Who would you consider to be the upper echelon of their respective universes based, not on their power levels, but on notoriety and significance? The elites, so to speak; the quintessentials; the Knights of the Round.
I am thinking that the Marvel Universe’s inner circle, its clique, would consist of: Captain America; Doctor Doom; Doctor Strange; the Hulk; Iron Man; Magneto; Namor; Professor X; Silver Surfer; Spiderman; Thor; and the Fantastic Four as a unit. A core group of the X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Archangel, Storm, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Colossus) might also be included but that is probably my fanboyism speaking more than anything else.
If more straightforward villains are included in addition to the ambiguous inclusions of Doom and Magneto in the main list, I’d also list Apocalypse; Doctor Octopus; Thanos; and, maybe, Mephisto and Loki.
For DC, I don’t know. I’ve never been a fan and I only know its most obvious heroes and villains.
My (uninformed) guess as to its membership would be: Aquaman; Batman; Captain Marvel; Catwoman; Flash; Green Lantern; Hawkman; Martian Manhunter; Nightwing; Plastic Man; Robin; Superboy; Superman; and Wonder Woman. For villains, I’d say: Darkseid; Joker; Lobo; and Lex Luthor.
What do more informed fans think? How far off am I? Who would you remove or include?