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List Of Comic Book Superpowers




Please ensure that you follow these guidelines in adding to powers or adding new powers:

Powers:
A new power must have at least one example included, but also must be used by at least two characters in fiction.
Please ensure that any power you add is not already in the list with a different name or location. (For example, there is not need for separate entries for the ability to control time and the ability to temporarily stop time.)

Examples:
No examples should be used if there is an existing category listing such examples. However, do not create new categories without discussion on the talk page.

  • ---ALREADY EXISTING
    -- Wikipedia page - No redlinks! And please avoid using of stub articles as examples.


Do not list as examples characters who use objects to generate powers (Iron Man's armor or Captain Cold's ray gun, for example). There is a single entry (Object-based Powers) to explain that. This includes magic-based objects, including "artifacts"; and technology-based objects, including robots. (Androids may only be used as examples if the power is irremovably inherent, and if no other possible examples exist.)

Do not use a character for more than one example.
Do not list more than one example from a publishing company unless there are no other possible examples.
No more than 3 examples per power. No more than 2 examples if using more than one example from the same publisher.
Examples should be listed in this order, by publisher: Marvel, DC, other.
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:''Note: This is a list of powers/abilities, not a list of superheroes by their power/ability.''

Comic Book fiction traditionally features characters with ''' Superhuman , Supernatural , or Paranormal ''' abilities, often referred to as "'''superpowers'''" (also spelled "super-powers"). Below is a list of many of those that have been known to be used. Some of these categories overlap.

=Means=
Examples of ways in which a character has the ability to generate an effect.


OBJECT-BASED POWERS

See Also: List of objects in the DC Universe


Powers derived from objects (also known as artifacts), such as armor, jewelry, weapons, and wands.


METHODS

Examples of methods by which a character generates an effect.


Energy sourcing

Ability to draw energy from the cores of stars or other large sources of energy, such as turning kinetic energy into physical blasts.


Magical powers

See Also: Magic (paranormal)
l1=Magic



Ability to use supernatural forces to varying degrees. Often used to simulate other powers, such as mind control and elemental attacks. Note that not all "magical" superpowers are actually supernatural ( Mxyzptlk 's abilities, for instance, rely on a set of physics different from our dimension's), but are still so beyond our understanding of science as to be completely unexplainable.



Technopathy

Ability to manipulate technology. It could manifest as a special form of electrical manipulation, a special form of shapeshifting which allows physical interaction with machines, or even a special form of ESP that allows for mental interface with computer data.


Telekinesis

See Also: Psychokinesis



Ability to manipulate and control objects with the mind, often in ways not visible to the naked eye. An extremely powerful telekinetic might be able to control individual atoms.

=Powers=


SUPERPOWER MANIPULATION

This section refers to the ability to manipulate superpowers themselves, not "power" such as electrical power or gravitational power.


Power bestowal

Ability to bestow powers or jump-start latent powers.


Power mimicry or absorption

Ability to copy or absorb another's powers or skills.


Power negation

Ability to cancel the superpowers of others.
  • Examples: Leech ''Uncanny X-Men'' #179 or Scrambler ''Uncanny X-Men'' #210



Power sensing

Ability to sense or recognize superhuman powers.
  • Examples: Caliban ''Uncanny X-Men'' #148



PERSONAL PHYSICAL POWERS

Powers which affect a physical person's body.


Accelerated healing

See Also: Healing factor



Ability to heal rapidly from any injury; the rate of recovery varies from character to character.
  • Examples: Wolverine ''The Incredible Hulk'' #180 or Lobo ''Omega Men'' #3



Acid generation

Ability to generate acid, can be manifested through touch or as a spray.


Animal mimicry

Ability to take on the abilities of certain animals.
  • Examples: Animal Man ''Strange Adventures'' #180 or Vixen ''Action Comics #521''Animal Man #48-50



Biological manipulation

Ability to control all aspects of a living creature's biological make-up. This includes, but is not limited to, genetic alterations, physical distortion/augmentations, healing, disease, and biological functions.


Body part substitution

Ability to replace one's limbs or other body parts with those of another.


Bone manipulation

Ability to manipulate the bones in one's own body. This includes, but is not limited to, the generation of new bone mass, projecting bones out from the skin or rearranging one's own bones.


Duplication

Ability to create Physical Duplicate s of oneself.


Temporal duplication

Ability to bring past and future versions of oneself back to the present.


Echolocation

See Also: Echolocation



Ability to determine location of items in the environment by use of reflected sound waves, whether generated by the character or ambient sound. Also known as sonar sense.
  • Examples: Daredevil ''Daredevil'' vol. 1, #1 or Man-Bat ''Detective Comics'' #400



Invisibility

See Also: Invisibility



Ability to render the user unseen to the naked eye.


Invulnerability

Ability to be immune to one or more forms of physical damage or injury.


Kinetic absorption

Ability to absorb forms of kinetic energy into oneself and convert it into physical strength.


Matter ingestion

Ability to consume any sort of matter without any ill effects on the user.


Merge

Ability to temporarily merge two beings into a single being, which results in a completely new and stronger being.


Pheromone manipulation

Ability to generate and control Pheromones which may have various effects.


Poison generation

Ability to assault others with one or more varieties of toxins, with widely disparate effects.


Prehensile/animated hair

The ability to animate and lengthen one's hair.


Reactive adaptation/evolution

Ability to develop a resistance or immunity to whatever they were injured by or exposed to. This effect can be permanent or temporary.


Self-detonation or explosion

Ability to explode one's body mass and reform.


Sonic scream

Ability to generate vocal sounds of a higher amplitude than a normal human.


Superhuman physical resistance

Ability to have a higher resistance to one or more forms of damage before being injured.


Superhuman reflexes

Ability to react faster than a normal human.


Superhuman senses

Ability to see, smell, taste, feel, or hear more than a normal human.


Superhuman strength

See Also: Superhuman Strength


See Also: Strength level



Ability to have a level of Physical Strength higher than that possible by a human being in Real Life .


Superhuman vision

Ability to see more than a normal human.


Night vision

Ability to see clearly in darkness.


X-ray vision

See Also: X-ray vision



Ability to see through solid objects.


Telescopic or microscopic vision

Ability to magnify vision to various levels.


Wallcrawling

Ability to cling to objects or surfaces by a variety of means.


Waterbreathing

See Also: Waterbreathing


See Also: Liquid breathing



Ability to respirate through water in lieu of a gaseous medium. Not to be confused with an ability to go without breathing or to be able to breathe an alternate air supply.


MENTAL FACULTY AND KNOWLEDGE-BASED ABILITIES



Innate capability


Ability to naturally have skills and/or knowledge typically earned through learning.


Omni-linguism

Ability to understand any form of language. This can be accomplished in various ways.


Omniscience

See Also: Omniscience



Ability to know anything and everything.


Superhuman intelligence

Ability to have intelligence far above genius level.


ESP

See Also: Extra sensory perception



The abilities of extra-sensory perception (ESP) and communication.


Astral projection

See Also: Astral projection



Ability to separate and control one's Astral Body .


Cross-dimensional awareness

Ability to detect actions and events in other Dimension s. This is occasionally used in comics as an awareness of the Fourth Wall between the characters and the artist or audience.


Empathy

See Also: Empathy



Ability to read or sense the Emotions and/or control the Emotions or Feeling s of others.


Mediumship

Ability to see and communicate with the dead ( Ghosts ).


Precognition

See Also: Precognition


See Also: Clairvoyance



Ability to perceive the Future . It may be expressed in vague dreams while asleep, other times it can be clear and can occur at will. It may also be used as a form of "Danger sense" to show the user that they are being threatened and from what direction it is coming from.


Psychometry

See Also: Psychometry



Ability to relate details about the past or future condition of an object, person or location, usually by being in close contact with it.


Telepathy

See Also: Telepathy



Ability to read the thoughts of, or to mentally communicate with others.


Domination and mind control

The ability to alter the perceptions of others, and general mind-control.


Astral trapping

Ability to cause an astral projection to stay on the Astral Plane , usually in one specific place.


Memory manipulation

Ability to erase or enhance the memories of another.


Mind control

See Also: Mind control



Ability to control the actions or reasoning of another with the mind.


Possession

See Also: Spiritual possession



Ability to take control of another person’s body via Astral Projection or mind transfer.


Psionic blast

Ability to overload another's mind causing Pain , memory loss, Loss Of Consciousness , Vegetative State or Death after having created a psionic link into that person's mind.


Psychic weapons

Ability to create a weapon of psionic energy that can harm mentally and not physically.


MANIPULATE FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OR REALITY

These powers may be manifested by various methods, including: by some method of molecular control; by access to, or partially or fully shifting to Another Dimension ; by manipulating the geometric dimensions of time or space; or by some other unnamed method.


Animation

Ability to bring inanimate objects to life or to free a person from petrification.


Darkness or shadow manipulation

Ability to create or manipulate darkness, often by mentally accessing a dimension of dark energy (the Darkforce Dimension in Marvel Comics, and the Shadowlands in DC Comics) and manipulating it.


Density control

Ability to increase the natural density of an object and/or one's self.


Disintegration

Ability to disintegrate matter through touch.


Elemental transmutation

See Also: Transmutation



The ability to alter Chemical Element s, changing them from one substance to another by rearranging the atomic structure . May be limited to self-transmutation. (Also known as Alchemy )


Gravity manipulation

Ability to manipulate or generate Gravitons , or other types of Gravitational Interactions .


Immortality

See Also: Immortality



Ability to live forever. This may be complete immortality in which the character cannot be killed in any way, appears to die but is resurrected somehow, or simply an inability to age normally, or even only be killed in specific ways (i.e. decapitation).


Intangibility or phasing

Ability to phase through solid matter without harm.


Light manipulation

Ability to control, generate or absorb Photons (particles of Light ).


Magnetism manipulation

Ability to control and/or generate Magnetic Field s.


Mass manipulation

Ability to increase or decrease mass in an object or person.


Molecular manipulation

Ability to mentally manipulate molecules and objects on a molecular level.


Probability manipulation

See Also: Probability



Ability to alter probability, causing unlikely things to happen or likely things to not happen.


Radiation manipulation

Ability to generate, manipulate or have immunity to toxic radiation.


Reality warping

See Also: Reality warper



Ability to change or manipulate reality itself.


Sound manipulation

Ability to manipulate Sound Waves .


Time manipulation

Ability to affect the flow of Time , slowing, accelerating or even stopping it.


Classical elements

Ability to control or manipulate the Classical Elements .


Air and wind manipulation

Ability to control, generate, or absorb Air or Wind .


Cold and ice manipulation

Ability to reduce the Kinetic Energy of Atoms and thus reduce Temperature , can be used to control, generate, or absorb Ice .


Earth manipulation

Ability to control Earth ; sand, stone, rock, lava, dirt, or minerals.


Electric manipulation

Ability to control, generate or absorb Electrical Field s.


Fire and heat manipulation

See Also: Pyrokinesis in fiction
l1=Pyrokinesis



Ability to control the kinetic energy of atoms to generate, control or absorb fire.


Plant manipulation

Ability to accelerate the growth of, control or animate Plant life.


Water and moisture manipulation

Ability to control, generate or absorb Water .


Weather manipulation

Ability to control or mentally affect the Weather . This includes the ability to generate various natural phenomena (rain, tornadoes, lightning, etc.) or control the intensity of the weather.


Energy manipulation

See Also: Energy



These powers deal with Energy generation, conversion and manipulation. In addition to generic energy, versions of these powers exist that deal with such things as light, sound, electricity, nuclear energy, and "darkforce".


Concussion beams

Ability to generate or transform various forms of energy into a "solid" or concussive beam of energy.


Energy blasts

See Also: Energy blast


See Also: Heat vision



Ability to expel various forms of energy from the body.


Energy constructs

Ability to create complex shapes (such as giant boxing gloves or cages) or even functional machinery (such as fire extinguishers or laser rifles) out of solid energy.


Energy conversion

Ability to absorb one form of energy and convert it into another form of energy.


Force field generation

See Also: Force field (science fiction)
l1=Force field



Ability to project powerful fields of manipulated energy.


Transportation or travel


Dimensional transportation

Ability to create Wormholes , portation "discs" or other spatial portals for transport between two non-adjacent locations


Electrical transportation

Ability to travel through electrical conduits (such as power lines, or telephone lines). Can enter through devices such as Televisions , electrical poles or Computers .


Omnipresence

Ability to be present anywhere and everywhere always.


Summoning

Ability to summon objects or beings for assistance.


Superhuman speed

See Also: List of fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds



Ability to move at speeds faster than a normal human.


Teleportation

See Also: Teleportation



Ability to move from one place to another without occupying the space in between.


Time travel

See Also: Time travel



Ability to travel back and forth through time.


MISCELLANEOUS

The following powers could be manifested in any number of ways.


Flight

See Also: Flight


See Also: Gliding
Levitation



Ability to lift off the ground, to ride Air Currents or to fly self-propelled through the air.
  • Examples:

  • Different forms of flight include:



Energy propulsion methods



Physical propulsion methods



Illusion

See Also: Illusion



Ability to alter or deceive the perceptions of another. Can be sensory, a light or sound-based effect, or an alteration of mental perceptions.



Shapeshifting

See Also: Shapeshifting



Ability to change appearance or body structure.

Types of shapeshifting include:

  • Animal morphing: Ability to take on animal forms. May be able to take on the abilities of the altered form.

  • ---Examples: Wolfsbane or Beast Boy

  • Elasticity: Ability to stretch, deform, expand and contract one's body into any form they can imagine.

  • ---Examples: Mr. Fantastic or Elongated Man

  • Inorganic: Ability to transform completely into an inorganic substance while retaining organic properties.

  • ---Examples: Colossus or Ferro Lad

  • Liquification: Ability to turn partially or completely into a Liquid .

  • ---Examples: Hydro-Man or Zan

  • Size shifting: Ability to increase or decrease one's size.

  • ---Examples: Yellowjacket or Giganta

  • Sublimation: Ability to transform into a Gas eous, mist, or fog-like form.

  • ---Examples: Amelia Voght or Mist

  • Transformation: Ability to transform into substance touched.

  • ---Examples: Absorbing Man or Amazing Man or Grunge



=References=