Some of the best love stories begin with a superhero or super-villain. It’s strange to think about, but in this modern day and age comic books are a fantastic source for romantic relationships. Throughout history, entertainment has included romance in one form or another. From the Greek tragedies and the days of Shakespeare to modern films like The Notebook and Titanic, romance has been a huge influence on the entertainment realm. Yet, in the comic book world, romance has taken a whole new meaning, having the power to influence life or demise situations like nothing else before it. Yet, the most dangerous, strange and unusual romances in the comic book industry have to be between a hero and a villain.

Yes, as strange as it seems, heroes often get romantically involved with villains. What people sometimes forget is no matter what side of the law these characters fall on, they are just people. They are people (or aliens, robots, etc), who have feelings, emotions, and needs just like anyone else. Whether heroes fall to the dark side, villains rise up above their dark past and become heroes themselves, or two people surrender to one night of passion, these individuals have emotions that tie them together, no matter what their history or the battles that are to come.

That’s why today we are going to explore the 25 romances that have bloomed between heroes and villains in the comic book world. Some of these are known to comic fans, while others will truly shock you.

25 When A Bat Loves A Cat

One of the more popular instances of a hero falling for one of their villains has to be Batman and Catwoman. For decades the budding romance between billionaire turned vigilante hero Bruce Wayne and expert thief Selina Kyle has been explored, with each steadfastly holding onto their own beliefs yet torn by their love for one another. Batman has been a long-standing symbol of justice, refusing to relent on his war against crime and those who perpetuate it.

Yet, while he’s never relented against mobsters like the Penguin or madmen like The Joker, less dangerous criminals like Catwoman have been given more leeway on the hero’s radar.

Catwoman is definitely one of those criminals. Their relationship has been teased often, with their fights and chases across the city of Gotham, often turning flirtatious and Batman often not being as hardline against her crimes as he is with the likes of The Riddler or Penguin. More recently it was announced that Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle were finally going to tie the knot, but as you’ll see later in this article, Batman has a history of romances with various villains in his rogues gallery.

24 Two Mutants Divided By Ideals

One of the more popular X-Men characters from the Marvel universe has to be Rogue. The mutant woman who has a white streak in her hair and is unable to touch anyone due to her power to drain other’s powers and life force with just a single touch, Rogue had an on and off relationship with the Cajun thief and mutant Gambit, but found herself torn when she began a relationship with X-man villain and all-powerful mutant, Magneto. Known as the master of magnetism, Rogue and Magneto’s relationship started in an alternate comic book universe known as Age of Apocalypse, but soon found their way into the mainstream comics. When she had to choose between Gambit and Magneto, she chose the latter and found herself in a doomed-to-fail relationship with the villain. This relationship is also strange as Rogue was an X-Men member, who was tasked with defending mutants and humanity, whereas Magneto hated humanity and wanted mutants to become the superior species on the planet. This is weird to think about also if you look at the film universe of the X-men, where Rogue was played by a young Anna Paquin and Magneto was played by the much older Ian McKellen.

23 Gods And Monsters

Back in the Marvel universe, fans of the MCU might remember in the 2016 film Dr. Strange that the main villain running things behind the scenes was Dormammu. The all powerful being of a dark dimension, it took the power of the time stone and Dr. Strange to convince him to leave Earth alone, and even then he only did so to escape a time loop, not because he was able to be stopped.

This showcases the true power of the villain, who ruled over an entire dimension, not just a single planet. Yet, in the comics, Dormammu had a sister named Umar, who was just as powerful and intense as he was. In this comic book story, the heroes sent their own unstoppable and intense hero, The Hulk. The Hulk was Bruce Banner, a scientist turned into a heroic beast after a gamma experiment gone wrong. Fans know him thanks to his role in the MCU, but the hero has a hugely complex history in the comics. You’d think these two powerful beings would come to blows and have a spectacular battle. Yet when the time came, Umar used her feminine charms and looks to seduce the Hulk instead, creating the most awkward date/romantic evening in the comics.

22 She Loved The Mask…Not The Man

One of Marvel’s most utilized romances between a hero and villain of sorts has to be Spider-Man (aka Peter Parker) and Black Cat (aka Felicia Hardy). The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man and expert jewel thief were an unlikely pair. Peter Parker was a normal high school kid who became a hero after being bit by a radioactive spider, gaining super strength, agility and much more. Felicia Hardy, meanwhile, was an accomplished jewel thief that grew quite an infatuation with the web-slinger, loving his power and strength.

While Peter eventually married his best friend and love interest Mary Jane Watson and his first romance was with Gwen Stacey, Peter had a unique relationship with Felicia.

The two went on to become a vigilante team of sorts when she revealed her villain days were not something she was particularly in love with, and yet the two eventually separated. You see, it turns out she fell in love with the hero himself, Spider-Man. Yet, she couldn’t find it within herself to love the man beneath the mask, finding no attraction to the kid and nerdy man he was outside of his heroic life.

21 Attorney Client Privilege Gone Too Far

This next romantic pairing was really just a one time moment between a villain who had reformed himself for a brief time and joined the X-Men and a hero from another reality that took the place of our universe’s hero instead. Those characters were She-Hulk and Juggernaut. She-Hulk was Bruce Banner’s cousin, who gained the hulk’s power but retained her own personality, staying in hulk form forever. The Juggernaut was a longtime X-Men villain who used an ancient artifact to gain the power of the Juggernaut, unable to be stopped once he was running and gaining superior strength as well.

You see, an alternate reality version of She-Hulk met up with the reformed Juggernaut, the all-powerful brother of Charles Xavier. Both the former villain and hero were incredibly strong and powerful, and while serving or pretending to serve as his attorney, Jennifer Walters and the Juggernaut gave into temptation, spending one night with each other. The superpower infused cousin to the Hulk himself, Jennifer from our universe was in disbelief when others mentioned her one night with the Juggernaut, fighting the accusations passionately as she remained unaware of her alternate universe counterpart’s actions.

20 A Prophecy Of Love

Catwoman was not the only woman Batman fell in love with that walked on the dark side of the law. While she was the most morally upright and would go on to marry the Dark Knight, another woman with a much darker past once captured his heart. The daughter of the Demon’s Head Talia Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne had an off and on relationship with one another. Though they cared for one another and brought about a passion like no other within themselves, Bruce could never give all of himself to her, as she insisted along with her father that Bruce was destined to take the mantle of the Demon’s Head, the leader of the League of Assassins.

Yet, Bruce refused to end the life of anyone he faced in combat, including the immortal Ra’s Al Ghul who constantly tried to destroy Gotham. Because Talia was so ingrained into the League, she never joined Bruce. Yet the two remain intertwined as they did have a child together. Bruce learned years after he was born that he had a son named Damien, who although trained in the ways of the League was given to Bruce and raised to be the newest Robin.

19 Can A Shapeshifter Love A Wolverine?

The answer is yes and no. You see, one relationship fans may not realize occurred in Marvel comics was between Raven, aka Mystique, and Wolverine. For years the two characters have been mortal enemies, never giving off an impression of a deeper connection physically or emotionally other than their hatred for one another. Yet, these two wild, animalistic superpower-based characters once had a very deep connection with one another. The immortal, self-healing and metal clawed hero briefly joined the same gang as Mystique in the year 1921, and the two had a brief romance.

However, their relationship became strained as the two didn’t view the world the same way, and eventually, she pushed Logan out of a moving train.

That kind of violent split between a couple can have longstanding consequences. Since then their relationship has remained that of enemies, with the two often clashing and Mystique even getting romantically involved with Logan’s hated enemy Sabertooth, aka Victor Creed. Yet, in one alternate timeline their relationship together (between Logan and Raven), resulted in a son being born named Raze, who had the powers of both his shapeshifting mother and self-healing and clawed father.

18 Across The Spectrum

One relationship in the DC universe started well before there were heroes or villains. Ferris Aircraft VP Carol Ferris hired an arrogant and comical fighter pilot named Hal Jordan to test out new aircrafts her company was building. While working together the two fell in love with one another and began a romance that would last for years. However, during that time, Hal was in a crash that led to him meeting the perishing Abin Sur, a Green Lantern whose ring chose Hal to be his replacement when he passed.

Becoming the Green Lantern of Earth, Hal trained with the Green Lantern Corps and became a member of the Justice League. However, his romance with Carol faltered when an alien race known as the Zamarons chose Carol to be their queen, and gave her the power of the Star Sapphire. Unhappy she loved Hal, a Green Lantern, they corrupted her to become his enemy, with the two clashing often through the years. However, she finally broke free of that rivalry and formed the Star Sapphires, her own group that utilized the power of love in their abilities. She’s recently been portrayed as a hero, not a villain.

17 Rise Of The Phoenix

One pairing in the Marvel universe that started off as an innocent romance between two heroes turned into a complex tale when one of the heroes was turned to the dark side. Ironically, it’s not the character fans would expect, at least if they’ve been following Scott Summers for the last decade. Especially after the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, where Scott Summers took on the power of the Phoenix and actually ended the life of his lifelong mentor and father figure, Charles Xavier.

Since that moment Scott has had a very dark time in the comics, with even his past self meeting the new Scott and hating what he becomes. While in recent years in the comics, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, has been taking on a more villainous role himself, he was originally a stand-up hero and team leader of the X-Men. At this time he dated Jean Grey, a powerful mutant with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. However, she soon became possessed by a galactic entity known as the Phoenix. This storyline, known as the Dark Phoenix storyline, saw her gaining the power to destroy an entire galaxy, and the X-Men had to stop her.

16 Seeing Double

Cyclops has a bad history with dating. Much like Batman in the DC Universe, Scott Summers has dated numerous women with villainous pasts, present times and even future villains. One thing that allows heroes to date villains unknowingly is the use of clones. This is a hugely popular comic book storyline, where classic heroes and characters are cloned by villains in some lab, programmed to get close to the person the real hero was involved with before their demise, and infiltrating their lives until the villain unleashed their creation. One of the more popular instances of this was in Spider-Man’s Clone Conspiracy storyline in the Marvel universe.

This next villainess he dated was actually an evil clone of his first love Jean Grey.

Named Madelyn Prior, she was actually cloned by the evil Mr. Sinister. Mr. Sinister is a popular X-Men villain with a history of cloning others, including himself. His expertise in all things genetics has made him one of the heroic groups top villains to battle. The relationship between Madelyn and Scott dwindled soon after it began, with Madelyn becoming violent when he rejected her. When Scott left her, she went on to become the Goblin Queen.

15 Turning The Tables

This final romance we’ll explore with Scott Summers is with the beautiful Emma Frost. Before the two began their relationship, Emma was a villain who had many encounters with the X-Men. She not only had the same telepathic abilities as both Charles Xavier and Jean Grey, but she could also transform her entire body into a diamond-like substance, making her nearly indestructible in battle and allowing her to block other telepaths from reading her own mind. She helped capture and torment several X-Men while running a school to counter Xavier’s own school, and fought Jean Grey as the Phoenix (that Jean eventually won.)

She also joined the Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw, and continued to fight the X-Men while leading a group known as the Hellions. However, when the group of young mutants she led had their lives taken during a battle with Sentinels, machines created to hunt down any people with the mutant x-gene in their DNA and scary weapons, she found herself distraught and eventually joined the X-Men instead. From there she helped to lead the team, and eventually began a romance with Scott that lasted a long time.

14 Can A Luthor Love A Kyrptonian?

Not exactly. You see there was a strange romance that brewed in the Post Crisis era of DC Comics. One of the DC Universe’s most powerful heroes was Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl. The young woman was one of the survivors of Krypton, with her pod landing on Earth and kept in stasis for years. Missing out on raising Kal herself, she instead found he was now her older cousin, a hero of Earth, and worked to protect the planet much like her cousin did.

A synthetic version of Supergirl arrived in our universe named Matrix. Coming from a pocket universe, she was created by a good version of Lex Luthor. When she arrived in “our” universe, she found a young version of her creator named Lex Luthor jr. who was thought to be the original Lex’s son. However, it turns out that the original Lex transferred his consciousness into this younger body after his own body contracted cancer from exposure to kryptonite, his biggest weapon against Superman. The synthetic Supergirl and younger Luthor enjoyed a long romance, but when she found out he was cloning her she destroyed his lab and ended the relationship once and for all.

13 Star-Crossed Romance

When you think of Iron Man’s Tony Stark these days, you think of his romance with Pepper Potts, his assistant turned CEO of Stark Enterprises. The chemistry between Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow in the films made them the MCU’s first iconic couple. Yet, in the comics, Pepper was not the only romance he had, and despite his billionaire playboy image he did manage to find love in the comics as well.

That’s where the star-crossed romance with Madame Masque comes in.

Also known as Whitney Frost, the comic book version of the character (the character appeared on ABC’s Agent Carter) was a celebrity who’s mother raised her to take control of the Maggia, the Marvel Universe version of the Mafia. When Whitney’s face is disfigured in a plane crash, she dons a metal mask to hide her disfigurement. However when she meets Tony Stark, he shows her that she can be loved despite her circumstances, and the two begin a romance. However the sad reality of their lives set in when Tony’s heroics as Iron Man and her villainous role as Madame Masque begin to clash with one another, and the two can no longer sustain a relationship.

12 An Attempted Arrest Lead To This Romance

Two people fans would never have expected to see together in Marvel Comics has to be The Beetle and Ant-Man. This Ant-Man is Scott Lang, the hero fans know from the MCU’s version played by Paul Rudd. In the MCU, Scott’s story has focused mostly on his history as a criminal, his rise to hero status after working with Hank Pym, and his daughter Hope and his relationship with his young daughter Cassie Lang. A romance was teased between Scott and Hope, but has not yet fully been explored, mostly due to his involvement with Captain America during Civil War.

In the comics, Scott’s having a tough time and one night decides to go to a bar. While there, he spots the villainous Beetle, out of her costume. Beetle is a villain who pulls off her crimes using high tech armor and wings, similar to Iron Man. Scott thinks he’s going to confront her and take her into custody on suspicion of attempted elimination of Tony Stark. Yet, when he gets there, she suggests something else, and a romance blooms for one night between the hero and villain. The weirdest part of the encounter is that Ant-Man was still wearing his helmet the next day when the awoke.

11 Playing God

At least that’s what Dr. Doom tried to do in the recent storyline of Marvel Comics known as Secret Wars. In this story, during a cataclysmic event that saw the Ultimate Universe and Earth 616 collide with one another, Dr. Doom harnessed the power of the Beyonders and became God Emperor Doom. From there, he used his newfound powers to remake the world as he believed it should be. Doom’s whole career as a villain has been one of jealousy and arrogance. The leader of the nation of Latveria and a genius, his descent into villainy came over his jealousy of Reed Richards, who not only gained unimaginable power and was the only person to be smarter than Doom himself, but he had the love and care of Sue Storm, who became Reed’s wife.

Hoping to have her for his own, when Doom gained this power he remade the universe into Battleworld, where he was the supreme leader and Sue Storm now loved and adored Doom. The children of Reed and Sue from the original universe were also remade to be Doom and Sue’s children, giving Doom everything he ever wanted. Yet, this romance was one based on lies and manipulation, and was never meant to be.

10 The Ninja And The Devil

Another doomed romance has to be between Marvel’s Daredevil and Elektra. Daredevil is Matt Murdock, the blind attorney with the power to see through sound and vibrations who protects the citizens of Hells Kitchen as a vigilante. Elektra is a powerful life-taker who comes into conflict with the heroes of NYC often. In the comics, she is a life-taker for The Hand, the Marvel version of the League of Assassins from the DC Universe. Finally adapted the right way in Netflix’s Daredevil, the romance between the two is one of passion and intensity.

Matt is a hero who struggles with a dark nature within himself, driven by anger towards the criminal underworld whom he blames for the loss of his father as a child.

As a hero, he hopes to have a romance with someone like Karen Page in her appearances before the Born Again storyline, but in reality, his heart and soul are drawn towards the darkness that emanates from Elektra. Yet, no matter how much passion the two have for one another, they are always in conflict as Daredevil hates taking the lives of anyone, while Elektra lives for it.

9 A Plastique Romance

One pairing that might shock readers is the DC romance between the hero Captain Atom and the villain Plastique. Captain Atom was a military soldier turned hero who could absorb and manipulate energy, most notably nuclear energy. A Vietnam War veteran, Nathaniel Christopher Adam was framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and under military law was condemned to execution. Instead, he took a deal to be a test subject for the military, being placed inside a crashed alien ship and having an atomic bomb detonated next to it. He was seemingly vaporized, but 18 years later he returned, the alien ship now wrapped around him like a skin.

He didn’t have the rogues gallery of other heroes like Batman or Superman, but one villain he faced belonged to the Firestorm rogues, and that was Plastique. A villain who specialized in explosions, she was arrested after trying to take out both Canada’s and the United States' leaderships. While incarcerated, she served on Amanda Waller’s Suicide Squad, and while there she and Captain Atom fell in love. Their romance was so strong that they eventually married one another, yet for some strange reason, it wasn’t strong enough to warrant a wedding in the comics, something that had always been done in major comic book romances.

8 Mythological Love

One huge aspect of the story of Thor in Marvel Comics comes from his fight with the villain Enchantress. Most fans of Thor, thanks to both the comics and MCU iterations, know his first romance was with Dr. Jane Foster. Portrayed in the comics as a doctor and in the MCU as an astrophysicist, Thor had a passionate romance with Jane, who became a huge part of Thor’s iconic legacy, even taking on the mantle of Thor in newer iterations of the comics.

Yet, despite their romance, another woman in his life constantly hoped to gain his affection, to the point of being obsessed. That woman was, in fact, The Enchantress. An Asgardian with an affinity for magic and feelings for Thor, she often tried to seduce the god of thunder, often at the behest of his evil brother Loki for one plot or another. When the World Tree was poisoned and everyone thought Ragnarok had already occurred, Thor felt more mortal than ever before, and after being disowned by Odin he wanted to feel alive again. Thus he actively pursued a romance with the Enchantress, something she’d always dreamed of. Yet, when Ragnarok really began, their relationship fell apart.

7 A Sham Marriage

One romance that came about as more of an obligation than true romance came between Wolverine and Viper. For years Wolverine was obsessed with a woman in the Madripoor crime scene named Seraph. He learned later that she was manipulated while running the crime there by a mysterious villain named Romulus to turn Wolverine in a different direction. She lost her life to Sabertooth, but as the life drained from her she asked Wolverine to give her protege Viper any favor she wants.

He agreed, not wanting to dishonor the woman’s memory and beholden to her forever.

Yet, that favor came with a high price. That turned out to be marriage, as Viper wanted to establish herself through marriage as a key player in the Madripoor crime scene. So he complied out of honor towards Seraph, and the two were wed for some time, not just in name but in body and heart as well, until she finally granted him a divorce. While married, Kitty Pryde led a team of X-Men to Madripoor, hoping to uncover why their clawed friend was seen in the crime heavy area and what he was doing with Viper to begin with. The revelation of his marriage came as quite a shock to everyone.

6 Hero Complex Gone Wrong

One of the romances that Daredevil shouldn’t have gotten involved in was definitely between himself and Typhoid Mary. A villain of his own making, she was a “working girl” who fell out of a window when Daredevil battled a criminal inside the building she worked out of. When she fell out of the window, she hit her head and took a bad fall into the alley below. This created a split personality situation within the woman, and she became the telepathic villain Typhoid Mary. Knowing Daredevil’s weakness of needing to save everyone, she let her innocent personality of Mary Walker, a volunteer in need of help, lure Matt in and a romance bloomed between the two.

Matt felt compelled to help the woman, not wanting to see her suffer and hoping to help her out of her dangerous circumstances. He never knew the dangerous villain who was lurking just beneath the surface, unbeknownst to the hero who had saved her. The two shared a passionate night together, becoming closer than even Typhoid Mary could have possibly imagined. However Typhoid Mary used this to her advantage, attacking him while in his Daredevil costume when he least suspected it.