5 Superhero Sidekicks Who Became More Powerful Than Their Mentors (Including a Speedster Who Changed DC Forever)

Sidekicks have been a crucial part of the superhero genre nearly since its inception. Marvel and DC Comics have created plenty of adolescent crimefighters who serve as partners and pupils to their older, more iconic superhero mentors. These sidekicks often represent the next generation of heroism. And while these young heroes often can’t hope to match the incredible power of their older mentors, there have been a select few students who have surpassed their teachers. Whether it be through more extensive training or more potent abilities, these sidekicks have advanced to the point that they have fully eclipsed their mentors’ capabilities.

Sidekicks are oftentimes treated almost as the younger and weaker versions of Marvel and DC’s mightiest superheroes. Yet these sidekicks have taken their powers above and beyond their mentors to prove their worth as heroes.

5) Jubilee

At first glance, it seems ludicrous to believe that Jubilee, whose main power seems to be making pretty fireworks, could be more destructive than Wolverine. However, Jubilee is a powerful X-Man who could blow her feral mentor away if she stopped holding back. While Jubilee mostly uses her pyrotechnics to blind or knock people out, they could be far more lethal. Emma Frost has said that if the young mutant wanted to, she could annihilate matter down to the subatomic level. Frost’s assessment isn’t unwarranted, as one of Jubilee’s most impressive feats occurred after being trapped on the Collector’s starship in outer space. Without any fear that she might hurt innocent people, Jubilee unleashed her full power and detonated the massive spaceship in an explosion visible from space. While Wolverine is defiantly brutal, he’s never managed to reach that level of destructive power that his protégé normally keeps hidden under her cheerful personality and her strong sense of humanity.

4) Cassandra Cain

Batman is recognized as one of the most skilled and strongest martial artists in DC Comics. However, one of the few people that the Dark Knight considers to be his superior in fighting skills is his adoptive daughter and the second Batgirl, Cassandra Cain. Where Batman began his training as a teen or young adult, Cassandra was molded to be the perfect killer from the moment she was born. Cassandra’s parents are the ruthless assassins Lady Shiva and David Cain, who forced her to spend every waking moment of her developmental years learning every way possible to kill a person. Their training was so rigorous that they never even bothered to teach her to read or speak because they felt it wasted brain capacity that could be filled with more fighting techniques. This hellish training made Cassandra not only a better fighter than Batman, but also gave her the ability to instantly mimic any fighting style she sees.

3) Kid Miracleman

Where normally sidekicks follow their superhero mentor’s heroic footsteps, Kid Miracleman is an example of a sidekick falling into villainy and letting go of his restraints. The original Miracleman, Mike Moran, was the product of a super-soldier experiment called Project Zarathustra that resulted in his ability to gain incredible powers by saying the word “Kimota.” Johnny Bates was another subject of Project Zarathustra and soon became Miracleman’s sidekick. However, where Mike regularly switched between his human and superpowered forms, Johnny stayed in his Kid Miracleman form full time for over a decade. This decision led to Kid Miracleman becoming insane and commencing a genocidal rampage. Kid Miracleman has all the powers of his former mentor, including super-strength, flight, telekinesis, telepathy, and heat vision. But as Miracleman learned in their confrontation, Kid Miracleman’s abilities were far more potent because of his years in his transformed state. It was only because of Kid Miracleman accidentally saying “Kimota” and reverting back to his mortal form that he was defeated.

2) Alpha

Spider-Man isn’t normally a superhero people associate with having a sidekick, but for a short time he had a protégé who was leagues more powerful than he was. Andrew Maguire, aka Alpha, was a normal high school student until an accident at Horizon Labs bathed him in an energy called Parker Particles. This event gave Alpha access to an assortment of superpowers. These abilities include cosmic energy projection, super-strength, telekinesis, force field creation, super-speed, flight, and matter manipulation. Although Alpha could initially use only one of these powers at a time, he soon overcame this limitation. It was revealed that Alpha is currently using only 10% of his power. Still, he is incredibly powerful and Spider-Man took Alpha under his wing to try and help him control these highly unstable and dangerous powers. However, when Alpha became too reckless and destructive, Spider-Man removed his sidekick’s powers so that he wasn’t a danger to himself and others. Despite this, Alpha has since regained his abilities and once again possesses powers that easily surpass those of the Wall-Crawler.

1) Flash (Wally West)

No character in comics better embodies the idea of a sidekick surpassing their mentor than Wally West. Starting out as the first Kid Flash and the sidekick/nephew of Barry Allen, Wally got the chance to prove himself after Barry’s death. Inheriting the Flash mantle, Wally quickly proved himself not just to be faster than Barry, but to cement his status as the Fastest Man Alive. Wally is unrivaled in his mastery of the Speed Force, which allows him to achieve feats far beyond the capabilities of other DC speedsters. Some of Wally’s greatest feats, leagues above Barry’s own capabilities, include outrunning instant teleportation, the Big Bang, and the Speed Force itself. When Barry eventually came back to life and raced Wally, the resulting energy threatened the stability of the infinite multiverse. But in the end, Wally crossed the finish line first and proved he was the fastest Flash of all time.

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