Top 10 Superpowers

Top 10 Superpowers

Let’s be honest, everyone has wished they had superpowers at some point in their life. The possibilities of what a person could do are almost endless based on which superpower they would have. Here is our selection of the best superpowers we think everyone would dream of having.

Grading Criteria: We will be choosing superpowers which we think would have the most use and favoured by the population in today’s age.

10: Flying

man falling in front of a plane

Flight may not be a common superpower that many people think of but its also one of the staples of a strong superpowered being.

Flying has long been a dream of people, this would allow complete freedom, allowing you to go wherever you wanted to very easily. Certain factors may be in question such as: “would you be able to fly at extreme speeds?” or “would it be similar to your running speed?”. Nevertheless this would be an amazing ability to have and would allow for endless wonder and fun. You would be able to see views unlike anyone else and could even explore places that are not traversable by foot. One of the staples of flight as a superpower lies with Superman from the DC Comics, who can travel at incredible speeds even past the sound barrier. Flight has long been a feat we have yearned to master as shown through our miraculous inventions throughout history like planes and helicopters.

9: Weather Control

man staring a large thunder cloud

A simple yet highly effective and, potentially, destructive superpower.

Being able to control the weather at will is no small feat. At your command, you would be able to whip up storms with gale force winds or create thunderclouds with lightning strikes and turn cold gloomy days to bright sunny ones, or vice versa if you prefer. Many cultures and mythologies talk of beings able to manipulate and influence weather, its easy to assume that within society you could easily be revered and assumed to be a deity for having this power. Complete manipulation over the weather could also cause irregular weather patterns for other regions around the world potentially leading to catastrophe and other consequences on the population and environment, depending on the area that your powers could cover and if they were limited by distance. Not to mention the amounts of energy required could limit the extent of your powers. Storm form Marvels X-Men and the Greek God Zeus are some figures from media and mythology known for control over weather and lighting.

8: Immortality

a number of people standing in a line progressively getting older

Human beings spend their lives seeking immortality as they cannot fathom the concept of mortality.

Potentially the power with the most sacrifice and trade off. Being immortal essentially means that you would never die. There are multiple ways that immortality could affect you. There is much grey area with immortality, you could be immortal in the sense that you would never die and grow old unless you were killed then your life would end or another example would be that you are immortal and invulnerable to any method that causes your death, nothing would be able to kill you. The biggest drawback to this power would be that whilst you stay alive, everyone around you would die and you would continue to see the world change and grow year after year. Immortality has long thought to be a part of many deities and God’s existence, they rule eternally without fear of death as is told in many cultures and mythologies. Immortality would see you have essentially unlimited time to achieve your endeavours and experience all that life and the world has to offer.

7: Telekinesis

an apple floating in someones hand

The rise of Parapsychology has seen many real live studies conducted on telekinetic abilities.

When it comes down to it, it is the ability to move things with your mind. Telekinesis, which originates from the greek words meaning “distant” and “movement”, has long been a power that many have claimed to obtain whether by spiritual means or mental practice. Telekinesis would allow you to control any physical object around you. You could bring some snacks and a TV remote to you without getting up from a nice, relaxing couch or you could carry and move objects as you see fit. Telekinetic powers are identified in many cultures and religions as being the result of mystical forces or even powers that can be bestowed by gods and deities themselves. It has also become a staple trick or illusion conducted by magicians. Your powers would depend on how much mental force you would be able to exert, and whether or not you would have to physically see the object before moving it or if it needs to be in your vicinity for you to achieve this. Some known users of this power would be Jean Grey from “The X-Men” and Carrie White from the famous Stephen King novel “Carrie”.

6: Pyrokinesis

a man on fire

On the 11 June 1963, a Buddhist Monk set himself on fire in protest where during his self immolation he never let out a cry or whimper.

The ability to control fire has always been a symbol of power. Fire by nature is a destructive force that we as humans have always simultaneously drawn to but scared of and to be able to control it and manipulate it is considered worthy of respect. The power of fire manipulation is known as pyromancy or pyrokinesis and there are many ways one would be able to conjure and control fire. This could be through means of magic and spells where fire can be summoned and used offensively and defensively. Ones body could also be a conduit of fire and create it from nothing, their bodies would be able to withstand extreme temperatures and even absorb the fire or alternatively have control of existing fires or creating new ones from ready-made sources. Limitations and drawbacks of fire are what you would expect with any elemental power, where another opposing element such as water could prove deadly and unfocused control could lead to a variety of accidents occurring if not controlled properly. You would most likely be feared and no one would, for a while, ever engage in any confrontation with you. Popular controllers of fire include Zuko from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and The Human Torch from the Fantastic Four Marvel Comics.

5: Super Strength

a strong muscular man with a red cape

It is hard to think of a superpower and not picture super strength.

Super strength will forever be associated with super powers as typically when one gains superpowers or abilities, strength is one of the things that is usually increased also. With enhanced strength, also comes the ability to withstand greater forces and a sharp increase in durability. Having this power would change your daily life and anything physical would no longer be a problem for you any longer. Super strength could be given by many means be it through experimental science or bestowed by other mystical powers. For many, this is something that you strive to attain, bodybuilders and other competitors of sport seek to reach peak strength gains to win competitions and achieve tremendous feats of strength. Your limitations to this would really only be your own body, when having super strength – your body would undergo some physical changes and your muscles would grow substantially to be able to exert and handle high forces of strength. Popular users of this would be Superman from DC Comics and Mr. Incredible from Pixar’s “The Incredibles”.

4: Teleportation

a blurred image of a shadow

A popular staple of science fiction, teleportation has long been a dream of scientists.

A truly efficient superpower, with teleportation as an ability you would instantaneously be able to zoom from one side of the globe to the other, your holidays and meetings would be changed forever and timekeeping would cease to be an issue as you would be able to be at any place anytime. Teleportation is essentially the transfer of yourself or an object from one place to another instantaneously. This could be achieved through biological powers, more specifically mental or technological means. You could escape any situation or be present at any situation, no one would be able to gain the upper hand on you in combat as you can manipulate a fight by teleporting constantly. However, this ability may see many limitations such as the specifics of teleportation, you may have to have seen or remember a specific place to teleport too. If you have never seen a place, how do you know it exists and how would you teleport there? Then there’s the question of how precise would the teleportation be, would it be pinpoint accurate and what if there is an existing object in the way of where you wish to teleport too. Despite these limitations its hard to deny this is a very cheeky superpower to have and one that may one day be real! Known teleporters from fiction include Nightcrawler in the X-Men series and the use of “apparition” in the Harry Potter franchise.

3: Time Travel

man travelling through time

“Even if it turns out that time travel is impossible, it is important to understand why it is impossible.” ~ Stephen Hawking

An archaeologists dream… and in fact a very large number of people, worldwide’s dream. Time travel has had countless depictions in literature and film and has long been a concept and topic debated and studied in various cultures. The ability to time travel is seen as an omnipotent power as you would essentially be able to rewrite the world and history to your specification. Going backwards or forwards in time as the result of mystical, technological and biological means can give you access to knowledge and power on unimaginable scales. The effects of your actions whether good or bad would never guarantee the desired result. By stopping something bad from happening you may have essentially created an opportunity for something worse to happen down the line and vice versa. However, we will not delve into the specifics of time travel, that will be saved for another list. With the ability to rewrite time you could master every situation to your outcome and succeed in all your endeavours. Limitations of this however would include things like paradoxes where you may even end up causing a paradox where you may have never existed. All in all we know that everyone has wished at one point in there life’s they could turn back time. The most famous time travellers are perhaps The Doctor from “Doctor Who”, and Marty McFly with his DeLorean in “Back To The Future”.

2: Super Speed

a man moving at super speed with a blurred background

Another cliché superpower loved by the masses and for a good reason – super speed is an exhilarating ability that essentially allows freedom.

It is the ability to move at incredible high speeds beyond the limits of human capability. This ability is generally associated with ground movement such as running, but it can also extend to other actions that enable super speed such as flying or jumping. With super speed, your perception of the world would slow down to incredible lengths giving you control over your environment. Enhanced reflexes and quick-thinking would also allow you to react to anything almost instantaneously. Your strength would increase dramatically as a punch you would deliver at super speed would hit with an incredibly strong force and you would find that all your tasks would simply cease to become a problem as you would think your way out of problems and solve anything requiring movement with ease in a matter of seconds if not less! This sounds like a dream for a lot of people in the modern world, especially those living and working in metropolitan and urban areas and lovers of any type of sport. Depending on the limitations, this power may cause strain and require a lot of energy to sustain and learning to live with this may prove challenging to ensure nothing or no one is damaged by the kinetic energy generated from the speeds you travel at. Famous speedsters include The Flash from DC Comics, Sonic The Hedgehog from Sega and Dash from “The Incredibles” by Pixar.

1: Invisibility

a man turning invisible with black dark smoke

What can we say, who wouldn’t like to turn invisible at will? You will find a very small number of people who would say no to this superpower.

Being able to turn invisible would ensure that you could essentially gain entry and access to anywhere in the world without detection. Invisibility is essentially the ability to become unseen, whilst there may be ways of detection, to the naked eye you would not be seen. You could break into places, eavesdrop on conversations or ensure an escape from any situation which we are pretty certain at some point in life you wish you had been invisible to escape some questionable situations. Limitations of this power are not many, with the most common being; would only your body be able to be invisible or would anything you touch become invisible also? Some requirements could also be that you could only sustain invisibility for a period of time before you exert all your energy or you require certain conditions for you to become invisible. This ability has much use in different narratives and can be the result of magical, biological or advanced technology capable of rendering a user invisible. Some common examples are Harry Potters cloak of invisibility, the character Translucent from “The Boys” and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four from Marvel Comics.

Honourable Mention: Transformation

a man with a lions head

Transformation is undoubtedly a very cool superpower, with the ability to transform into any object or being you so desire. You could essentially hide in plain sight and travel the world in a variety of different methods, with this ability, the opportunities are endless. Depending on the limitations of the power, you could transform just by looking at something such as piece of art or painting or if you can imagine it, then you can be it. While it is an amazingly creative superpower, it is not one that would be a common first thought for many. We haven’t seen much representation in literature and fiction depicting transformation, at least not compared with the others on this list. We really hope that we get to see this entry gain a bit more representation in modern pop culture in the next few years as the opportunities really are limitless with this superpower.

Other Contenders

Mind Control: The ability to control minds would allow you to essentially control over every person on the planet and make them do your bidding.

Rapid Healing: Healing from any injury would essentially make you invulnerable to any threat you face, this could also mean you would live longer or possibly forever if you always recovered from any dying cells in your body.

Animal Control: Being able to manipulate and control any animals could make for infinite possibilities to showcase what different animals could do.

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