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Many forms of fiction feature characters attributed with superhuman, supernatural, or paranormal abilities, often referred to as "superpowers" (also spelled "super powers" and "super-powers") or "powers". This tradition is especially rich in the fictional universes of various comic book stories. Below is a list of many of those powers that have been known to be used. Some of these categories overlap. MeansExamples of ways in which a character has the ability to generate an effect. Inhuman natureThe character belongs to a class of wholly on partially non-human beings for whom superhuman capabilities are typical. This includes, but is not limited to, characters who are aliens, demons, gods or hybrids.
Object-based powersSee also: List of objects in the DC Universe Powers derived from objects (also known as artifacts), such as armor, jewelry, weapons, and wands.
MutationMain article: Mutant (fictional) See also: Metamutant These powers are a direct result of some form of either induced evolution or natural selection, usually manifested during adolescent puberty when other mental and bodily adaptations take place.
MethodsExamples of methods by which a character generates an effect. Energy sourcingAbility to draw power from large or small but abundant sources of energy, such as turning kinetic energy into physical blasts or converting solar energy into other forms. Sometimes based on proximity to source, sometimes stored for future use. ChiMain article: Qi Many characters who train in martial arts gain superhuman capabilities by learning to harness chi or some form of life energy. This type of method generally provides extraordinary strength, speed, durability and reflexes. Also often used for superhuman awareness, energy blasts, elemental powers and sometimes invulnerability. Magical powersMain articles: Magic (paranormal) and Magic (fantasy) Ability to use magical forces to varying degrees. Often used to simulate other powers, such as mind control and elemental attacks.
Not all "magical" superpowers are actually supernatural, but are based on alternate or futuristic "science" which is unexplainable.[10] For instance, Moon Knight's strength, endurance and reflexes are enhanced depending upon the phases of the moon.[11] Uncle Sam has his powers in proportion to the people's belief in the ideals of America.[12]
TechnopathyAbility to manipulate technology. Manifested as a special form of electrical/telekinetic manipulation, a special form of "morphing" which allows physical interaction with machines, or even a special form of ESP that allows for mental interface with computer data.
TelekinesisMain article: Psychokinesis Ability to manipulate and control objects with the mind, often in ways not visible to the naked eye. PowersSuperpower manipulationThis section refers to the ability to manipulate superpowers themselves, not "power" such as electrical power or gravitational power. Power augmentationAbility to enhance or weaken the powers of others.
Power bestowalAbility to bestow powers or jump-start latent powers. Power mimicry or absorptionAbility to copy or absorb another's powers or skills.
Power negationAbility to cancel the superpowers of others. Power sensingAbility to sense or recognize superhuman powers.
Personal physical powersPowers which affect an individual's body. Accelerated healingMain articles: Healing factor and Regeneration (biology) See also: Regeneration (Doctor Who) Ability to heal rapidly from any injury; the rate of recovery varies from character to character. Can sometimes result in the slowing of aging.
Acid generationAbility to generate acid, can be manifested through touch or as a spray. Animal mimicryAbility to take on the abilities of certain animals.
Biological manipulationAbility to control all aspects of a living creature's biological make-up. This includes, but is not limited to, genetic alterations, physical distortion/augmentations, healing, disease, and biological functions.
Body part substitutionAbility to replace one's limbs or other body parts with those of another. Bone manipulationAbility to manipulate the bones in one's own body. This includes, but is not limited to, the generation of new bone mass, projecting bones out from the skin or rearranging one's own bones. DuplicationMain article: Self-replication See also: Molecular cloning Ability to create physical duplicates of oneself.
Temporal duplicationAbility to bring past and future versions of oneself back to the present.
EcholocationMain article: Human echolocation Ability to determine location of items in the environment by use of reflected sound waves, whether generated by the character or ambient sound. Also known as sonar or radar sense. InvisibilityMain article: Invisibility Ability to render the user unseen to the naked eye.
InvulnerabilityAbility to be immune to one or more forms of physical damage.
Kinetic absorptionAbility to absorb forms of kinetic energy into oneself and utilize it in some way, such as by converting it into physical strength or using it to power energy blasts.
Matter ingestionAbility to consume any sort of matter without any ill effects on the user.
MergeAbility to temporarily merge two beings into a single being, which results in a completely new and stronger being.
Pheromone manipulationAbility to generate and control pheromones which may have various effects.
Poison generationAbility to assault others with one or more varieties of toxins, with widely disparate effects.
Prehensile/animated hairAbility to animate and lengthen one's hair.
Reactive adaptation/evolutionAbility to develop a resistance or immunity to whatever they were injured by or exposed to. This effect can be permanent or temporary. Self-detonation or explosionAbility to explode one's body mass and reform. Sonic screamAbility to generate vocal sounds of a higher amplitude than a normal human.
Superhuman breathAbility to inhale/exhale with superhumanly powerful strength. This can range from exhalation on par with gale force winds to inhalation on par with the power of a gravitational vortex. In some cases, freezing temperatures can also be acheived. Superhuman durabilityAbility to have a higher resistance to one or more forms of damage before being injured.
Superhuman reflexesAbility to react faster than a normal human.
Superhuman sensesAbility to see, smell, taste, feel and/or hear more than a normal human. Superhuman strengthMain article: Superhuman strength See also: Strength level Ability to have a level of physical strength much higher than normally possible given their proportions.
Superhuman visionAbility to see better than normally possible. Night visionMain article: Night vision Ability to see clearly in darkness.
X-ray visionMain article: X-ray vision Ability to see through solid matter.
Telescopic or microscopic visionAbility to magnify vision to various levels. WallcrawlingAbility to crawl on vertical and horizontal surfaces.
WaterbreathingMain article: Water breathing See also: Liquid breathing Ability to respirate through water in lieu of a gaseous medium. Not to be confused with an ability to go without breathing or to be able to breathe an alternate air supply. Mental faculty and knowledge-based abilitiesInnate capabilityAbility to naturally have skills and/or knowledge typically earned through learning. Omni-linguismAbility to understand any form of language, a natural polyglot. This can be accomplished in various ways.
OmniscienceMain article: Omniscience Ability to know anything and everything. Ecological empathyThe ability to sense the overall well-being and conditions of one's immediate environment and natural setting stemming from a psychic sensitivity to nature.
Superhuman intelligenceIntelligence far above that of a genius level. Superhuman trackingAbility to track an individual or object through supernatural means; sometimes referred to as "pathfinding."
ESPMain article: Extrasensory perception See also: Psychic The abilities of extra-sensory perception (ESP) and communication. Astral projectionMain article: Astral projection Also known as astral travel, this is the ability to separate and control one's astral body.
Mental projectionMain article: Mental projection Ability to project one's consciousness/emotions into the astral plane, into another, or to make them real.
Cross-dimensional awarenessAbility to detect actions and events in other dimensions. This is occasionally used in comics as an awareness of the fourth wall between the characters and the artist or audience.
EmpathyMain article: Empathy Ability to read or sense the emotions and/or control the emotions or feelings of others. MediumshipAbility to see and communicate with the dead (i.e., ghosts).
PrecognitionAbility to perceive the future. It may be expressed in vague dreams while asleep, other times it can be clear and can occur at will. It may also be used as a form of "danger sense" to show the user that they are being threatened and from what direction it is coming from.
PsychometryMain article: Psychometry Ability to relate details about the past or future condition of an object or location, usually by being in close contact with it.
TelepathyMain article: Telepathy Ability to read the thoughts of, or to mentally communicate with others. Domination and mind controlThe ability to alter the perceptions of others, and general ability to control the actions of others with the mind.
Astral trappingAbility to cause an astral projection to stay on the astral plane, usually in one specific place.
Memory manipulationAbility to erase or enhance the memories of another.
PossessionMain article: Spirit possession Ability to take control and inhabit the body of an individual. Psionic blastAbility to overload another's mind causing pain, memory loss, lack of consciousness, vegetative state or death after having created a psionic link into that individual's mind. Psychic weaponsAbility to create a weapon of psychic energy that can harm mentally and not physically.
Manipulate fundamental forces or realityThese powers may be manifested by various methods, including: by some method of molecular control; by access to, or partially or fully shifting to another dimension; by manipulating the geometric dimensions of time or space; or by some other unnamed method. AnimationAbility to bring inanimate objects to life or to free an individual from petrification.
Darkness or shadow manipulationAbility to create or manipulate darkness, often by mentally accessing a dimension of dark energy (the Darkforce dimension in Marvel Comics, and the Shadowlands in DC Comics) and manipulating it.
Density controlAbility to increase or decrease the natural density of an object and/or one's self.
DisintegrationAbility to disintegrate matter through touch or through beams. Elemental transmutationMain article: Transmutation The ability to alter chemical elements, changing them from one substance to another by rearranging the atomic structure. May be limited to self-transmutation.
Gravity manipulationAbility to manipulate or generate gravitons, or other types of gravitational interactions.
ImmortalityMain article: Immortality Ability to live forever. This may be complete immortality encompassing invulnerability, partial invulnerability to all but specific events (i.e., decapitation or exposure to a specific chemical such as kryptonite), or simply an inability to age normally.
ResurrectionAbility to come back to life after being killed.
Intangibility or phasingAbility to phase through solid matter without harm.
Light manipulationAbility to control, generate or absorb light particles.
Magnetism manipulationAbility to control and/or generate magnetic fields.
Mass manipulationAbility to increase or decrease mass in an object.
Molecular manipulationAbility to mentally manipulate the molecules of objects and/or one's self on a molecular level.
Probability manipulationMain article: Probability Ability to alter probability, causing unlikely things to happen or likely things to not happen.
Radiation manipulationAbility to generate, manipulate or have immunity to toxic radiation.
Reality warpingMain article: Reality warping Ability to change or manipulate reality itself.
Sound manipulationAbility to manipulate sound. Time manipulationAbility to affect the flow of time by slowing, accelerating, reversing, or stopping it.
Classical elementsMain article: Classical element Ability to control or manipulate the elements. Air and wind manipulationAbility to control, generate, or absorb air or wind.
Cold and ice manipulationAbility to reduce the kinetic energy of atoms and thus reduce temperature, can be used to control, generate, or absorb ice.
Earth manipulationAbility to control earth; sand, stone, rock, lava, dirt, or other minerals. Plant manipulationAbility to control, manipulate or animate all forms of plant life.
Electric manipulationAbility to control, generate or absorb electric fields.
Fire and heat manipulationMain article: Pyrokinesis Ability to control the kinetic energy of atoms to generate, control or absorb fire. Water and moisture manipulationAbility to control, generate or absorb water. Weather manipulationMain article: Weather control Ability to control or mentally affect the weather. This includes the ability to generate various natural phenomena (rain, tornadoes, lightning, ocean currents, etc.) or control the intensity of the weather.
Energy manipulationThese powers deal with energy generation, conversion and manipulation. In addition to generic energy, versions of these powers exist that deal with such things as light, sound, electricity, nuclear energy, and the Darkforce dimension.
Concussion beamsAbility to generate or transform various forms of energy into a "solid" or concussive beam of energy. Energy blastsAbility to expel various forms of energy from the body. Energy constructsAbility to create complex shapes (such as giant boxing gloves or cages) or even functional machinery (such as fire extinguishers or laser rifles) out of solid energy.
Energy conversionAbility to absorb one form of energy and convert it into another form of energy. Force field generationMain article: Force field Ability to project powerful fields of manipulated energy.
Transportation or travelDimensional transportationMain article: Portal (fiction) Ability to create wormholes, portation "discs" or other spatial portals for transport between two non-adjacent locations. Electrical transportationAbility to travel through electrical conduits (such as power lines or telephone lines). Can enter through devices such as televisions, electrical poles or computers. OmnipresenceAbility to be present anywhere and everywhere always.
SummoningMain articles: Conjuration and Evocation See also: Magic satchel Ability to summon objects for assistance. This may range from invoking simple implements to mighty familiar spirits. Superhuman speedMain article: Speedster (comics) See also: Supersonic Ability to move at speeds much faster than a normal human. TeleportationMain article: Teleportation Ability to move from one place to another without occupying the space in between. Time travelMain article: Time travel Ability to travel back or forth through time.
MiscellaneousThe following powers could be manifested in any number of ways. FlightMain article: Flight Ability to lift off the ground, to ride air currents or to fly self-propelled through the air.
Different forms of flight include: Energy propulsion methods
Physical propulsion methods
IllusionMain article: Illusion Ability to alter or deceive the perceptions of another. Can be sensory, a light or sound-based effect, or an alteration of mental perceptions.
ShapeshiftingMain article: Shapeshifting Ability to change appearance or body structure.
Types of shapeshifting include:
Notes and references
See alsoExternal links
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