Top 10 Superheroes with Healing Factors (Marvel and DC)
There are very few superpowers as cool as a healing factor. I mean, to be able to instantly heal yourself from practically any injury is something that humans have been trying to do since day one. We’ve tried drugs, topical creams, natural remedies, and more. Yet nothing seems to speed up the process of what most of us want.
Healing factors are game-changers in battle, recovery, team construction, and longevity. They instantly sway the battle in the favor of the hero with it all the while allowing the hero to outlive and outlast any who oppose them. I think, however, that the most impressive thing about them is unlike super strength, comic book writers don’t give them to every hero they create. Nope. It takes a special hero to be given a healing factor. Who are they, you ask? Good question. Let’s take a look at our list of best superheroes with healing powers.
10. The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk is known for a lot of things…most of which is his uncontrollable anger. What isn’t widely known is that because of the Gamma Radiation he also heals at an accelerated rate.
The Hulk’s story is fairly well-known. While working for the military, Bruce Banner was conducting experimental work on a bomb; a Gamma Bomb. During the testing of the bomb, a friend walked right into the test area. Bruce, being noble, ran into and pushed his friend out of the way before the bomb went off. While he was able to push his friend out of the way, Bruce didn’t escape the explosion. As a result, he took the full brunt of the explosion and was bombarded with radiation.
The radiation changed him at the molecular level. This meant that when his adrenaline levels spiked (when he became angry), he changed into a giant green monster capable of incredible feats of power, speed, and strength……oh, and he gained the ability to rapidly heal.
9. Blade
Blade is a daywalker. In short, it means he’s a Vampire without all the Vampire drawbacks. He’s as strong, quick, and agile as one. He can sense other supernatural beings, is immune to vampire bites, has enhanced senses, and ages more slowly than others…and is one of my superheroes with healing factors.
Blade (Eric Brooks) became a daywalker after his birth mother had her blood sucked out by a doctor during childbirth. This event scarred Eric and is the primary cause of his hatred of vampires. Later in life and when just 9 years old, he saved a man from not one, but three simultaneous vampire attacks.
Blade has appeared in several live-action films and numerous video games. He’s most famously portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the Blade Trilogy films of the late 1990s and early 2000s. By the mid-2020s, he will have joined the MCU and will have been played by Mahershala Ali.
8. Elixir
Elixir isn’t just one of the few superheroes with healing factors. He’s also one of the few who are practically impossible to kill.
Elixir has the ability to control the biological structure of any organic matter. This includes himself. As such, he’s able to heal himself and any within his proximity to the point before the injury. His power is so strong that he’s able to affect multiple thousands at once. This, however, comes at a cost. If he over-exerts himself, he often ends up in a coma while regaining his energy. Because his power is so strong, he, like Storm and Iceman, is an Omega-Level mutant.
Elixir has pushed the boundaries of what is and isn’t acceptable. There was a time when he proved that he could bring people back from the dead. Although he doesn’t do this too often, it goes a long way in showing just how powerful he really is.
7. X-23
As the daughter of Wolverine, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that X-23 is on this list of superheroes with healing factors.
X-23 (Laura Kinney) was created to be the perfect killing machine. She was programmed to react and respond to environmental triggers. When the triggers occurred, she fell into an uncontrollable rage. The result of her rage was almost always death and dismemberment.
Although Laura started off as a mechanism for death, over time she has evolved into one of the most important X-Men in the last 20 years. Not only has she become an integral part of the team, but she has also, for a time, taken on the mantle of Wolverine.
6. The Flash
The Flash is one of the oldest superheroes in existence. He (Barry Allen) first debuted in Showcase #4 in October of 1956. As the most famous of all the Speedsters in DC Comics, Barry Allen has assembled a following of fans that rivals that of the yet-to-be-named original Justice League members. Remarkably, Barry’s popularity remained extremely high even after he died during Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Barry received his powers while working in his lab late one night. On that night, a lightning bolt struck down and hit Barry. The charge sent Barry backward into a pile of chemicals. The two (lightning and chemicals) triggered a change in Barry. Even though the change was initially unapparent, eventually he realized that the accident had given him Super Speed. In addition, Barry was now able to visualize the world around him in slow motion. This meant that he was able to react to things within less than a second of them happening.
What I’m saying is The Flash does everything quickly. He runs quickly, reads quickly, learns quickly, fights quickly, and even heals quickly.
5. Superman
Is there anything that I could tell you about Superman that you don’t already know? I’d be willing to bet that there isn’t but I’ll try anyway.
Superman is one of the most instantly recognizable superheroes in the world. His name has inspired adults to do better, children to want more, and everyone in between to treat those around them as they’d want to be treated.
Superman is one of the original Justice League members and almost single handily laid the foundation of what it meant to be one for future members. He’s the light in the dark, the hope when there is none, and the reason that superhero comics survived when nobody was interested in them. The team was built around him and will always be built around him because, well, he epitomizes what it stands for.
As far as powers go, Superman wrote the book on them. He can do anything that you can think of. This, of course, includes the ability to heal.
4. Supergirl
As the cousin of Superman, Supergirl can do everything that he can. Supergirl has an extensive list of powers. She possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina, hearing, and agility. She also has infrared, telescopic, x-ray, heat, microscopic, and electromagnetic vision. In addition, she is nearly invulnerable, can fly, has a healing factor, and possesses both freeze and wind breath.
But there’s more…Supergirl is nearly fast as any in DC, is an expert combatant, heals quicker than most, and isn’t afraid to die for the greater good. She is everything that superheroes aspire to be. Because her ability to heal is the icing on the cake of superpowers, she easily makes this superheroes with healing factors list.
3. Wonder Woman
There isn’t a superhero on this list who has endured more than Wonder Woman. Not only did she survive in an era where masculinity ruled superhero comics, but she has also survived overly sexualized situations, survived a fan vote to get onto the Justice Society, thrived in the equality and feminist movements, and helped create a platform where women superheroes were rightfully as capable as male superheroes.
Wonder Woman is the reason that female superheroes have come as far as they have and the world is better for it. She is independent, strong, a voice for the voiceless, smart, and unafraid to do what’s right. These are but a few of the reasons that so many comic book fans of both sexes grow up idolizing her.
But this is only a small part of the reason that she’s one of the most important heroes in history. She was created in a time when male heroes were heads above their female counterparts. Getting her to be as powerful, or in some instances more powerful, than her male counterparts is extraordinary.
2. Deadpool
There are two superheroes with healing factors that are more known than the rest. The first is Deadpool. The second is, well, we will get to him.
Deadpool is one of the most known comic book characters in existence. What makes this so remarkable is that, unlike his many counterparts, he hasn’t been around for 50+ years. Instead, he’s only been around for about 30 years.
Deadpool is the creation of the much-maligned Rob Liefeld. As a mutant, he is blessed with many heightened powers and abilities. Aside from the aforementioned healing factor, Deadpool also possesses heightened strength, reflexes, agility, durability, and stamina.
1. Wolverine
The second of the most well-known superheroes with healing factors is, of course, Wolverine.
Wolverine is to superheroes with healing factors what McDonald’s is to powder milkshakes…necessary. While he may not be the first superhero to have one, he’s easily the most famous to have one. His healing factor has allowed him to survive unimaginable injuries. For example, he’s been driven over by a steamroller, had the Adamantium ripped from his bones, lived through a nuclear blast, and had his heart torn out.
Yes, the things that he has survived may be a little ridiculous. This, however, is what makes him who he is. Without his ability to heal, Wolverine isn’t much more than a mutant who can smell really well.
