Search Results for: superman

Superman vs Hulk – A Superhero Battle Between DC and Marvel’s Gods of Strength

Kal Takes on the Big Green Machine

On comic book message boards all across the vastness of cyberspace, you can find one of the favorite pastimes of true comic fans: superhero battles. Not only does Superman vs Hulk recur again and again, but new arguments arise that shift the outcome in favor of one over the other.

Using the official – and semi-official when it suits them – range of powers available to their favorite characters, Marvel and DC fanatics alike engage in hypothetical battles between the most powerful heroes from the respective universes.

Such battles hinge on power levels, and how they’re measured in the different universes. The new and improved take on the Superman vs Hulk battle is actually here.

We saw what transpired in the greatest battle in all of comic-dom with Superman vs Doomsday, which gave us an idea of same-universe battles between beings with end-of-the-spectrum power.

For example, is Superman stronger than Thor? How about the Man of Steel vs. the gamma-irradiated green machine known as the Incredible Hulk? Well let’s find out how Superman vs Hulk pans out.

Superman vs Hulk Battle: You Wouldn’t Like me Angry

When nuclear physicist Dr. Bruce Banner turns into the Incredible Hulk, it is widely acknowledged that there isn’t a stronger humanoid creature in the Marvel universe – although there might be some competition for that moniker from an Infinity Gem-enabled Drax the Destroyer.

But Hulk, nonetheless, is the antihero most singularly presented as unstoppable.

Not only is his baseline strength immense enough to prove insurmountably troublesome for Thor the God of Thunder, but the Hulk actually gets significantly stronger as he gets angrier.

This was made no more apparent than in the World War Hulk storyline, when Hulk reached untold anger levels.

Some of his legendary feats have included being able to pick up Thor’s mystic hammer Mjolnir – which has an Odinforce enchantment that forbids anyone but Thor or the “worthy” from picking it up.

The Hulk’s strength has reached such levels that it was able to break the powerful magic that bound the hammer.

In his bout with the apocalyptic Onslaught, the Phoenix Force pushed the Hulk to the highest levels of anger by separating his human side from the gamma, which enabled him to cause a rupture in the mind-beast’s otherwise impenetrable armor.

In another storyline, the Incredible Hulk held a billion-ton mountain aloft to keep it from falling on the Avengers and innocents.

Comparably, he also held together the both sides of a drifting continent in order to save the inhabitants. With feats such as these, a Hulk Superman encounter would be terrifying, indeed.

[socialpoll id=”2480620″]

Hulk’s Rage vs Superman’s Power

If you know anything about the Incredible Hulk, it’s that his already monstrous baseline strength increases as he gets angrier.

Therefore, in a Superman vs Hulk bout, the stakes become greater as the battle wears on against the tireless ultra-monster.

Fans of Hulk maintain that he will become angry enough to surpass Superman in strength if the battle wages on for too long.

It’s a very good point, and it forces Kal to strategize instead of choosing simply to pummel his opponent into
submission. But does Superman have a natural answer for Hulk’s increasing rage and strength?

Yes, he does. Superman has almost boundless super-speed and is far faster than the very quick Hulk. In an effort to always be mindful of the lives of innocents around, Clark constantly holds his true power in check – he’s also worried about destroying the Earth!

superman fights hulk both have arms upraised

Art by FKALEO Deviantart: You might be able to hurt Superman – but how do you SURVIVE him?!?

We can look to Supes first trying to get the battle to a remote island or region, the same way he did against the Kryptonian super-soldier Doomsday, when he picked him up and slammed him far into a distant mountain range at several hundred miles per hour.

So perhaps it is Hulk that should be worried about ending the fight before Superman decides to take it elsewhere, to a place where the Man of Steel can feel comfortable unleashing his true power.

Regardless, Superman can always add to his baseline strength by using his super-speed to drastically increase his power. Against most enemies, he throws punches at a normal pace; but, against a raging Hulk, he can ratchet up his power for each level Hulk reaches, given that Superman’s capable of near-light velocities.

It can be argued that no matter how angry Hulk gets, Superman always has an answer in the power department. Even though he must remain conscious of the setting sun, his reserves are truly vast and twilight by no means signals the end of the bout.

Superman Hulk Comparison

[socialpoll id=”2480625″]

The Hulk’s Healing Factor and Incredible Durability

In addition to his world-bending strength, the Hulk has astounding physical attributes like a healing factor and unbelievable stamina.

In fact, he has more than a healing factor: he can regenerate limbs and complex body parts like eyes and organs.

The only other beings in the Marvel universe who rival this ability to recover (from what would be devastating injuries to other heroes) are Deadpool and Wolverine.

Because you get tired as a result of lactic acid poisons building up in your body after vigorous exertion, the Hulk is immune to fatigue, which makes a Superman versus Hulk battle much more intriguing than merely one mega-strong creature against another.

It might take a long time, but without the sun, the Man of Steel can actually tire. The question is whether or not he’d be able to end the battle before that happens, given his otherworldly offensive – and defensive, in fact – weapons.

Effectively, the Hulk’s incredible healing factor makes his endurance virtually incalculable – he may be able to exert himself at full capacity for weeks on end. The only way to realistically get him tired would be to pit him against another immensely powerful being, such that the Hulk has to exert himself at terrific levels just to engage the being; this wouldn’t give his healing factor enough time to dump the toxins and he would slowly wear down over time.

In a Hulk versus Superman bout, would Kal-El’s nuclear holocaust heat vision be just the thing that’s needed? It would be one heckuva fight.

[socialpoll id=”2480631″]

How Long Can He Keep This Up?

In addition to his world-bending strength, the Hulk has astounding physical attributes like a healing factor and unbelievable stamina.

In fact, he has more than a healing factor: he can regenerate limbs and complex body parts like eyes and organs.

The only other beings in the Marvel universe who rival this ability to recover (from what would be devastating injuries to other heroes) are Deadpool and Wolverine.

Because normal humans get tired as a result of lactic acid poisons building up in your body after vigorous exertion, the Hulk is immune to getting tired.

Effectively, his incredible healing factor makes his endurance virtually incalculable – he may be able to exert himself at full capacity for weeks on end; except there aren’t too many beings that could sustain the kind of damage he could render for that long.

The only way to realistically get him tired would be to pit him against another immensely powerful being, such that Hulk has to exert himself at terrific levels just to engage the being; this wouldn’t give his healing factor enough time to dump the toxins and he would slowly wear down over time. In a superhero battle with an excessively quick opponent like Superman, the damage may mount faster than Hulk could heal.

The Incredible Hulk: a rage that could cower a god.

The Hulk Shoots Energy Beams?

People don’t usually think of the Hulk as having any projectile abilities; however, he does have a thunderclap move that is more devastating than even the energy beams of some lesser characters.

Using his immense strength, the Hulk can clap his hands in front of him and thereby ravage the air in front of an opponent, resulting in a concussive blast of significant force. He can also slam the ground in front of him to cause a forward-driving fissure and earthquake.

Despite his bulk, he is very fast – though he doesn’t move at a velocity one would consider to be superspeed.

This poses a bit of a problem in a Hulk Superman encounter; to a charged and motivated Man of Tomorrow, the Incredible Hulk would appear to be moving in molasses.

In fact, the Hulk may be able to take almost everything superman could throw at him (for awhile at least), but this lack of speed may very well make it an extremely one-sided bout. Supes is very, very fast. And with his great strength, amplified by his speed to even greater power (a weak punch at high speed generates a lot of power; how about a very strong punch at high speed?!), Hulk had better be in top form and angry as hell.

[socialpoll id=”2480634″]

Is Superman Too Powerful Even for the Hulk?

How about Superman? DC’s representative superhero has strength levels that take a backseat to few characters – and none that are humanoid. To find beings as strong – or stronger – than Superman Man of Steel, you have to go up the chain of command to celestial entities.

His quickness is surpassed only by the Flash – and just barely. He has all manner of distance attacks, from his lethal heat vision, to his freeze-breath and gale-force winds.

Presumably, he is strong enough by far to execute a thunderclap using his hands, or create a directional earthquake by striking the ground with his hands.

Of course, with his vaunted heat vision, he already has a distance attack extraordinaire – it’s capable of razing a battlefield full of meta-humans, or reducing a forest to a blazing inferno too hot to approach.

He can fly with the best of them, and circle the earth in minutes without unduly taxing his vast reserves of energy.

He heals fast with the aid of the sun, but far more significant than the moderate healing factor the Man of Steel possesses, is his outright invulnerability.

Superman takes direct hits from nuclear strikes and only misses a beat for his troubles. Against the Incredible Hulk, he simply has too many weapons to be beaten – although it might take him a whole day to put down the green machine because of the latter’s regenerative abilities.

More importantly, the battle doesn’t even have to happen unless Clark wants it to – given that Banner can only jump very high and far, compared to Kal-El’s powers of interstellar and atmospheric flight.

The Incredible Hulk’s best chance against the Man of Steel would be to try and fight him at night, so he could at least rob Superman of his solar energy-inspired regenerative healing abilities. In any case, this could be an assumption; Superman’s healing abilities might be a function of his Kryptonian bio-matrix – he may heal at fantastic rates even without the Sun, until his unbelievable reserves of stored energy run out.

It would still be tricky, because Kal can still fly and up over the horizon at night to meet the sun and perform the Kryptonian version of a “systems reboot.”

Hulk would have to cause so much damage that the mountain-mover becomes too wasted to fly – and that would be a mighty feat, indeed – as well as a first. There’s little doubt that Hulk would make one heckuva impression on Superman – the green machine is mega-strong, very durable, and regenerates even better than the Wolverine.

The biggest problem for Superman when fighting the Incredible Hulk is the latter’s regenerative abilities and seemingly limitless powers of exertion.

As long as the sun shines, Kal can probably match or surpass one or both of these, but the fall of darkness should represent a tolling bell – Hulk can keep this up all night whereas Superman relies on solar energy.

Thus, the Man of Steel has something slightly north of 14 hours to put down Mr. Gamma Ray if they start the fight at dawn. Otherwise, he might want to consider flying away…

The problems for the Hulk may be insurmountable when facing the Kryptonian.

I’ve always felt that no opponent, no matter how strong or durable (within “reason”; if such a thing can be applied to fiction) can stand against a motivated and unleashed Superman without possessing superspeed or ultra-fast reflexes.

Hulk, to put it mildly, is too slow for Clark in a battle that takes into account all their powers.

This is a huge problem for someone with so much strength; and even if we take their respective strengths to be equal or close, the power added by superspeed puts Kal-El clearly over the top.

The heat vision is another problem, because it represents an extremely powerful distance attack – although I doubt it could put Hulk down, it’ll give him something to think about.

Every physicist knows that if you really want to break something – even resilient material like fire-proof glass, etc., you apply heat and then quickly douse it with cold.

Perhaps heat vision followed by an ice-storm would start to tax the Incredible Hulk’s healing factor, enough for superspeed and superstrength to start wearing Hulk down faster than he could recover. Something to think about….

Verdict: the Incredible Hulk can probably hit Superman harder than anyone not named Doomsday ever has…but Superman can probably take the punch.

[socialpoll id=”2480636″]

Superman Prime:

Hulk vs. Superman: Hulk’s Anger

This is the pivotal ability of the green gamma monster.

Because Hulk’s strength is tied to his emotional state, it is often regarded as incalculable – the angrier he gets, the greater his strength.

Fans of the Hulk Superman fight scenario often tout this as the one major advantage he has against the Kryptonian: Superman’s strength, while it is extremely high, is presumably maxed out in the presence of the sun (although in fact, that isn’t quite true; the closer he gets to the sun, the stronger he becomes).

Additionally, it is a well-known fact in the realm of fiction that superman always holds back when fighting supervillains – especially when inside a planetary atmosphere.

Unchecked, the sheer power he commands is apparently enough to ravage a planet. For an earth-bound battle, though, you can assume Clark’s lofty strength is capped.

Thus, would Supes be able to end Hulk’s existence – and yes, Superman does kill, so that argument goes out the window – before the Hulk got angry enough to perhaps challenge his limits?

Although intriguing, there’s a philosophical/biological problem with this logic: just how angry can something become?

After all, you don’t assume other emotions, such as happiness and sadness, are limitless; why assume that anger is an unlimited attribute?

Although it’s difficult to place a quantitative limit on anger, we can probably feel comfortable placing a qualitative limit on it: once something is enraged, there are no levels above rage – it’s all the same.

At worst, perhaps you can become so angry that you become a mindless mess incapable of thinking, strategizing, or even remembering who your enemy is – or what he did to anger you.

Rage isn’t the kind of attribute that can be fittingly argued to be limitless, just like happiness or disinterest can’t (I think).

After all, how angry/full of rage would you get if someone killed a loved one? Took away your child, sibling, parent or best friend? All of them? Is it even feasible to be more full of rage than if any or all of these happened? That’s what happened to the Incredible Hulk in the World War Hulk storyline.

The maddest Hulk ever would either be the incredibly powerful World War Hulk, or the Hulk that the Phoenix stripped of all humanity so that he could become the unadulterated rage-force that shredded Onslaught’s armor.

One of these awesome incarnations of Hulk is probably the one that should be judged in a bout with Big Blue.

If these two titans meet, we may not know the winner, but we definitely know the losers – all the denizens of Earth.

This Hulk is the one that would draw out the best from Superman; together, their fatal dance would rend the planet asunder.

[socialpoll id=”2480638″]

A Superman Hulk Graphic Novel?

Perhaps someday a few great comics and graphic novel writers can get together and give the people what they want! a full-fledged, no-hold-barred Superman versus Hulk meeting and battle on the same scale as the epic and pivotal Death of Superman from the early 1990s.

Take into account all of their powers; not just to the letter, but as demonstrated against mighty opponents.

Have Marc Silvestri, Dale Keown, Jim Lee, Chris Bachalo or some other premier artists provide the artwork – and
find a damn good writer. It almost doesn’t matter who wins this bout – wouldn’t you just like to see it play out!?

[socialpoll id=”2480639″]

Superman vs. Hulk: Superhero Weaknesses

Among the many things Superman and Hulk have in common, is the fact that their power levels are so high that writers felt the need to give them a distinct weakness or two, just so that super-villains have a fighting chance at doing them in – or at least escaping an immediate beat-down.

Even among the ranks of superheroes, Superman and Hulk are considered superior and their arrival on the scene of battle usually signals the beginning of the end of any fight.

For these mountain-movers, physical damage has to be catastrophic (against other superheroes) to even cause them to flinch, so we resort to analyzing the others ways they might take each other down.

Superman and Kryptonite and Magic

This radioactive green rock from the defunct planet Krypton – Superman’s place of birth – is the ace-in-the-hole if you want any real chance at beating Superman.

If Hulk can procure some, then this makes him an unbelievably deadly foe for Superman; most people who get some still get their hats handed to them by the Man of Steel, because his power is so great he often manages to get away from the power-sapping crystal and return fire.

But Hulk is in a class of strength and power far above Metallo, Lex Luthor or any of the small number of powered villains who’ve tried using Kryptonite to slow Superman down.

If Hulk is able to weaken Kal, he may just beat him to death as that vaunted invulnerability wanes just enough to allow it. Of course, the effects of Kryptonite – though fast – are still gradual, and perhaps Supes can fly away or use super-speed to evade any supersonic throws by Mr. Hulksmash.

Ultimately, when preparing to do battle with the Sun-god from Krypton, far too many super-villains ask themselves the wrong question. The question isn’t “How do I defeat the Man of Tomorrow.” It’s, “How do I survive him?”

As for magic, this isn’t a viable option for Hulk. Besides, too much has been made of Superman’s supposed weakness to magic; it would be more accurate to say he has a ‘relative’ weakness to magic.

One of the most powerful magic users in the DC universe has lost to Kal-El on multiple occasions: Captain Marvel.

His Shazam! lightning is arguably as powerful – more, probably – than the magic lightning from Thor’s Mjolnir, and yet it has failed to put Superman down on multiple occasions even after striking him many times.

Captain Marvel’s lightning comes from Zeus, himself; who, as a Sky Father, is loads more powerful than even the mighty Thor. By the way, there’s a Superman vs Thor hub coming soon!

Nonetheless, make no mistake; Shazam! lightning certainly hurts Superman, no doubt! Regular lightning wouldn’t even register to the Man of Steel, which is where the magic aspect helps – it allows things that would otherwise not hurt him at all to at least cause him to think about them.

So it would appear that even against magic, Clark is extremely durable – just look what Shazam! does to other superheroes – it totals them. Magic is by no means a kill-shot against Superman – not even close. It just evens the playing field a bit.

Hulk and Sonics, Gases and Tranquilizers

The Hulk is immune to most poisons and attempts to subvert his central nervous system; however, one of the most common ways he is temporarily defeated is by using adamantium-tipped darts to penetrate his skin and put him to sleep.

This is unfortunate for a creature that is otherwise so powerful, because it would seem that superman could (relatively) easily come by something like this, if they resorted to using props in the fight (nobody wants to see that though!).

Hulk has also been shown to have a weakness to sonics, which is even more convenient for Superman to use – the Man of Steel can easily simulate sonics with his vocals far more powerful than any machine used in the past to hurt Hulk.

As for gases, well, Superman can hold a river’s worth of any gas in his lungs by superhuman compression. Whatever was used in the past to make Hulk fall asleep or revert to Dr. Banner, Superman better not get his hands on that.

[socialpoll id=”2480642″]

Closing Thoughts on Superman vs. Hulk

First off, I’d like to thank everyone who was so generous with their time and bothered to read and interact with this article—it makes the writing worth it!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this whole Superman vs. Hulk thing – they’re both mighty and awe-inspiring super-beings! Be sure to participate in the polls and have a great day.

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

Superman the Man of Steel – Origin, Powers and Abilities

new superman

Man of Steel refers to Kale-El of Krypton, known on earth as Superman, and by a very few people as Clark Kent. The greatest superhero of them all, we delve a bit into the Kryptonian’s origin and go through his prodigious list of lofty powers.

1. Where is Superman from, and how did he get to Earth?

supermans spaceship Superman the Man of Steel’s real name is Kal-El, and he hails from the fictional planet Krypton.

He was sent to Earth as a baby after his scientist father discovered that the planet was dying.

Jor-El (as his father was called) and Kal-El’s mother Lara decided to send their son to the planet Earth, where he would thrive under the golden sun and develop incredible powers and abilities.

They intended for Kal to be a gift to the planet for harboring him.

The impending death of Krypton was a highly-controversial subject when Jor-El brought it up to the council – much like Global Warming is controversial to the idiots on Earth.

The leaders of the planet Krypton did not believe him; as such, no plans were made to try to save the planet or relocate its citizens. Nonetheless, the scientist Jor-El knew his calculations were right, and made sure his only son had a chance at life.

In later years, comic book fans would learn that baby Kal-El wasn’t the only escapee from the doomed planet Krypton. Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod managed to reach the Earth, where they threatened its inhabitants.

A grown superman would put them down and send them to the Kryptonian equivalent of a life-sentence – imprisonment in the Phantom Zone.

Kryptonian life sentence – Phantom Zone

[socialpoll id=”2422749″]

2. What powers and abilities does Superman have?

superman fights green alien Superman has an impressive allotment of super powers; all coming from his absorption of solar rays.

He has superhuman strength so magnificent in scope, that it is super even by the standards of other superheroes that are known for their strength.

Indeed; there doesn’t appear to be any immovable object where Clark is concerned; his strength is its own zenith, and serves as a measuring stick for nearly all other super-characters.

Superman the Man of Steel keeps his powers in check to avoid hurting bystanders in his battles with godlike monsters and immensely-strong super villains.

This means that we rarely see a task that he cannot accomplish, when brute strength alone is required.

In fact, when you consider his super-speed (more below), Kal-El’s strength is so great, that not even the Marvel Universe’s embodiment of physical strength, the Incredible Hulk, can hope to match him.

The Hulk is mega-strong, and he gets stronger as he gets angrier, so a Superman vs Hulk battle is always interesting.

Superman, of course, is also extremely strong. Additionally, he can increase this strength and power interminably because of his almost limitless superspeed. Superman’s powers and abilities are truly a marvel to behold.

man of steel

Superman’s Heat Vision

superman heat vision He can fly, he can move extremely fast, and he has powerful heat vision that can melt anything. In fact, Clark’s heat vision has been described as not unlike a thermonuclear holocaust, sans the radiation.

When a megaton nuclear bomb goes off, there is an incendiary fireball in the center that is about the length of a football field, and that shines 2.5 times brighter than the noonday sun.

Although mostly covered by the mushroom cloud, it can still cause third-degree retinal burns if viewed without protective X-ray goggles out to 11-20 miles.

This is what emanates from superman’s eyes! It can also be focused to a cutting point that will vaporize any material, and used as a laser beam to cauterize wounds.

He can freeze lakes with his ice breath, and move mountains with his tornado breath. He has X-Ray vision that allows him to see through any object except lead.

He has both telescopic and microscopic vision, allowing him to see down to the atomic level and the distant reaches of outer space.

Superman also has super-hearing which allows him to hear cries for help from all over the world when he tunes in. Many of his lesser powers have changed over the years, but these are his main ones.

Lastly, he is virtually impervious to physical harm, and because of Superman’s powers and abilities, only the most powerful villains can truly hurt him – with just a handful able to possibly even kill him.

superman ice breath power Additionally, Kal-El has invulnerability as an actual, separate superpower – it is the consequence of a solar-fueled force-field that emanates from his cells.

This makes him especially resilient to both physical and energy-based attacks, even when compared to gods.

Superman the Man of Steel can really, really take devastating blows without giving any quarter whatsoever.

He once took the full brunt of a blow from Doomsday without budging an inch; this was the same super-monster that had just decimated the Justice League!

Indeed, he often does just take the hit, in order to demoralize super villains into perhaps giving up early and sparing civilians any damage. After all, with his blinding super-speed, Clark can presumably dodge almost any conceivable attack.

The greatest superhero of them all

Superman Powers and Abilities Analyzed

God of the Sun

For an idea of the scope of superman’s powers and abilities, it’s best to think of each one as being on the scale of some natural element or other.

For example, his super-breath surpasses the worst hurricanes on Earth; when concentrated, he’s been able to simply blow away powerful villains and leave them disoriented. His ice-breath, when combined with his inhuman stamina and durability, could probably freeze a huge body of water.

Although freezing an entire ocean would seem to be a bit of a stretch, we shouldn’t put it past him given his superspeed and prodigious reserves of energy. Although he was aptly dubbed a “Super-man,” Kal-El the last son of Krypton has strength greater than the gods themselves.

supermans powers man of steel

Even in his reduced form from the ultra-god of the Silver Age, Superman has shown to be able to approach the light speed limit with considerable exertion (he used to be able to travel backwards in time at will!).

It isn’t quite clear whether he can still vibrate quickly enough to pass through solid barriers….

As for his heat vision, it is a definite kill-shot against most characters, super or otherwise. But, Superman the Man of Steel doesn’t really kill, so we never see it used in this way – although he has focused it to pinpoint accuracy and lobotomized invulnerable foes by burning the “bad part” of their brains away.

As powerful as it is, there is at least one discernible limit: Superman used his heat vision against Doomsday in the Death of Superman, and failed to penetrate his impossibly tough hide – although it blasted him off his feet.

The Greatest Gift Ever

superman birthright spaceship

3. Can Superman be killed?

Superman faces his greatest challenge alone.

Superman can be killed – although it usually takes beings of tremendous power and durability (the latter is because of the damage that Kal-El himself can dish out) – or Frank Miller’s writing.

Without that, the only thing that is very effective against him is a substance called Kryptonite.

This glowing green radioactive rock is a piece of his long-dead home planet, and it needs to be placed in his vicinity to weaken him enough so that he can’t use his powers.

If the Kryptonite is placed in a lead box, it has no effect on him; but if it is released, then even a normal human being can hurt Clark.

If he is able to somehow get out of the effective range – it seems to be a few meters – then his full powers return.

Very few enemies have been able to imperil Superman the Man of Steel’s life with just their own natural attributes alone; the god-like ruler of the planet Apokolips (Darkseid) is one. However, Superman has defeated him more times than not.

The mighty Doomsday actually beat Superman into a Kryptonian coma in one of the best-selling comics of all time – “The Death of Superman.” Clark’s body was so badly damaged that it shut down to preserve itself, and gave the appearance of death to everyone.

When his mighty body had absorbed enough sunlight to heal once again, Clark would rise from stasis to restore human self-determination from the opportunists that had seized control of the Earth.

Powerful as ever, he continues that noble, unending battle today, as the only superhero on Earth truly capable of meeting threats of galactic proportions head-on. In short, Superman’s powers and abilities are Earth’s last hope – along with his tremendous capacity for self-sacrifice.

[socialpoll id=”2422753″]

superman heat vision blast

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

Superman and the Strongest DC Superheroes

Superman and Wonder woman New 52 – Copyright DC Comics

Detective Comics has a handful of iconic superheroes – the most famous of which are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman (who’s really just a female, de-powered response to Superman). Princess Diana is, in fact, closer to a god than a human being.

There are, however, many powerful, relatively unknown characters that would rate high up on a list of the very strongest or most powerful beings.

We investigate two handfuls of such characters in the following, which is restricted to the Detective Comics universe – there’s one for Marvel coming soon! Here are the strongest DC superheroes, without further ado…

10. Nekron – Progenitor of the Blackest Night

We start out with the great entity Nekron at the bottom of this very powerful list. He has the ability to raise the dead, which ought to be it insofar as qualifying as a formidable beast goes.

But there’s more – Nekron can also fire bolts of dark lightning from his fingertips, which are powerful enough to make even mighty superheroes very dead. He can even kill Guardian-level entities with a single touch, and increase his mass in an illimitable fashion.

Nekron also carries with him a scythe that can tear through the fabric of reality and cause undue damage to ethereal beings like Eternity and Infinity.

As for the source of his power, he siphons the energy from dying souls – and since someone is always dying, the full scope of his power would seem to be just a step below Death, itself.

In addition to his ability to re-animate the dead, Nekron possesses vast telepathic powers and can manipulate dimensions, to the extent that gods tremble beneath his feet. He sent the extremely powerful Anti-Monitor being to another dimension after the latter launched an attack on him.

In the DC Universe, he is truly a most formidable opponent and his position as last on this list is an impressive indicator of the monsters (and gods) to come.

9. Life Eternity – It’s All in the Name

Next up, we have Life Eternity, who is more powerful than even Nekron – which doesn’t mean a battle between the two wouldn’t be hard-fought.

On his side, Life Eternity possesses unlimited levels of energy and matter manipulation. Of course, given Einstein’s most famous equation, these are one and the same thing, for the most part.

In any case, Life Eternity endows heroes in the same way that Galactus of Marvel comics imbues heralds with the Power Cosmic – giving his charge the ability to create powerful constructs of white light.

8. Mr. Mxyzptlk – Powerful Enough to Exasperate the Man of Steel

Next up, there’s an old “enemy” of early Superman – Mr. Mxyzptlk. With a campy outward appearance that utterly belies his near-omnipotence in the magical realm, Mr. Mxyzptlk was so powerful that even Superman was but a toy to him.

Even though he couldn’t really kill the Man of Steel, Mr. M could transport him across dimensions and perform all kinds of stunts against Clark’s will.

Of course, as a mischief-maker, he never really desired to kill Clark, and could only be sent back to the dimension from which he hailed by making him say his vowel-less name backwards.

This would also undo all of his actions, and return the universe to the state it was before he started rearranging things. His bevy of powers included the ability to create wormholes, entire realms and dimensions, complete teleportation and control over time and space. In fact, the fundamental laws of physics were his to mold.

The source of Mr. Mxyzptlk’s powers seem to stem from his 5th dimensionality and the higher planes of existence he establishes – which allow him to execute untold reality warping and Creation abilities. Indeed, it took Superman Prime One Million to finally reach a level where Big Blue was immune to the magical imp’s mischievous manipulations.

7. The Spectre – Right Hand of G*D

Sliding securely into the 7th spot is the legendary Spectre who, in the more religion-infused DC universe, is an essentially all-powerful – except for God – servant of the ultimate Divine. Not gods like Odin, Thor and Zeus, but GOD.

The Spectre is also more powerful than Marvel Universe cosmic entities like Eternity, the Living Tribunal and Infinity. Any feat within his vast imagination is possible. Makes you wonder why he isn’t number 2…

The reason is easy, though: the Spectre has divine limitations such as God’s laws for a direct servant of His, and he can even be unsettled a bit by very, very powerful magic. Obviously, he cannot be killed and Death holds no dominion over him – but it is isn’t inconceivable that an absurdly-powerful entity could confine him for a time; for the Spectre is not the Will of God, and requires direction – if even from a human host.

The Spectre’s most significant limitation, however, is his lack of direction, so to speak. His actions are dependent on a host, who guides him and essentially directs him to do a version of divine will. Yes – it can be a little confusing.

6. The Anti-monitor – A Force of Irrepressible Destruction

Next up and rounding out this introductory list is the Anti-Monitor. His laundry list of powers is enough to make even the strongest earth-bound hero quake.

In addition to his cosmic awareness, energy projection and feats of creation, the Anti-Monitor can emit antimatter waves that completely destroy anything comprised of matter. Furthermore, he can actually increase the levels of his powers at will, using them to alter the facets of reality.

In fact, the Anti-Monitor was responsible for absorbing hundreds of alternate universes by the time he got to the universe possessing the DC heroes with which we’re all most familiar. He wielded such power that even the Spectre couldn’t stop him.

As a surefire test of the Anti-Monitor’s durability, even conventional Superman couldn’t hurt him! He ate the blows from the strongest humanoid superhero of all time and continued his actions during the Crisis.

How did such a powerful being come to be so very strong? By the time he got to DC Universe Prime, the Anti-Monitor had consumed thousands of galaxies of positive matter, which had the effect of increasing his base power and size to the absurd level that allowed him to decimate the ranks of superheroes.

5. Mandrakk – the Chaos Monster

If you thought there couldn’t be any creature with even higher energy levels than him; you’re mistaken. Starting off the top 5 is the Dark Monitor called Mandrakk. Never mind his list of powers; Mandrakk has the singular ability to decimate whole universes – with greater ease than even the Anti-Monitor. But even he takes a seat beneath the following maxed-out incarnation of the greatest hero to ever live.

4. Superman Prime One Million – The Kryptonian in God-Mode

God of the Sun – Kal-El of Krypton

Superman Prime One Million is 4th in the entire universe when it comes to sheer, unadulterated power.

The red, yellow and blue are gone; this Superman sun-dipped for much too long for even invulnerable Kryptonian fabric to have remained.

Superman Prime cuts an impressive golden hue from head to toe, and engenders visions of the golden Greek god of the sun, himself (Apollo or Helios).

His power in this form ranks greater than even that of godly Skyfathers; his abilities of interstellar flight allowed him to travel and augment his already fantastic power levels.

In the eons following Lois’ death and his slow disconnection from the people of Earth, Superman drank in radiation and maxed out.

Superman Prime is now completely impervious to magic, which was a resistance he siphoned off the Queen of the 5 dimensional imps at her allowance.

Additionally, he absorbed all the power of the most powerful version of the Green Lantern Ring; now he holds dominion over time-warriors that were well beyond even his lofty reach as Kansas-raised Kal-El of Krypton. Now, Clark is a long way from Kansas (I couldn’t resist) and the thermonuclear core of the sun is his home.

Kal has even absorbed a substantial fraction of the power of the Source Wall, and is now the second-most powerful being in the DC universe – only the Presence lies above him. He retains all the powers of Superman before his ascension, magnified to illimitable levels: invulnerability, heat vision, flight, super-speed, breath, stamina, durability, super-senses and of course his trademark super-strength.

Even more impressively, he can now alter reality at will, employ powerful magic spells, is virtually omnipotent and omnipresent and cannot die – except, of course, by the Hand of God, Himself.

3. The Archangels – Dual Princes of Power Untold

As you can imagine, the line to the throne is thinning out quite resolutely in this list of the strongest DC superheroes, given that it’s difficult to be much more powerful than Superman Prime One Million and still make any sense whatsoever.

In fact, the third spot is a tie between the archangels Michael Demuirgos and his brother, Lucifer Morningstar (DC has always been the more ‘religiously-inclined’ of the two major comic book companies).

Michael, who is reminiscent of the angel Gabriel from the comics, possesses the Word of Fire, with which he can make and unmake realities spanning the multiverse. The only restriction placed on this power is by the Presence, Himself.

Lucifer Morningstar
Michael Demiurgos

What then, is the insanely lofty power of Lucifer Morningstar? The Fire of the Word allows Michael to create the very idea of something from chaotic emptiness of nothing, but he lacks the ability to shape what his will brings forth. This power belongs to Lucifer – he can actually Create.

In tandem, this gives them the ability to create universes with no limitations – except the Divine Will of the Presence.

Michael is armed with a flaming sword and fighting skills untold – although one wonders what could possibly hurt him such that he needs to do battle. Of course, though, there are things whose power boggles the mind, and these are the threats he meets and defeats.

The only thing his brother has that Michael does not is an unmatched and endless cauldron of will-power. Just imagine if Lucifer had the Green Lantern Ring!

Of course, he doesn’t need such a paltry toy, for his powers are on an ultra-cosmic level that transcends any tool constructed by lesser beings. He is both conniving and convincing and knows that he can’t overpower Michael – but that neither can Michael overpower him.

2. The Great Evil Beast – An Illimitable Cauldron of Chaos

Tide of Darkness

At this point, you would think there was only a single entity left, right? Wrong! Sliding in at the second-to-last spot is an enigmatic entity whose powers exceed even those of multiverse-destroying and universe-creating Michael Demuirgos and Lucifer Morningstar.

The Ultimate Darkness, or Great Evil Beast, is chaos-unlimited. It exists external to the creation of the DC Universe by The Presence, which ultimately means that Marvel Universe’s One Above All is more powerful that the best god-entity DC has to offer.

The Great Evil Beast has been described as the absence of divine light and the equal of The Presence in sheer power. It is wicked to its very core, and even the idea of evil is its very personification.

In fact, mortals and celestials alike are unsure of its continued existence, since it waged a war on the Presence and when the two met, they extended hands and merged. It is supposed that despite all their assumed infinitude, the power of the Presence had the edge and the power of their merger shifted the balance in favor of the Light.

1. The Presence – Creator of the DC Universe

In case you haven’t guessed it, the strongest entity in DC is The Presence. Also known as The Source, he is the creator of the DC universe and asserted the Light over the Ultimate Darkness in their one and only battle.

As it should be. Fiat Lux!

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

The New Superman – Character Bio

Kale-El of Krypton. Superman of Earth.

New Superman has landed! DC’s latest reboot of the (arguably) most powerful superhero team in all of comics is called the New 52. The Justice League has all the familiar characters from lore, with origins modified and “updated” for the modern era.

It’s worth it for comic book fans to familiarize themselves with the extent of their powers – as well as any augmentations with which they might have been endowed by the current team of writers.

The new, updated look of just about every one in the Justice League hasn’t come without some significant changes, which will be detailed in the following. Of course, we start off with everyone’s favorite superhero, Superman of Krypton and Kansas.

Superman is also known as Kal-El and Clark Kent, and he has retained the prodigious suite of super-powers that has always made him tops in the pantheon of fictional heroes.

He possesses super-strength (of course), super-speed, great durability and resistance to harm, a wide array of super-senses, unlimited flight, x-ray vision, blazing-hot heat vision and alien intelligence. He’s also been endowed with ceremonial Kryptonian battle armor in DCs update – though one wonders why he’d need it.

Superman’s New Armor/Suit

Even a goddess will fall.

The battle armor is barely-recognizable from afar; it just looks like his suit – albeit without the red undies of Action Comics. Upon closer inspection, it is easier to see the rivets and plates that form the seamless whole.

It diverges from the bulky, true-armor look and feel of the doomed Superboy Prime, who donned the mighty armor of the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis Legends – through which so few heroes emerged unscathed.

Some of the attributes of the Kryptonian armor are its sheer indestructibility, modified look, and ability to heal Superman on the genetic level.

In truth, the costume is more like a symbiote (think the Venom and Carnage costumes of Marvel Comics, except a whole lot tougher and “less alive”), in that it bonds with the Kryptonian host and ‘reads’ it’s DNA, creating a crest of the familial lineage.

One would think that the New Superman doesn’t really need healing abilities, given that he is so hard to hurt, and the sun heals any wounds of his at an accelerated rate. Unlike other durable superheroes, Supes actually has invulnerability as an extra, separate power.

New Superman’s resistance to physical (and energy-based, in fact) assault is far greater than you would expect of a being of his prodigious super-strength, which is a major part of the reason so many heroes look up to the Man of Steel, and so many villains flee the scene when they see the tell-tale blur of blue and red on the horizon.

However, consider this example of the extent of the battle armor’s abilities: Superboy was engaged in a battle with the Kryptonian entity Hel, who is so powerful that it unleashed an attack that started breaking down Superboy’s body on the genetic level.

Superman swathed the suit around him, and it started healing him so effectively that it stopped the deadly process implemented by Hel and was the only thing keeping Superboy alive. All-in-all, the battle armor further catapults Superman’s already lofty levels of durability to new realms. For the very strongest foes, it takes everything they’ve got just to hurt him; now he heals from such wounds at an accelerated rate.

More Than Just a Strong Guy….

He means business

Of course, other than his great strength, Superman is also well-known for how hard it is to actually harm him.

Never mind high-caliber bullets and stab wounds – which is the level of invulnerability usually possessed by other superheroes we consider HTKs (hard-to-kill) – Superman is on a whole different level.

It is often very, very difficult for even strong superheroes to hurt Kal-El; only near-celestial beings and above are consistently able to threaten him physically.

That being said, the new Superman has retained his susceptibility to irradiated pieces of his dead home world, Krypton. Even this so-called Kryptonite isn’t a sure kill, however; it tends to slowly weaken him or drain him of his powers over time, and he always knows when the very, very rare mineral is nearby.

New Superman’s Origin Story

A long way from home…forever

As you would expect, there’s no way that DC would diverge too much from the 70+ year old story of the world’s greatest superhuman hero.

Kal-El’s parents sent him in a star-ship to the habitable planet Earth in an attempt to save him from Krypton’s fate; the ultra-advanced planet’s core was failing and primed to explode because of centuries of over-use by his energy-hungry forebears.

Landing in a wheat-field in Kansas, baby Kal was discovered by Martha and Jonathan Kent, who thought maybe the Russians or Americans were carrying out experiments using babies in rocket ships.

Being a barren couple, the Kents took him in and raised him lovingly as an only child, Clark Kent – always wondering why no agent of the government came by to claim him.

Young Clark Kent slowly started to develop unreal abilities. The entire suite of his powers wouldn’t manifest all at once; but each one that came was at a power level much higher than any other being’s.

Deciding what kind of man he wanted to be was an easy one for Clark, as time went on his experiences shaped him.

Right after high school, he began his fight against an often overlooked hotbed of psychopathic activity: the world of businessmen and businesswomen.

Of course, this couldn’t be allowed to pass, given that there are so many influential psychopaths in business, and people don’t often realize this.

Fact is, we might even need a few psychopaths in business – but don’t hold me to that. The US government then aligns with the genius Lex Luthor, seeking his aid in finding a solution to the Superman problem.

New Superman is captured and treated like a lab rat, with scientists using powerful equipment to try and torture him – which of course doesn’t work. After all, could he really be Superman if it did?

Superman only allowed himself to be held in order to ascertain their level of depravity, as well as their capability. The one thing the government did learn was that Superman is affected by Kryptonite.

The Rise of Brainiac vs Superman

A superior alien intellect

As the greatest intellect on the planet, Lex Luthor is often beyond the long arm of the law.

It turns out that this intensely unscrupulous human has made a bargain with an even greater alien intelligence called Brainiac, and effectively sold the citizens of Metropolis – and indeed, the Earth – to Brainiac.

Fortunately, New Superman has decided that his tenure under government detention is at an end, and “escapes” in time to seek out the approaching Brainiac and engage him in battle.

It is during this fight that he finds a Kryptonian suit of ceremonial battle armor – among other things. It is after his defeat of Brainiac that Superman is truly known to the world.

Loved by many, he is also of course feared – there simply isn’t any other superhero as powerful as he is, and this could have ramifications for those who don’t trust his intentions or commitment to the good fight.

Superman’s Powers in the New 52 Series

Strength greater than the gods, themselves.

The New Superman’s strength is, simply put, gargantuan.

No; his strength is outright legendary.

In this current series, the Kryptonian retains his lofty levels from his storied past, which have always pretty much been as strong as necessary – and beyond. There’s no question that it is this strength that tends to make Superman difficult to write for sometimes.

Either you have to throw foes at him that are so powerful, it just isn’t believable that any other members of the Justice League should even be in the mix, or you end up having campy villains and boring stories.

An example of proper Superman writing is the bout with Doomsday; the New 52 is doing alright so far with stories to keep you reading – for the most part.

In one panel, he is shown strapped to a machine that has him bench-pressing the weight of the entire Earth – that’s over ten to the twenty-fourth power in kilograms, folks – for a business week, nonstop.

What can we possibly compare this to on a scale more easily-digestible by humans? Well, the entire Pacific Ocean weights 6 sextillion tons, so the whole Earth weighs about as much as a thousand Pacific Oceans.

All shall fall, one shall stand.

Only then does the Tomorrow Man begin to sweat.

Furthermore, this New 52 Superman was tested underground, with not a ray of sunlight present – so presumably, this is Kal at his uncharged weakest (sans Kryptonite, magic, and Frank Miller’s writing ☺).

For some background on numbers, in order, there’s a million, then there’s a billion (a thousand millions, of course), then there’s a trillion (a thousand billions or a million times a million), next up is a quadrillion, then a quintillion, then finally we get to sextillion.

This Superman fella could play soccer with a mountain – although the goalie would probably have to be another Kryptonian.

The New Superman is still very quick, but not light-speed quick. Supersonic velocities are definitely in, but there was no real number quoted – as of yet – in the ongoing New 52 series.

He is, however, slower than The Flash. Superman’s heat vision is also still very powerful, and he has a great degree of control over it – it can be used as a dissecting laser, or as a blast furnace of almost unimaginably hot proportions. Those alien eyes can also see through walls and other objects like X-Rays.

His superhuman senses are well beyond the realm of merely superhuman (Marvel’s Wolverine, after all, has superhuman senses).

Additionally, the new Superman can pick up conversations from space, and hear cries for help from the planet Mars while Earthbound. We won’t talk about the physics (or lack thereof) involved in such propositions…

His telescopic vision is limited only by the curve of the planet, so anything on the horizon is within eyesight when he’s on the ground – and beyond when he takes flight straight up.

His durability is on par with his strength levels; Superman rarely ducks, because he simply doesn’t have to – whether it’s a missile, bomb, bullet or superhuman punch.

A rage of nuclear proportions.

Lastly, this New Superman is also very, very intelligent, and can super-speed read.

He performed surgery on Lois Lane after reading many medical texts in the blink of a human eye, and even commandeered Brainiac’s ship after he defeated the evil alien conqueror, turning it into his new Fortress of Solitude.

Long-time fans of the Man of Steel will recall that his Fortress has always been somewhere deep in the Arctic, largely out of reach of any human.

The New 52 Superman is certainly capturing many fans, and even the old guard is grudgingly taking a liking to this version. Sure, we do we miss the iconic Superman with red underwear, but his legend is written in stone and can always be revisited at a whim.

The New 52 Superman is fresh, stays true to the character – mostly – and is entertaining and well-drawn. Although there are many new facets to the character, many fans sort of hope for the old Kal to re-emerge – red underwear and all – eventually, when this new take runs its course. For the time being, there’s much to enjoy in this chronicle of the greatest super hero of all time.

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

Superman Action Figures of the Man of Steel

Superman action figures for the casual and true fan of the Man of Steel.

Choose from highly-detailed, custom Superman toys, as well as collector-grade. The flying Kryptonian could look majestic on your desktop or mantel.

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

Samskeyta: Hi there - great Superman action figure I would like one of my own.

Marvel Universe: Most Powerful Superheroes

It’s always interesting to find out who the strongest superhero is in any of the two major comic book domains.

For now, we’ll take a look at the Marvel Universe, which means – unfortunately – we have to exclude hero numero uno, Superman the Man of Steel.

We’ll arbitrarily exclude the Ultimate Nullifier weapon for this treatment, however. The Nullifier has the ability to destroy any target the wielder chooses, with the added probability of suicide after use.

Additionally, this depends on the user’s mental focus, so if someone like Dr. Stephen Strange obtained and used it, he could be the most powerful offensive force in the universe, and would easily make this list of Most Powerful Marvel Comics Superheroes.

10. Odin – Lord of Asgard

First off, we have the Skyfather Odin, ruler of the Asgardian pantheon of gods and Midgard (the Earth in Norse mythology). With a Skyfather coming in at the 10th spot, you can clearly see that this list is going to feature some truly incredible beings.

Odin of Asgard

Also known as the Allfather, Odin is superhuman in almost every way – and prodigiously more powerful than other superheroes. He possesses a regenerative healing factor and an exceptionally long lifetime.

In fact, his life span would probably be immortal if not for Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods.

On this distant, final day, the great magical wolf Fenris would slip his dwarven bonds and kill Odin with a snap of its unreal jaws, ending the reign of the mightiest Asgardian forever.

But until that day comes to pass, Odin is an absolute force to be reckoned with.

As for offensive abilities, Odin possesses the Odinforce (fittingly!). With it, he can access a legion of absurdly-powerful options.

A single thought can cast a foe into the deepest space, or scan minds from across dimensions. Odin is able to teleport the entire, billion-strong population human race to other dimensions at a whim.

He’s also capable of matter manipulation and force blasts that would wreck a small celestial body. Force-fields that can protect huge structures and huge gatherings of structures are also within the realm of his abilities.

Deeply magical abilities like compressing populations into a single entity and bestowing powers are easy for him with the Odinforce, which seems to put him on a level with the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus.

Much like Superman, Odin is beset with a single, very important and unavoidable weakness, however – the Odinsleep. Periodically, the Allfather must sleep at the root of the World Tree Yggdrasil to replenish his vast energies. During this godsleep, he is no stronger than a mere human.

9. Death Becomes Her

Death and Thanos, sitting in a tree….

Next up is the cosmic entity Death, who has all the powers you would expect of such a formidable being. She, like Galactus, wields the Power Cosmic.

Through this, she has matter, energy, reality and time manipulation abilities exceeding even the mighty Odinforce. She can simulate the form of a loved one for various purposes, down to absolutely perfect detail.

In fact, if you follow the storyline of the dark god Thanos, it becomes apparent that they are intent on one day marrying.

Til Death do us part, I suppose.

Death can even bring back dead entities to the realm of the living. She is, of course, immortal and not subject to the vicissitudes of time.

8. Galactus – Omega and then Alpha

Coming in at the 8th spot is the Devourer of Worlds, himself. Galactus possesses strength, stamina and speed on clearly godlike levels. His durability is unreal, and he is considered impenetrable with respect to almost any weapon. Although humongous in his “natural” state, he is capable of prodigious matter manipulation and can resize himself as he see fit – from small to large.

Devourer of Worlds…

His most impressive ability, however, is the Power Cosmic. With it, Galactus can resurrect the dead, engage in outright feats of almost biblical creation and destruction, control over molecular structure, and power endowment.

Such is his stratospheric level of godliness, that the heralds Galactus creates are themselves on the realm of cosmic beings. From Terrax to Nova, Firelord and his most famous creation – the Silver Surfer, these beings are all very super.

They are charged with satiating the only real weakness of the Devourer of Worlds: his need to eat. Galactus must feast on living planets in order to sustain himself, otherwise he grows almost incapacitated by hunger as his power wanes.

How is it that Galactus is so powerful? His origin is truly one of a kind and holds the key to this. Before our current universe, there was another that collapsed in on itself and came to an end. Galactus was the end of that universe and the beginning of this one. He is the sole remaining survivor of what came before, and he gained tremendous abilities as a consequence of that Conclusion.

7. Franklin Richards – Fantastic Spawn

At the 7th spot on this short list of Marvel’s most formidable beings is Franklin Richards, the son of Reed and Susan Richards of the Fantastic Four. Right off the bat, it becomes clear that this kid is an omega-level mutant that is still growing.

By the time he is of age, he is projected to be a cosmic-level entity, with the ability to control matter and energy, display serious telekinetic and telepathic powers and energy projection on a level equal to DC Superman’s heat vision.

Indeed, Franklin Richard’s burgeoning powers have even put the great Galactus on notice. Without a doubt, he will be the single most powerful Earthling in the Marvel Universe someday. His abilities to warp reality and create pocket universes already put him in a class all by himself; the young Franklin Richards may someday be even more formidable than the Phoenix Force, itself.

6. Thanos the Dark God of Madness

Thanos with Infinity Gauntlet

At the sixth slot is the mad god Thanos, member of the race of Eternals that resided on the moon Titan.

With a fearsome visage very much like Detective Comics’ dark god Darkseid, Thanos is equally – moreso, actually – obsessed with Death than even the Lord of Apokolips.

He may be just as powerful in his unaided form, too; but, with the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos is very much one of the most powerful beings, period, and would utterly ruin Darkseid in a confrontation.

The mad god Thanos is a member of the race of Eternals that resided on the moon Titan. After killing them all in his lust for power, Thanos grew to be even more powerful than he was already was.

Eventually, this dark god who lusts after Death – yes, you read that right – hopes to be united with her in matrimony; ostensibly, forever.

Thanos, in his quest to bring about the deaths of as many sentient life forms as possible, ended up creating the Infinity Gauntlet – a device of unmatched power.

The Infinity Gauntlet adds unlimited power to his base abilities of vast super strength, great speed, extremely high intellect, upper-tier durability and unending energy reserves, regenerative healing and a host of other natural abilities endemic to the members of his species. Formerly endemic, since Thanos was the strongest of them and killed all his brethren.

Thanos is also capable of manipulating energy and matter on a level somewhat south of the Power Cosmic-imbued silver Surfer, can read minds and move objects with the force of his psyche. As if such a mighty being needs it, teleportation is also an ability he employs at will.

Lastly, it is said that he cannot die, but perhaps that supposed attribute will be tested one day by a mightier opponent. When he wielded the Infinity Gauntlet, however, all the universe was at his disposal – all except for the Living Tribunal. Other than this multi-universal force of nature, Thanos and the Glove held dominion over time, space, reality, power, the mind and the soul.

5. The Phoenix Force – Demigod of the Mind

On our steady march towards the number 1 spot, we run into none other than the Phoenix Force. This prodigiously powerful cosmic entity possessed the most powerful telepath on earth (Professor X and Franklin Richards notwithstanding) in Jean Grey of the X-Men.

The speed of the Phoenix Force is truly unmatched by all but the very few virtually omnipresent entities in the Marvel Universe.

By creating dual quantum singularities, it can traverse any distance in essentially zero time – much like a photon in its own frame of rest.

Making and breaking black holes exist within the vast catalogue of its powers, and its energy absorption abilities are mind-boggling.

As for offensive weaponry, the Phoenix Force can transmute matter and engage in cosmic pyrotechnics – create psionic fires of withering power without oxygen.

It serves as the progenitor of all psionic force in the universe, and employs it to fuel its incalculable powers of telekinesis, teleportation and even resurrection.

Indeed, as a very high-level celestial entity, the Phoenix Force can only be checked by a literal handful of beings, and since such beings are generally largely neutral in temperament, most of the universe fears the Force for its tendency to carry out judgments on the inadequate with its brutal and unyielding cosmic flame.

4. The Beyonder – Beyond All Reason

If you’re a Marvel universe fan from the early days, then you’ve probably been wondering where the Beyonder is. He slides securely into the lofty 4th spot on this list of the most powerful.

His reality-altering powers are second to very, very few beings in the universe, and his psionic depth makes even the power of the Phoenix Force hesitate. His strength occupies the very zenith of what’s possible for a physical attribute, he can teleport, fly, and many other things.

Basically, all the powers of the Beyonder are at an ultra metahuman level; exceeding even those of many gods.

3. Eternity and Infinity – ‘Nuff Said

The third spot is a tie between Eternity and Infinity. Respectively, they are characterized as male and female, and are so mighty they are only even really ever seen by extremely mystical characters like Dr. Stephen Strange (the Sorcerer Supreme), Adam Warlock and Olympian Skyfathers like Zeus.

They hold dominion over all time and space and are essentially equal in power to cosmic beings like Galactus, Oblivion and Death, herself. Obviously, they are omnipresent and their deaths would end the universe that the Marvel heroes inhabit – although the countless other realms of the multiverse would persist.

2. The Living Tribunal – Guardian of the Multiverse

As the power levels become asymptotic, we greet the resident of the 2nd spot with an appropriate measure of sheer awe.

The Living Tribunal is omnipresent; he occupies all timelines in the infinite multiverse. It is said that he is the most powerful possible being that is subject to sentient comprehension; the final level of power at which it is still possible to have motivations.

The Living Tribunal judges entire timelines and, if any become unstable and threatens to destabilize the others, he destroys it at a whim. Whole universes – gone. He has held a version of Eternity in the palm of his inconceivably large hand and squeezed it out of existence when Eternity couldn’t maintain order in his universe.

Watchers, Galactus, Skyfathers, Infinity, Celestials all congregate respectively before him when he desires communion. And yet, despite all this, the Living Tribunal is but a servant…

1. The One Above All

At the number one spot resides The One Above All. He is Omnipresent, Omniscient, All-Powerful and more. He is infinitely infinite, and could destroy the Living Tribunal with a mere thought, glance or inclination.

He is the Marvel Universe’s God, and is truly illimitable and all-encompassing.

Like 0 Thanks! You've already liked this

Samskeyta: Great post - but does this list mean that Franklin Richards, who comes in at no.7, cannot be killed, since…
Venuemonsters: You contradicted your own post by saying you would exclude items such as The Infinity Gauntlet, and then apply the…
- Tomi: Very good eye, Venuemonsters - thanks for the comment. Fixed.
cperuzzi: This is a good list. It certainly has legs. Although someone, outside of Jim Starlin, need to write another scheming…
- Tomi: Thanks for the comment, christopher. Man, I would love to get my hands on the comic where the Hulk takes…
Alvaro: Great list! Like I mentioned, I always found Franklyn Richards creepy. Village of the Damned kind of creepy.

More comments