pushed through his skull by Black Adam during the finale of "Infinite Crisis" #6.
* Professor Amos Fortune had half of his face blown off in "Villains United" #6, surviving only to be thrown from a moving helicopter in "Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special" before absorbing energy and exploding in "JSA Classified" #16.
* Deuce Canyard (an aspiring "Jack" of the Royal Flush Gang) was sniped by the warden of Enclave M in "Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special".
* Baron Blitzkrieg was incinerated by Superboy Prime's heat vision during the Battle of Metropolis.
* Alexander Luthor, Jr. received severe acid burns to the face, and was apparently shot by the Joker and the real Lex Luthor in the final pages of "Infinite Crisis" #7.
* In the novelization, Doctor Spectro is a member as well of the Society and dies in the same explosion that killed Solomon Grundy and the Bloodlines heroes.

Anti-heroes and Villains who refused to join the Society

* Bug (killed by Deathstroke in "Villains United" #1)
* Catman (became a member of the Secret Six)
* The Creeper
* Kite Man
* Manhunter (Mark Shaw or Kate Spencer)
* Axel Alex

Wizard's Society

Some former members of the Wizard's Secret Society, also victims of JLA's mindwiping in the past, had their memories unlocked by Despero and then were summoned back together for revenge by the Wizard. Zatanna reluctantly re-erased their memories of the JLA's identities. Whether they were members of Luthor's Society as well is unknown.

In addition to the Wizard, Felix Faust, Chronos and Floronic Man the membership included:
* Star Sapphire (Debbie Darnell)
* Matter Master

One Year Later

One year after the events of "Infinite Crisis", Calculator has taken control of the Society with Talia as the only other original member left. Felix Faust and Cheetah, however, have also been linked to this group.

Libra's Society

In the lead-up to Final Crisis, the returned Super-Villain Libra (who happens to be the prophet of Darkseid) takes the scattered remnants of Luthor's society and uses it to create his own Secret Society of Super-Villains to serve Darkseid. The following are confirmed members so far, though the full membership is expected to be far larger:

Leader

* Libra (Leader)

Inner Circle

* Doctor Sivana
* Gorilla Grodd
* Lex Luthor
* Ocean Master
* Talia al Ghul
* Vandal Savage

Membership

* Black Hand
* Black Manta
* Clayface I
* Cyborgirl
* Deathstroke
* Doctor Poison
* Doctor Polaris
* Genocide
* Giganta
* Human Flame
* Icicle II
* Joker
* Key
* Killer Croc
* Killer Frost II
* Metallo
* Parasite
* Professor Ivo
* Red Volcano
* Shadow Thief
* Shatterfist II
* Shrike
* Zoom

Former Membership

* Doctor Light (killed by the third Spectre)
* Effigy (melted by the third Spectre)
* Rogues (all five withdrew from the Society)
** Abra Kadabra
** Captain Cold
** Heat Wave
** Mirror Master
** Weather Wizard
* New Rogues (all five killed by the Rogues)
** Burn
** Chill
** Mirror Man II
** Mr. Magic
** Weather Witch

List of Appearances

* "Secret Society of Super-Villains" #'s 1-15
* "Amazing World of DC Comics" #11 (Contains alternate version of "SSoSV" #1)
*"DC Special Series" #6 ("SSoSV" Special)
* "Super-Team Family" #14
* "DC Special" # 27
* "Cancelled Comics Cavalcade" #2 (Contains "unpublished" B&W versions of "SSoSV" #'s 16-17)
* "Justice League of America" #'s 166-168, 195-197
* "All-Star Squadron" #'s 25-26, "Annual" #2
* "JLA 80-Page Giant # 1
* "JLA" #'s 115-119
* "Countdown to Infinite Crisis"
* "Villains United" #'s 1-6
*
* "Infinite Crisis" #'s 1-7
* "Secret Six" #'s 1-3
* "DC Universe" #0

References

* [http://www.mykey3000.com/cosmicteams/cosmic/se.html#ssosv Secret Society of Super Villains profile at DC Cosmic Teams]
* [http://www.mykey3000.com/cosmicteams/cosmic/so.html#society The Society profile at DC Cosmic Teams]
* [http://www.comicsarchives.org/SSOSVMAIN.html Secret Society of Super Villains at the Comics Archive]