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11 Craziest Accidents That Gave People Superpowers in The Comic Books

Having superpowers is cool. But do you really think that many people wanted this way of life? There is a saying – Some men are born great and some men have greatness thrust upon them. Many of the members in the superhuman community are actually products of freak accidents that they never intended to partake in the first place. These people are what they are today because of their terrible bad luck. While the movies sometimes romanticize an origin story, gaining a super power can be really tricky business. Presenting- 11 Craziest Accidents that gave people superpowers in the comic books.

 1. Swamp Thing

Superpowers Comic BooksAs far as gruesome origin stories go, Swamp Thing’s tale takes the cake. Alec Holland was a scientist that was working in his Louisiana laboratory and researching on a serum that could provide instant bio-regeneration. After some thieves planted a bomb in his lab, Alec was doused in his own serum as his entire body caught fire. A few days later, Holland re-emerged from the swamp as a mass of humanoid vegetation. His job was now to protect the Green – a supernatural force that connects all plant life. But wait, the story does not end there. In latter issues, it is revealed that the green monster that is Swamp Thing was not actually Alec Holland. Holland really did die that night but his memories were transferred to Swamp Thing. And you thought Batman’s story is sad.

 2. Spawn

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Al Simmons was one of the world’s greatest assassins. But he was betrayed by his own agency and was left to rot in hell. It is funny how a simple explosion could lead you to land a deal with the very embodiment of evil – Malebolgia. As Spawn, Simmons had near limitless amounts of strength, speed and a host of other supernatural abilities. Spawn was also very proficient in fire-arms which he used frequently in his adventures to rid the world of evil. Spawn’s origin story started with an accident but is still going strong. He will be appearing once again in the theatres in the near future.

 3. Iron Man

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In the Ultimates Universe, Howard Stark and Maria Cerrera was a married couple that were working on bio armours and healing serums. Maria was pregnant at the time when an accident led her to be bitten by a monkey and she was infected with a deadly virus. The virus found its way to her womb where Tony Stark was still in his foetal stage. When Tony was born, it was revealed that the virus had changed his anatomy. His neural tissues had spread to his entire body, meaning that his whole body was a giant walking brain. This allowed Tony to have incredibly enhanced intellect but his body was now in constant pain due to the neurons in his body decreasing his tolerance to pain.

 4. Spider-Man

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No matter what they tell you, being bitten by a radioactive spider is not cool AT ALL. Peter Parker got his powers from the irradiated venom of a poisonous spider. But trust us when we say this – if Peter would have known that he was going to be bit by such a thing, even though he would get to be Spider-Man later, he would have steered clear of the spider’s way. His spider powers have expanded over the years. He has a psychic sixth sense and there is also the additional ability to wrap himself into a cocoon if he is badly hurt and be reborn again (yeah some spiders can do that). Many villains like Kraven literally hunted down Spider-Man just because of his spider powers.

 5. Doctor Octopus

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This guy meant good. But what happened to him was not. While trying to find out a source of free, unlimited energy, an explosion due to a simple miscalculation in the data led to the mechanical arms that once helped him control his experiments became a part of his body. And Doctor Octopus was born. He has since become a crazed scientist, using his intellect and know-how to fight Spiderman and a lot of other superheroes in the Marvel comic book universe. He was most recently spotted switching bodies with peter Parker and becoming Spiderman, his intentions being to prove to the world that he could be a better wall-crawling superhero than Parker could ever be.

 6. Poison Ivy

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Love could be dangerous. If you do not know the meaning of that statement, ask Poison Ivy. Ivy’s real name is Pamela Isley. She was an ordinary college going girl who had fallen in love with her botany professor. Unbeknownst to her, the professor was actually Floronic Man. Floronic Man put her through a lot of inhuman tests. At the end, she was abandoned by her love. The experiments twisted her mind to such an extent that she had no memories of who she was before. Ivy would then use her plant manipulation powers to terrorize Gotham City and fight Batman.

 7. Cyborg

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This guy is a classic example of bad parenting. Victor Stone was born to Silas and Elinore Stone, two of the greatest scientists and researchers the world had ever seen. His parents wanted great things for their son, and in order to help him gain a competitive edge, did performance enhancing experiments on him. Victor would grow to hate his parents for using him as a guinea pig. After an alien creature killed Victor’s Mom and grievously wounded Victor, his father used cybernetic implants and alien technology to resurrect his son from the verge of death.

 8. Jessica Jones

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When she was just a kid, Jessica Jones was returning from Disneyland with her family, when a small argument distracted her father and the car she was in rammed into a military convoy. Her whole family died in the accident and the convoy, carrying radioactive materials, spilled all over Jessica. She entered into a coma for many months and when she came out of it, realized that she had developed superhuman strength, flight and inhuman durability. Jessica Jones was literally born of an accident.

 9. The Flash

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If you have seen the show, you know what we mean. Barry Allen was hit by lightning while standing in a pool of unknown chemicals. Barry wakes up to find himself with superhuman speed and a connection to the Speed Force, of which he becomes a living conduit. While we are all grateful of the Flash and his many endeavours to save the world and sometimes, even the Universe from harm’s way, his origin story is not something to be taken lightly. Being hit by lightning is not a piece of cake. He would have been considered lucky if he had even survived the ordeal. Gaining super powers from a lightning strike is as crazy as it sounds.

 10. Daredevil

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As is common knowledge, if you are a comic book character and you are even remotely exposed to anything radio-active, you are bound to develop super powers. Same was the case with Daredevil. Matt Murdock was the son of a boxer. One day, while walking down the streets, Matt’s eyes were doused with radioactive chemicals and he lost his sight. But the accident also enhanced the rest of his four senses and gave him an ability called “Radar Sense” in the comic books. He was trained by Stick in the art of armed and unarmed combat to become Daredevil – the Man without Fear.

 11. The Hulk

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And now we come to the piece de resistance. The Hulk is a comic book adaptation of the classic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story. Bruce Banner was researching on gamma radiations and nuclear explosions. He was part of a project that aimed at creating the next Super Soldier. Bruce was suddenly trapped within the blast radius of an experimental bomb while trying to save another colleague and he was exposed to lethal amounts of Gamma radiation. In reality, nuclear explosions do reveal massive amounts of Gamma radiation but they do not turn people green, just charcoal black. If the former were true, there would have been a lot of Japanese Hulks walking amongst us right now.

                                                              

Bibhu Prasad

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... do things
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