Superman is otherwise known as the Last Son of Krypton. He is heroically called the Man of Steel on Earth. Throughout his life as a superhero, Man of Steel has shown an extremely wide set of abilities. Feared by even the Gods of DC Comics, the Kryptonian is almost invincible. Now let us see why that is….
10. Arctic Breath
Superman can literally breathe ice out of his lungs. It is one of his few powers that survived the Rebirth launch. Superman has saved sinking ships by freezing the water underneath and put out raging fires with his icy shill blows. In Superman: Unchained, his powers went a lot further when Supers solidified a water sprout to support an entire multi-story building about to fall down.
9. Tactile Telekinesis
Tactile Telekinesis is one of Superman’s passive powers. It is an invisible aura of telekinetic energy that surrounds his body. Believe it or not, it is this power that gives Man of Steel all his powers. But Superman seldom knows about its various significant functions. Superboy aka Connor Kent (a clone of Superman) was the one who truly understood its merits and used this one power to replicate the entire set of Superman’s abilities.
8. Longevity
The Man of Steel is just what he sounds like. He does not adhere to human conditions when it comes to aging. As time passes by, Steel stays the same and never ages. So does the superman. Man of Steel, because of his immense energy absorption abilities, has a body that can outlive even planet Earth. In DC’s Old Man of Tomorrow and DC One Million storyline, we see a Superman who has almost never aged while his contemporaries like Batman are now walking with a cane in hand.
7. Super Intelligence
Just because Superman is the muscle does not mean he never had the brains to back it up. The movies and the comics always portray Batman as the shot caller while Superman follows his orders. But in actuality, he has a photographic memory and combined with his super speed, he can garner and retain knowledge at superhuman levels.
6. X-Ray Vision
X-Ray Vision is one of Superman’s superpower staples and (probably) every guy’s wet dream. Superman has used his X-Ray vision to detect injuries, weak points in opponents and even the color of Lois Lane’s underwear. In 2003’s Birthright story arc, the Man of Steel was given a whole lot of other abilities. He could see in the rest of the invisible spectra as well, including seeing the life force of others.
5. Heat Vision
Heat Vision is a byproduct of Superman’s X-Ray Vision. First introduced in Action Comics #275, Superman can produce powerful ocular based laser beams by focusing the energy in his eyes to produce a thin white ray of destructive energy. But since this power has a high rate of collateral damage, Supes uses it sparingly.
4. Solar Flare
Now, this is how Superman could rightfully be termed as an instant weapon of mass destruction. Introduced in Geoff Johns Man of Tomorrow storyline, the solar flare is deadly and seldom used by Man of Steel if other options are possible. The Solar Flare is basically Man of Steel releasing his entire amount of solar energy absorbed throughout his lifespan in one go. The resulting explosion has the blast radius of a mega nuclear bomb but leaves Man of Steel powerless for 24 hours.
3. Invulnerability
Invulnerability is Superman’s trademark. The sight of bullets bouncing off his chest is the first thing that comes to mind when he hears his name. Superman’s invulnerability has varied throughout the ages. In All-Star Superman, he could walk on the surface of the sun. In other issues, rocket fire was enough to damage it. The only being that has been able to defeat Superman (without kryptonite to weaken his invulnerability) in this state is Doomsday.
2. Super Strength
Now this power screams Superman. Although many characters from both DC and Marvel possess this power now, it was Superman who popularized it. Superman’s strength has varied throughout the publications but he has consistently been strong enough to bend steel, lift trucks and even change the course of mighty rivers with only his bare hands. In one issue, Man of Steel moved an entire Solar System single-handedly.
1. Flight
The power to fly is something that everyone dreams to possess. Man of Steel was one of the comic book’s first characters to have the power of flight. Fun Fact – Man of Steel didn’t necessarily fly but long jumped from one building to another. It was the 1940’s radio serial shows that popularized the false notion of Superman flying. A rumor is a reason Superman is Superman today. Take that!
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