History PersonOfMassDestruction / ComicBooks

** Sersi of ComicBook/TheEternals rivals pre-retcon Jack, House of M Wanda, Thor, and the Hulk as the most powerful member the Avengers have ever had. During the CrisisCrossover story ''ComicBook/BloodTiesMarvelComics'' her fight with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s heir and fellow [=PoMD=] Exodus was so intense that the other Avengers made Sersi stand down lest the fight between them destroy the island nation of Genosha and everyone on it.

* Marvel's ''Comicbook/CivilWar2006'' was kicked off when Nitro, previously a C-List villain whose power was to "explode", detonated with the force of a low yield nuke. This levelled a small town and brought the attention and ire of the general public down on the heads of superheroes everywhere. (Amazingly enough, at no point in the ''Civil War'' storyline did anyone ever utter the line "It's all Nitro's fault", unless you count the ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} ''Civil War'' tie-in dedicated to him trying to hunt down Nitro. Which revealed that the reason Nitro was able to cause so much damage is that he was using "[[FantasticDrug Mutant Growth Hormone]]", the superpower equivalent to steroids.

* Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk is one of the earliest examples. Like Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, he was [[NuclearMutant created by a bomb]], and some adaptations literally compare him to the atomic weapon that spawned him; for example, the shockwaves he creates from smashing things are compared to the blast wave of a nuke. Later on this tendency was dropped, but the Hulk remained as one of these since [[GatheringSteam his power increases the angrier he gets]] and he doesn't seem to have an upper limit. He may already qualify during normal, building-demolishing rampages, but it's completely inarguable during moments like ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' when he gets so unfathomably enraged just walking caused ''measurable tectonic shifts'' with every step. They were calling him the Worldbreaker for a reason.

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'':

** In addition to them, she got a [[Franchise/GreenLantern Red Lantern Ring]] during the ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' story arc, becoming one of the most dangerous things in the ''universe''.

** In ''Comicbook/DemonSpawn'', villain sorceress Nightflame smashes a car, wrecks a street, and blows up and burns down several buildings in only two pages.

** At one point called the most powerful mutant on Earth, Exodus of Magneto's Acolytes certainly lives up to his claim of being Magneto's heir "in spirit and in power". As mentioned above, his fight with the Eternal Sersi in the ''Blood Ties'' crossover was so intense it threatened to destroy the entire island nation of Genosha, and later during the climax Exodus demonstrated he had the power to do that entirely on his own via encasing the island in a force field and then steadily compressing it. Due to being a KnightTemplar whose intentions are noble his power has not been showcased so heavily since then, but in the more recent 2012 story ''Lost Tribes'' it took two whole teams of X-Men to bring him down -- and he wasn't even fighting with all of his power!

* ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, a FlyingBrick who is able to channel solar radiation into energy blasts called starbolts. At one point during a fight, she told ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} to clear the field so that she could fly up and release an explosion so powerful it was comparable to a small ''supernova''.
** She's even used this ability to drain the power of a ''Kryptonian'', since their species derives power from yellow sun radiation. She's also received combat training from the Warlords of Okaara such that she can go toe-to-toe with the Amazons, and even Queen Hippolyta once said she could rival ComicBook/WonderWoman herself.

** Starfire's [[CainAndAbel evil sister]] Blackfire has also reached these levels. Luckily for the universe her last appearance in ''R.E.B.E.L.S.'' saw her reforming into ALighterShadeOfBlack thanks to the influence of her new lover, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Vril Dox]].

* ComicBook/BlackBolt of ComicBook/TheInhumans is a cosmic-level case of AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, as he is their king by virtue of having a voice so powerful that even just a small whisper from him can kill. A shout can awaken volcanoes and cause earthquakes on the ''other'' side of the planet. His birth cries devastated a city. He fears his own powers so much that he's taken a lifelong vow of silence... but when he declares war, he ''really declares "War."'' In the ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'' storyline he and the Inhumans go to war against the Shi'ar and their emperor Vulcan (aka [[spoiler:Gabriel Summers]]), who is also a Person Of Mass Destruction and AxeCrazy to boot. What happens when two of these forces collide? [[spoiler:Both are apparently dead by the end of the story.]] Although [[spoiler:Black Bolt later came back.]]

** The Avengers are worried that her son, [[ComicBook/YoungAvengers Wiccan]], who the Avengers might follow in her footsteps. The worst he's done is put a few baddies into temporary comas, but that was enough to make them uneasy. Of course, part of the reason they're uneasy about it is because he ''didn't mean to do it''. He took out twenty guys, all armed with guns and nukes, as a ''knee-jerk reaction'' to his boyfriend being in danger. He wasn't even aware of what he'd done until afterwards. And then it turns out that he's [[spoiler:the [[PhysicalGod Demiurge]], who, at his peak, is capable of stepping outside of the multiverse and rearranging it to his liking]]. On top of ''that''...

* ComicBook/BlackBolt of ComicBook/TheInhumans is a cosmic-level case of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as he is their king by virtue of having a voice so powerful that even just a small whisper from him can kill. A shout can awaken volcanoes and cause earthquakes on the ''other'' side of the planet. His birth cries devastated a city. He fears his own powers so much that he's taken a lifelong vow of silence... but when he declares war, he ''really declares "War."'' In the ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'' storyline he and the Inhumans go to war against the Shi'ar and their emperor Vulcan (aka [[spoiler:Gabriel Summers]]), who is also a Person Of Mass Destruction and AxeCrazy to boot. What happens when two of these forces collide? [[spoiler:Both are apparently dead by the end of the story.]] Although [[spoiler:Black Bolt later came back.]]

** Another surprising example from the X-Men comes in the form of ComicBook/JubileeMarvelComics, back when she still had her original powers. On the surface, her fireworks seem [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway kind of useless]], but then you remember she's generating ''plasma''. Emma Frost once stated that should Jubilee exercise her powers to their fullest potential, she could detonate matter at the ''sub-atomic'' level, making Jubilee a ''walking fusion bomb''. It was only Jubilee's own fear of hurting someone that lead her to hold back and not utilize them to their full extent.

* Marvel's ''Comicbook/CivilWar'' was kicked off when Nitro, previously a C-List villain whose power was to "explode", detonated with the force of a low yield nuke. This levelled a small town and brought the attention and ire of the general public down on the heads of superheroes everywhere. (Amazingly enough, at no point in the ''Civil War'' storyline did anyone ever utter the line "It's all Nitro's fault", unless you count the ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} ''Civil War'' tie-in dedicated to him trying to hunt down Nitro. Which revealed that the reason Nitro was able to cause so much damage is that he was using "[[FantasticDrug Mutant Growth Hormone]]", the superpower equivalent to steroids.

* [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} The Decepticons]] in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'' continuity have specialized soldiers called "Phase-Sixers", tasked with razing entire planets to the ground ''by themselves.'' Their ranks consist of Sixshot, Black Shadow, and Overlord. [[spoiler: At least until Overlord decided to go rogue.]]

* Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk is one of the earliest examples. Like Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, he was [[ILoveNuclearPower created by a bomb]], and some adaptations literally compare him to the atomic weapon that spawned him; for example, the shockwaves he creates from smashing things are compared to the blast wave of a nuke. Later on this tendency was dropped, but the Hulk remained as one of these since [[GatheringSteam his power increases the angrier he gets]] and he doesn't seem to have an upper limit. He may already qualify during normal, building-demolishing rampages, but it's completely inarguable during moments like ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' when he gets so unfathomably enraged just walking caused ''measurable tectonic shifts'' with every step. They were calling him the Worldbreaker for a reason.

* Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk is one of the earliest examples. Like Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, he was [[ILoveNuclearPower created by a bomb]], and some adaptations literally compare him to the atomic weapon that spawned him; for example, the shockwaves he creates from smashing things are compared to the blast wave of a nuke. Later on this tendency was dropped, but the Hulk remained as one of these since his power increases the angrier he gets and he doesn't seem to have an upper limit. He may already qualify during normal, building-demolishing rampages but it's completely inarguable during moments like ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' when he gets so unfathomably enraged just walking caused ''measurable tectonic shifts'' at every step. They were calling him the Worldbreaker for a reason.

* The Comicbook/IncredibleHulk is one of the earliest examples. Like Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, he was [[ILoveNuclearPower created by a bomb]], and some adaptations literally compare him to the atomic weapon that spawned him; for example, the shockwaves he creates from smashing things are compared to the blast wave of a nuke. Later on this tendency was dropped, but the Hulk remained as one of these since his power increases the angrier he gets and he doesn't seem to have an upper limit. He may already qualify during normal, building-demolishing rampages but it's completely inarguable during moments like ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'' when he gets so unfathomably enraged just walking caused ''measurable tectonic shifts'' at every step. They were calling him the Worldbreaker for a reason.

* In Marvel Comics' ComicBook/TheNewUniverse, Ken Connell, the Starbrand, discovers his POMD potential when he accidentally annihilates the city of Pittsburgh by trying to transfer the Starbrand to an inanimate object ten miles in the air over the city.

** Sersi of ComicBook/TheEternals rivals pre-retcon Jack, House of M Wanda, Thor, and the Hulk as the most powerful member the Avengers have ever had. During the CrisisCrossover story ''ComicBook/BloodTies'' her fight with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s heir and fellow [=PoMD=] Exodus was so intense that the other Avengers made Sersi stand down lest the fight between them destroy the island nation of Genosha and everyone on it.

** Even the ''less'' powerful Post-Crisis Superman has been shown to be capable of imparting an ''infinite'' amount of damage to an opponent and causing nuclear winter by falling from a sufficient height - ''and surviving''.

** At the end of ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', [[spoiler:Superman is one of the few survivors of an atomic bomb that takes out a good chunk of the DCU's superhero population. He then sets off towards the UN, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge fully aware that they're the ones who called in the strike on him]]. The UN's collective reaction: [[OhCrap "Oh,]] ''[[PrecisionFStrike fuck]]''."]]
** In ''Comicbook/WarWorld'', Superman and Supergirl face up to a star-sized satellite armed with weapons capable of blowing up entire solar systems. Kara breaks it down by colliding with it at incalculable speed, and Kal detonates it.
** ''Comicbook/KryptoniteNevermore'': In the last issue Superman sees a vision in where he and the Sandman Superman destroy the Earth during a fight. It freaks him out to the point he no longer wants to get his full power back.

** The Worldkillers from ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton'' are aliens genetically-engineered into becoming planet-killing biological weapons. Their leader Reign carves a path of destruction through New York City as tearing US troops apart until Supergirl gets in her way.

* [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} The Decepticons]] in ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW continuity have specialized soldiers called "Phase-Sixers", tasked with razing entire planets to the ground ''by themselves.'' Their ranks consist of Sixshot, Black Shadow, and Overlord. [[spoiler: At least until Overlord decided to go rogue.]]

* The concept is explored in many titles of the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe, which place a greater emphasis to the reactions of common people to the people with superpowers than in the main continuity. Captain America, the first man with super powers, was already considered as such back in WWII, as he could turn the tide of a battle by taking action in it. Roosevelt himself appears in ''ComicBook/UltimateOrigins'', mentions the recently created atomic bomb, and clearly states that they hold on the GodzillaThreshold as long as Cap can fight, because he's a less destructive option. The trope was deconstructed in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' 2, that mirrored the existence of super heroes with the real-world weapons of mass destruction (and note that it was written during the War on Terror). The US used their own superheroes to enforce the American interests and police international threats, Europe develops their own ones, and third world countries organize their own team to take the fight to the US itself. Even better, BothSidesHaveAPoint, the narrative itself does not take sides, and both a US conservative and an anti-imperialism leftwing can feel identified with some characters and their actions.
* Doctor Manhattan of ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' was turned from a mild-mannered nuclear physicist into a [[AGodAmI God-like immortal being]] thanks to a bizarre quantum-science accident. He can control, reshape and disintegrate atomic structure on a massive scale just by thinking about it. In the series' continuity he has tipped the balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union by his mere existence: In the event of World War III, he could theoretically destroy large areas of Soviet territory instantaneously, and intercept at least 60% of the missiles launched at the U.S. before they reached their targets. In other words, he is a walking nuclear deterrent. Only two months after he arrived in Vietnam, he had single-handedly turned the tide of the war, to the point where the Vietcong were expected to surrender within the week. There's a very good reason why he's in the trope's main page providing the image example after all.

** As clones of the above-mentioned Jean Grey and Cable, Madelyne Pryor and Stryfe have both hit these levels. As the Goblyn Queen Maddie came perilously close to turning New York City into a literal hell on Earth during ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}'', while Stryfe effortlessly thrashed ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} and later laid waste to much of his own lunar base fighting Cable during the ''X-Cutioner's Song''. Interestingly, the two characters have since gone in completely opposite directions since -- Maddie has arguably just gotten '''stronger''' over the years, despite no longer being the Goblyn Queen, while Stryfe's [=PoMD=] status has degenerated to the point of Apocalypse pronouncing him an unworthy successor after an extremely one-sided rematch - though 2019's X-Force run restored him somewhat when a teenage Stryfe proved a fair challenge for a fully grown Rachel Summers (though she eventually curbstomped him).

** Another surprising example from the X-Men comes in the form of ComicBook/{{Jubilee}}, back when she still had her original powers. On the surface, her fireworks seem [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway kind of useless]], but then you remember she's generating ''plasma''. Emma Frost once stated that should Jubilee exercise her powers to their fullest potential, she could detonate matter at the ''sub-atomic'' level, making Jubilee a ''walking fusion bomb''. It was only Jubilee's own fear of hurting someone that lead her to hold back and not utilize them to their full extent.

* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'': Viltrumites are an army of conquering {{Flying Brick}}s. While they'd need to personally tear people, tanks, buildings and other viltrumites apart with their bare hands one by one, they are fast enough it wouldn't take them long, and durable enough that only the latter has any chance of stopping one.

*** Nate is arguably even stronger, having been created by Sinister as a LivingWeapon to kill Apocalypse and was estimated as being as powerful as Jean was as the Dark Phoenix at the age of seventeen, later being stated as capable of going toe to toe with the Sentry by Norman Osborn. At his peak, his telekinesis was so strong that it was described as [[RealityWarper 'reality warping']], he lived in mortal fear of accidentally rewriting reality in his sleep (and once, flattened Quito, Ecuador, from most of three thousand miles away, in his sleep) and he wandered in and out of the time stream and up and down the multiverse at will. Once he got his powers back [[spoiler: thanks to the Life Seed, which also gave them a boost]] in 2018's ''X-Men Disassembled'', he casually imprisoned Apocalypse, kept Magneto on a psychic leash, and effortlessly dismantled an entire team of X-Men including Jean, Psylocke, Storm, and Iceman. He later crushed Legion in psychic combat in five seconds flat, [[spoiler: then [[GrandTheftMe stole his body]]]], and it took an all out psychic attack from Jean, Psylocke, the Stepford Sisters, Sage, and No-Girl, combined with a colossal lightning bolt from Storm, just to [[spoiler: separate the two and]] ''stun'' him. He then carried on a conversation with Jean inside his head while all of the above, Magneto, and more or less every other member of the X-Men, and Apocalypse, hammered away at him, and was holding them all off.

*** Basically, to avoid StoryBreakerPower, they each have a different version of HoldingBackThePhlebotinum. If Jean goes Phoenix she risks going Dark Phoenix. Cable's powers are constantly devoted to holding back his techno-organic affliction. X-Man's usually not in a sane enough mental state to wield them effectively. And ''all'' of the above are subject to overtaxing their powers and being unable to use them at that level again, or at all, for quite some time.
** As clones of the above-mentioned Jean Grey and Cable, Madelyne Pryor and Stryfe have both hit these levels. As the Goblyn Queen Maddie came perilously close to turning New York City into a literal hell on Earth during ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}'', while Stryfe effortlessly thrashed ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} and later laid waste to much of his own lunar base fighting Cable during the ''X-Cutioner's Song''. Interestingly, the two characters have since gone in completely opposite directions since -- Maddie has arguably just gotten '''stronger''' over the years, despite no longer being the Goblyn Queen, while Stryfe's [=PoMD=] status has degenerated to the point of Apocalypse pronouncing him an unworthy successor after an extremely one-sided rematch.

* ComicBook/BlackBolt of ComicBook/TheInhumans is a cosmic-level case of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, as he is their king by virtue of having a voice so powerful that even just a small whisper from him can kill. A shout can awaken volcanoes and cause earthquakes on the ''other'' side of the planet. His birth cries devastated a city. He fears his own powers so much that he's taken a lifelong vow of silence...but when he declares war, he ''really declares "War."''
** In the ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'' storyline he and the Inhumans do go to war against the Shi'ar and their emperor Vulcan (aka [[spoiler:Gabriel Summers]]), who is also a Person Of Mass Destruction and AxeCrazy to boot. What happens when two of these forces collide? [[spoiler:Both are apparently dead by the end of the story.]]
** As of recent issues, [[spoiler:Black Bolt has come back while Vulcan is still MIA.]]

* In the 2006 ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'' series, the scarab grafted onto Jaime Reyes's spine has an arsenal that includes everything from nukes to a BFG that has "potential theological implications." It's likely only by the virtue of Jaime being IncorruptiblePurePureness that the world isn't already a burnt cinder.

* As the inspiration for the much more well-known Dr. Manhattan, it should come as no surprise that ComicBook/CaptainAtom is one of these. He's an EnergyBeing like the good doc, but unlike Manhattan is prone to PowerIncontinence whenever he absorbs too much energy.

* As a [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent DC Comics pastiche]] of the Hulk mentioned directly below, Goraiko also counts as one of these. To further hammer this home he is of Japanese origin and even has an attack shaped like a mushroom cloud.

* Doctor Manhattan of ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' was turned from a mild-mannered nuclear physicist into a [[AGodAmI God-like immortal being]] thanks to a bizarre quantum-science accident. He can control, reshape and disintegrate atomic structure on a massive scale just by thinking about it. In the series' continuity he has tipped the balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union by his mere existence: In the event of World War III, he could theoretically destroy large areas of Soviet territory instantaneously, and intercept at least 60% of the missiles launched at the U.S. before they reached their targets. In other words, he is a walking nuclear deterrent. Only two months after he arrived in Vietnam, he had single-handedly turned the tide of the war, to the point where the Vietcong were expected to surrender within the week.

* Starfire from ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'', some people are even worried that she may be a radioactive hazard.[[spoiler: Made scarier when something designed to drain her powers fails to do so!]]
** She destroyed a group of tanks without even appearing to be winded and then casually asked Jason if there was anything else she could do for him.
** While she doesn't appear in ''Red Hood and the Outlaws'', Starfire's [[CainAndAbel evil sister]] Blackfire has also reached these levels. Luckily for the universe her last appearance in ''R.E.B.E.L.S.'' saw her reforming into ALighterShadeOfBlack thanks to the influence of her new lover, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Vril Dox]].

** Moldrock turns his homeworld Corona from a desert to a garden world, trap Duckburg under an impenetrable energy barrier, [[spoiler:single-handledly defeats the combined armies of Corona and destroys one artificial moon just because he can, using his black ray.]] His powers are so vast that [[spoiler: he is a key component of the massive "Ultima" space station, capable of opening a door to the Multiverse.]]
** The Rettificators appear to be in Xadhoom's league, as shown when three of them [[spoiler:took on an Evronian PlanetSpaceship, its escorts and an opposing fleet that was matching them]] and ''won with ease'', the only survivors being [[spoiler:the few dozen Evronians that survived their initial assault on the worldship and ''ran'' and a group of En'tomek that had boarded it before the Rettificators showed up]].

* The original 1940s ''All-Star Comics'' had a story where the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica started fighting in the war, logical issues aside. This was {{retcon}}ned to be [[AllJustADream a hallucination]] to which they were subjected when captured by psychic supervillain Brain Wave. GreenLantern was shown horrified at the destruction he had caused in order to defeat the Japanese, uttering the line "I have become death, destroyer of worlds," a quote known for its use by Robert Oppenheimer (originally quoted[[hottip:*: It's often said "incorrectly" since it doesn't appear exactly that way in any English translation; but it's a perfectly legitimate translation modulo a bit of poetic license. It doesn't appear in any published translation because he had been reading it in the original Sanskrit, and translated that passage on the fly.]] from the Bhagavad Gita) after the first deployment of the atom bomb.

* Doctor Manhattan of ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' was turned from a mild-mannered nuclear physicist into a [[AGodAmI God-like immortal being]] thanks to a bizarre quantum-science accident. He can control, reshape and disintegrate atomic structure on a massive scale just by thinking about it. In the series' continuity he has tipped the balance of power between the United States and the Soviet Union by his mere existence: In the event of World War III, he could theoretically destroy large areas of Soviet territory instantaneously, and intercept at least 60% of the missiles launched at the U.S. before they reached their targets. In other words, he is a walking nuclear deterrent. Only two months after he arrived in Vietnam, he had single-handedly turned the tide of the war, to the point where the North Vietnamese were expected to surrender within the week.

** Sersi of ComicBook/TheEternals rivals Jack and the Hulk as the most powerful member the Avengers have ever had. During the CrisisCrossover story ''ComicBook/BloodTies'' her fight with ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s heir and fellow [=PoMD=] Exodus was so intense that the other Avengers made Sersi stand down lest the fight between them destroy the island nation of Genosha and everyone on it.

** Monarch is effectively Captain Atom's SuperpoweredEvilSide, amped up by a factor of 50. When Superman-Prime ripped open his armor, it annihilated a ''universe''.