@otaconmgs: Here's my interpretation of things based on all I've read.
Lex Luthor - Lex's life goal isn't getting rid of Superman. Superman is just an obstacle. What Lex wants is two things: for the world to know his genius, and to be in absolute control of his surroundings. When he was younger, Lex's parents and the kids at school didn't quite support him on being the smartest man on Earth. In fact, they did the opposite. Lex finally got his wish when he rose to power as founder of LexCorp, supergenius, philanthropist, politician. When Superman arrived, all of that long-awaited recognition was taken away from him. Then there's the reason of why he's such a control freak. Lex's one true love Lena was beaten to death by his malicious step-father. Unfortunately, Lex wasn't able to stop it, being too weak and not even being there to see it happen. Upon becoming an adult, Lex personally shot him down in an alley, vowing to control every moment in his life so he'd never learn to regret again.
Black Adam (honestly my favorite anti-hero) - Black Adam was given his powers a long time ago in ancient Egypt. He used these powers with great honor and protected those who couldn't protect themselves. But his main concern was defending Kahndaq, a kingdom often plagued with oppression and slavery. While he was off fighting someone else's war for them, his wife and children were killed by terrorists working for dictators. This led Adam to resort to ruthless, brutal measures in order to protect Kahndaq and all innocent people. Or as he justifies it, "so no one else will feel the emptiness I do." So Black Adam's goals mostly consist of freeing the world from slavery, protecting Kahndaq, and killing anyone who dares threaten innocents. Even if it means going into another country's borders and enacting justice his own way.
Deathstroke - Deathstroke generally just wants money yeah, but it's a bit deeper than that. He uses his job as an outlet to get away from his personal life and feelings, haunted by the familial mistakes he's made in his past. But he does love his job, make no mistake. He's not a straight murderer either tho. He has a sense of honor, he can be reasoned with, he cares for kids. But he can also do things you'd be disgusted by. Whatever gets the job done, Slade will take care of it. Because he's not a hero, villain, anti-hero, anti-villain. He's Deathstroke.
Thawne - Too complicated to explain so I'll just give a half-assed response lmao. From the future. Parents were tragically killed. Found solace in looking up to the Flash, his favorite superhero who made him feel less lonely and in the dark. The Flash came to his timeline. They bonded. The Flash gave Thawne life-changing advice. Thawne later found Flash giving the same person advice and felt their friendship was built a lie (a pity friend if you will). Thawne now likes/hates the Flash in some twisted way. He believes the only way the Flash will genuinely spend time with him is through fighting him and getting his attention, even if it means making his life a living hell.
Zoom - "Zoom wants to make Wally "better" by becoming his arch nemesis and pushing him to the limit." [2]
Joker - Probably the most complicated character on here and that's saying a lot. I think his "goal" (I used quotes because well, the Joker isn't really the kind of character that has a definite goal) was best explained in the brilliantly written Killing Joke. Life is meaningless. There's no point in trying to continue enduring the suffering and obstacles you meet in life, because you're just torturing yourself. There's no point in trying to justify or rationalize it. That there's a meaning behind all your troubles like some holy afterlife. The only way out is to embrace the utter madness and unfairness that surrounds you instead of resisting it or giving meaning to it. That's the only way to stop letting it affect you. And that concept is basically what the Joker embodies. Because of his sheer disregard and disbelief in the meaning of life, he's given the freedom to do whatever he wants. So yeah, he's a nihilist and he loves being one. Though what I love about Lex Luthor is that he understands Joker's philosophy and could take advantage of it if he wanted, just because he's that smart.
Zod - General Zod's a bit like Black Adam (or at least he reminds me of him). Because he was fully grown when Krypton was destroyed, he took it to heart. All of the bonds he had forged and experiences he felt were gone, just like that. So he strives to build a new "Krypton" through whatever means necessary, which often puts him at odds with Superman. Bear in mind this is the more modern version of Zod, so it's more complex.
Firefly - I don't know.
Ra's al Ghul - The mystery of Ra's al Ghul rivals that of the Joker's. His backstory is actually insanely good, I recommend you read "Birth of the Demon" to get the full effect. But yes, as good as it was, it was also tragic. Which is why over the many centuries he's lived, he's spent his time burning away all traces of his past. As for his goal, well, I'll let this quote speak for me. "I have knowledge which is alien to you, for I have tasted food fresh from dark fertile soil, and I have filled my lungs with untainted air, and I have quenched my thirst with water clear as the first day of creation, and you have not -- because you can not. Those things do not exist on this world any longer. They have been destroyed by man's lust for dominance -- a lust I know well, for at times it all but consumes me. All is corrupt, all is sick, all is dying. As am I. As are you."
Bane - Sadly I don't know much about him either. But he's a very well-written character and I plan to read up more on him soon.
Vandal Savage - Started off as a caveman. A supernatural meteor made him immortal with a Wolverine-like healing factor, as well as hyperintelligent. These gifts led him to believe that he was meant to be the rightful ruler of mankind, and sought about conquering the world time and again. Over the years, he has fulfilled historical roles such as Julius Caesar, Blackbeard, Genghis Khan, and so on.
Deadshot - Same issue with Bane.
Professor Pyg - Nope nope nope nope.
Maxwell Lord - Dunno.
Sinestro - Sinestro was once a Green Lantern, in fact the greatest of the Green Lantern. He once knew love, happiness, freedom. He fell for a woman called Arin Sir, and a had a child with her. Arin Sir was also the sister of Sinestro's best friend, Abin Sur. When Abin was killed by Atrocitus aka the leader of the Red Lantern Corps, Sinestro became obsessive with keeping the universe as perfect and orderly as possible. He even went to far as to rule his homeplanet Korugar with an iron fist, as a way to make its citizens feel peaceful and safe. When his beloved Arin died, Sinestro severed all emotional ties with anything and became a rather stoic and heartless person. The Guardians of the Universe saw Sinestro as a dictator and cast him to the Anti-Matter Universe. It was there where Sinestro was able to construct a new power ring based on fear. Because in his mind, fear created control. This led to the creation of the Yellow Lantern Corps, a corps dedicated to enforcing law and order throughout the universe. Funny how the Green Lanterns vow for the same thing, despite being vastly different from the Yellow Lanterns. It's also needless to say he and Black Adam have plenty in common. But what I find most interesting about them is their contrast. Sinestro's loss made him want for control, Black Adam's loss made him want for freedom. Yet they're both very strong leaders and have been bros in the comics because of it.
Captain Cold - Don't know.
And that's it for me. Hopefully someone can fill in the characters I couldn't touch up on.
BONUS: Cyborg Superman (my favorite villain) - Hank Henshaw, his wife Terri, and others were all a part of a NASA space crew conducting experiments in Earth's orbit. One fateful day, they were flying a space shuttle called the "Excalibur" and were struck by a solar flare. This flare created an explosion which flooded the shuttle with exotic energies, leading the shuttle to ultimately crash land. The entire crew emerged from the ship; alive, but slowing mutating into inhuman forms. Hank was becoming an "animated corpse," his wife Terri was becoming more and more intangible. Hank managed to find a cure for Terri at LexCorp, the company that provided equipment for their experiments. But by the time he discovered a cure his body was reduced to a fleshless skeleton while Terry committed suicide. At this time Hank was driven mad by the tragedy he'd faced. By the impossibility of it all. Everything was so unreal, it felt like a bad dream he couldn't wake up from. Needing something to blame, he chose Superman. In his delusional recollection of what happened, he convinced himself that Superman (during his fight with the Eradicator) hurled the Eradicator something into the Sun, which created the solar flare that ultimately damaged the Excalibur. Hank soon became nothing but energy, where only his consciousness lived on. He gained the ability to hack into (or inhabit) any kind of machinery, from toys to a Green Lantern Power Battery to even part of the Source Wall. Hank would use this talent to inhabit the Kryptonian birthing matrix that brought Superman to Earth, absorbing its knowledge and using it to make himself a clone body of Superman (with all of his powers), although riddled with Kryptonian cybernetics. This was because Henshaw planned to destroy any good memory someone had of Superman. Calling himself the Cyborg Superman, he began taking way bigger steps than your average Superman villain. He wanted to erase all memory of Terri, and began by destroying her hometown - Coast City. Because this was also the hometown of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, those two now had bad blood with each other. He then wanted to enact revenge on Superman and kill him once and for all. And then, he planned to die, and thus be delivered from the emotional agonies of his past. Unfortuntely for Hank, his current state made death a near-impossibility. He was living consciousness, so whenever someone destroyed his body, he'd just have to warp himself into another object.
Until he finds a way to end his life, he unleashes his infinite rage on the universe and all those he feels wronged him, assembling grand armies like the Manhunters and Warworld and the Ravagers to further facilitate his goals, and making pacts with major galactic players like Sinestro, Eon, and Mongul. On top of the armies, the dude is wicked powerful. He's imo more powerful than Superman and now he has the goddamn Phantom Ring on his finger, giving him access to every lantern color all at once. And he doesn't play around either, giving us an idea on what Superman is like at his full, ruthless potential.
He's just a really wicked and awesome character and I highly suggest you check him out since he's very underrated at that. Some good picks are Green Lanterns #50-57 from 2018 and Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman.
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