Darkseid is the tyrannical ruler of Apokolips, and also the overarching antagonist and archnemesis of Superman, even that he is known to be the biggest threat of the DC Universe itself.
Darkseid was the son of Yuga Khan, a dictator who ruled over a horrifying planet called Apokolips. Darkseid killed his older brother Drax in order to succeed him to the throne. Never trying to hide his cruelty and malice, he sought to conquer the universe and rule over all with an iron fist. His sadism was perfectly obvious from the brutal way he treated the residents and slaves of Apokolips.
At one point, Darkseid formed a truce with his arch-nemesis, High Father. The two leaders exchanged their sons as a way of ensuring peace, as neither one wanted to risk having their son die by their own hands. Darkseid gave up his son, Orion while Highfather gave him his son, Scott Free. That truce lasted up until the sons were both adults, at which point Darkseid exploited a loophole in their truce by letting Scott escape Apokolips and head to Earth. With Scott hiding in neutral territory, Darkseid could resume his original plans for universal conquest.
Darkseid would make several attempts at conquering Earth, and believed that it held the source of the Anti-Life Equation, which would give him dominance over all life. His plans were always interrupted by the Man of Steel.Other foes that Darkseid faced included the Forever People, a group of New Gods who could summon the revived version of Darkseid's brother Drax - known as the Infinity Man. Another enemy of Darkseid was Scott Free, known as Mr. Miracle. Mr. Miracle would constantly be chased down by Darkseid's officers who saw his escape as an act of treason. Mr. Miracle's escape abilities would always get him out of any of the confines they had constructed for him.Darkseid's biggest adversary was his son, Orion. Orion would stop Darkseid's attempts to invade Earth numerous times before he attacked him on Apokolips. Orion would be the one who would finally kill Darkseid, but little did he know, Darkseid had ways of coming back Superman consistently defeats earmarks in he ending forcing him back to Apololips.
In what was possibly his most sadistic move, Darkseid kidnapped Superman's cousin, Kara-Zor-El, and had her brainwashed to be his servant. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Big Barda all teamed up and invaded Apokolips. Superman fought the brainwashed Kara, Wonder Woman and Barda fought the Female Furies, and Batman rigged several explosives that would destroy Apokolips. Darkseid, having no wish to lose his empire, agreed to release Kara. Immediately afterwards, he attacked Superman in Smallville and nearly killed Kara, but Superman forced him up against the Source Wall, where he was imprisoned and drained of most of his powers.
Darkseid makes his final Post-Crisis appearance in the 2009 event Final Crisis as one of the two main antagonists, alongside Mandrakk. Shortly after the Death of the New Gods story arc, it was revealed that the denizens of Apokolips had taken residence within several Earthlings. Darkseid himself became a nightclub owner known as Boss Dark Side. When his current human body began to age at a rapid rate, he lured and possessed private investigator, Dan Turpin. As Turpin was lured into a secret lab run by Darkseid's minions, we saw that the dark overlord had indeed taken root in Turpin's mind and was slowly eating him away.
While the main members of the Justice League were called out of action, Apokolips managed to cause untold anarchy, and killed and enslaved millions with the fully-formed Anti-Life Equation. Turpin, his skin solidifying and cracking, had begun to resemble Darkseid, but his will remained his own. When Turpin saw his reflection, however, he showed despair, knew that the Dark One had already taken over, and was just waiting for his submission. Eventually, Turpin came to the conclusion that there was no hope, that Darkseid's victory was inevitable, so he surrendered his body and soul, and allowed Darkseid full control of the Earth.
Batman, having discovered a bullet that was lethal to the New Gods, confronted Darkseid and told him that even though he was against firearms, he would destroy him once and for all. Darkseid threatened Batman with his Omega Sanction, to which Batman replied by pulling the trigger. Darkseid was left injured and Batman was sent back in time. Afterwards, Superman found what appeared to be Batman's charred corpse and was ready to kill Darkseid, when he realized that he would only kill Turpin. Darkseid laughed at Superman, and stated that Earth's greatest hero would become the enemy of humanity once he had assumed complete control.
At that moment, the two Flashes charged past Darkseid, and were followed swiftly by The Black Racer, the New God of Death. Darkseid was caught and purged from Turpin's soul. When the Justice League was tasked with removing all traces of Anti-Life from Darkseid's human minions, Superman was confronted once again by Darkseid, that time in spirit form. Superman erased him from existence by singing a note so high, that it could affect the immaterial. With that, Darkseid's reign of terror was ended. Unlike before, Darkseid's second demise was permanant.
Darkseid appeared in the new reboot of DC as the first villain the Justice League faces. Long before becoming the New God of Evil and lord of his own dystopian world Apokolips, Uxas was a simple yet embittered alien man tending to his farm. Which was chronically beset by the raucous play of it's patron deities, beings whom he and his people paid homage to; as the Old Gods.
Ancient, colossal beings of cosmological import that ruled their world, beings whom Uxas despised with a venomous passion for constantly wrecking everything he and his poor family had ever striven to build over and over again. All while laughing constantly in their reckless frivolity as they ruined their lives. Finally fed up with the constant cataclysms his creators beset his home with, Uxas sought to end the line of his gods once and for all. Creeping upon the creators' den in their sleep, he would whisper lies of treachery, deceit and slanderous hate in their ears igniting an Armageddonic conflict that would doom his homeworld to fire and ruin.
In the confusion of which Uxas slaughtered the weakened, dying Old Gods and absorbed their divine cosmic power into himself. Shedding his mortal coil of the once hateful Uxas to become the now dreaded New God, Darkseid.
Some time after that conflict, the two brother's own father and then king of the Old God's stepped in to prevent their ascension; particularly peeved that Uxas murdered his fellow deities and having long been fearful of the rise of his progeny ending his own reign. Using the Anti-Life Equation, Yuga Khan would reanimate the remains of his fellow Old Gods to aid in a war on his own next of kin to prevent the rise of the New Gods. Acclimating the real final battle which precluded to the destruction of Ixaya and Uxas's dimension. When the opportunity presented itself, Uxas used the very sickle he used to slay the gods of old to kill his father by attacking from behind.
When after his brother Ixaya also became a New God in the wake of an old skyfather's passing. Darkseid attacked him in fury as their world exploded at his touch, his brother's pleas to build a better world fell on deaf ears as such tender notions filled Darkseid with even greater loathing for what remained of his family. Unleashing the full force of his power and obliterating what once was their birthplace. Some eons after a great nothingness had set in, Darkseid set about building his ultimate fortress within the Sphere of the Gods in the Multiverse. A penal planetary system in which he was the sole lord and master of legions, overlooking scores of enslavement and torture camps all set along a tight and efficient clockwork schedule, the infernal world of Apokolips. Some millennia after establishing his kingdom, Darkseid would go about proliferating his own legacy. Fathering many children who would inherit his dark power and capacity for conquest and degradation, one of whom after an eons long war with his Brother's forces and their corresponding sister planet of New Genesis. He would trade away to his hated sibling for a peace treaty between the two worlds, in exchange for the only child of Highfather, whom Darksied's forces quickly locked away in a prison cell on the planet to be quickly forgotten.
Some time after which; a wayward daughter of Darkseid named Kayo, would incidentily stir up trouble within his kingdom. Breaking a capitol taboo within his domain by laughing in the act. Enraging him enough attempt eviscerating her, only for the chaos maker to port out of space and time into the Multiverse, where Darkseid would immediately give pursuit soon after. Having experienced something unexpected however, the Dark God comes across an entirely new world populated by a colorful myriad of empowered beings. One of they're most powerful champions showcased might and vigor that rivaled Darksied's own divine menace, envious of this mighty being he declared war on that entire universe. Razing it to the ground and killing it greatest heroes, as he had done on countless new world his pursuit of Kayo had brought him too. Somewhere down the line of trekking through realities, he would later sire another child with a wayward amazon named Myrina Black, chief assassin and former confidant of Amazon Queen; Hippolyta. Who unbeknownst to him, had actually sired their demi-goddess daughter Grail in order to destroy him.
Eventually he would find the world she originated from while searching for his second daughter as well as his first. Coming across yet another group of powerful protectors whom he would later defeat before collecting yet another Superman for his scientists to vivisect. But instead the defenders repelled him and his forces when they worked together to free they're superman, who managed to push Darksied through a collapsing boomtube; critically injuring the cosmic tyrant. After being beaten, Darkseid made it his mission to scour the Multiverse, and kill off all versions of the Justice League before he made his way back to the original universe where he suffered defeat.
And he is reprised by the legendary Michael Ironside in the English dub and by Hideaki Nonaka in the Japanese dub.