5 Best Fights in DC K.O., Ranked
DC K.O. was the titular company’s big event after over a year of build-up during the All In era. It saw the return of Darkseid as the unfathomably powerful King Omega, and to stop him, DC’s heroes and villains joined a fighting tournament to crown their own King Omega. This event was a no-holds-barred brawl between some of DC’s heaviest hitters and underrated fighters. It pitted friend against friend even more than it did friend against foe, which of course added all kinds of drama. Beyond simple slugfests, every fight was a love letter to its participants, pulling from decades of lore to showcase and celebrate every era they’ve fought through.
Given that the entire thing was the adult equivalent of slapping our favorite action figures together, it naturally provided a whole lot of entertaining fights. Nearly all of them deserve their own highlight, but while every one was great, there can only be one that stands as the best brawl of them all. Today, we’re crowning the best fight on the road to becoming King Omega by ranking the five best combats throughout the entire event. There were a lot of choices to pull from, but these five stood out because they all had an x-factor that nothing else did, or at the very least, were unabashedly awesome. So, without further ado, let’s crown the king of fights.
5) Wonder Woman and Big Barda vs. Cyborg and Connor Hawke
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
This fight wasn’t the longest one around, but its structure was way too cool not to talk about. In this round, the final eight were allowed to choose a partner, and so it was the most dangerous women in the world versus Cyborg and the criminally underrated second Green Arrow. This fight should be massively in Team Wonder’s favor, but Cyborg leveled the playing field by linking himself to Connor with nanobots. This let Connor gain strength and durability equal to Cyborg’s, and gave Vic access to the fighting skills of one of the world’s greatest martial artists.
What should have been a total wash became one of the closest fights in the entire tournament. Cyborg’s enginuity and Connor’s skills were both given their comuppance, which is great to see for two characters who never get the recognition they deserve. Of course, the real stars were Wonder Woman and Big Barda, who won with one of the coolest combo attacks ever, with Barda punching Diana’s bracers hard enough to blast the opponents away with a shockwave. The ending only hyped everyone more, as Wonder Woman asked for Barda’s opinion on how to win an Apokalyptian tournament, showing that, just like Cyborg, she never stopped planning either.
4) Aquaman vs. Hawkman
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
The King of the Seas and the reincarnating winged warrior fought to prove that the two of them deserve far more love than they get. Hawkman and Aquaman are two most often remembered by fans for being the butt of the joke, but they are far cooler and stronger than most give them credit for. Case in point, this fight. Both men are heavy hitters, with strength that lets them at least hurt Superman and Wonder Woman, and they are about equal in power. Hawkman took the early advantage, as, since they fought on land, his wings let him completely control the air and fight in a way Arthur couldn’t respond to.
If Aquaman were at his normal power levels, he would have lost to Hawkman’s superior maneuverability, but he’d recently become the avatar of the Blue, giving him control over all water. He raised a tidal wave from deep beneath the Earth and drowned Hawkman, netting him a round one victory. In their second round, the god Horus granted Hawkman his infinite strength. Not taking any chances and severely outranking Aquaman in might, Hawkman flew the king to orbit to kill him, but Aquaman showed his brutal strength by controlling the blood in Hawkman’s own body. It was a disgusting, awesome way to win. More than that, this fight showed that these men are some of the best around and definitely deserve to shake their joke status.
3) Superman vs. Darkseid
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
As it only could have been, the final fight was between the Man of Steel and the God of Evil. Superman had been revived by Doomsday and took down Luthor to become Earth’s King Omega, and the two beings with the power to remake the universe clashed. They fought throughout all of time and space, hitting each other with blows that could make and unmake reality. Darkseid was winning, pushing Superman back to the beginning of time, but Clark was just pretending to be on the back foot. He actually wanted to travel back to absorb the energy of the Big Bang and land a massive blow on Darkseid.
The Heart of Apokalips cheered for Superman to win, but the hero made the most Superman choice of all, and sacrificed his chance to remake the universe he wanted to truly save the day. He destroyed the Heart and summoned an army of all of DC’s heroes to beat Darkseid back to the Absolute Universe. He beat him, but only for today, choosing to believe they could find a better way where everyone could win. This fight was the perfect capstone to the tournament, but my one complaint is that it didn’t feature enough of Darkseid’s perspective. Frankly, he could have been any other villain, which is a darn shame. If this fight had played up their specific dynamic, it would have been number one for sure.
2) Superboy-Prime vs. The Legion of Darkseid
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
This fight, ironically, didn’t come from the tournament at all. Superboy-Prime, a Superman Robot, and superpowered Lois Lane fought against the evil Legion of Super-Heroes. Prime finally stopped holding himself back, overcoming his fear of losing control and becoming a villain, and immediately started tearing the entire Legion apart. Meanwhile, Lois and Saturn Girl had a mental duel. Saturn Girl tormented Lois with the knowledge that Superman failed to win the tournament, but Lois looked deeper than despair and found the memories hidden in Saturn Girl’s heart, including the secret love with Lightning Lad.
In the end, Prime chose not to kill everyone after Lois convinced Saturn Girl that fighting wasn’t the answer. This fight was the culmination of all of Prime’s character development, showing that he truly wants to be a hero, and also showed that the seeds of goodness are still in Darkseid’s Legion. The scene of Prime asking the dying Superman Robot why he fought a man who could control metal, only for him to answer that it’s what Superman would do, was unbelievably heartwarming. This fight had Superboy-Prime at his best, and when he is, he’s one of the best heroes around.
1) Superman and Shazam vs. the Green Lanterns
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
It’s safe to say that one of the most anticipated fights was Superman versus Guy Gardner. Both are two of DC’s most powerful characters, and Guy’s angry, brawler attitude clashes perfectly with Clark’s desire to end things peacefully. Much like with Wonder Woman’s previous fight, this was a two-on-two, with Superman and Shazam fighting Guy and Hal Jordan. That sentence alone is worth the price of admission, with this being the ultimate clash of creativity versus unparalleled might. Team Superman obviously had the power advantage, but the Lanterns were tricky, with Hal even trapping Superman with a Black Mercy construct.
The ultimate culmination of it was Superman asking for Shazam to share his power, which the Big Red Cheese was happy to do. Super-Shazam, for a moment, was easily the strongest hero in the world and one of the coolest. I mean, his design had a DBZ reference with the Potara Earrings! He ended the fight in a flash, but that doesn’t take away from the epic clash that they had up to that point. As one of the most-awaited fights in the series, this one definitely did not disappoint. It was creative, bombastic, tons of fun, and celebrated aspects of every character. This is exactly the type of fight that the tournament was made for.
Which of the DC K.O. clashes was your favorite? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!
