Superman's powers are not really that unique...

[dswynne]

IMO, save for heat vision, x-ray vision and microscopic vision, there should be a number of heroes and villains who could, at best, emulate most of Superman's powers. Breath powers? Muscular and respiratory systems should be similar enough in other Superman-level heroes and villains to mimic "super breath" and "ice breath". "Super speed" and "super strength" are the obvious, as well as "super endurance", "super stamina" and "flight". While only the Martian Manhunter can do everything that Superman can do, I say Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman can do 80-90 percent of what Superman can do as well. Just a thought.

[JAK]

Maybe. But if it wasn't for Superman, almost none of them would exist. So there's that.

Speaking "in-story", sure. But that's true of just about any superhero.

[SiegePerilous02]

He was fairly unique in that he's the trope codifier for superhero in general, and that Flying Brick type that has a cape in particular. His creation started a craze, so he inevitably would lose some uniqueness when he inspired the creation of other characters looking to hop on board the fad.

He may be less unique with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel around, but both they and others (even if Superman would then in turn adopt some of the stuff Captain Marvel brought to the table) would likely not exist without Superman coming first.

[Trunks]

He is unique in that his powers he has the same as others are way more powerful than others(or should be),and he is supposed to be the perfect man of tomorrow,so his powers are what we can do,but a million times better,and any problem we have,his body has found a fix for it.

[Toreador]

You could say he's unique in that he was the first to have all these abilities among superheroes.

[MajorHoy]

IMO, save for heat vision, x-ray vision and microscopic vision, there should be a number of heroes and villains who could, at best, emulate most of Superman's powers. Breath powers? Muscular and respiratory systems should be similar enough in other Superman-level heroes and villains to mimic "super breath" and "ice breath". "Super speed" and "super strength" are the obvious, as well as "super endurance", "super stamina" and "flight". While only the Martian Manhunter can do everything that Superman can do, I say Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman can do 80-90 percent of what Superman can do as well. Just a thought.

Prior to this, how many others had the abilities he had back then?

[Powerboy]

IMO, save for heat vision, x-ray vision and microscopic vision, there should be a number of heroes and villains who could, at best, emulate most of Superman's powers. Breath powers? Muscular and respiratory systems should be similar enough in other Superman-level heroes and villains to mimic "super breath" and "ice breath". "Super speed" and "super strength" are the obvious, as well as "super endurance", "super stamina" and "flight". While only the Martian Manhunter can do everything that Superman can do, I say Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman can do 80-90 percent of what Superman can do as well. Just a thought.

Definitely. The Martian Manhunter has probably every power Superman has and more except maybe the super cold breath. Not sure on that one. I think it's difficult to have a character display super breath, super cold breath, X-Ray Vision, Telescopic Vision or Heat Vision without thinking of Superman to some degree because he was probably the first super hero to display such powers although there certainly were mythical characters that could see tremendous distances.

[Phoenixx9]

I have always seen Superman as stronger and more powerful than virtually any other character.

[Kuwagaton]

As it's been said, Superman's uniqueness is ironically why so much of the genre takes after him. But there are a few points to that:

- his actual combination is rare. Regardless of power level his approach is still unique because almost no other is equipped or like minded enough to go through the same sequence. Think about how hard it is to step around Superman as an example if you cite something like the recent "Five Minutes" short where he takes essentially a bathroom break to foil a robbery, stop a runaway train, and down a faulty satellite. Many characters can do this, but what are the odds of bringing up a character before Superman? Supergirl has the exact same powers as a rare case... but then her experience level and attitude aren't the same.

- most similar heroes have a drawback. Hulk is a primary superhero example for strength, but that strength is all he has and it's limited by his own mind. Gladiator and Sentry have the whole package but are more severely limited by their minds. Thor is probably the second most prominent powerhouse, but he's had limitations galore and in probably the last crossover ever, he lost to Superman in sheer might. Silver Surfer and Blue Marvel are at least equal, but for whatever reason they haven't caught on.

[The Learner]

There are a lot of Superman clones flying around nowadays, like Gladiator and Hyperion . That's why he doesn't look that unique. He is still the guy who is used as the standard for every super powered characters. His power set coupled with his attitude and values, that's rare.

[The Learner]

I have always seen Superman as stronger and more powerful than virtually any other character.

I would love this to be the case. But he is being used to make other characters look impressive by making him job to them.

[Jim Kelly]

Eh? That Superman is not unique is so obvious, it hardly needs mentioning. He comes from a planet where everyone else would have the same powers. He was advertised as the Man of Tomorrow, because presumably everyone in the future would be like him. He even made a public appearance at the World of Tomorrow exhibition for the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Early comics had short features that showed young readers how they could develop abilities to become just like Superman. There was a club you could join called the Supermen of America.

The rush to copy Superman was swift—to the point where Detective Comics sued other publishers. But even at D.C. and the associate publisher, All-American, they were trying to create similar if not exact duplicates of Superman. Eventually, in the Superman stories themselves, rival Supermen showed up on Earth, from Krypton and elsewhere. So a Superman reader was never allowed to believe Superman was unique or meant to be so.

The one marvelous thing about Superman, however, is that despite all the legion of super-heroes that perform the same actions, throughout time and space, there is only one who is regarded by all the others as the most famous and the most accomplished of them all.

[Johnny Thunders!]

Superman's powers are flight, super strength, super speed, super intelligence, super senses, and invulnerability. There are other heroes who take bits and pieces, but Superman has what he has and in unlimited quantity. The challenge for Superman is never, "Can he do it?", the challenge for Superman is, "Should he do it?". And in that I guess, Superman is not unique at all. Now pro-wrestling talk, he's smarter, faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone else./

[The Beast]

Prior to this, how many others had the abilities he had back then?

Only one, Hugo Danner. He was the first fictional character with the trifecta of strength, speed and invulnerability.

[Zodlike]

Only one, Hugo Danner. He was the first fictional character with the trifecta of strength, speed and invulnerability.

Yes, he was.