What would be your ideal Rogues Gallery for Zatanna? Consider options for the following roles, if you would: Nemesis, Mastermind, Femme Fatale / Homme Fatale, Antihero, Dark Mirror, Evil Opposite, Evil Organization, Gimmick Villain, Brute / Monster.
Glad I got this question because I was working on a longer post regarding her villains.
I have made a few posts about her enemies before and also a few recent posts about Allura.
I like bad guys who get their own character and can become good or bad or worse as the stories progress.
For Zatanna I think the best enemies would be a combination of threats both magical and non magical nature. Threats that connect to her role as a sorcerer and also her role as a stage magician who grew up on the road.
I think her core rogues gallery should be:
Allura:
Having been the one to make her Dad disappear thus kicking off her journey to be a hero and having returned several times to kill or derail both Zatanna and Zatara's life, Allura is the closest she has to an arch enemy.
Recently we figured out that Allura is meant to be a Sylph (see here and here) but her primary motivation for hating Zatara to the point of that hatred extending to his daughter as well has never been revealed.
My head canon is that in the past Giovanni failed to protect someone that Allura cared about thus leading to that ever lasting hatred.
Caligro:
He only showed up once in DC Comics Presents Vol 1 #18. He is a stage magician who blames the Zatara's and by extension even other superheroes because the existence of real powers took away from the magic of stage magic. I found the concept of him to be too intriguing to be relegated to just a one off villain.
Caligro does make an interesting point about where the Zataras sometimes incorporating true magic into their act leaves stage magicians who don't have that ability.
Perhaps Caligro getting to use real magic at one point makes him realize the difference between true magic and stage magic.
Merba:
Like Caligro, Merba was a one off who appeared in Zatanna's back up stories in Supergirl's 1973 series (Supergirl (1973) #4).
He is the opposite of Caligro; a Homo Magi who is descendant of Merlin. He holds a grudge against Zatanna for stopping him because one of his shows endangered the audience.
He has a superiority complex and loves being petty. In his first appearance, Zatanna stops him from using his magic to pick on a poor family at a park.
He comes across as a bully, someone who deep down knows he doesn't measure up to his ancestor so he punches down and picks on people whom he believes are beneath him.
I think he ought to be younger, closer to Zatanna in age. A Draco Malfoy type.
Nimue Ravensong / Mary Anne Hoyt:
Mary appeared in Zatanna: Everyday Magic, she is a girl so consumed with wanting magical powers, especially Zatanna's power, that she is willing to make risky deals with demons and sell the souls of men in order to gain that power.
Although she is played for laughs, her actions and the lengths she is willing to go to achieve her goals is genuinely disturbing.
In my head canon, I like to think they were friends at one point but Mary's jealousy and depravity caused it to fracture. But the lingering residue of their former friendship is why Zatanna is willing to sit by her bedside in the hospital even after all she had done in Everyday Magic.
Hellrazer:
"the demon that not even hell could contain". How cool is that? The character appeared in a story arc that ran from Justice League of America Vol 1 #225-227. As it says on the tin, he is a demon that not even hell could contain and was thus banished to Perdition. He attempted to make his way to earth through the Cult of Fiatlux and later by possessing Zatanna.
Zatanna was the MVP is defeating him but his concept and design are too rad to be left on the back burner.
Warlock of Ys:
The Warlock first appeared during Zatanna's Search. His goal was to use Green Lantern's ring to make his way to earth where his powers would be unstoppable.
He made one more appearance in the issue where Zee joined the JLA officially but his later appearances treated him as more of a joke.
In his initial appearances, Zatanna remarked she might have to sacrifice herself without meeting her Dad in order to stop the Warlock from reaching earth because that's how serious of a threat he was.
The main problem though is that he just looks too damn goofy. He needs a re-design that makes him look intimidating.
The High Lord:
He is the antagonist of the story where Zatanna and the Justice League goes to rescue Zatanna's mom. He is responsible for kidnapping Sindella and keeping her imprisoned then trying to stop Zatanna and the League from saving her.
Sindella's Medulla Gem is what powers the Hidden City. In his own way he is trying to protect his people but he is doing so by cruelly separating mother and daugther and mistreating the mother.
Druid:
The Druid is another villain that appeared in Zatanna's Search, in the story where she teamed up with the Atom. He occupies a sub atomic world and his primary power is absorbing magical power. Kind of like Zatanna's equivalent of Parasite. He is not a villain that poses a personal threat to Zee but he can work if the story requires a magical heavy to challenge her in interesting ways. Zatanna would have to be more creative in beating him because he will just absorb whatever magical power he throws at her.
Same goes for Gorognus who is like a combination of a hulking brute and Medusa. The fact that Zatanna could turn to stone if she looks at him directly, adds an extra layer of challenge in beating.
Anyway, this reply is getting kind of long.
A few honorable mentions;
The Witch Hunters who appeared Zatanna (2010) #16 who are normal humans who hunt magical beings.
The organization that Adam is in charge of who kidnapped Zatanna in Justice League of America #255 and tried to give himself her magical abilities.
The Tigress who was the villain in Zatara's very first appearance. She is a grifter but I think she deserves a post of her own.
Abara Kadabra: @ringaroundaroses suggested him as a Zatanna villain and I love the idea. He is a guy from the dystopian 64th century who uses technology from his time to work as a stage magician. All well and good but he is also incredibly depraved and psychotic and cruel to anyone he hates. He even got real magic at one point and went on a murder spree. I think he would work really well as a Zatanna antagonist moreso than a Flash antagonist.
