A Rad List of Superpowers: Their Perks and the Famous Characters That Use Them

With great writing comes…a lot of different superpowers? Superheroes have become a staple of the entertainment industry, making the list of superpowers quite extensive. If they all had super strength and the power of flight, superheroes wouldn’t be that super, would they?

So let’s take a look at a list of superpowers that goes beyond the basics. Let’s see how many of these powers you’ve seen in action.

List of Unique Superpowers

While there certainly is staying power in a superhero as basic as Superman, some writers chose to give their characters cool powers that go beyond your traditional comic book mainstays. 

Here are some of those unique superpowers.

The Quiz

Origin: DC’s Doom Patrol

Superpower: Every Power You Haven’t Thought Of

Not every superpower belongs to the good guys, right?

The Quiz tops every chart, unless she’s facing off against an extremely creative opponent.

That’s because she has the power of Every Power You Haven’t Thought Of.

And it’s exactly what it sounds like.

If you haven’t spoken the exact power out loud, she can make it happen. Everything from the ability to manipulate time to appearance mimicking to flight, she’s got it. So do your research before you face off against her. 

This list of superpowers isn’t a bad place to start!

Allison Hargreeves

The Umbrella Academy

Superpower: Mind Control

Each of the characters in The Umbrella Academy have a pretty unique gift, but Allison’s might be the most original.

As long as she starts a sentence with “I Heard a Rumor,” whatever she says will come true. Unfortunately, she discovers that when you use this gift, you’ll never know what parts of your life are real.

Superman

DC’s Superman

Superpower: Tiny Spontaneous Generation

Now we know what you’re thinking. We just said that Superman was basic. 

But did you know that there was a brief moment in the 50s when Superman could shoot tiny Supermen with the same powers as himself out of his hands? 

You can’t make this up.

Baura

Bleach

Superpower: Stomach-Based Dimensional Storage and Power Absorption

Many video games give the users the ability of dimensional storage.  This allows you to hold much more than you realistically could.

There’s no way you could fit 40 items in your pockets, Tom Nook.

Baura from Bleach has a different take on this ability. When Baura consumes something, it enters an alternative dimension linked directly to his stomach. Any life form he consumes eventually dissolves, and he absorbs their power with Sawatari, his master.

Magical storage in your stomach? Yes, please.

List of Cool Superpowers

Some supers, like Klaus Hargreeves, grow up feeling that their powers are a curse. Some supers, on the other hand, get the luck of the draw and get some sick powers. 

Here is a list of superpowers you wish you had.

Julieta Madrigal

Disney’s Encanto

Superpower: Magical Healing

Ever feel like your mother’s cooking was so good it healed your soul?

Julieta’s can heal your body! Just by cooking up one of her favorite dishes, she can magically heal whatever ailment you’re experiencing. This comes in handy when her non-magical husband constantly gets stung by bees.

Garnet

Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe

Superpower: Future Vision

Garnet is a fusion between gems Sapphire and Ruby. As a manifestation of their love, Garnet has both of their powers as gems. 

Sapphire has the power of future vision. In Steven Universe, the future isn’t predetermined. Garnet can just see the possibilities of what will occur based on probabilities. If you did something completely unexpected, she wouldn’t have seen it coming. 

But having a good idea of what’s to come without being trapped by the finality of a predetermined future could prove useful.

Domino

Marvel’s X-Men

Superpower: Luck

Ever wish things would just go your way? That you were just a bit more lucky?

Domino lives the life you’re dreaming of. 

Even though Deadpool tells her it’s not a superpower, he quickly learns to appreciate what she brings to X-Force. 

Especially as she’s one of the few that’s lucky enough to survive the first 30 seconds of action.

List of Classic Superpowers

While experimenting with new powers gives us more creative content, don’t you always need someone with super strength on your team? Here’s a list of the classic superpowers you know and love.

The Parr Family

Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles

Superpowers: Super strength, super flexibility, invisibility and force-fields, super speed

You have almost endless options when looking for supers with super strength or super speed. But The Incredibles makes a really interesting choice when assigning powers to these superheroes. Each power represents a societal expectation for their role in a nuclear family.

• Bob: As the father, Bob has to be strong for his family. He cannot show weakness, otherwise he’ll lose respect as a father.
• Helen: As the mother, Helen needs to always be flexible and handle everything. Bob discovers just how much she had to stretch herself as a mother when he takes over childcare in the second movie.
• Violet: As the teen daughter, Violet feels invisible to people at school. She also feels self-conscious and needs to put a barrier between herself and others, like a force field.
• Dash: As the younger brother, Dash runs around with super speed. He’s excited to try everything and can’t sit still.
• Jack-Jack: As the baby, Jack still has unlimited potential. He can grow up to be whatever he wants to be. His future is still uncertain. And he’s a baby, so of course he’s chaotic.

With this take on the superpowers, traditional super abilities get a new layer of meaning.

Number Five

The Umbrella Academy

Superpowers: Teleportation and time travel

Few characters can time travel at will without the aid of a device. Dr. Strange needs the Time Stone, Rick Sanchez needs his portal gun, and Dr. Who needs his Tardis.

Number Five can travel through time at will. It’s a bit shaky, requires math, and boy does it make things complicated, but he can do it without an aid. He will use a briefcase from the Commission if there’s one available, as that makes the process easier.

Eleven

Netflix’s Stranger Things

Superpowers: Telekinesis, ESP, Technopathy, Portal Manipulation, Biokinesis, Teleportation, Memory Reading

Jane “El” Hopper possesses a laundry list of powers, but her most common one is telekinesis. She can manipulate the placement of solid objects, people, and creatures with just her mind. 

She has these powers partly through inheritance from her mother and hallucinogenic drugs while in the womb. The Hawkins National Laboratory experimented on her as she grew up.

List of Useful Superpowers

Not every essential superpower feels “cool” or “trendy.” Some superpowers have strong side character energy, but that doesn’t make them any less important. Here is the list of superpowers that are essential for a team but aren’t as flashy as others.

Steven Universe

Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe

Superpowers: Force fields and healing 

While Steven also has the power of force fields and conjuring shields, his more helpful superpower comes from his ability to heal others…using his spit.

His mom was able to heal others with her tears, and he was upset when it didn’t work for him. But then he realized he still had her healing powers, just in a different form.

Gold Star

DC’s New Earth

Superpower: Kindness

Ever wish you could just force everyone around you to be nice to each other?

Gold Star can!

Ernest Widdle has the power to “radiate rectitude.” His sunny demeanor literally radiates from him, calming others and causing them to act more kindly. His home planet has less crime because of his powers.

While this power seems sweet, it was developed in a demented way. He had a twin brother, and the philosopher who cared for them split them at birth. To study the power of good and evil, Ernest was raised in a nurturing environment. Rasputin, his twin, was raised by slavers. 

High Evolutionary

Marvel

Superpower: Elevated intelligence

The “Lord High Evolutionary,” as he has his humanoid army call him, uses his enhanced intelligence to manipulate science for evil. He experimented with accelerated evolution on animals, hoping to apply those principles to evolve humans. 

He actually plays a crucial role in the creation of the Maximoff twins’ powers.   

What’s Your Favorite Superpower? 

Heroes and villains across comic book universes possess all different types of powers. From heat vision to ray vision to mind control, a character is more than their powers and abilities. What makes them unique is how they choose to apply their powers. 

Do they use their ability to control people to stop bank robberies or take over the world? Do they wonder whether it’s ethical to control people at all?                                      

If you could choose from this list of superpowers, which would you pick? Do you have a favorite superpower, not on this list? Tell us in the comments!