15 Best DC Heroes You’ve Never Heard Of

There are so many DC heroes that even lifelong readers miss some of the most interesting ones. Hidden across teams, short lived solo runs, and deep cut storylines, these characters bring unique powers and surprising histories that connect to corners of the universe many fans rarely visit.

This list gathers lesser known names who have stood shoulder to shoulder with icons, often for just a moment before slipping out of the spotlight. You will find innovators, mystics, urban crimefighters, and legacy holders whose stories add texture to the larger DC tapestry.

Aztek

Aztek first appeared as a warrior raised by a secret society to battle a prophesied world ending threat. The hero’s armor channels four dimensional energy and provides flight, invisibility, enhanced strength, and a range of vision modes. The mantle began with Uno and later passed to Nayeli Constant, keeping the legacy alive in more recent stories across the Americas.

Aztek has operated alongside the Justice League and worked independently while hunting agents of the dark deity the society trained them to oppose. The character’s technology and training come from the Q Society, which hid advanced resources in a small city to shape a perfect champion for a single mission that has echoed across different eras.

Xombi

Xombi is David Kim, a scientist who survived a fatal attack when experimental nanomachines rebuilt his body. The process halted his aging and allows constant cellular repair, making him effectively immortal under most conditions. The nanotechnology also adapts his physiology to extreme situations and enhances recovery from nearly any wound.

Originally introduced under the Milestone imprint, Xombi later crossed into mainline DC continuity. His adventures mix biotechnology with folklore as he confronts threats that treat urban legends and spiritual entities as literal hazards, often teaming with experts in the occult when science alone cannot solve the problem.

Ragman

Ragman is Rory Regan, a Gotham based hero who inherited a mystical suit known as the Suit of Souls. The rags absorb the corrupted souls of evildoers, which fuels the suit and can lend their abilities to the wearer while they seek redemption. The costume enhances agility and strength and can form tendrils that bind or protect targets in combat.

Over the years Ragman has balanced neighborhood protection with supernatural missions tied to the suit’s origin. He has worked with Batman and members of the Justice League Dark during cases that require both street level instincts and knowledge of arcane artifacts tied to the garment’s power.

Traci Thirteen

Traci Thirteen is a Homo Magi and the daughter of paranormal investigator Doctor Thirteen. She practices a discipline known as urban magic, drawing strength from the life and patterns of cities. Her abilities include protective wards, teleports, and reality nudges that reflect the unique personality of the neighborhood around her.

Traci has joined teams like Team Superman and the Birds of Prey during investigations that blend magic and modern infrastructure. She often documents supernatural phenomena in metropolitan spaces, mapping how transit lines, skyscraper grids, and civic rituals shape the flow of mystical energy.

Black Alice

Black Alice is Lori Zechlin, a magic user who can temporarily borrow the powers of other mystics. She replicates a target’s spells and abilities at near full strength for a short period and then loses access once the effect ends. This talent allows her to counter specialized sorcery by turning an opponent’s best trick back on them.

Her power has drawn interest from groups that want to control magical assets within the DC universe. Black Alice has been recruited for missions requiring specific arcane capabilities and has also worked with teams like the Secret Six and the Birds of Prey during operations where flexible spell access changes the odds.

The Heckler

The Heckler is Stu Moseley, a vigilante who uses sleight of hand, acrobatics, and relentless taunting to destabilize criminals in Delta City. His arsenal includes nonlethal gadgets designed to create confusion, turn a crowd’s attention, and push opponents into mistakes. He relies on agility and showmanship rather than raw force.

His brief solo run documented a rogues gallery that leaned into surreal schemes and public spectacle. The character functions as a counterculture foil to organized corruption, using public spaces and local media to expose scams while keeping violence to a minimum through misdirection and timing.

Bulleteer

Bulleteer is Alix Harrower, who gained a living metal body when a failed experiment bonded a smart alloy to her skin. The transformation grants flight, durability, and strength while also making her resistant to heat and impact. The alloy responds to stress by hardening, which allows precise control during high speed maneuvers.

She became part of a modern Seven Soldiers lineup and intersected with superhero celebrity culture as she navigated the aftermath of the accident. Bulleteer’s investigations often involve technology startups and entertainment circles where experimental materials intersect with risky commercialization and personal fallout.

Freedom Beast

Freedom Beast is Dominic Mndawe, the successor to B’wana Beast and the protector tied to a mystical helmet and elixir from the African continent. He can communicate with animals and merge beings into new forms to solve problems or traverse dangerous terrain. The power respects living balance and is used sparingly to avoid harm.

As a guardian operating across national borders, Freedom Beast addresses threats to wildlife and communities targeted by poachers and corrupt officials. He has collaborated with global teams when ecological crises cross into superhuman territory, bringing local knowledge and mythic tradition to modern conservation battles.

Onyx Adams

Onyx Adams trained with the League of Assassins before rejecting their methods and seeking redemption. She specializes in infiltration, close quarters combat, and meditation techniques that improve focus under stress. Onyx has protected neighborhoods in Star City and Gotham while building trust with street level heroes.

Her work with Green Arrow and the Batman family has included undercover operations that expose criminal pipelines without large scale confrontations. Onyx often mentors younger fighters on discipline and restraint, documenting routines that help former adversaries adapt to community defense.

Blue Devil

Blue Devil is Daniel Cassidy, a stunt performer who designed a high tech demon suit for film work. A mystical event bonded the suit to his body and left him with permanent horns, enhanced durability, and energy casting through his trident. The transformation kept his engineering skills intact, which he uses to maintain specialized gear.

He divides time between practical effects consulting and superhero missions that require knowledge of both stagecraft and the supernatural. Blue Devil has joined the Justice League and Justice League Dark for cases where occult threats appear on film sets or where illusions conceal genuine magical interference.

The Ray

The Ray is Ray Terrill, who can absorb, shape, and become light. His powers include flight, hard light constructs, and travel at near light speed across sight lines. He can also turn invisible by shifting into non visible wavelengths and communicate through photonic pulses when traditional channels fail.

He has served on teams such as the Freedom Fighters and the Justice League during crises involving energy manipulation and atmospheric events. The Ray’s missions often involve satellites, power grids, and global communications where precise control over light makes him a key responder.

Kid Eternity

Kid Eternity channels a word of power to summon figures from history and myth for limited assistance. The summoned individuals retain their skills and knowledge and return once the task is complete. Different interpretations have adjusted the source of his abilities while preserving the core function of time spanning aid.

Stories featuring Kid Eternity typically revolve around investigations that require specialized expertise no living person can provide. The character documents rules for consent and purpose when calling guests from beyond, creating a framework that treats the ability as a responsibility rather than a shortcut.

Doctor Occult

Doctor Occult is one of DC’s earliest supernatural detectives, created by the same team behind Superman. He works with Rose Psychic as partner and counterpart, sharing a connection that allows them to trade places in peril and pool knowledge of ritual and symbol. His main tool is the Symbol of the Seven, which wards off hostile magic.

Cases assigned to Doctor Occult often bridge mundane crimes and esoteric conspiracies. He maintains archives on talismans, haunted locations, and cults that predate modern hero activity, and he coordinates with present day teams when a case requires access to century spanning records.

Equinox

Equinox is Miiyahbin Marten, a Cree teenager from northern Canada whose powers shift with the seasons. Her abilities rotate through strength, resilience, energy projection, or sensory awareness depending on the time of year. The change encourages planning and teamwork that respects cycles in the natural world.

She joined Justice League United after first contact events near her community. Equinox maps sacred sites and local lore to protect people during cross border missions and works with elders to align superhero responses with cultural protocols that value stewardship and continuity.

Sideways

Sideways is Derek James, a student who gained the ability to open rifts in space after exposure to dark matter energy. He uses controlled portals for instant travel, battlefield repositioning, and short range time saving jumps across a city. The power requires careful anchoring to avoid tearing environments he wants to protect.

His adventures document the physics of rift creation and the agencies that monitor extradimensional events. Sideways keeps detailed logs on safe jump points and collaborates with scientists who study reality stress, which helps teams respond quickly when threats appear in multiple locations at once.

Share your own underrated DC heroes in the comments so everyone can discover a new favorite.