Darkseid

Darkseid (real name: Uxas) is one of the major villains in the Superman comics and other DC media. He is a merciless tyrant and a member of an extraterrestrial race of deities known as New Gods. He was widely regarded as one of the DC universe's most powerful and malevolent villains of all time.

Origin
Darkseid was the son of a dictator who ruled over a horrifying planet called Apokolips. Darkseid killed his brother Drax in order to succeed him to the throne. Never trying to hide his cruelty and malice, he sought to conquer the universe and rule over all with an iron fist. His sadism was perfectly obvious from the brutal way he treated the residents and slaves of Apokolips.

At one point, Darkseid formed a truce with his arch-nemesis, High Father. The two leaders exchanged their sons as a way of ensuring peace, as neither one wanted to risk having their son die by their own hands. Darkseid gave up his son, Orion while Highfather gave him his son, Scott Free. That truce lasted up until the sons were both adults, at which point Darkseid exploited a loophole in their truce by letting Scott escape Apokolips and head to Earth. With Scott hiding in neutral territory, Darkseid could resume his original plans for universal conquest.

Superman & The New Gods
Darkseid would make several attempts at conquering Earth, and believed that it held the source of the Anti-Life Equation, which would give him dominance over all life. His plans were always interrupted by the Man of Steel.

Other foes that Darkseid faced included the Forever People, a group of New Gods who could summon the revived version of Darkseid's brother Drax - known as the Infinity Man. Another enemy of Darkseid was Scott Free, known as Mr. Miracle. Mr. Miracle would constantly be chased down by Darkseid's officers who saw his escape as an act of treason. Mr. Miracle's escape abilities would always get him out of any of the confines they had constructed for him.

Darkseid's biggest adversary was his son, Orion. Orion would stop Darkseid's attempts to invade Earth numerous times before he attacked him on Apokolips. Orion would be the one who would finally kill Darkseid, but little did he know, Darkseid had ways of coming back

Superman consistently defeats earmarks in he ending forcing him back to Apololips.

Supergirl
In what was possibly his most sadistic move, Darkseid kidnapped Superman's cousin, Kara-Zor-El (later known as Supergirl), and had her brainwashed to be his servant. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda all teamed up and invaded Apokolips. Superman fought the brainwashed Kara, Wonder Woman and Barda fought the Female Furies, and Batman rigged several explosives that would destroy Apokolips. Darkseid, having no wish to lose his empire, agreed to release Kara. Immediately afterwards, he attacked Superman in Smallville and nearly killed Kara, but Superman forced him up against the Source Wall, where he was imprisoned and drained of most of his powers.

Final Crisis
Shortly after the Death of the New Gods story arc, it was revealed that the denizens of Apokolips had taken residence within several Earthlings. Darkseid himself became a nightclub owner known as Boss Dark Side. When his current human body begsn to age at a rapid rate, he transferred his essence to private investigator, Dan Turpin. As Turpin was lured into a secret lab run by Darkseid's minions, we saw that the Dark One had indeed taken root in Turpin's mind and was slowly eating him away.

While the main members of the Justice League were called out of action, Apokolips managed to cause untold anarchy, and killed and enslaved millions with the fully-formed Anti-Life Equation. Turpin, his skin solidifying and cracking, had begun to resemble Darkseid, but his will remained his own. When Turpin saw his reflection, however, he showed despair, knew that the Dark One had already taken over, and was just waiting for his submission. Eventually, Turpin came to the conclusion that there was no hope, that Darkseid's victory was inevitable, so he surrendered his body and soul, and allowed Darkseid full control of the Earth.

Batman, having discovered a bullet that was lethal to the New Gods, confronted Darkseid and told him that even though he was against firearms, he would destroy him once and for all. Darkseid threatened Batman with his Omega Sanction, to which Batman replied by pulling the trigger. Darkseid was left injured and Batman was sent back in time. Afterwards, Superman found what appeared to be Batman's charred corpse and was ready to kill Darkseid, when he realized that he would only kill Turpin. Darkseid laughed at Superman, and stated that Earth's greatest hero would become the enemy of humanity once he had assumed complete control.

At that moment, the two Flashes charged past Darkseid, and were followed swiftly by The Black Racer, the New God of Death. Darkseid was caught and purged from Turpin's soul. When the Justice League was tasked with removing all traces of Anti-Life from Darkseid's human minions, Superman was confronted once again by Darkseid, that time in spirit form. Superman erased him from existence by singing a note so high, that it could affect the immaterial. With that, Darkseid's reign of terror was ended.

New 52
Darkseid appeared in the new reboot of DC as the first threat the Justice league faces. After being beaten, Darkseid made it his mission to scour the Multiverse, and kill off all versions of the Justice League before he made his way back to the original universe where he suffered defeat.

Television Appearances
Darkseid is a major antagonist in the DC Animated Universe. He is voiced by Michael Ironside. His first attempt to attack Earth was by brainwashing Superman to do so, due to New Genesis protecting Earth. However, Superman's will power was far more powerful than the mind control and he broke free of Darkseid's manipulation, and caused his plan to fail. Later, Darkseid's planet, Apokolips was attacked by the Kryptonian computer, and Darkseid was killed in the process when Brainiac's base exploded. When Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom tried to resurrect Brainiac, they unintentionally revived Darkseid who was merged with Brainiac and who then launched an invasion on Earth. Superman beat him physically in Metropolis, but he soon trapped him and nearly murdered him with a Kryptonite knife. However, Lex intervened by using the Anti-Life Equation that he found and used it against Darkseid, which absorbed them both into the Source Wall.

Orlando At Dark
In Orlando At Dark, Darkseid appears as a villain in Orlando At Dark and is second in command of The DC villains under Lex Luthor. Michael Ironside reprises his role.