How Many DC Comics Characters Are There? [Comics & Movies]
The amazing and ever-expanding world of DC Comics has been entertaining comic book fans and readers for decades. Throughout that history, thousands of characters have appeared in the DC stories.
As per the unofficial numbers, DC Comics’ roster currently includes around 10,000 different characters. Since DC doesn’t really keep an official record, these are just estimates based on the available information that can be found.
This article is going to further elaborate on the above-answered question. You’re going to find out the exact numbers related to the characters from the comic books, but also the cinematic universe, and the video game universe. This is why the article is going to be divided into three separate sections, each dealing with one specific medium.
How Many DC Comics Characters Are There in Comics?
The tradition of DC Comics is truly big and the company will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary. This is indicative as to the number of characters present in the whole Multiverse, which is certainly enormous. The fact is, though, that DC Comics was never really up-to-date with its history as Marvel, so there are no official numbers to work with.
From the estimates we have online, there are roughly more than 10,000 DC Comics characters, characters that are not all equally famous, but the whole library includes the heroes, the villains, humans, aliens, and other non-superpowered characters that have appeared in the comic books.
If you regard the different variations and iterations of the main characters, there are probably around 100,000 characters; this also includes one-off and ancillary superheroes, villains, and other characters as well. So, as far as DC is concerned, we don’t have the exact numbers, but we do have some rough estimates.
How Many DC Comics Characters Are There in the Movies and TV Shows?
The history of DC’s adaptations is much longer and plentiful than Marvel’s. There’s the 1960s Batman show, the 1970s Superman film series, the 1990s Batman films, Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy, the current DCEU, a slate of standalone films and television shows (especially the Arrowverse, but also the likes of Smallville and Gotham), and a large animated universe that includes both films and television shows.
This is why it is extremely difficult to determine the exact number of DC Comics characters that have appeared on screen in one format or the other. It’s simply too extensive, the history of these adaptations.
Plus, you have the “issue” of these adaptations presenting and introducing a lot of original characters, some of which have never made it into the comics, while others, like Harley Quinn, have. This is what makes DC’s adaptations so special, but it also makes our job more difficult.
A rough, or relatively rough estimate would be that about 50% of the total number (the 10,000 mark) of DC’s characters have appeared in the various adaptations. This would put the number somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 characters, which is a respectable number. Okay, it’s really a rough estimate but it is probably correct.
As stated, our task was almost impossible since DC doesn’t keep an updated archive of its characters and publications. This is why we had to use some estimates, some common logic, and some overly simplified math to get these numbers. We might be off, but certainly not by much; if the difference between our numbers and the actual numbers exists, it’s not that big.
That’s the usual problem with DC – they offer a lot of magic and a lot of diversity, but they’re horrible record keepers.
How Many DC Comics Characters Are There in Fortnite?
Fortnite players are, if you ask us, a pretty lucky bunch of guys, as they had the pleasure of experiencing their favorite comic book heroes and villains in their favorite (and non-licensed) game.
The inclusion of these characters was not literal – there was no Batman in Fortnite – but DC-Comics-based skins were introduced in the game, allowing players to take up the mantles of their favorite superheroes. And some villains.
We have to reiterate the fact these are not the actual characters, as Fortnite is a non-licensed product, but rather character-based skins that enable you to take the role of these characters. There are the ones that are available as of October 2021:
- Aquaman
- Armored Batman Zero
- Batman Comic Book Outfit
- Batman Zero
- Beast Boy
- Black Manta
- Bloodsport
- Catwoman Comic Book Outfit
- Catwoman Zero
- Clark Kent (Superman)
- Deathstroke
- Green Arrow
- Harley Quinn
- Poison Ivy
- Rebirth Harley Quinn
- Rebirth Raven
- The Dark Knight Movie Batman
- The Flash
- The Joker
- Wonder Woman
The list is very diverse, as you can see and there are more superheroes than villains, but the list will probably increase in the near future. All the major superheroes are there, save for the Green Lantern, and some major superheroes. On the other hand, there are several versions of Batman and Catwoman, for example, you can play with.
If you’ve counted the skins correctly, you’ll know by now that there is a total of 20 DC-Comics-based skins in the Fortnite game. It’s a bit less than Marvel, but it’s still a solid amount if you’re a DC Comics fan.
