The Joker once said that it only takes one bad day to drive a person insane. That may be true, but for some people it takes far less. Some of the greatest villains in the DC Universe decided to turn to crime for extremely petty reasons. From boredom to baldness, here are the seven pettiest villain motivations…
 

Catman became a criminal because he was bored.

Catman, the super-villain who has gone to war against Lex Luthor and Batman, adopted his criminal identity because he was bored. According to 1963’s Detective Comics #311, Thomas Blake was a millionaire socialite who ran in the same circles as Bruce Wayne. After spending years taming wild animals, Blake was feeling less than stimulated by what his life had become. “I know the habits of big cats so well, that outwitting them has become dull routine!” he said to Bruce Wayne. “Life can become so boring.”

Looking for something to relieve his boredom, Blake considered becoming a superhero, before deciding that fighting Batman would be a lot more exciting than competing with him. Maybe try traveling or starting a fantasy football league next time, big guy?
 

Clayface went on a killing spree because his film franchise was rebooted.

Film franchises reboot all the time. It can be upsetting, especially if you’re emotionally attached to that particular series. (I get nervous every time there’s a Halloween reboot.) But usually people make some angry posts on social media or record YouTube rants in their cars. Not Basil Karlo, though.

In 1940’s Detective Comics #40, Basil was a horror actor who was known for his role in the film Dread Castle. Years after the movie was released, Argus Studios began filming a remake. Karlo was mad about Dread Castle being remade without him, so he started killing the cast and crew. Thankfully, Batman (who is no stranger to film reboots) was able to stop him. The idea of an actor going on a crime spree because of a reboot is insane. Half of Hollywood would be in Arkham if that were a typical response.
 

Clock King became a villain because the mayor told him to touch grass.

There have been a few versions of Clock King over the years, but Temple Fugate is by far the pettiest one. As seen in the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Clock King,” Fugate was an efficiency expert who did everything by a strict schedule. When future mayor Hamilton Hill suggested he break up his routine by taking his coffee break outside, Fugate reluctantly took his advice. During his trip to the park, Fugate’s papers were ruined due to high winds, a barking dog, a fountain and some mischievous children.

This caused Fugate to be late for court, which resulted in his company losing an important case. He could’ve blamed the children, the dog, or even the fountain, but Fugate blamed Hill for telling him to take a break. He decided to become Clock King and devoted the next seven years of his life to planning his revenge against the mayor.

Devoting your life to villainy because one man told you to go to the park is a bit extra. In fact, Fugate was so obsessed with Hill making him late that he based his entire criminal motif around clocks! Time to get a life, my dude.
 

The Cheetah became Wonder Woman’s archenemy because an audience didn’t clap for her.

Did you know that the Cheetah’s legendary rivalry with Wonder Woman could have been avoided in someone had just clapped? Priscilla Rich, the first Cheetah, was introduced in 1943’s Wonder Woman #6. Priscilla was a debutante who was tasked with introducing Wonder Woman at a charity performance. However, the audience didn’t applaud Priscilla and chanted that they wanted Wonder Woman. Yes, it would have been polite to clap, but I think we could all agree that Priscilla took things a bit too far.

First, Priscilla tried to sabotage Wonder Woman’s escape act, hoping to drown the Amazon. Wonder Woman managed to escape regardless, so the debutante decided to kick things up a notch. After a visit from her reflection (it was the Golden Age, don’t ask), Priscilla suited up as the Cheetah and began a life of crime.

This is clearly why studio audiences have those applause signs above the seats. Nobody wants to create any more Cheetahs.
 

Codpiece became a super-villain because a high school crush called him small.

If you’re not familiar with Codpiece, he’s a villain who has a giant cannon on his crotch. You may have caught him in the final season of Doom Patrol, or during the Villy Awards in Harley Quinn season three. You might be wondering what drives a man to attack a giant cannon to his…belt area…and the answer can be found in 1993’s Doom Patrol #70.

The unnamed man who became Codpiece was driven to crime because his high school crush called him small. Enraged, the man developed a concept, wanting to prove to the world that his…ahem, assets were not to be underestimated. Flashforward to many years later and he’s attached a giant weapon to his crotch.

Here’s the kicker. His crush wasn’t even talking about THAT part of his body. She just meant that he was short. In fact, she made it up on the spot just to get out of the conversation. In other words, not only was Codpiece’s villain motivation extremely petty, but the entire thing was a misunderstanding.
 

Lex Luthor blames Superman for his baldness, so he devoted his life to destroying him.

It’s hard to find a pettier villain than Lex Luthor. The man will do anything, including becoming President of the United States, to prove his superiority over the Man of Steel. He’s committed murder, harnessed the power of the sun, teamed up with aliens and gods, all in the name of defeating Superman.

And do you know why? It’s because Superman made him bald.

According to 1960’s Adventure Comics #271 (reprinted in Superboy: A Celebration of 75 Years), Lex and Superman first met back when they were teenagers in Smallville. Lex idolized Superboy (Superman’s alias at the time), and the two immediately struck up a friendship. However, when Lex’s laboratory was burning down, the boy genius yelled for Superboy to save him. Superboy complied, using his super-breath to extinguish the inferno.

In the process, his super-breath knocked over some chemicals, creating fumes that caused Luthor to lose his hair. He blamed Superboy, saying that the Boy of Steel had made him bald on purpose because he was jealous. Never mind the fact that Lex SPECIFICALLY asked Superboy to put the fire out. Never mind that Lex could’ve used science to grow more hair, or just buy a wig. Nope, the only option was to devote his life to annoying the shit out of Superman.
 

Reverse-Flash wrecked Flash’s life (and the timeline) because he didn’t like the inscription on a watch.

If you thought Lex Luthor’s villainous motivation was ridiculous, we need to talk about Reverse-Flash. Eobard Thawne has used his super speed to mess with Barry Allen’s life for years. You’ve probably seen the “It was me, Barry” meme. There were the little things, like going back in time to push young Barry down the stairs or making him miss the ball during little league games. Those are certainly childish, but mostly harmless.

Then there’s the stuff Thawne did to REALLY ruin Barry’s life. He engineered the death of Barry’s childhood dog. He saw Barry had a childhood friend, so he erased the friend from existence so Barry would grow up isolated and friendless. He also killed Barry’s mother, framing his father for the murder. Years later, he would kill Barry’s wife Iris. She got better, but as you can see this guy was relentless.

Do you want to know what started it all?

Thawne finally revealed the true reason he hated Barry in 2017’s The Flash #25. During a period where Barry lived in the 25^th century, he befriended Eobard and told him that “every second is a gift.” Later, the Flash locked Eobard up when it was revealed he was purposely putting people in danger so he could save them. After serving his time, Eobard wanted to show the Flash that he had rehabilitated and learned his lesson. Traveling to the 21^st century, he was shocked to see Barry gift Wally a watch with the inscription, “Every second is a gift.”

Eobard thought that advice was specific to him and was angered that the Flash had repeated it to someone else. And thus, Eobard became the Reverse-Flash, devoting his life to destroying Barry Allen.

All because of an inscription on a watch that wasn’t even his!
 

Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, "Gotham Gazette." Follow him on Bluesky at @joshualapinbertone and on X at @TBUJosh.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.