20 Strongest Kryptonians, Ranked from Least to Most Powerful
One of the things that we know about the universe of DC is that some of the strongest characters are Kryptonians because they become stronger when exposed to the yellow sun. In that regard, Kryptonians are capable of superhuman feats beyond what normal humans are capable of. Of course, we know that Superman is the most iconic out of all of the Kryptonians due to his status as one of the poster boys of the DC universe.
But while Superman may be one of the strongest Kryptonians we’ve seen in the DC storyline, there are many prominent Kryptonians known for some of the greatest feats in different DC storylines. So, with that said, let’s look at the strongest Kryptonians we’ve seen in the DC universe.
20. Bizarro
Bizarro is among the oddest and weirdest comic book characters ever due to his appearance, personality, and powers. The thing about Bizarro is that he is not a natural-born Kryptonian but was one that was cloned from Superman when the Joker temporarily acquired the incredible reality-altering powers of Mr. Mxyzptlk. In that regard, he was made to be the total opposite of Superman.
Because he is the opposite of Superman, he has powers that are the reverse of some of Superman’s powers, including his arctic vision and flame breath. But while Bizarro is often considered a villain, there have been moments wherein he was portrayed as an anti-hero trying to be a hero like Superman but simply has different ways of doing it. In that regard, he can be quite complex as a character.
19. Krypto
The only non-humanoid character on this list is Krypto, who was introduced quite early in 1955 as a trusted companion for Superman. He was called Superdog but was eventually given the name Krypto as he became the pet of the entire El family when Kal-El was still just a baby in Krypton. However, he became a test subject for the prototype rocket that was supposed to send Kal to Earth.
After Krypto’s rocket was knocked off its course, it landed on Earth, where he was exposed to our sun. As such, this dog acquired the same kind of enhanced physical abilities and powers that other Kryptonians are known to have. However, Krypto is slightly weaker and less intelligent than most other Kryptonians, even though they have similar powers. Nevertheless, Krypto is a loyal companion who has served Superman and his family well throughout his storyline.
18. Seyg-El
Seyg-El isn’t one of the most well-known Kryptonians in the storyline of DC, but he is still one of the stronger ones. He is actually Jor-El I in the Silver Age of comics, which means he is the patriarch of the entire El family, the same family that Superman belongs to. Seyg-El is the grandfather of Kal-El and is a genius scientist who helped improve Krypton’s technology. That means that he is an incredibly smart man, just like his son.
In the comics, Seyg-El was one of the leaders of the Kryptonian Council, which was the council that determined the different moves that the Kryptonians needed to make. As such, he is a well-known leader and a capable scientist that’s smarter than the average Kryptonian. And when exposed to the yellow sun, he can be a force to be reckoned with, just like the other members of the El family.
17. Chris Kent
Chris Kent is another Kryptonian who survived the destruction of their home planet. He is a young hero who finds himself in Metropolis after the journey from Krypton. When Clark and Lois found him, they asked the help of Bruce Wayne to create an identity for the child, and that was when the couple raised him in the ways of Earth’s customs.
In this alternate reality of DC, Chris became a superhero called Nightwing (not to be confused with Dick Grayson’s version), a name from one of the gods of Krypton. Even though he isn’t as strong as Superman, Chris gained additional abilities due to his time in the Phantom Zone, and that’s why he obtained the ability to move objects with his mind and developed resistance to Kryptonite.
16. Flamebird
Flamebird is another one of the DC characters that earned a Kryptonian version, just like the Nightwing above. In that regard, this version is a Kryptonian named Thara Ak-Var, who bonded with the mythical Flamebird entity and earned the powers of this creature. As such, she became a powerful character serving as Kandor’s chief of security.
Thara was first approached by a religious cult that believed she could be the reincarnation of Flamebird, another Kryptonian god. That was when she obtained the powers of Flamebird, as a ceremony allowed her to bond with this entity. As such, she is not only inherently strong but is capable of generating flames. Then again, she isn’t on the level of Superman in terms of her physical abilities.
15. Conner Kent
Conner Kent is one of the most prominent Kryptonians in the storyline of DC because he is the product of the genetic manipulation of Lex Luthor’s men to serve as a “replacement” for Superman after the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday. He shared the same genetics with Superman and Lex Luthor and was artificially aged to become a teenager. Of course, his personality is that of a teenager’s as well.
Known as Superboy due to his youthful appearance, Conner eventually became a superhero in his own right and worked with the Teen Titans. His powers are similar to Superman’s, but he isn’t as strong because he was only cloned from him. Nevertheless, he still has most of Superman’s powers, including his superhuman strength and durability.
14. Jonathan Kent
While we did say that Conner was created from Superman’s genes, we also know that Superman himself has a son that was produced naturally. We are talking about Jonathan Kent, the child he had in his marriage with Lois Lane. So, while Jon may be a hybrid of Kryptonian and human genetics, he is incredibly strong and capable of some of the things his father could do. However, he needed to learn how to control his abilities.
He may not be as strong as his father, but he is still getting there, especially because he was always meant to be the successor of Clark, who allowed him to carry the Superman mantle as well. As such, Jonathan Kent might have powers and abilities that are on par with or even better than the original Superman’s powers.
13. Faora
We know that General Zod (more on him later) had allies that shared the same kind of mindset and vision that he did. The most prominent of his Kryptonian allies was Faora, who was imprisoned with him in the Phantom Zone before the destruction of Krypton. As such, she, Zod, and the other militant general’s followers survived the destruction of their home planet.
Faora, due to her Kryptonian physiology, was able to obtain superhuman capabilities after she and Zod were released from the Phantom Zone. However, because she didn’t grow up on Earth, she needed to adjust to her powers rapidly, unlike Clark Kent, who spent years learning how to control his powers. Nevertheless, due to her natural instincts and training as a warrior, Faora became a force to be reckoned with.
12. Jor-El
We all know that Jor-El is Superman’s father and was responsible for sending him to Earth before the destruction of Krypton. He was introduced as a holographic recording contained within Clark’s ship. However, it was later revealed that this brilliant scientist survived his planet’s destruction, albeit psychologically damaged.
The fact that he is still Kryptonian means that he has the standard powers of any Kryptonian as long as he is exposed to the yellow sun. He doesn’t use his powers much and would rather try to manipulate the events happening on Earth as the mysterious Mister Oz, who is almost always in the background of the things happening on the planet.
11. Cyborg Superman
While one of the versions of Cyborg Superman isn’t really Kryptonian because he is simply the human named Hank Henshaw, there is another Cyborg Superman that’s Kryptonian in origin. We are talking about Zor-El, the father of Supergirl, who Brainiac reconfigured to become extremely powerful.
As such, Zor-El is stronger than the Hank Henshaw version of the character due to his Kryptonian physiology. However, Brainiac didn’t know that Kryptonians only grew stronger, so his modifications didn’t account for the growth in Zor-El’s strength, which is why he is weaker than most Kryptonians.
10. General Zod
General Zod is one of the first true villains that Superman faced in his entire life, and he is even the villain of the Superman 2 movie and The Man of Steel. Of course, there’s a good reason why General Zod is as fearsome as he is. And this is related to the fact that he is an extremely powerful and well-trained soldier with extreme ideals.
Zod grew up as a soldier in Krypton and eventually worked his way up to become a general with extremist ideals. It is the fact that he prefers to embrace the militant ideals of Krypton that got him imprisoned in the Phantom Zone. While he needed time to adjust to his newfound powers after he got out of the Phantom Zone, he was a natural warrior due to his training and extreme ideals. And it was the fact that he wanted to turn Earth into the next Krypton made him an extremely dangerous villain.
9. Van-Zee
Van-Zee is like other Kryptonians that survived the destruction of their planet. However, what happened to Van-Zee was that he was on Kandor during the destruction of Krypton, and this city was shrunken by Brainiac to be added to his collection of shrunken cities. In that regard, he and a few other Kryptonians survived the destruction of their planet. In his case, he went to Earth, where he met and fell in love with Lois Lane, who couldn’t love him back.
In that regard, Van-Zee married Sylvia DeWitt and became a superhero that protected the city of Kandor after he was inspired by Superman, who happens to be his cousin. As the protector of Kandor, Van-Zee carried the superhero name of Nightwing. He even assumed the identity of Superman when Kal-El couldn’t perform his duties.
8. Calvin Ellis
While a lot of the other Superman variants from other universes are different versions of Kal-El, Calvin Ellis is different because he is a Black American version of the character. Instead of living a simple life as a farm boy, Calvin Ellis pursued a career in politics and eventually became the president of the United States of America.
Even though he worked as the president of the USA, he continued his role as Superman. He has all of the standard powers and abilities of the Man of Steel, which means he could potentially be just as strong as Clark Kent. However, we haven’t seen enough feats from him to give him a higher spot on this list as one of the strongest Kryptonians.
7. Supergirl
Supergirl is Superman’s “older” cousin, as she was already a teenager when Kal-El was still just a baby. However, what happened was that the ship that was supposed to take her to Earth was steered off course, and it was due to this incident she was stuck in suspended animation for a long time. So, when she got to Earth, she was still as old as the day she left Krypton, all while Superman was already an adult and a prominent hero on Earth.
Like Superman, Supergirl has all of the standard Kryptonian abilities but lacks the control that her cousin has. That means she isn’t as good as Superman regarding how she uses her powers. However, she often does not hold back when using her powers, so she attacks with devastating effects that lack control and precision.
6. Power Girl
Power Girl is an alter ego of Kara Zor-El from another universe but found herself in the same universe at one point. She uses the Karen Starr name as her Earth name and the Power Girl superhero name to distinguish herself from her cousin. And she is stronger than the standard Supergirl.
Like Superman, Power Girl has all of the standard Kryptonian abilities. But because she seems more experienced and in control over her powers, she is arguably stronger than Supergirl. And the best part about her is that the Kryptonite from the regular DC universe doesn’t affect her at all, as the only Kryptonite that can affect her is the one from her universe.
5. Kal Kent
Kal Kent is a future version of Superman and is a distant descendant of his. That means he isn’t a pure Kryptonian but still has enough Kryptonian genes to be a powerful superhero. Of course, he has the same standard powers and abilities as most Kryptonians, especially regarding his superhuman physical attributes.
In the far future, Kal Kent is the leader of Justice Legion Alpha and has enough strength to equal the power of a dying star. In fact, at one point, he punched so hard that he punched through time. Even his teammates said that such a feat was impossible.
4. Superboy Prime
Superboy Prime is like Power Girl because he is a Kryptonian from another dimension. However, in Superboy Prime’s dimension, there are no superheroes, and that’s why he idolized Superman after reading some of his comics. After that, he eventually discovered that he had the same powers as Superman, and that was when he decided to become a superhero.
Superboy Prime helped in the battle against the Anti-Monitor during the collaborations between DC characters from different universes. After that, he returned during the Infinite Crisis storyline, where he took on the role of Superboy in the DC universe and then found a way to restore his universe. As such, two Superman variants needed to work together to put Superboy Prime down.
3. Doomsday
Doomsday is not your conventional Kryptonian but is still a being that comes from Krypton and is a product of Kryptonian technology. He was a monster genetically engineered from an ancient creature, so he is still Kryptonian. And the thing about this monster is that he is incredibly powerful, as he is one of the few characters that can boast that he was able to kill Superman.
Like most Kryptonians, Doomsday has superhuman strength, speed, and durability that allow him to match the power of any Kryptonian. He might even be stronger than some Kryptonians due to his nature as an unhinged monster. But what makes him stronger than most Kryptonians is that he returns to life after getting killed and becomes immune to whatever killed him.
2. H’El
While he may not be one of the most popular Kryptonians on this list, H’El is indeed one of the strongest Kryptonians of all time and might even be stronger than the standard form of Superman. There’s a good reason he is ranked higher than any other Kryptonians on this list, as H’El is simply a powerhouse that shouldn’t be taken lightly by any superhero in the DC universe.
H’El is a space explorer that Jor-El dispatched at one point in the past as he was supposed to be the one to carry the compendium of Krypton’s history and knowledge. However, he was steered off course, and it was because he could absorb different types of radiation that gave him incredible powers that surpassed Superman and Supergirl. In fact, at one point, Supergirl flew to him at full speed, but she bounced off of H’El due to how powerful he was. He even has psychic abilities that none of the other Kryptonians have.
1. Superman
When it comes to the strongest Kryptonians, Superman should be up on any list not only because he is the most iconic but also because he has feats that none of the other Kryptonians can match. He is the poster boy when it comes to the strongest DC characters, as he is the one who started the entire trend of superheroes having superhuman physical attributes and flight.
But what really makes Superman the strongest Kryptonian is that he has a lot of different variants that have proven stronger than any other version of the character. For example, All-Star Superman is far stronger than the regular version of the character. And we also have Superman One Million and Cosmic Armor Superman, who are both so strong that they are godlike beings already.
