Superman’s Strongest Kids, Ranked

Superman is the Man of Steel, one of the strongest characters in DC. He’s performed every incredible feat you can imagine, from lifting a book with infinite pages to carting an entire solar system’s worth of planets on a chain like they were a backpack. With all of that impossible strength at his disposal, it makes sense that DC wants to keep the number of Kryptonians to a minimum, so as not to have to explain why several thousand people equally as strong as Superman aren’t doing just as much as him. However, while Superman might be the Last Son of Krypton, that doesn’t mean the House of El ends with him.

Superman has had plenty of kids over the decades. Some are the products of potential futures, and many are from alternate universes, but we’ve seen what the heirs to the Man of Steel look like in practically every form. And as is only natural when a man has a handful of kids, we naturally want to know which sibling can throw the most weight around in the ring. So today, we’re going to be ranking Superman’s kids to find out which one is strongest. As a note, we’re only counting children canon to Prime Earth continuity for the sake of sanity, and we might be stretching the idea of a child just a bit.

6) Jon Lane Kent

Jon Lane Kent is the son of Superman and Lois Lane, but not the one you’re thinking of. This version is from a potential future that was averted, although he spent a good bit of time in the present, and opened the door for another entry on this list. This Jon isn’t nearly as strong as his main timeline counterpart, possessing only half the strength of a full-blooded Kryptonian. However, he more than makes up for this lack of raw power with his extremely powerful telepathy and telekinesis.

He’s shown that he’s capable of creating massive bursts of psychic energy that can total the area around him, and in the future he came from, Jon was responsible for killing most of the metahumans of his world. The biggest thing holding him back is his unstable structure, as his body couldn’t handle being both Kryptonian and human, resulting in deadly spasms that had to be kept in check by technology. He’s certainly powerful, but definitely not up there with the best of Superman’s kids.

5) Kon-El II

The Superboy of the New 52, Kon-El II, is a clone not of Superman, but of Jon Lane Kent, our previous entry. He was actually created to be a new vessel for Jon Lane Kent, given the original’s body was falling apart. In that sense, Kon-El has all of the same powers as Jon Lane Kent, but none of the defects that prevented him from reaching his full potential. He’s also been shown to have greater control over his powers, able to continuously defeat Jon Lane Kent when they clashed head-to-head. Kon-El II is just a stronger Jon Lane Kent, but still not as strong as the other entries on this list.

4) Otho-Ra

The sole daughter of Superman on this list, Otho-Ra, takes last fourth on our list. She is a Phaelosian, an offshoot of Kryptonians that were exiled centuries before Krypton exploded, and as such, she has many of the same powers as Superman. Alongside all of the standard yellow sunlight-gifted abilities, Otho can conjure blue fire-like energy, which can either function as a simple energy blast or more complex constructs like a sword, axe, or force fields. 

While Otho has the potential to be as strong, if not stronger than her adopted father, she has to sit here because she’s still a child and has a lot of growing to do before she reaches the peak of her power. Still, she’s shown that she’s more than capable of fighting alongside the rest of the Superman Family as Starchild and has plenty of experience fighting from being a gladiator on Warworld. When Otho grows up, she might just be unstoppable.

3) Connor Kent

While he’s been adopted as Superman’s brother, Connor is still a clone that was created by mixing Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, and in most cases, characters with origins like that are called the children of their clone templates. So, we’re counting Connor, and he’s definitely earned his spot in third place. Much like the other two clones, Connor has powerful telekinesis, although his is limited to tactile telekinesis, meaning it only works on things he can touch. Originally, he used this to mimic Superman’s powers, such as strength, flight, and invulnerability. 

Connor’s full Kryptonian powers would eventually develop, granting him all the same powers as Superman alongside his already established tactile telekinesis. This gives him a massive edge in terms of versatility and potential, as Connor has yet to tap into the depths of his full abilities with his telekinesis. He has all of Superman’s power and some extra, though he has yet to show that he’s surpassed Superman in terms of raw strength.

2) Jon Kent

As the true timeline son of Superman and Lois Lane, Jon takes second place because he’s shown that he not only can match his father, but has already surpassed him. Jon’s mixed human and Kryptonian heritage actually benefits him, rather than detracting. Batman stated that Jon possessed the potential to be stronger than Superman ever was, and he’s shown that in situations like being able to burn his heat vision in a wavelength that Clark couldn’t in Superman (2018) #32.

On top of that, Jon also possesses a power all his own. He’s able to channel his solar energy into a blue, electricity-like energy that can massively increase his strength. He’s focused it into destructive punches, energy blasts, and even used it to enhance his speed in short bursts. Jon’s already as strong, if not stronger, than his father, and this energy control lets him hit even harder. It let him take down Ultraman in one hit, who claimed that he’d never been hit that hard, which says all it needs to about how powerful Jon is.

1) Osul-Ra

Osul is Otho’s twin brother, and on his own, he should be a place behind her in terms of raw power, but he has a special bonus that makes him not just the strongest child of Superman, but possibly one of the strongest people in DC. On top of his Phaelosian abilities, Osul was infused with the Fire of Olgrun, one fragment of the power of the strongest Old God. The Old Gods were the first divine beings who emerged from the First World, and are even more powerful than New Gods like Highfather and Darkseid.

Osul is capable of manifesting the power and form of Olgrun, although he is currently unable to control it. At the peak of his power, Olgrun was able to create and destroy entire worlds throughout the multiverse, and in Adventures of Superman: The Book of El, Kryl-Ux was able to conquer the Earth with his own fragment of Olgrun’s power. If Osul learns to control this power for himself, he could be nigh all-powerful, especially considering that this power revived him from the dead already. Osul has the highest potential of anyone on this list, and that is a very, very high bar.

So there we have Superman’s six children in the Prime Universe continuity, ranked by strength. Which Super-kid do you think is the strongest, and which one would you most want to see headline their own series? Personally, as desperately as I need a Jon Kent ongoing, the Super-Twins deserve far more love than they’re getting.

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