The 10 Worst Superpowers in Comic Book History

Everyone at some point in their lives dreams of having superpowers. It’s easy to imagine oneself soaring high above the clouds or lifting trucks with ease. And while there are plenty of heroes and villains in comics with awe-aspiring abilities, there are also some who lost the superpower lottery. In both DC and Marvel Comics, there are plenty of characters with terrible powers. Often treated as jokes, the powers these characters possess can range from being completely ineffective to downright gross. There are even some heroes and villains whose powers are hinderances to everyday life. Out of the countless powers a person can possess, these are the worst of the worst.

Sometimes characters have abilities so terrible, that they would rather have no superpowers at all.

10) Color Alteration

The Legion of Superheroes are made up of some of the most powerful and capable heroes the 31st century has to offer. In contrast the Legion of Substitute Heroes are the rejects who couldn’t make it into the premier Legion. Out of all the team’s members, Ulu Vakk, aka Color Kid, easily has the most useless ability. After being struck by a beam of light in a lab accident, Ulu gained the power to change the color of any object or living thing. While color alteration could be used for camouflage or to disorientate, Color Kid’s lack of creativity rarely ever leads to him using his power in this avenue. It seems, at best, Color Kid uses his powers to help with decorations.

9) Penny Shooting

As an accountant named J. Pennington Pennypacker, he was practically destined to have a superpower involving the now-useless coins. While at a self-esteem camp, Pennypacker along with the other campers were kidnapped by an evil scientist who put them in a machine that gave them superpowers. Pennypacker gained the power to generate and fire a limitless supply of pennies from his hands. Taking on the name the Almighty Dollar, Pennypacker helped fight the evil scientist. While the idea of shooting tiny pieces of copper isn’t so bad, it’s still a pretty lackluster ability and can’t even begin to measure up to the powers other Marvel characters have.

8) Detachable Limbs

In DC Comics, the 31st century may be home to incredible superpowered beings like the Legion of Superheroes, but not everyone has what it takes to join their ranks. Floyd Belkin, aka Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, is infamous for his bizarre ability to detach and reattach his limbs. The limbs become completely limp once he takes them off, so their only function is to be swung around as melee weapons. It’s an underwhelming ability that can mostly be replicated, and indeed improved upon, with a standard blunt object like a baseball bat. When Arm-Fall-Off-Boy showed off this power to the Legion, they unsurprisingly rejected his audition. Yet even with this failure, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy somehow continued working as an independent hero.

7) Turning Into Ice Cream

Through the X-Gene, mutants can develop a wide array of abilities that can reshape the world and the universe. Many of the X-Men’s enemies are mutants who use their gifts to kill countless people. However, Eye-Scream is one mutant criminal the X-Men don’t have to worry about. Unlike other mutants who can read minds or warp reality, Eye-Scream’s power is that he can turn into any flavor of ice cream. On top of having an incredibly weak ability, Eye-Scream is obviously very vulnerable to intense heat and cold. With such a lame power unfit for a criminal career, he eventually moved to Krakoa and now hands out soft-serve treats to kids.

6) Mental CB Radio Transmissions

Marvel Comics had a very bizarre period when it tried to appeal to a trucker audience by introducing superheroes who operated giant trucks. Easily the dumbest character Marvel made during this time was Ulysses Archer, aka U.S. Archer. After a serious car accident, U.S. Archer had a part of his head replaced with a cybernetic implant. While other cyborgs in comics develop super-intelligence or the ability to control all machines, U.S. Archer just obtained the power to tune into CB radio transmissions and change the channel by touching his tooth fillings. Obviously, U.S. Archer could get the same effect by turning a radio dial like anyone else. With such a useless power, it’s no wonder why U.S. Archer didn’t catch on and ultimately was switched off.

5) Super Snot

There is perhaps no worse “superhero team” in DC Comics than Section 8. Made up of drunks, deviants, and idiots, Section 8 often puts more people in danger than it saves. Although most of the team members don’t have powers, one that does is Flemgem. However, his power is so disgusting that it would be preferable that he didn’t. His power is that he can sneeze gigantic wads of mucus at his enemies, covering them in slimy boogers. Even worse, his snot can have a blinding effect on his opponents. Like the rest of Section 8, Flegem was vaporized by the Lovecraftian monsters known as the Many Angled Ones. At least no one has to clean up after him anymore.

4) Infinite Belly Button Lint

Although the X-Men are the most well-known mutant superhero team in comics, they have various offshoots that don’t have the same level of prestige or raw power. One of the most infamous mutant teams in Marvel is X-Cellent. Out of the team members of X-Cellent, none has a grosser superpower than Fluff. Instead of super strength or telepathy, Fluff’s X-Gene gives him the power to create an infinite supply of sticky belly button lint. How this power can be useful in any situation, crimefighting or otherwise, is a question for the ages. Probably because of how disgusting and useless Fluff was, he was killed off almost immediately.

3) Eyes on Fingertips

Batman is well-known for having both the scariest and most ridiculous villains in comics. Easily one of his most non-threatening adversaries is Philip Reardon, aka the Ten-Eyed Man. After losing his vision in an explosion, a surgeon connected Philip’s retina nerves to his fingertips. To have eyes on one’s fingertips made this D-List crook’s every waking moment a living nightmare and his everyday tasks a constant struggle. Every time he held onto something, put on gloves, or closed his fist, he would instantly go blind. Not to mention just to see straight he must constantly and clumsily wave his arms out front. How this guy ever thought he had a chance against the Dark Knight is anyone’s guess.

2) Fire Generation with No Resistance

As Human Torch shows, the ability to engulf oneself in fire can be an incredible power, granting additional abilities such as fire projection and flight. And while the mutant Carol Cambell has a similar ability, her X-Gene doesn’t provide her one vital feature: fire immunity. Carol has no protection against the fire that surrounds her body, meaning that every time she turns it on, she’s roasting herself. Using this power for even a second can potentially lead to horrific burns all over her body. Shockingly, other mutants look down on her for not being proud of her heritage. However, the power to instantly suffer a horrible and fiery death would not seem to be a basis for pride any more than being born with a potentially deadly disease.

1) Self-Detonation

The star of the appropriately titled Worst X-Man Ever miniseries, Bailey Hoskins, aka X-Ceptional, possesses the power to self-detonate. Although he can control the size of the explosion he generates, it has one drawback that makes it the worst superpower of all time: the blast will kill X-Ceptional as well. That’s right, his power is that he can instantly kill himself in an explosion that can hopefully take his opponents with him. As a living time-bomb with no other skills or abilities, it’s astounding that the X-Men allow X-Ceptional on field missions at all. To have the power to instantly end your own life is nothing short of horrifying. Naturally, his miniseries ended with him blowing himself up.

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