The Top 10 Greatest Superpowers of All Time
Earlier, we counted down the best traditional superhero powers. In it, we listed powers like super strength, super speed, telekinesis, and mind control. Each of these powers was chosen because they were created more than 50 years ago and remain relevant to this day.
Over time, however, superhero powers have transformed from simple, easy-to-understand powers into complex ideas. And basically superheroes today function differently than they were 50 years ago. Although many superpowers could’ve made this list, only ten are good enough for it. If you permit me 5-6 minutes, I’d like to tell you what they are. Here are the greatest superpowers of all time.
10. Shapeshifting
For all the reasons that shapeshifting made my traditional superpowers list, it makes my greatest superpowers list. Shapeshifting does exactly what it sounds like it does. It allows the user to turn themselves into anyone they desire.
Shapeshifting is so important that it was the focal point for most of Fox’s X-Men franchise. For 19 years, we watched Mystique infiltrate and maneuver her way around government agencies, high-power organizations, and other mutants. And because of shapeshifting, she did so with ease.
9. Reactive Evolution
If a species could adapt to any environment they were put in, they could live forever.
Right? If human beings could, in one minute, adapt to a cold as cold as Neptune and then a warmth as warm as Venus in the next, we’d never go extinct. Unfortunately, we can’t, and as a result, one day, we will probably go extinct. This would be true unless we had one of the greatest superpowers of all time … reactive evolution.
Think about it. If we could adapt to any environment or situation, no matter how harsh, we’d be practically immune to change.
8. Precognition
Ask yourself where you’d be right now if you could see the future. How much different would your life be if you knew what was coming? Would you set yourself up forever? Perhaps pick the winning lottery numbers before they happen?
Or, would you even want to know what was coming? Would you want to know when you’d have children or when you’d die? Would you want to know whether or not you’d marry? These are all questions that most of us want to know the answer to but are too afraid to have answers.
Precognition allows for a person, if they wanted to, to know all the above in the blink of an eye. The problem, as I’ve outlined, is that most don’t want to know.
Precognition is one of the greatest superpowers because it digs deep into our natural desires more than any other superpower on this list.
7. Plant Control
Maybe I’m a little biased, but I can’t help but think how fantastic it would be to have control over all plant life. Laugh if you must but know that controlling all plant life means I have an army that spans every square inch of the planet.
Controlling plant life is one of the greatest superpowers of all time because a) you’re army can be instantly replenished at any given time, b) you’re able to create an impenetrable fortress, and c) you can detain whoever you want whenever you want. If you require more convincing, know that possessing plant control equates to controlling the entirety of the planet.
6. Spider-Sense
Now we’re talking!
Although it may sound like precognition, don’t mistake it for precognition. Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense is a quick warning that only he feels to alert him of impending danger. More often than not, the warning comes in the form of squiggly lines above his head. I’m sure that you’ve seen it, or at the bare minimum, you’ve heard of it.
None of the superpowers he possesses have kept him as safe and alive as his Spider-Sense. In fact, it’s so important to the character that, aside from his quick wit, it practically defines him. Over the years, many have tried to replicate Spider-Sense, but none have perfected it in the way Spider-Man has.
5. Magnetic Control
Although magnetic control doesn’t sound all too great, remember that being able to control the Earth’s metal means that you can control most of the Earth. As shown in the first ‘X-Men’ movie, this includes the inner workings of human bodies.
Magnetic control is one of the greatest superhero powers…period. It allows for complete control of practically anything with a metal element in it. Locks. Guns. Tanks. People. You name it. You control it. This is why Magneto isn’t only one of the greatest X-Men enemies of all time but also one of the greatest villains of all time.
4. Invulnerability
You might notice that immortality isn’t on this list. Although it’s a good superpower, it’s just not something that’s overly desired. I mean, how much trouble, death, disease, and the like would a person live through if they lived forever? Probably too much.
That’s the reason that invulnerability and not immortality are on this list.
Imagine how it would be if you could walk around daily, knowing nothing could hurt you. War, gang violence, and beatdowns are of no concern because they couldn’t hurt you. And that’s not all. Invulnerability allows you to survive a house fire, severe hypothermia, and a giant tidal wave without so much as flinching.
Having Invulnerability means living a life without physical pain…and that’s pretty amazing.
3. Time Travel
Time Travel is so important in the realm of the greatest superpowers that we’ve actually made a list counting down the top time travellers.
Having the ability to time travel has fascinated our species for as long as we’ve imagined it. It’s been written about, studied, filmed, and attempted more times than I can count. Just think about “Back To The Future” and its many spin-offs.
None of the superheroes associated with time travel are as well-known as Cable. Cable is the offspring of Scott Summers and Madeline Pryor. As a time traveler, Cable travels back from his dystopian future to the present day to prevent a series of events that lead to his horrible future. Although the degree of his success is debatable, the fact that he has really great power is not.
As a product of the 1990s, Cable has more pouches and guns than any man should. In truth, he looks like a walking fanny pack.
2. Reality Warping
Very few knew or understood the power of
‘House of M’ saw Wanda Maximoff take the entirety of the Earth and create a new reality in which it lived in. In her reality, Mutants and not humans reigned supreme. By the end of the story, Wanda had lost control and reset the world. Unfortunately, it wasn’t without consequences. As a result of Wanda’s instability, the mutant population dropped from millions to just 198.
If it seems like reality warping is really dangerous, it’s because it is. That doesn’t, however, detract from how great a power it is.
1. Power Mimicry
At the end of the day, of all the great superpowers, none are as great as power mimicry. Unlike shapeshifting, which merely allows a person to copy the looks of another, power mimicry allows the person to copy whatever it is the other can do. It’s basically the power to end all powers.
Just look at Hope Summers.
Hope was the first born after the ‘House of M’ and was considered the savior of the mutant population. Because of this, she was protected at all costs by the remaining mutants, all the while being hunted by the non-mutants. Her power allowed her to be Cable in one minute and Wolverine in the next. Its flexibility forces me to put power mimicry as the number one of the greatest superpowers ever.
And that’s it. The greatest superpowers of all time. What do you think? What powers would make your greatest superpowers list?
