Purple Superheroes: Top 15 Who Are or Wear Purple

Purple is my favorite color, but it’s not the most popular color among comic book writers and artists – at least not when it comes to superhero outfits. However, that doesn’t mean we didn’t get numerous awesome superheroes throughout the years that don that vibrant violet color.

Also, many characters had purple in their outfits before but were changed later, and we still remember them in their awesome purple glory. Without further ado, here’s the ultimate list of the 15 top superheroes who are, or wear purple.

15. Drax The Destroyer

We all know Drax the Destroyer from the MCU, perfectly portrayed by Dave Bautista as one of the Guardians of the Galaxy. However, that version of Drax is actually a revised version of the character. Earlier in Marvel Comics, Drax wore a purple suit with a cape, highlighted with a golden skull on the chest.

Drax is actually quite a powerful guy, prolific with knives and with awesome strength and durability to match some incredibly strong characters in Marvel Comics. The problem is, he’s a goofball, just like in the MCU, so he’s more frequently used for comic relief instead of really showcasing his talents.

14. Thanos

I know, I know – this guy is far from a superhero, but how could anybody make a list of the best purple comic book ANYTHING without Thanos on it? The Mad Titan is a legendary Marvel supervillain whose popularity only grew further after the epic MCU portrayal of the character by Josh Brolin.

Thanos is an Eternal from Titan, but his purple skin comes from the deviant syndrome, which is also responsible for his huge but stumpy physique. Although The Mad Titan is one of the most notable Marvel supervillains of all time, he has acted as a hero several times in the comics, even teaming up with other superheroes for a higher goal.

13. Galactus

It seems as if we’re making a supervillain list so far, but I promise, this guy is the last such character on the list. And, it’s not like Galactus is always a bad guy, right? Anyway, Galactus is one of the most powerful cosmic entities in Marvel Comics, imbued with the Power Cosmic – a force allowing him to achieve virtually anything he desires.

The problem is that Galactus has a huge weakness – an insatiable Comic Hunger, making him devour planets constantly to replenish his powers and continue being the awesome powerhouse he is. Nobody knows what Galactus’ true form is, but he usually appears as a colossal humanoid being in purple armor. If he was more of a hero, he’d be right on top of this list.

12. Catwoman

We all know that sleek, awesome black costume that Catwoman is famous for. However, when the character first appeared, Catwoman actually wore a purple outfit. She also had a cape, which the writers soon realized was totally silly, considering that her M.O. was stealth, thievery, and escape-artistry. Cape wouldn’t really help with that, now, would it?

Catwoman is more widely considered an anti-hero than a hero, but she has helped Bruce Wayne so many times that she’s practically family. Or, at least we’d want her to be. Whatever it is, she’s an iconic character in DC Comics, and if she were a bit more powerful and a bit more of a hero than an anti-hero, she’d easily break my top ten despite not being famous for purple.

11. Brainiac 5

Yes, Brainiac 5 is from DC Comics, and, no, it’s not the supervillain mastermind with the huge head. Although there is somewhat of a complicated connection between the two, but that’s a topic for another day. Brainiac 5 is a superhero, though; that’s not a question. He’s incredibly intelligent and uses that intelligence to battle villains.

Brainiac 5 is a member of the Legion of Superheroes and is known as the smartest being of the 31st century. However, he tends to be somewhat emotionally unstable, which sometimes causes problems. Still, he’s one of the most valuable members of the Legion by far.

10. Hit-Girl

Hit-Girl isn’t your regular average superhero – just like the rest of the characters in Kick-Ass comics. She’s actually a small 8-year-old girl that works with her father as a night-time vigilante. But, don’t let her age fool you – Hit-Girl is a violent, gritty, menacing superhero with prolific martial arts skills and phenomenal weapon-wielding, especially with her sword.

After her father died, Hit-Girl teamed up with Kick-Ass and continued in her father’s vigilante footsteps, fighting criminals and finding her Big Daddy’s (yup, that was his moniker) killers to avenge his death. If you haven’t given Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl a shot, I highly recommend it to everyone with a thing for dark humor.

9. Gambit

Although Gambit is a highly popular character in the comics, we still haven’t seen a great big-screen adaptation happen, despite numerous X-Men movies popping up all the time. Still, I’m pretty content with his character in the comics, though, and still hope for a good adaptation.

Now Gambit is a powerful mutant that grew up with thieves, crooks, and assassins. Along with his awesome energy-manipulating powers, he’s also quite cunning, charming, and knows how to get what he wants. The guy usually wears a coat, but below is always the purple shirt matching his dark red and black eyes perfectly.

8. Psylocke 

Psylocke is also an X-Men member that not only wears purple, but also projects incredibly powerful purple energy. She is an incredibly powerful character that, as the name suggests, has awesome psychic abilities, including telepathy, astral projection, telekinesis, energy-projection, psionic abilities, etc.

To add to all those amazing mental abilities, Psylocke can also focus her energy into enhancing her physical strength, making her every punch that much more powerful.

7. Starfire

Starfire is one of the most powerful, and most important members of the Teen Titans, with incredible powers, and an even more incredible purple outfit. I was actually quite enchanted with Starfire when I was a kid, and the Teen Titans animated series was rocking on Cartoon Network.

Starfire is actually a princess from another planet that has a very kind, caring, but naive personality. Still, her powers and goodness proved worthy enough not just for the Teen Titans, but for the Justice League, too. Her powers mostly revolve around solar energy, which she can absorb and manipulate in virtually any way she wants, including really powerful energy blasts.

6. Huntress

Huntress is a moniker used by three different characters. Paula Brooks was the first, and she was actually a villain, but later, Helena Wayne and Helena Bertinelli did the nickname some good and became superheroes. If Helena Wayne rings a bell, yes – she was Bruce Wayne’s daughter.

Now, she doesn’t have any particular superpowers, but the Huntress is incredibly prolific with all kinds of weaponry, mostly her crossbows. She utilizes high-tech gadgetry, and her spectacular intellect to work as a vigilante and fight the bad guys to keep the streets of Gotham safe. She kind of reminds me of Marvel’s Hawkeye, both skill-wise, and style-wise.

5. Medusa

Now, Medusa might not be the most popular character on this list – but she is certainly one of the coolest, and most powerful. She is the wife of Black Bolt, the King of Inhumans, making Medusa the Queen of Inhumans. The inspiration for the awesome hairstyle came from the Greek Medusa – a creature that had snakes for hair.

Marvel didn’t take it that far, but still, Medusa’s hair holds quite the power, and significance. She has incredibly psionic powers to go along with physical super strength, telekinesis, and the natural ability to fly. With Black Bolt by her side, there’s virtually nothing they can’t do together.

4. Batgirl

Batgirl had at least a dozen different costumes over the years, but the one I loved the most was the iconic purple costume with yellow gloves and Bat signs. Behind Batman, obviously, she’s probably the most famous member of the Bat Family and has worked by Bruce’s side for years.

Again, she doesn’t have superpowers, but Batgirl is quirky, intelligent, brave, highly skilled in martial arts, and righteous, which is not something many Gotham City residents can say. The second Batgirl’s tenure was abruptly and horrifyingly cut short by a gunshot wound to her back that left Barbara Gordon paralyzed.

3. The Phantom

The Phantom does not belong to neither DC nor Marvel comics, but is still one of the most iconic superheroes ever created, simply because it started so early. The first issues of Phantom came out all the way back in the early thirties.

Now, there have been countless characters who took the mantle, although it was believed that he lived for over 400 years. The truth was that different people took the mantle, making it appear as if one Phantom lived for so long. The Phantom is almost always seen in his tight purple onesie, and with a gun in his hand.

2. Hawkeye

It should come as no surprise that Hawkeye is near the top of this list, since he is probably the most well-known character in comics history that wears purple so proudly. Now, the MCU version has nothing to do with the comics outfit, but the all-purple suit is just too awesome!

Hawkeye is a member of the Avengers despite not having any real superpowers. He has highly-extensive spy training, and is so prolific with a bow and arrow that he practically never misses. Pair that with spectacular fighting skills, peak conditioning, and awesome technology, and you have a regular human being, capable of fighting cosmic-level threats.

Hawkeye is cool, and if it weren’t for that guy in the first place, he’d shatter the competition in this category.

1. The Hulk

Surprise! Yup, I know; the Hulk is green, dude, right? Well, yes, he is. This isn’t some kind of a trick where the Hulk turns purple, but an actual fact. You see, throughout the comics, the Hulk was usually portrayed as wearing purple pants after turning, and it was a bit of an odd choice if you ask me, but there’s a reason why the Hulk always wears purple pants.

At the time when the first Hulk comics were created, colors weren’t so easy to come by. So, in order to highlight one color, you must contrast it with the other, and that’s what happened in th case of the Hulk wearing purple.

Regardless of his torn-up outfit, Hulk is an awesome character, and by far the strongest one on this list – or any list, for that matter! Despite being known as the Big Green, he certainly deserves the number one spot on this list!