# Supervillains WITH day jobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157 "2013-04-08T15:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/1 "2013-04-08T15:17:45Z")
Based on [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=687531) about superheroes’ day jobs, it got me thinking… I’m hard-pressed to come up with any supervillains that actually _have_ day jobs that aren’t tied to their criminal careers. A good number of them like Lex Luthor, Kingpin, and Ra’s al Ghul have gotten incredibly wealthy through their criminal activities, so this thread isn’t about them. Are there any supervillains who toil away during the day and work on their evil at night? Again, jobs tied to their criminal activities don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/2 "2013-04-08T15:25:11Z")
Dr. Doom is king of Latveria, which is certainly one hell of a day job. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/3 "2013-04-08T15:27:04Z")
IIRC, Catwoman owned a store; I don’t recall what she sold, but during the Silver age, there was no proof that Selina Kyle was Catwoman (though Batman suspected) and she used the store as a front. Captain Boomerang originally worked for a toy company promotional department, making appearances to promote the use of boomerangs. I assume he was fired once his criminal activities were known. Abra Kadabra was a working magician. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/4 "2013-04-08T15:31:55Z")
Batman’s enemies Hush and Hugo Strange have had day jobs working in the medical field. The problem is that once a villain goes to jail, his secret identity usually gets revealed which makes it harder to find a regular job. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/5 "2013-04-08T15:32:45Z")
The original Whiplash (NOT to be confused with the Mickey Rourke character from the _ **Iron Man 2** _ movie) was Mark Scarlotti, a smart and successful engineer who worked for Tony Stark’s company. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/6 "2013-04-08T15:42:59Z")
The Human Top, aka Whirlwind, removed his mask and got a steady job as Janet Van Dyne’s chauffeur. (Sure, he only did it to help his criminal career – knowing her schedule and location, getting a good look at the Avengers HQ when picking her up or dropping her off, and so on – but he actually earned those paychecks.) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/7 "2013-04-08T15:44:32Z")
The other trope is villains who became villains because they were scientists whose experiments backfired: the Lizard, Morbius, Man-Bat, etc. Somewhat related might be Harvey Dent, prominent District Attorney, whose successful courtroom experiences lead to the events that triggered his transformation to Two-Face. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/8 "2013-04-08T15:50:22Z")
With his freaky knife-throwing skills, the Swordsman was repeatedly seen working as a circus performer – and committing crimes, while masked, in the same issues. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/9 "2013-04-08T16:10:18Z")
Not sure if it’s still canon post-reboot, but the Penguin owned a nightclub for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/10 "2013-04-08T16:14:21Z")
Not quite a supervillain in the comic book sense (though he’s appeared in comics), but… Professor Moriarty was an astronomer and, well, professor. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/11 "2013-04-08T16:16:43Z")
Isn’t the whole point of being a supervillain that you don’t _need_ a day job? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/12 "2013-04-08T16:42:49Z")
Honorable mention: Paul Gambi, backstreet Central City tailor who created the outfits for many of Flash’s Rogues Gallery. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/13 "2013-04-08T16:45:38Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > IIRC, Catwoman owned a store; I don’t recall what she sold, but during the Silver age, there was no proof that Selina Kyle was Catwoman (though Batman suspected) and she used the store as a front. Probably little cat ornaments. She could have called the store “Cat Curios.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/14 "2013-04-08T17:33:03Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Isn’t the whole point of being a supervillain that you don’t _need_ a day job? :dubious: I don’t know if that’s the _whole_ point. Some are out for revenge against the superhero, some have morally ambiguous and sometimes sympathetic goals (Mr. Freeze or Magneto), and some have motivations known only to themselves (The Joker or Baron Zemo). I think getting rich tends to be a side effect of being a supervillain. If you already have no regard for the law, making money becomes very easy. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/15 "2013-04-08T17:34:01Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Isn’t the whole point of being a supervillain that you don’t _need_ a day job? :dubious: Which must be all the more frustrating that your best laid plans get foiled by some guy moonlighting. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/16 "2013-04-08T17:39:18Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > Which must be all the more frustrating that your best laid plans get foiled by some guy moonlighting. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/17 "2013-04-08T17:53:27Z")
The Green Goblin was a successful businessman in Spider-Man, v. 1. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/18 "2013-04-08T17:57:46Z")
There’s an Italian comics series called “[Alan Ford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ford_(comics))” about a bumbling group of secret agents operating out of a flower shop in Manhattan. They are not really super heroes – it is a parody of a superhero genre - but their villain is a [super-villain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Superciuk_cover.jpg) in that he uses a helium balloon to fly around and his super-villain ability is to incapacitate a person with his cheap wine breath. His day job is a garbage collector and he hates poor people like himself and always gets angry because poor people always leave garbage so he puts on the mask at night and robs poor and gives it to the super-rich. The whole comics is a parody of American society from an Italian leftist viewpoint. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/19 "2013-04-08T17:59:18Z")
The Green Goblin was a successful businessman in Spider-Man, v. 1. I believe the Circus of Crime did perform for paying customers. (Sometimes they paid in more waysthan one .) Batman’s minor foe, The Man with 10 Eyes, worked as a security guard for an airlines. Did not the Trickster and Mysterio initially moonlight as super-villians when they were working as stunt people. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157/20 "2013-04-08T17:59:50Z")
Lex Luthor appears to have **erased the boundaries** between day job and supervillainy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supervillains-with-day-jobs/655157.md?page=2)