Both DC and Marvel have their characters juggle their superhero lives with their romantic lives. A lot of the time, a superhero will have a relationship with a fellow hero, like how Mr. Fantastic is married to Invisible Woman. However, there are also numerous cases where a hero has a romantic partner who is an ordinary citizen. These types of relationships often work to keep the hero grounded, helping them not get too caught up in their superhero exploits. But, of course, the superhero life usually bleeds into the romantic life, and as a result, these civilian love interests can suddenly find themselves wielding strange new abilities. Sometimes, the new power sets are permanent, while other times, they end when the story arc does. Either way, instances like these prove that the life of an average person dating a superhero will never be boring.
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Not surprisingly, the love interests of superheroes often find themselves vulnerable to all manner of villains who want to hurt the hero through them. However, there are also numerous examples of these “defenseless” romantic partners gaining abilities of their own – and actually saving the superhero!
7) Carol Ferris
Carol Ferris, who runs the aircraft company known as Ferris Air, is the primary love interest of Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern. Chosen by the alien Zamarans to be their queen, because her love for Hal was so strong, Carol was possessed by a Star Sapphire Gem. The gem gave her the ability to make energy constructs like a Green Lantern Ring. Unfortunately, the gem also gave Carol an evil split personality dubbed the Star Sapphire, turning her into one of Hal’s deadliest enemies.
For years, Carol struggled to control the twisted Star Sapphire persona, trying desperately not to hurt Hal. Happily, over time, the Zamarans learned from their mistakes. They replaced Carol’s corruptive gem with an all-new Star Sapphire Power Ring that she had complete control over. Now a member of the new Star Sapphire Corps, Carol fights for love across the universe as a hero.
6) Mary Jane Watson
Mary Jane Watson had been Peter Parker’s girlfriend and wife for decades. However, after the events of “One More Day” retconned their entire married life, the two became stuck in a will-they-or-won’t-they relationship. MJ and Peter would be separated again when she got trapped in another dimension with a guy named Paul. The good news for MJ: to help her survive the many dangers of the alternate dimension, Paul designed a wrist-mounted device that could randomly generate three magical glyphs, granting the wearer different abilities. Some of these abilities include flight, sword mastery, and the ability to project fire.
After getting back home, MJ continued to use the device, becoming the superhero Jackpot. Bad news: the device glitched, nearly killing her. Fortunately, Peter’s old Venom symbiote appeared and saved her life, helping her get rid of the broken tool. Now bonded to the symbiote, MJ is the all-new Venom.
5) Lana Lang
Lana Lang grew up in Smallville as Clark Kent’s high school sweetheart. Even after Clark moved to Metropolis, the two remained close friends, and she was one of the first people to learn that he was Superman. When another version of Superman died from kryptonite poisoning, he released a massive amount of energy that Lana accidentally absorbed. As a result, Lana developed the ability to absorb and redirect energy, along with super-strength and flight.
Taking on the name Superwoman, Lana became an integral part of the Superman Family, fighting alongside the Man of Steel in battle against supervillains who threatened Metropolis. Lana eventually lost her powers when the hostile AI, dubbed M1dn1ght, possessed her, attempting to take control of her body. To free herself from the AI’s control, she unleashed all of her energy. The resulting blast destroyed M1dn1ght, but, regrettably, left Lana powerless.
4) Betty Ross
In an attempt to kill the Hulk, the mad scientist M.O.D.O.K. had Bruce Banner’s long-time love interest, Betty Ross, transformed into a gamma-irradiated monster: the giant, winged beast known as Harpy. Soon cured of her mutation, Betty went on to marry Bruce. Sadly, however, Betty tragically died from long-term exposure to the radiation that the Hulk emits.
Of course, since this is a comic, Betty was resurrected by the villains M.O.D.O.K. and the Leader, who turned her into the Red She-Hulk. Although at first Betty acted as their brainwashed servant, she eventually broke free, becoming an anti-hero. However, when Betty dies yet again, this time killed by the assassin known as Bushwacker, she is resurrected by the gamma radiation in her body, which turns her back into the Harpy. Let this be a lesson to everyone: never date a gamma-irradiated monster.
3) Steve Trevor
Colonel Steve Trevor was a U.S. Air Force pilot who crash-landed on the island of Themyscira, where he first met and fell in love with Diana, aka Wonder Woman. During the events of the “Darkseid War,” the villainous daughter of Darkseid, known as Grail, sought to use Steve to resurrect her recently deceased father. She used Steve because he was believed to be the prophesied “chosen one,” the first man to set foot on Themyscira. Grail kidnapped Steve and infused him with the power of the Anti-Life Equation.
The Anti-Life gave Steve god-like strength, speed, and heat vision. However, the Anti-Life also made Steve a mindless puppet for Grail’s scheme. Under Grail’s command, he incinerated Darkseid’s killer, the villainous Anti-Monitor. Grail then unleashed the mind-controlled Steve on the Justice League to distract them while she completed a ritual to revive Darkseid. For the final part of the ritual, Grail took back the Anti-Life Equation from Steve to resurrect Darkseid, who was under her control. Luckily, the Justice League managed to defeat Grail and Darkseid, and Steve was thankful to be free of the villain’s influence.
2) Pepper Potts
Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe presenting Tony Stark and Pepper Potts as practically soulmates, the two are much more of an on-and-off-again relationship in the comics. Still, they genuinely care for each other and are periodically together for months at a time. A terrorist explosion orchestrated by the villain Ezekial Stane lodged a piece of shrapnel near her heart. The injury she sustained was nearly identical to the one Tony received years ago, which led to him becoming Iron Man. Demonstrating the value of having a superhero, super-genius boyfriend, Tony built a bionic arc reactor, implanting it into Pepper’s chest so that it could remove the shrapnel.
When Norman Osborn, who became the head of the Superhuman Defense Initiative, issued an arrest warrant for Tony and all his friends, Pepper discovered Tony’s secret armor. She donned the suit, used her arc reactor as the suit’s power source, suited up, and became the superhero Rescue, saving many people’s lives. Still, as a fiercely independent businesswoman with lots going on in her own life, Pepper prefers her civilian life, only putting on the suit when it’s necessary.
1) Lois Lane
The daring reporter of the Daily Planet and wife of Superman, Lois Lane has undergone many super-phases during her over 80+ years of publication history. During various short periods, Lois has acquired many unusual powers, including elasticity and hyper-intelligence. However, the most frequent abilities that Lois gains are ones identical to the Man of Steel: super-strength, super-speed, flight, heat-vision, and more. Once Lois gets Kryptonian powers, she often goes by the name “Superwoman.”
Her most recent heroic escapades as Superwoman began during the Absolute Power event. Amanda Waller used power-stealing robots called Amazos to drain the abilities of most of the superpower community. When Amanda was beaten and the Amazos were destroyed, most of the powers stored inside them returned to their original owners. However, some superhumans got their powers mixed up, and Lois inadvertently gained the powers of the Kryptonian villain General Zod.
Taking on the Superwoman title once again, Lois fought crime alongside her husband and their son, Jon Kent. To stop a superpowered clone of Lex Luthor, dubbed X-El, Lois pushed herself to her limits with a powerful heat vision blast. While she saved the day, the over-exertion of her abilities left Lois powerless. No longer Superwoman, Lois is happy to return to her civilian life as a mom and the head of the Daily Planet.
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