The 6 Most Powerful Versions of Superboy Ranked

Thanks to its series-wide reboots, there are various different versions of most characters in DC Comics, but when it comes to Superboy, it is different. Even in the mainline comics, there are different variants of the hero, with some having drastically different origins and others being completely different people altogether. This includes young versions of Superman, characters from other dimensions, clones, and even the son of Kal-El. However, when the different versions of Superboy are compared side-by-side, some are much more powerful than others, and there have even been cases where one Superboy defeats another in crossover storylines, proving their dominance.

From the original Superboy who grew up to be Superman to clones, variants, and Superman’s son, here is a look at the six most powerful versions of Superboy in DC Comics, ranked.

6) Connor Kent

Connor Kent is the Superboy clone who first appeared after Superman died fighting Doomsday in the Rise of the Supermen storyline. Project Cadmus created the clone using Superman’s DNA and then aged him to his mid-teens with a high school education. He escaped without the safeguards placed on him to keep him under control. Of the four new replacements, he was the one who worked with Lex Luthor, but when Superman returned, he took on the name Superboy and left Metropolis. Connor had the same basic powers as Superman, but on a smaller level. However, what really hurts is that he died in a fight with Superboy-Prime, and while he was later resurrected, this loss shows he lacked the same level of power compared to the other Superboy heroes.

5) Chris Kent

Christopher Kent is Lor-Zod, the son of General Zod and Ursa, who was born in the Phantom Zone. Zod sent a young Chris out of the Phantom Zone in a spacecraft, and Superman found him, quickly learning that he was Kryptonian and possessed superhuman powers. Superman and Lois adopted the child to keep him safe from the government, and they named him Christopher. When Zod broke out of the Phantom Zone, Chris turned on his father and became part of Superman’s family. When Zod attacked again, Chris sacrificed himself to imprison his father again, ending up back in the Phantom Zone himself. He eventually returned, took on the title of Nightwing, and worked undercover while hiding his Kryptonian heritage. He has the same powers as most Kryptonians on Earth, and standing up against Zod and Ursa shows his power levels.

4) Jonathan Kent

Jon Kent remains one of the most powerful heroes on Earth, the son of Superman. The young man took his father’s name when Kal-El was called off Earth, and he stayed behind to protect the planet in his dad’s place. Jon was a child and teamed with Damian Wayne for a while as the Super Sons, but he ended up caught in a time mishap that caused him to disappear for three weeks and return as a 17-year-old, having aged six years. As for his powers, he is the same as his father, but he has the potential to become even more powerful than his dad, thanks to his hybrid cells since his mother is a human. For now, he isn’t as powerful, but there is a chance he could move to the top of the list before all is said and done.

3) Jonathan Lane Kent

Jonathan Lane Kent was the son of Superman and Lois Lane from an alternate future. As a baby, he fell ill due to being a mix of Kryptonian and human, and Harvest took him in and helped cure him, only to turn him into a weapon against metas, melding him into a soldier who held hate and vengeance in his heart. He then killed most metas in his timeline before getting sent back in time where he was mistaken for Connor Kent, who had seemingly died. He pretended to be Connor and planned to fix things by not allowing himself to become the monster who ruined his own future world. Jon ended up sacrificing himself to bring back Connor and deleted his own timeline and himself from existence. By defeating most of his world’s heroes, he proved to be one of the most powerful Superboys ever to live.

2) Kal-El

The first Superboy was, obviously, Superman himself when he was a youngster. Clark Kent was eight when he became active as Superboy, while also continuing his education under his secret identity. However, his powers were not as powerful as they would become when he grew up and gained more control over them. He then grew even stronger when he time-traveled to join the Legion of Super-Heroes in the future, and the Legionnaires helped him reach his full potential, which soon eclipsed them all.

1) Superboy Prime

The most powerful version of Superboy in history is easily Superboy-Prime. For one thing, Superboy-Prime killed another Superboy when he murdered Connor Kent. Humorously, the Earth that this Superboy grew up on had no superheroes but had comic books about popular DC Comics characters, and he took the name of his favorite hero’s secret identity, Clark Kent. He met the real Superman, who ended up in his world while flying through the multiverse, and then he learned he had powers too. After helping win Crisis on Infinite Earths, he remained behind to help ensure the safety of other universes. This drove him mad, and when he finally escaped, he became obsessed with murdering all of his dimensional counterparts. In addition to Superboy, he killed several other Supermen from different Earths before he was finally stopped. The fact that he also injured Superman showed that his immense power was greater than that of any other Superboy, landing him the top spot.

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