Premiering in 1966, the original Space Ghost cartoon from Hanna-Barbara introduced viewers to the intergalactic hero alongside his two sidekicks— Jan, Jace, and their pet monkey, Blip. During the series’ original 42 episodes, viewers followed the Ghost Crew on many different adventures throughout the galaxy as they battled villains such as Zorak, Moltar, and Metallus. While most of these characters were never given full backstories, much like Space Ghost himself, the villains of the Hanna-Barbara Saturday morning cartoon became just as iconic as the cosmic protector and his sidekicks.
While Space Ghost would usher in the golden age of Saturday morning superhero programming, it wasn’t until the ’90s that the character and his cast of villains would cement themselves in pop culture with their revival in the Adult Swim series, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. The spoof talk show was a major hit of the ’90s and included many of Space Ghost’s iconic villains as part of his television crew. Space Ghost is currently experiencing another resurgence in Dynamite’s 2024 Space Ghost series (by David Pepose, Jonathan Lou, Andrew Dalhouse, and Taylor Esposito), which has reinvented the hero’s rogues gallery for an all-new generation.
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10
The Heat Thing Was Space Ghost’s First Villain
The first episode of Space Ghost got heated
In the premier episode of Space Ghost, the Ghost Crew quickly found their first villain while flying over the planet Jupiter and were attacked by The Heat Thing. A giant monster made of lava began throwing lava at the Ghost Crew’s ship. After destroying their ship, Space Ghost takes the monster down by blasting it with his power gauntlets and trapping it in a crater.
While perhaps not the most memorable villain in Space Ghost’s catalog, the Heat Thing has the potential to be a very powerful foe. Being able to strand the Ghost Crew on Jupiter along with being made entirely of lava is a deadly combination and could have given Space Ghost a lot more trouble if they had faced off again. The Heat Thing would later be featured in episode #59 of Coast to Coast titled “Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite” but hasn’t been featured in any other Space Ghost iterations, making him a one-and-done villain.
9
The Energy Monster Was One of the Most Powerful Foes
The Ghost Crew gets shocked
In the 13th episode of the original Space Ghost cartoon, Jan, Jace, and Blip are attacked by a giant monster made of energy created by the evil scientist Dr. Soonev. Similar to their encounter with The Heat Thing, Space Ghost arrives and saves his sidekicks by overloading the monster with energy from his gauntlets. The Energy Monster was also featured in Space Ghost #2 (by David Pepose, Jonathan Lau, Andrew Dalhouse, and Taylor Esposito), where Jace and Blip are attacked, similar to the original episode. The Ghost Crew defeated the monster by activating a radio tower that transformed him into radio waves and scattered him into the next solar system.
While Space Ghost defeated The Energy Monster in the original cartoon, the new comic series proved that he is no laughing matter. With its powers to absorb all forms of energy, the monster was able to nearly take down the cosmic hero and even take a full-powered blast from Space Ghost’s terraforming gauntlets. The monster was so powerful that Jan even speculated it could potentially consume the entire Ghost Planet.
8
The Black Widow is the Controlling Ruler of the Tarantopods
Space Ghost gets caught in the widow’s web
The villain known as Black Widow first appeared in the fourth episode of Space Ghost, titled The Web. The Black Widow is the ruler of the planet Telus and the alien species who inhabit it called the Tarantopods. In the episode, Widow captured Space Ghost along with Jan and Jace, but the team was saved by Blip and Black Widow escaped. Space Ghost #3 saw a reinvention of the villain in which she can control plants and similarly captures Space Ghost and Jan.
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Black Widow is not just a formidable foe but one of the few that was able to escape defeat from the infamous Space Ghost. Her later reinvention in the Dynamite series only made her more dangerous by not only giving her powers but malso aking her just as persuasive as she is dangerous. Widow was able to trick Space Ghost into helping her and almost turned Jan to her side before revealing her true evil plans.
7
The Creature King is an Often Underestimated Villain
The mind-controlling alien gave the Ghost Crew trouble
Immediately following the introduction of Black Widow came the first appearance of Creature King in Space Ghost Episode 5. The Creature King was an alien with a helmet capable of controlling the minds of animals and various other space creatures. Originally facing off against the villain when Jan and Jace found themselves trapped on a planet under his control, Space Ghost would fight the villain a few other times in the series, as well as in Dynamite’s Space Ghost #7.
While one of the more odd-looking characters in Space Ghost’s catalog, The Creature King has given Space Ghost some serious trouble in their encounters with his ability to control powerful animals and monsters. Space Ghost #7 took his abilities even further with him being able to also revert human intelligence to a primitive state. Creature King may be small in stature, but he brings major trouble for the Ghost Crew and is a villain who shouldn’t be underestimated.
6
Tansut The Space Pirate Leads Other Space Ghost Foes
Tansut is an intergalactic nuisance
First appearing in the episode titled Hi-Jackers, Tansut and his band of pirates captured Jan, Jace and Blip, who were once again saved by Space Ghost. Tansut would then disappear into a cloud of death mist and never be seen again in the series until he was featured in Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The 2024 Space Ghost #1 used Tansut to introduce readers to this new era of Space Ghost and saw the villain as a much more ruthless threat.
In the 2024 Space Ghost series, Tansut is a ruthless pirate who leads a crew of other members of Space Ghost’s villain catalog, including Brago, Lurker, and One-Eye. The space pirate and his crew not only kill Jan and Jace’s dad but proceed to try and kill the kids themselves and even Blip. While never able to shine in the original series, Tansut has become one of Space Ghost’s more violent foes, with him and his crew responsible for killing many innocents across the galaxy.
5
Lokar is a Locust God Who Controls the Immortal Swarm
Lokar has transitioned from a joke into an evil god
In the original Space Ghost series, Lokar was a warlord and leader of an army of robot locusts that ate metal. In the episode “Lokar-King of the Killer Locust,” Lokar and his army of Robots destroyed Space Ghost’s ship. He captured the hero but was ultimately brought down by one of his own machines. The recent Space Ghost series from Dynamite saw a complete reinvention of the villain as a locust god who controls the Immortal Swarm, who devour everything in their path and are thought to be a myth.
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Originally a one-and-done villain, as well as a running gag in the Coast to Coast series, David Pepose turned Lokar into one of the most frightening villains of the Space Ghost series. Lokar and his Immortal Swarm are interdimensional beings who their cultists believe will bring forth the apocalypse. Even Space Ghost thought their existence impossible until the Locust god was summoned by Zorak and his cult.
4
Moltar Is One Of Space Ghost’s Great Villains
The Molten Man has faced the Ghost Crew many times
Moltar is a genius scientist who first appeared in the episode Space Ghost: The Ovens of Moltar. Moltar is the ruler of an uninhabited molten planet where he created the Magma Men as his own personal army. Space Ghost would stop Moltar numerous times throughout his career and was the director of Space Ghost’s talk show on Coast to Coast. Moltar was also featured in Space Ghost #6 (by David Pepose, Jonathan Lou, Andrew Dalhouse, and Taylor Esposito), and saw a more violent version of the villain who lost his family and became disfigured before turning to evil.
Moltar is not only one of Space Ghost’s most iconic villains; he is also one of the most powerful. With his army of Magma Men, each one of the giant monsters is capable of taking armies down single-handedly. The recent iteration of Moltar in the Dynamite series also pushes his intelligence even further by having him use weapons he has developed to counteract Space Ghost’s powers. The issue also saw Moltar able to nearly level an entire city with almost no effort.
Metallus became Space Ghost’s most important villain
Metallus is a space conqueror who leads an army of killer robots to forcefully bring planets under his control. First appearing in the episode Space Ghost: Homing Device, Metallus would be a recurring villain for the cosmic hero and even attacked the Ghost Planet. Metallus in the Dynamite series is even more ruthless, with Pepose making him a former general for the Galactic Federation who was court-martialed for committing war crimes.
Not only is the recent version of Metallus even more dangerous, the series also gave him a personal connection to the hero when Space Ghost #8 (by David Pepose, Jonathan Lou, Andrew Dalhouse, and Taylor Esposito), revealed that the villain was the one who killed Space Ghost’s family and the planet Vector. The two-issue arc shows how immensely powerful Metallus was against Space Ghost by repeatedly being able to beat him with relative ease. Space Ghost eventually was able to stop him but had to resort to almost killing him to claim his victory. Metallus has always been one of Space Ghost’s most formidable foes, but this new version of him in the Dynamite series makes him nearly unstoppable.
2
Brak Is Space Ghost’s Most Popular Villain
The space pirate has been in every Space Coast iteration
Brak and his brother Sisto began as space pirates who plundered spaceships, intending to rule the galaxy. First appearing in the episode Space Ghost: The Lure, the cat aliens became a staple of the franchise and later became part of the Council of Doom. Brak was also one of the main recurring characters on Coast to Coast and quickly became a fan favorite. Brak was so popular that he even got his own spinoff show in 2000 titled The Brak Show, which ran for three seasons on Adult Swim.
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While not the most powerful of Space Ghosts villains, Brak is a mainstay and remains the most popular character of the series to this day. The recent Dynamite series saw the character and his brother reimagined as corrupt officers of the Galactic Patrol who tried to kill Jan and Jace in Space Ghost #1. While Brak hasn’t been seen in the series since his introduction, the comic has already established this version of Brak as being more evil, and now he has a personal vendetta against the Ghost Crew.
1
Zorak Stands Above the Rest
The insect villain has tortured Space Ghost for a long time
Zorak is Space Ghost’s archnemesis who has faced off against the hero numerous times in their long history. Zorak is an evil praying mantis from the planet Dokar who leads an army of Zorathians to spread destruction across the galaxy. The most recent iteration of Zorak is a psychopathic murderer and leader of the Cult of Lokar, whose goals are to slaughter innocent people to summon the Locust God and bring forth the apocalypse.
In Zorak’s first appearance, the villain was already in prison from a previous encounter with Space Ghost, indicating that he could be the hero’s oldest villain. While always a menace, the new version of Zorak in David Pepose’s Space Ghost is terrifying and re-establishes the villain as a serious threat. Being featured in over six episodes of the original series, as well as every other iteration of Space Ghost, Zorak is undoubtedly Space Ghost’s greatest and most iconic villain.
