High Evolutionary vs. Apocalypse: Who Is Stronger & Who Would Win?

The Marvel universe is home to many powerful characters, and in today’s post, we’re going to analyze two characters that are consistently known to wield extreme amounts of power. We’re talking about the High Evolutionary and Apocalypse, both of whom rely on “self-improvement” to attain more power and achieve their vision of what a godlike being is supposed to be. Both High Evolutionary and Apocalypse are known to be extremely durable and possess vast manipulative powers, but when it comes to a battle between the two, who is stronger, and who would win in a fight? 

High Evolutionary is more powerful than Apocalypse and would easily win in a fight against him. High Evolutionary’s powers vasty outclass those of Apocalypse, and he is generally considered to be more versatile between the two. Apocalypse might be physically stronger, but High Evolutionary frequently fought cosmic entities that are far more powerful than Apocalypse. The two fought in the comics and stalemated, but only because the story required it. 

Now that we’ve covered that High Evolutionary is more powerful, it’s time to analyze why. We’re going to analyze the powers, abilities, strength, and durability of both characters until you can see why we reached our conclusion. If you’re interested in the fight between two characters obsessed with Eugenics, stay with us and keep reading!

Powers and abilities

High Evolutionary started as a mortal man, a scientist under the name of Herbert Wyndham, and at the time, his only “superpower” was his incredible intelligence and his interest in genetics. Eventually, High Evolutionary “cracked the code” and managed to evolve himself to a point where he could be considered godlike powers. Nowadays, High Evolutionary is incredibly far from the original human that he started as, although it’s important to mention that not all of his evolutions were intentional or improvements. Besides evolving himself, High Evolutionary likewise developed an advanced technology that granted his body superhuman aspects, but alas, this will be analyzed later in the text. 

In terms of raw power output, High Evolutionary can project energy blasts and plasma beams with great destructive potential. He can manipulate his molecular structure and shift from incredibly large to more compact sizes. Once he evolved out of his physical form and became simply “structured data.” 

High Evolutionary has the powers of both creation and destruction, as he was frequently seen creating alternative worlds and alternative life forms. He also has telepathic and psionic abilities and rather strong protection against attacks of such nature. 

Apocalypse, real name En Sabah Nur, is known among the most powerful and oldest mutants in the Marvel Universe. Apocalypse is notable for manipulating his own molecular structure and granting himself powers, so to speak. As soon as he reaches some kind of obstacle, he is quite capable of “evolving” to increase his own powers.

Like High Evolutionary, Apocalypse is aided by technology; only his technology is of Celestial origin and is used to amplify his powers. There is yet another similarity between High Evolutionary and Apocalypse since Apocalypse is also a powerful telepath. He can use psionic manipulation to move objects with his mind, even levitate in the air if needed. He can manipulate people en masse and even has access to cyberpathy to a limited extent.  

Apocalypse is likewise a metamorph who can transform his body in various ways, including elongating and changing his body parts into machinery. He can also alter his appearance and use a wide range of weapons, both melee and ranged, all formed from his own body. 

When put side by side, it’s obvious that Apocalypse and High Evolutionary have similar abilities and are trying to achieve the same goals. However, High Evolutionary’s powers are greater, and he has far more impressive feats than the two.

High Evolutionary created his own planet and multiple species and truly achieved godhood. Apocalypse is incredibly powerful in his own right, but he barely manages to deal with X-Men. Due to this, the first point goes to High Evolutionary. 

Points: Apocalypse(0:1) High Evolutionary 

Strength and Stamina 

High Evolutionary, in his default form, can lift up to 200 lbs; however, he is frequently evolving himself, and the exact limits to his strength are not exactly known. Likewise, he can utilize his powerful telekinetic abilities to move objects, and his technology allows him to don an exoskeleton that grants him vast superhuman abilities, including superhuman strength. 

Apocalypse can lift well above 100 tons, as he is classed to be among the strongest characters in Marvel Comics. He can further increase his strength by adapting his abilities and utilizing Celestial technology. He was shown to be able to overpower Hulk and a younger version of Thor. 

In terms of physical strength, Apocalypse has better strength feats, and the point goes to him.

Points: Apocalypse(1:1) High Evolutionary 

Speed

By utilizing his technology, High Evolutionary is capable of reaching faster-than-light speeds. His advanced suit likewise grants him enhanced reflexes. He can also teleport if he needs to traverse cosmic distances quickly. 

Apocalypse is also very fast, being able to reach supersonic speeds. He can improve his combat reflexes, and with his adaptive abilities, he can further improve the aspects of his speeds that he lacks. Apocalypse has fast reflexes, and fast reaction times, which are the result of his long experience when it comes to fighting as well as the result of increasing his powers with the use of Celestial technology. 

Both High Evolutionary and Apocalypse have the potential to reach blinding speeds, and due to this, the point goes to both of them. 

Points: Apocalypse(2:2) High Evolutionary 

Durability

The High Evolutionary wears advanced armor with an Evolutionary Accelerator, allowing him to evolve as he chooses, and a Reconstitution Protocol containing a copy of his DNA that can rebuild him inside the suit even from severe damage. He has evolved beyond death and can endure extreme harm, with the ability to be rebuilt even after the complete destruction of his body.

He can be seen as immortal in some ways as he no longer depends on a physical body. High Evolutionary cannot be killed; this is all there is to be. No matter the amount of physical damage that is done to him, he can always evolve out of it or grow and replacement body. High Evolutionary is among the hardest characters to deal with in terms of immortality. 

Apocalypse has likewise managed to “evolve” above the physical vulnerabilities, and he is immortal in every sense of the word. This is partly due to his External biology and partly due to his Celestial technology. Apocalypse counts his lifespan in thousands of years, and as he is constantly adapting himself, he keeps getting more difficult to kill. His rapid healing factor allows him to recover from even the most devastating injuries.  

When the durability of both Apocalypse and High Evolutionary is taken into account, they are pretty much on the same level. High Evolutionary has a slight advantage since he evolved beyond the need for a physical body. 

Points: Apocalypse(2:3) High Evolutionary 

Intelligence

High Evolutionary is highly intelligent and has always been fascinated by evolution and genetics. Through several evolutions, he has enhanced his intellectual capacity and can now process information at an extraordinary pace. He has created powerful technologies, experimented with natural evolution, and even engineered new species, conducting tests on various planets. He went as far as to create his own world to conduct his experiments in peace there. 

Like High Evolutionary, Apocalypse is likewise a super genius that dabbles in evolution and genetics. Like High Evolutionary, Apocaplyse has unprecedented knowledge of certain technologies and can replicate certain evolutionary aspects perfectly, to improve himself. However, for some reason, Apocalypse doesn’t have intelligence feats as High Evolutionary does, so this point goes to Herber Wyndham. 

Points: Apocalypse(2:4) High Evolutionary 

Combat Skills 

High Evolutionary’s combat skills are…not so great. Due to his vast powers, intelligence, and technology, he never had to rely on fist fights and martial skills. 

Apocalypse also often relies on powers, technology, and his vast servants to settle his “lesser” conflicts, and his combat skills are nowhere near advanced as his powers. Still, in the comics, Apocalypse is considered to be an expert combatant and has millennia of experience fighting and surviving. 

Between the two, Apocalypse is a superior combatant. 

Points: Apocalypse(3:4) High Evolutionary 

Apocalypse vs. High Evolutionary: Who is more powerful, and who wins? 

At their core, Apocaplyse and High Evolutionary are similar characters and have similar powers and abilities. However, High Evolutionary is godlike in terms of his powers, while Apocalypse struggled when he engaged in conflicts with objectively weaker characters. High Evolutionary is more intelligent and more durable between the two, so I strongly believe he could take Apocalypse down in a fight.

The two fought in the comics before, and the fight wasn’t as interesting as you would believe it to be. The two stalemated, but only because the story required it. The results of that battle are generally not valid.