Darkseid, especially his DCAU (90s animated series) incarnation. I was 6 or 7 when they aired on TV, and the last episode of Superman the Animated series kinda left my little kid brain dumbfounded because
(spoilers)
Spoilers for the last episode of Superman: the animated series
I expected the slaves to attack him like the hyenas did to Scar in Lion King (the scene of SUperman throwing Darkseid down with all the fire in the background reminded me of the ending fight of Lion King) but instead they just picked the dude up and carried him away.
I revisited the series many years later as an adult, and walked away with a fascination with Darkseid and Jack Kirby's New Gods in general, and I'm grateful for that. I also kinda understand now why the things happened the way they did.