Super Strength / The DCU

The DCU

Comic Books

Comic Books

• This is one of the main powers of all Kryptonians. Pre-Crisis it was due to having super-dense bodies^note Red sunlight could still make them vulnerable, though, Post-Crisis it was powered by yellow solar energy. The exact limits of Kryptonian strength are unknown, but they are capable of lifting far in excess of 100 tons. Different periods and intensities of exposure to Earth's solar radiation can cause their strength to fluctuate over time. Kryptonians' known feats include lifting an enormous pyramid and flying it to Mars without any strain and having the strength necessary to shatter small planets. Unhealthy levels of high exposure to specific radiation can exceed Kryptonians' "normal" strength level. The major examples:
  • Superman:
    • Superman is the standard comic-book example, as well as one of the most over-the-top due to Power Creep, Power Seep. During the Silver Age, his strength was god-like, such as moving planets around as if they were light furniture; in one story, tugged an entire galaxy of planets to the other side of the universe without breaking a sweat◊.
    • In All-Star Superman after submerging himself in the sun, Supes can push 200 quintillion tons one handed during testing◊, but this newfound power comes at terrible cost as Supes absorbed too much solar radiation and his cells are dying. In the end Clark doesn't die but has to live inside the Earth's sun.
    • In Krypton No More, Superman demonstrates his tremendous strength when he lifts a super-tanker, intending to throw it into orbit.
    • In the first issue of Kryptonite Nevermore, Superman rips off the roof of a plane to arrest several thugs.
    • Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man: Superman is strong enough to drive a Humongous Mecha into the ground. When he is about to hit Spidey during their mandatory fight, he manages to pull his punch, but the wind-blast strikes Peter "with the strength of a compact hurricane".
    • In War World Superman punches The Spectre with his full force. The blow's force shakes the surrounding terrain (but it does nothing to The Spectre).
    • In Superman (Volume 3) #13, Superman bench presses 5.972 sextillion tons◊ (the weight of the Earth) for five days in a row and was only out of breath.
      Clark: That's... it? That's all... you've... got?
      Doctor Veritas: Um... yeah. Pretty much. Sorry.
  • Depending on the version, Supergirl is just as strong or slightly stronger than her cousin Superman.
    • In the Red Daughter of Krypton storyline both cousins have a short fight. At one point Supergirl picks up an ocean liner easily and swats her cousin with it◊, just to clarify (if it wasn’t obvious already) how massively strong Kryptonians are.
    • In Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl, Kara has several chances to show off her tremendous Kryptonian strength: lifting cars, crushing bombs, ripping heavy vault doors off their hinges…
    • In one of the first scenes of Supergirl: Being Super, Kara lifts a tractor with one hand.
    • In Demon Spawn Linda argues with bully and rival 'Nasty'. Afterwards she punches a wall out of anger and frustration. She accidentally cracks the wall and moves a cabinet to cover up the hole. Meanwhile, her co-workers wonder whether a plane crashed into the building, her punch resounds so loud.
    • In The Supergirl From Krypton (1959), Linda tests her strength by bending the iron leg of her cot straight.
      Supergirl: That proves I have super-strength too, just like my cousin Superman!
    • In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004), Kara wanders around the streets of Gotham City after leaving her rocket, and she bumps into three co-workers. One of them accosts her, and Kara crushes his hand. The second tries to threaten her with a hook, and Kara slams him into several boxes and bends the steel hook with her bare hands.
    • In Gotham City Garage, Kara Gordon discovers her inhuman strength when she lifts a huge truck with one hand.
    • In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade Linda accidentally breaks things -such like desks or walls- before learning how to control her inhuman strength.
    • Bizarro and Bizarrogirl are just so strong. During her eponymous storyline, Bizarrogirl punches Supergirl so hard than Kara flies through the ceiling of a sewer and crashes into a building's wall which explodes upon impact.
  • Power Girl is Supergirl's alternate universe self, and she is, in Dick Grayson's words, "equal in strength and power to Supergirl". She's been seen stopping the fall of a spaceship as large as Manhattan◊.
  • Superboy, originally started out using tactile telekinesis to imitate super strength, but eventually he developed strength comparable to his originator. He's able to cause earthquakes with his punches◊, beat up Kingdom Come Superman◊ and according 851st century legend kicked Doomsday into orbit◊.
    • New 52 Superboy isn’t quite as strong being able to lift about three tons during testing◊ though he can still hold a T-Rex's jaws open and one punch a Hammerhead Shark man. Perfectly understandable since this Superboy prefers using tactile telekinesis over raw physical strength.
    • Jonathan Samuel Kent, Supes’s son is naturally a Super-Strong Child able to snap a huge tree in half, stop a motorbike, catch a falling car, rip androids apart, smash a steel door open and can even stop a train. Oh and that’s just the kid's baseline strength; when Manchester Black removed his inhibitors he could stagger his father Superman.
    • But we can't talk about Superboys without at least mentioning the infamous Superboy-Prime who has utterly◊ ridiculous◊ strength◊ greater than pretty everyone else. At one point he even breaks reality◊ with his◊ punches◊.
  • Zod, H'el, The Eradicator and Ultraman being evil Kryptonians are easily as strong as Supes and co. H'el could smash Clark into the ground◊ (after having just beaten Supergirl) and even knock him into orbit◊. Zod is even more ridiculous since he can not only match Superman◊ but also overpower◊ Martian Manhunter◊ and punch Mongul into orbit. Eradicator who was already very strong◊ in DC Rebirth is shown to able lift a piece of the Fortress of Solitude and match Superman in strength. Ultraman has equaled◊ his Good Counterpart multiple times, trounced Black Adam◊ and lifted a multiverse in a book◊.
  • Other villains such as Post-Crisis Brainiac, Mongul◊, Atlas◊, Wraith◊, Rogol Zaar, and especially Darkseid are also often portrayed as being able to surpass Superman's strength, though Superman is generally faster and more maneuverable than them, balancing things out.
• Most New Gods could give Kryptonians a run for their money, Big Barda in particular can one punch a dragon◊, rip a massive rockmass out of the ground◊ and even toss Superman around.
• Green Lanterns and in general all Lanterns (of any color) have enhanced strength thanks to their rings and mental constructs, and with the power of numbers Lantern wielders even can incapacitate Kryptonians or even gods. Kyle Rayner could hold up a burning building◊ and Kilwog could lift up an aircraft carrier◊. Hal Jordan in particular can punch out Lobo◊, help Superman pull the Earth◊, rip off Guy Gardner's arm◊, broke Black Lantern Spectre's jaw◊ and once punched Arch-Enemy Sinestro so hard he broke reality. However subverted with the Lanterns on two regards, 1) an opponent with greater strength can destroy the Lantern constructs and overpower the wielder e.g Superman◊, and 2) it's actually more beneficial being an alien who already has enhanced strength to adequate the Lantern's power better.
• Captain Marvel has this in spades due to having the Strength of Hercules, which is often further augmented by the Power of Zeus. Cap was one of the earliest superstrong heroes alongside Superman during the Golden Age and it's generally agreed that it was the rivalry between Superman and Captain Marvel that caused them to become so powerful over time. When Superman started out, he could lift a car over his head and rip steel doors off their hinges. By his third appearance, Captain Marvel was lifting over 200 tons worth of weight in either hand. They kept outdoing each other in this way until both were capable of affecting planetary bodies through sheer brute strength. When working together both Supes and Marvel could a multiverse inside a book◊.
  • Shazam's Arch-Enemy Black Adam is very, very strong as while Shazam above might have the power of the Greek Gods, Black Adam has the power of six Egyptian gods Shu, Heru, Amon, Zehuti, Aton and Mehen. Adam's punches land with the volume of canon blasts and impact of a small bomb according to Superman, Black Adam can also throw aircraft carriers◊, take out Powergirl◊ with a Shockwave Clap and even flew through The Spectre◊.
• Doomsday is generally depicted as being even stronger than Superman. This varies from being nearly equal, to marginally◊, to outright dwarfing him in physical strength to the point of (temporarily) killing him. Doomsday’s other feats include ripping Plastic Man apart◊, overpowering Wonder Woman◊ (breaking both her arms) and even gave Darkseid some trouble one time◊.
• Solomon Grundy like Doomsday has strength which can fluctuate Depending on the Writer or incarnation of the character. Sometimes like in his early comics Grundy is a badass who gives a pounding to the entire JLA and can even knock Superman around in old◊ comics and modern◊ ones. This gets very annoying when comics depict distinctly non-superhuman Batman being able to soundly◊ defeat◊ Grundy, despite the fact Solomon Grundy can lift cars◊ (something Batman can't do), effortlessly overpower Killer Croc (one of the strongest of Batman's Rogues Gallery) and beat up the aforementioned Superman multiple times (which Batman needs Powered Armor and gadgets to do). DC's flimsy justification is that every time Grundy dies and is reborn in the Slaughter Swamp he may get stronger, weaker or even gain intelligence depending on the mood.
• Shaggy Man is easily one of the strongest brutes in DC and predates Doomsday by several decades. He's strong enough to clobber Superman◊, Aquaman and wrestle with Martain Manhunter. Although he's decayed a bit in recent comics with Wonder Woman decisively overpowering him◊ in DC Rebirth.
• Teen Titans:
  • Starfire being a Tamaranean has incredible strength, she’s able to hold up buildings◊ and lift cruise ships likely weighing in 200+ tons.
  • Beast Boy thanks to his Animorphism has impressive strength particularly in his Bear form, Gorilla form (which he once one shot Cyborg with◊), Elephant◊ (which he once floored Superman with) from, T-Rex and "Monkey King◊" forms.
  • Cyborg while he gets overshadowed all the time is still very strong being able stop a speeding subway train◊, slam The Brute Mammoth into the ground◊ and even draw blood from Shazam◊.
  • Cody Driscoll aka Risk is probably the primary Teen Titan who encompasses this. Due to his physiology as a Human-H'San Natall hybrid, one of the powers that Cody gains is the ability to move forces way beyond a normal human (although technically, this is Super Invulnerability).
• Martian Manhunter; even Superman explicitly names him as one person he wouldn't want to tangle with. Perfectly understandable as MM has been strong enough to draw blood from Supes since early comics and has overpowered Clark multiple times. Martian Manhunter has also lifted a glacier the size of an island, wrecked Black Adam◊ and even lifted Brainiac's mothership (which is bigger than Earth) alongside Clark.
  • Ms. Martian being a white Martian in the disguise of a green one is incredibly strong, strong enough to stop trains and put the hurt on Supergirl◊, though she's notably far◊ stronger◊ in her natural white form.
• Aquaman. Thanks to his Atlantean Physiology his adaption to underwater living making him very strong on land and under the sea, Aquaman is strong enough to lift 16,0000 ton submarines◊ and several cruise ships. Or if he really pushes himself, Aquaman can move a tectonic plate◊ (that's 44 quintillion metric tons BTW).
  • Atlanteans in general are far stronger than normal humans, but Aquaman is super strong even by Atlantean standards due to either being a human/Atlantean hybrid or being royalty.
• The Flash of course is best known for his Super-Speed which gives him ability to pull off a Infinite Mass Punch and take out Superman-level opponents, but in Issue 45# of his DC Rebirth series Barry Allen temporarily gets genuine Super-Strength when he accidentally taps into the "Strength Force" (seriously). In addition to a Hulk-like body Barry could punch the ground so hard he broke it and send everybody flying at which Barry looks down at his fist shocked understanding how Superman feels everyday. It also turns out the Strength Force is based around gravity, density and mass shifting as it comes from the earth itself while the Speed Force comes (or more correctly strikes) from the sky.
• Wonder Woman:
  • Golden Age: Diana is explicitly "stronger than Hercules", is able to beat Mars without too much trouble every time they fight, casually pulls a sinking submarine out of the ocean to carry it wrapped in her lasso while riding on a plane wing and in general never seems to find anything her strength struggles with besides her own unbreakable lasso.
  • Post-Crisis: Diana was explicitly granted strength even greater than that of a usual Amazon by the goddess Demeter. Diana is literally as strong as the Earth because of the link to the planet granted to her by Demeter, even as little a girl she could lift a temple◊. Diana has overpower Hercules and is “nearly as strong” as a Kryptonian, and even with that said she's still manged to knock Superman around like a rag doll◊... it also helps that she's actually Semi-Divine thanks to a Retcon. Some of Diana's greatest strength feats include pulling Martian Manhunter out of a Black Hole◊ (which even light cannot escape from), moving the earth alongside Superman and Martian Manhuter◊ which means she can move over 6.6 quintillion tons, defeating Supergirl◊ and most impressively along with Superman she managed to lift◊ The Spectre who weighs as much as eternity.
  • The demigod Cassie Sandsmark aka Wonder Girl has strength similar or about equal to Diana being able to catch a jet and even beat up Superboy◊.
  • Donna Troy, Diana's adopted sister/clone/sidekick is strong enough lift humongous boulders◊ and even overpowered and almost destroyed a Superman robot◊... before he cheated and used Eye Beams to kill her.
  • Artemis, while her tribe Bana-Mighdall has waning strength after splitting from Hera, has kept her might. Post-Crisis she could kick Diana around◊, and in Red Hood and the Outlaws she breaks through several high-tec vault doors, swings◊ and throws a massive battleaxe around like it's a stick and even staggers Solomon Grundy◊ and Bizzaro with her kicks.
• Damage, a DC Hulk expy recently introduced in DC Rebirth gives even Grundy and Doomsday a run for their money. He's strong to chuck cars out of his way◊, make a shockwave by punching the ground, overwhelms Grundy twice◊ and sends Wonder Woman flying a mile away◊ repeatedly and even matches◊ Superman in strength◊.
• Etrigan being a Demon has supernatural physiology therefore greater strength, he's knocked around and drawn blood from DC's heaviest hitters such as Lobo◊ (see below) and has even once knocked Superman into orbit◊.
• Swamp Thing while a Gentle Giant at the best of times is still ridiculously strong. He's overpowered the aforementioned Etrigan with one punch◊ as well as Wonder Woman◊ in the New 52. Pre-Crisis he could put Superman in a full nelson◊ and in DC Rebirth he matches◊ Supes in a epic Cross Counter that staggers them both. Also being Humanoid Abomination, he once held up the entire castle of Camelot with his plants whilst absorbing himself into the ground.
• While Batman and Lex Luthor don't belong on this page usually, despite their Charles Atlas Super Power or Super Serum antics, whenever they get into Powered Armor however... they get outright super strength:
  • Batman has many powered batsuits that give him enhanced strength, the most famous being the Exo-suit he used to beat the crap out of Superman◊ in The Dark Knight Returns, in the animated adaption the Exo-suit gives Bruce the strength to kick girders around, swing a wrecking ball and use drums of a roadroller as bludgeoning tools. In Batman: Endgame Bruce has the Justice Buster suit which can knock around Wonder Woman◊ and while Superman is still stronger, the microscopic Red Sun cells infused in the gauntlet evens out the playing field. Still the Justice Buster is just a fancy tin can compared to the ridiculously badass Hellbat suit created for Batman by the JL to use in only the most dire of circumstances which Bruce uses to go One-Man Army on Apokolips to get his son's corpse, in the suit Batman is strong enough to Neck Lift a Parademon◊ and literally brawl with Darkseid◊. Of course it's still Awesome, but Impractical since Bruce risks the suit killing him if he wears it for too long.
    • Lois Lane! Once piloted the Hellbat◊ to protect her son Jonathan from Eradicator (who has the same powers as Superman), Lois in the suit was strong enough to slam the Kryptonian into the ground.
  • Lex Luthor always envious of Superman's strength, has taken a kryptonite steroid to increase his strength and durability but it's his Warsuit (which was created in Apokolips) that's strong to enough to beat the shit out of Superman, Supergirl◊ and Neck Snap Brainiac◊. True a lot of the time Lex exploits the Kryptonite Factor to weaken Supes and co, but just drawing blood from them despite their Nigh-Invulnerability is a testament to his Gadgeteer Genius. Lex's latest suit is even tough enough to punch around Doomsday. Lex has also taken the Everyman formula in the "New World Order" arc which explicitly gives him the strength and powers of Superman, though thanks to Steel (Natasha Irons) he was soon depowered (much to Lex's fury).
    • More recently Lex thanks to becoming a Human-Martian Hybrid, has knocked MM around, then when he goes One-Winged Angel Lex was even able to equal Superman in a fist fight and destroy most of the city around them.
• Zigzagged with many of Batman's Rogues Gallery e.g Killer Croc, Clayface etc as they often have enhanced strength, but never too strong that someone with Charles Atlas Superpower can't take them down. Played (mostly) straight with Bane as when he takes the Super Serum (or Psycho Serum) "Venom" Bane's feats tend to overlap with this trope, more often than not. Bane has been shown able to lift boulders◊, punch through steel◊ and even broke the inhuman Killer Croc's arm◊. Though Bane is most remembered for breaking Batman's spine like a darkly dressed twig, but that's less of a feat of strength but more ingenuity as Bane actually withered Batman down with exhaustion by causing a prison break at Arkham before attacking Batman directly. In The Batman, Bane was even shown to be able to pick up and lift a 27 ton armored police car, which may count as Adaptational Badass since such feats are above comic Bane's ability and regular Batman can bring Bane down with "normal" peak human strength. In the cartoon on the other hand Batman understandably needed Powered Armor to stand a chance.
  • Jason Todd aka Red Hood who's already stronger than any non-powered vigilante should be, once took Venom himself and was strong enough to break out of an alien's Combat Tentacles and slam him into the ground hard enough break it◊. Jason could even break out of Supergirl's grip◊ and hold up a collapsing roof◊.
• Originally downplayed with Deathstroke despite the Super Serum, Slade only gained the peak human strength which meant he had focus on being The Strategist when fighting the genuine superhuman members of the Teen Titans and JLA. However in New 52 and Rebirth Deathstroke's strength is more explicit thanks to his Nth Metal Armor he can rip off a plane's door◊, use a BFS and once swung around a slab of concrete as a weapon when fighting Batman. Even when not armored Deathstroke at one point kicked dumpster so hard it indented and crushed a man into a wall.
• While most DC examples have justifications for their insane super strength: Technology, Magic and Powers, being Semi-Divine, Bizarre Alien Biology etc Lobo on the other hand is just plain crazy. Lobo can inexplicably manhandle Superman◊ just because "he dukes it out like a mad dog" another time Lobo pulled down Solaris who has stellar mass without leverage◊ and justifed it by saying "he doesn't do logic"◊. Once Lobo rolled an entire city (trillion tons of steel) into a ball and ate it◊.
• The electrical charge that animated Brother Power the Geek also granted him tremendous strength.
• Mother Panic has this, according to preview material from Young Animal. The extent of it, as well as their source, has yet to be revealed.

Films

Films

• The Adventures of Captain Marvel film serial of 1941 showcases one of the earliest film examples (which makes sense, given its the first superhero film of all time) with the titular Captain Marvel. Throughout the 12 episode serial, the Captain lifts enormous stone columns, large fallen trees, elevator cars, and other feats of strength, to the point where he ends some of his fist fights with criminals by casually slapping them.
• DC Extended Universe:
  • The most prominent example are the Kryptonians and namely Clark Kent aka Superman and just like in the comics Supes's strength fluctuates wildly in the films leading a great amount Power Creep, Power Seep. In Man of Steel Clark is very strong being able to lift a school bus out of a lake as a teen and hold up a oil rig as an adult (though he definitely struggled with the latter). Once Supes fully realizes his powers he's much more effective with his strength able to smash straight through buildings and make Kung-Fu Sonic Boom with his fists, however interestingly other Kryptonians such as Faora, Nam-ek and Zod can easily match Clark in strength giving him a harder time throughout the movie. Though Superman is still a good deal stronger them (likely due to being exposed to Earth's sun for longer) as he could Neck Snap Zod despite the latter's Nigh-Invulnerability. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Clark's strength is more erratic as he can an ocean liner through ice, but another time when Superman lifts a piece of a space shuttle (approximately 165000 pounds-75000 kg) it forces him down onto one knee◊ though it can be argued Superman is likely being careful as to not hurt the astronauts inside. In the Final Battle Clark is again matched, this time by Doomsday who mostly overpowers him, requiring Wonder Woman to help him out in the fight. In Justice League (2017 theatrical cut only) all bets are off and Supes is much stronger than he was presented as in the previous films, Superman is now able to effortlessly carry a huge building (that's likely much heavier than the oil rig and definitely heavier than the shuttle) and in his resurrection scene (featured more prominently in Zack Snyder's Justice League) Supes easily overpowers Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg despite Wonder and Aquaman specifically being actually closer in strength to him in the comics.
  • Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman is very strong, near the start of her solo movie when she doesn't know her strength Diana accidentally smashes through stone with her bare hands when climbing a tower. In the battle at the Western Front, Diana tosses◊ a 7.75 tonne Ehrhardt E-V/4 (German armored car) several meters and in Final Battle when she learns she's Semi-Divine she breaks free of the iron girders Ares put around her and lifts a much heaver 28-ton tank◊, albeit with visible effort. In Justice League she's strong enough to knock Steppenwolf around and cut into his Super-Toughness with her Cool Sword, though she needed to combine her strength with Aquaman's to overpower Steppenwolf in a tug-of-war, showing she's still several steps below the top tiers. Meanwhile she's little more than an annoying fly to Superman, who no-sells her offense and incapacitates her with a single headbutt.. In Zack Snyder's Justice League she’s a good deal stronger as Diana deals the finishing blow to Steppenwolf chopping off his head.
  • Arthur Curry aka Aquaman due to being a Half-Human Hybrid has Atlantean strength meaning his body and physical capabilities are far greater than any normal human, he's shown able lift a submarine (likely over 48,000 tons, though he was using hydrokinesis here and he's much stronger in the water than on land) from the ocean. Aquaman also has shown to able to smash extremely durable materials like NSA drone, Blank Manta's Powered Armour and even send Steppenwolf flying with his mother’s trident. In Zack Snyders Justice League Arthur in the climax is strong enough to impale a battered Steppenwolf through the chest from behind and actually lift him up with the trident.
  • Billy Baston aka Shazam is shown to be strong enough to punch through a concrete pillar◊ and catch a bus later in the movie. However, Billy is matched◊ in strength by Dr. Sivana (who is given an Adaptational Badass from the comics). The rest of the kids get super strength when Billy shares the power of Shazam, Pedro in particular stops a Ferris wheel (220 tons at the very least) from falling.
  • Technology can drastically boost strength in the DCEU, see Batman's Powered Armour which helped him fight (a kryptonite-poisoned) Superman and Cyborg whose tech gave him to strength to knock back a Humvee and even help Superman pry apart 3 Mother Boxes.

Video Games

Video Games

• Strangely averted by DC Universe Online, where strength (super or otherwise) only affects what you can lift. There's no full super-strength powerset, despite being set in the same universe as the most well-known Flying Brick of all. Though, in the game's defense, pretty much every Exobyte-powered Hero or Villain has enough of it to lob a dumpster most of a city block, and taking it as an Iconic power just means you can do that with, you know, a transit bus or dump truck. Not to mention the fact all of said heroes and villains can physically hit hard enough barehanded to tear apart Mooks in Power Armor or the various Brainiac/OMAC/Whatever drones even WITHOUT said iconic. And of course there's the Brawling weapon style...

Western Animation

Western Animation

• In Batman Beyond, the Batsuit gives Terry McGinnis super strength.
• From Teen Titans (2003), Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy (depending on form; his gorilla form is the go-to for feats of strength, although it is dwarfed by his elephant and 'Tyrannosaurus rex'' forms), Pantha, and Aqualad.

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