Darkseid Anatomy: 10 Things That Make Him Special

Darkseid, a ruthless dominating warlord, is among the most iconic villains in the DC universe. He is also among the most powerful villains of all time. But that really isn’t enough to make him stand out considering that DC’s universe is inhabited by entities more powerful than himself. In honor of that, let’s analyze the things that do make Darkseid special.

1. Darkseid can detect and manipulate souls

Hailing from the nightmare world Apokolips, Darkseid is striving to manipulate and subjugate everything living under his command. We shouldn’t be surprised then that Darkseid is quite the necromancer. He has been shown numerous times his ability to both detect and manipulate souls in various ways. One such example is when he trapped Cyborg Superman’s soul in a metal sphere, with the power of his Omega beams.

Not only is he able to trap souls, but he is also able to shatter them and raise them from the dead as well.

This Darkseid’s ability ties into the ability to manipulate life and living beings as well. In one instance, he managed to resurrect his entire army of Parademons from the dead to aid him.

2. Darkseid can travel through time

This one is not as surprising considering the fact that he is a being that exists outside of our pre-conceived universe. But nevertheless, it’s important to know that Darkseid, using his Omega Beams can travel through time, and send others through time as well.

He has also shown isolated instances of secondary time manipulation when he managed to bend time to speed up the process of growing Desaad’s new body.

3. Darkseid is immortal

It seems that normal biological processes do not affect Darkseid one bit. While he does have his weakness, he is resistant to most calamities, both natural and man-made. In a couple of instances, when he did manage to “die”, he was able to resurrect himself.

Both by his powers and using another body as a conduit. Such is the case in the panel below, he used Orion’s body to bring himself back to life.
That stems from the fact that Darkseid is more akin to forces of nature, necessary for existence.

4. Darkseid is capable of dimensional travel

Darkseid’s Omega Beams are the main source of his powers. With them, he is capable of bending souls, nature, minds, and time. As it turns out he can bend dimensions with Omega Beams as well.

Darkseid travels the universe in search of planets to subjugate to his will, so it’s not surprising he has such a convenient means of travel. Darkseid is also able to open “Boom Tubes” using nothing but his will.

5. He can create illusions as a means of distraction

Considering the rest of his special abilities on this list, this one seems like a parlor trick. Manipulation and control are Darkseid’s trademarks. He is able to create lifelike and convincing illusions as distractions.

Such was the case with Superman and Wonder Woman in the panel below. Darkseid managed to create specifically tailored illusions for them to fight. In addition to creating illusions, he can create fake avatars of himself to throw off targets from his scent.

6. Darkseid can freeze space-time

Again, we’re not even a bit surprised by this ability since we’ve previously mentioned that he can travel through times and dimensions as well. Darkseid managed to free space-time around Godwave Ares and effectively stop time.

Ares was trapped like Darkseid said, “as a fly in amber”. This ability is potentially among the most powerful Darkseid has. Since all entities subjected to laws of space-time are affected by this. This means he can disable almost anything by freezing space-time around it.

7. Darkseid can survive in space

Considering the full extent of Darkseid’s space-time manipulation abilities, this ability is not surprising as well. While there are other immortal beings in the DC universe, not a lot of them can survive in the open space without any kind of equipment.

Even Wonder Woman needs her earrings as a source of oxygen during her space travels. However, Darkseid is capable of being self-sustainable in space. He is immune to cosmic radiation that the various celestial objects in space emit, as well as immune to extreme cold that appears to be a general climate of space.

8. Darkseid can disable the abilities of other entities

Again, one more extremely useful ability to have. Using his Omega Beams, Darkseid can nullify and negate the powers of other entities as well as superheroes. This was demonstrated when he managed to strip Bouncing Boy of his powers.

As well as taking away their ability, Darkseid can also grant powers and abilities to subjects loyal to him. This is done through enhancing their natural abilities and existing powers, or through restoring the powers he has previously taken from them.

9. He can manipulate weather

One more entry on an ever-growing list of abilities that allow him to manipulate natural processes. Compared to time-freeze this one seems like a small thing to mention.

Darkseid has the ability to manipulate weather, which was demonstrated when he managed to create a storm and tornado to ruin Scott and Barda’s wedding.

10. Darkseid is capable of Telekinesis

Darkseid has an extremely strong force of will. With a mere thought, he can project, summon, create and manifest almost anything. Using the power of his thought he is capable of Telekinesis as well.

He is frequently shown suspending objects, entities, and other beings in the air by using his mental telekinetic forces. In one instance he even managed to restrain Superman using telekinesis.

And that would be all. As you can see most of Darkseid’s abilities require him to utilize his Omega Beams in one form or another. He also has abilities that to some extent defy and manipulate normal natural laws as well as laws of physics as we know them. It’s not surprising considering the fact that he does holds the mantle of one of the most powerful villains created.