Was just listening to a YouTube channel and again the comparison of Thanos and Darkseid comes up; the age old arguement that one is a direct ripoff of the other. I feel that's an unfortunate disservice to both of them. Other than being cosmic big-bads that resemble walking brickwalls, they have completely different motivations and goals. Darkseid seeks the domination of all that is and to rule as a despot. In a way his vision of the world is worth than death; it's existing in submission.
In my eyes Thanos never seeks to rule over all, per se, though it is often a means to his goal: most commonly, to court the literal embodiment of death to become his mistress. In a twisted way, Thanos is capable of a semblance of love that Darkseid is unarguably not. To be clear and consciously make a distinction, Thanos is not an anti-hero; his intentions will always be vile and ambitious, but there's a glimpse of neutrality inside him. irrc, inbetween the end of the Infinity War and the inception if the Infinity Watch, Thanos briefly finds calm as a farmer on an isolated planet. I feel this pathos is unique to the Mad-Titan that I doubt we'll ever see in the ruler of Apocalypse.
Where Thanos keeps to a sort of isolation of himself, Darkseid's world is a woven tapestry of a pantheon of servants, generals, aide-de-camps, familial-ties, etc.. that gives any mythology of antiquity a run for its money. Darkseid has literally armies at his disposal to deploy at will (if it were to serve his purpose), where Thanos generally has to play the long game of manipulating players in his game, avoiding any direct influence.
I won't argue that they both serve similar roles in their respective comic universes, as a foil for the heroes in a cosmic altering/destroying event. But wheather you're a DC or Marvel fan, to say that neither have their unique qualities and/or the other is a carbon copy, serves only to discredit both characters of what makes them fomidable, monumental, threat in their universes.
