Love is a wonderful thing, but as theseMarvelandDCheroes discovered, any romance can easily go sour. Superhero comics are filled with dozens of fan-favorite couples.Superman and Lois Lane, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage,even Spider-Man and Mary Jane(when editorial allows it). Unfortunately, not every hero has it as easy in the love department.
While some heroes settle down, others play the field a bit. And during that time, they strike up relationships that end up biting them. Sometimes it leads to heartbreak, other times it leads to a nasty fight, and, in some cases, it even leads to death. Just look at howBatman’s romance with Talia al Ghulled to a war that got their son killed. Or how Rogue chose to pursue Magneto instead of Gambit, only for that to blow up in her face. The following ten heroes tried love and, one way or another, they paid for it.
10Daredevil and Typhoid Mary
From Love Interest to Villain in an Instant
It’s hard to pick which one of Matt Murdock’s loves went down the worst, but his brief fling with Typhoid Mary is certainly up there. Once upon a time, Daredevil fell for Mary, the charming, sweetheart persona, unaware that she had two distinct alternate personas, one of which is the terrifying Bloody Mary, a brutal and sadistic villain. While their romance was brief, things went south pretty quickly. Not only did the romance die almost as soon as it began, butTyphoid Mary went in an unexpected direction and started to date (and eventually marry) Daredevil’s nemesis, Kingpin.
9Iron Man and Madam Masque
A Doomed Romance from the Start
Iron Man likes to pride himself as a playboy, but throughout his heroic career, he managed to have a brief affair with his notorious foe, Madame Masque. Initially, these two were enemies, with Masque being the daughter of the Avengers' foe, Count Nefaria. But Masque went undercover to spy on Tony Stark, only to discover he was Iron Man and the two started a short romance. Unfortunately, she was forced to break things off by Nefaria, causing her to snap under the pressure. Since then,Madame Masque been a recurring threat to Iron Man, having never gotten over their failed love affair.
8The Human Torch and Lyja
‘Complicated’ is Just The Half of It
This relationship was about as wild as one would expect for the hothead of the Fantastic Four. Lyja is a Skrull and, as Skrulls are wont to do, she used her shape-shifting powers to replace someone, namely the Thing’s love interest, Alicia Masters. While Lyja was posing as Alicia,she fell for Johnny Storm, who reciprocated those feelings. The two got together, but the relationship drove a wedge in the friendship between Human Torch and Thing. Needless to say, not only was the cheating wrong, but Lyja’s pretending to be someone else raises a whole host of consent issues.
7Donna Troy and Terry Long
A Love That Ended in Tragedy
Interestingly, this is one of the few instances where the wrong person in question was a civilian instead of a villain or another hero. DuringThe New Teen Titansera, Donna Troy became enamored with Terry Long, a professor who cared deeply for Donna. While Terry was never abusive nor unsupportive of Donna, their relationship raised a lot of red flags for readers, who were mostly concerned about the couple’s age difference. In the end,Terry died in a car wreck, along with his and Donna’s infant son, Robert,something that took Donna years to be okay with.
6Flash and Magenta
Wally Just Couldn’t Redeem a Villain
The love of Wally West’s life may be Linda Park, but for a brief time, he held a torch for his old childhood love, Frances Kane. The two dated during Wally’s time as Kid Flash, and he attempted to help her control her magnetic powers and become a hero as well. Unfortunately, she snapped under the pressure of heroism anddeveloped an evil, alternate persona that would eventually vex Wally as the Flash, going so far as to join his nemeses, the Rogues. Though Flash considers Magenta one of his biggest failures, he continues to reach out to help her.
5Arsenal and Cheshire
Two Completely Mismatched Personalities
Arsenal had one of the most troubled upbringings for a sidekick in the DC Universe. And what certainly didn’t help him was getting involved with Cheshire, an assassin/mercenary. The two never had a traditional romance, but they did have multiple affairs, one of which resulted in the birth of their daughter, Lian. However, despite the fondness she’s shown for Roy over the years,Cheshire rarely, if ever, finds herself on the side of good, and doesn’t hesitate to betray Arsenal. She may not kill the father of her child, but she will, and often does, make things hard for him.
4Batman and Talia al Ghul
Literally Went to War Over Their Son
It goes without saying Batman has had some complicated loves, but the one that may be the most complex is his love with Talia al Ghul. The two have been occasional lovers for years, but one night, Talia drugged Batman in order sire a child that would be able to conquer the world. However, once Damian was introduced to the Bat-Family, he chose a path his mother didn’t approve of, causing her to create the terrorist organization Leviathan.Talia had Damian killed, all to hurt Batman for ‘corrupting’ their child,arguably one of the most callous moments in her history.
3Rogue and Magneto
Rogue Made the Worst of Two Choices
Magneto might be one of the worst threats to the X-Men, but for a short period, Rogue believed there was more than meets the eye when it came to the team’s greatest enemy. The two shared some time together in the Savage Land, which led to one of the first times that Rogue was able to touch someone without her powers harming them. Rogue eventually chose to pursue a relationship with Erik over her longtime love interest, Gambit, butMagneto’s continued work towards mutant supremacy eventually drove them apart.
2Harley Quinn and Joker
When it comes to bad decision-making for romantic partners, Harley Quinn made one of the worst calls. At one point, she was a psychiatrist at Arkham, hoping to write her ticket analyzing the worst Gotham had to offer. Instead, she found herself abandoning her professional career in a misguided attempt to be with Joker. For the next several years, Harley would be mentally and physically abused. She finally broke away from the clown and started to use her skills for good. But even today,Harley still reflects on all the time she wasted on someone like Joker.
1The Atom and Jean Loring
A Plan to Reunite Goes Horribly Awry
Had the Atom known what Jean Loring was capable of, he likely never would have ever married her. Ray and Jean were married for years before ultimately parting. However, Jean couldn’t handle the idea of not being with the Atom, so she masterminded a scheme to make it look like the loved ones of heroes were being targeted. Unfortunately, her plan wound up getting several people, including Elongated Man’s wife, Sue, and Tim Drake’s father, Jack, killed. There are a lot of things that can go wrong in love,but what the Atom’s ex did was beyond the pale.
