Lockjaw.
This might belong in the "stories you love that everybody hates" thread, but hear me out: I will defend my claim using only the Lee-Kirby stories. With no mention of a certain Canadian writer-artist or a certain Speedster's non-retcon.
What hero or villain has NEVER been used correctly? That's a high bar. So I would have to say Lockjaw. But I would add the caveat: he was used correctly in Kirby's original pencils and notes. And often Stan's words reflect this, but at other times I think the text lets him down. Despite this, Lockjaw is still amazing throughout the Lee-Kirby run. It is only later that his characterisation is destroyed.
The reason that I (and many others) worship Jack Kirby is the breadth of his imagination. When other comic writers see a dog, they just think "pet" or "just comic relief". But Kirby treats everyone equally. Anybody can be a hero, and nobody is beneath anybody else. Kirby instinctively knew this: as a short guy, a fighter, but someone who lacked Stan's silver tongue, Kirby knew never to judge by appearances.
This breadth of imagination shows in all of Kirby's creations, Take for example this montage of Kirby's greatest FF characters: see the range! And who is that in the middle, between Galactus and the Watcher (who are, according to FF 48, the most powerful beings in the universe)? Lockjaw. There are no other Inhumans shown.
(On a tangent, see Alicia in that picture? There is a good argument that the Ultimate Nullifier was just a face saving excuse, and Galactus was only really defeated when he lost his only friend in the universe. So Alicia was the only person to ever decisively defeat Galactus. Never judge by appearances. As for Wyatt, also in the pic - but I'm getting sidetracked.)
Just look at the size of Lockjaw's head (and how his antennae grow out of it). Lockjaw has probably the largest brain to body ratio this side of Modok.
The first time we see Lockjaw he's using his intelligence, to probe and open a doorway:
Lockjaw's great power is mental: he creates a mental dimension displacer force.
He uses this to home in on thought waves
This might be the most useful power in the world....
The first time we really see his power, it is when all the Inhumans are trapped behind a negative barrier. But Lockjaw can still come and go as he pleases. He has more freedom than anybody in the universe, as he can do anything, yet nobody expects anything of him, and enemies never suspect. Acting the fool works for him (see below).
Reed Richards would love to understand how Lockjaw performs his mental feats, but it's beyond even Reed's brain.
Just how smart is Lockjaw? Well actions speak louder than words. Again and again he shows himself to be smarter than the people around him.
He can beat anybody he wants, either directly (not even the Surfer could free his board from Lockjaw's mouth - think about that!)...
...or by a combination of strength and teleportation.
Think of the times when Lockjaw appeared to be stupid, in the Lee-Kirby run. In hindsight he always took people to just the right place at just the right time. But we don't appreciate it until events unfold, sometimes years later. When people treat him as inferior (notably Wyatt Wingfoot and Medusa have this attitude) Lockjaw lets his actions do the talking.
Oh, and about Medusa's condescending attitude to Lockjaw... Medusa probably felt threatened because Lockjaw was emotionally closer to Black Bolt than she was. Black Bolt was always described as belonging to Black Bolt, not Crystal. And the fact that Black Bolt let Lockjaw accompany Crystal, which let Crystal go anywhere but Medusa had to beg a ride each time, must have irked Medusa. And recall that Medusa in the Kirby era is a very devious character. I don't buy Medusa's "I didn't mean to be cruel, I was mind controlled" excuses for one minute.
Lockjaw's potential is enormous and mostly unrealised. He is my all time favourite hero. bar none. But after Kirby left the subtlety gradually disappeared.
In recent years Lockjaw has been reduced to the status of clown, not just in his outer appearances, but in his inner monolog. To me that is unforgivable, and shows how far we have sunk from Kirby's imagination and depth. Today's Lockjaw is a two dimensional parody of the original character. This perfectly illustrates why modern Marvel comics hold no interest to me.
Lockjaw's original role was like that of the fool in Shakespeare's plays. The fool is the only character who can come and go, and do and say as he pleases. The fool is the comic relief character, the one who is totally unthreatening, and hangs around the king just to relieve the king's stress. But in Shakespeare, the Fool is always the wisest character of all.
