How Strong Is Captain America?

[pageturner]

As strong as the plot needs him to be that day. Cap is kind of an authors pet that way.

but who isn't especially among the not super strength set. Our noble hero reaches down and find the strength to ...

[DrNewGod]

As strong as the plot needs him to be that day. Cap is kind of an authors pet that way.

IMO, that's a flaw in the writer

[pageturner]

IMO, that's a flaw in the writer

it is a matter of degree. If her is lifting a bus then that makes no sense if he is just a little unrealistic I can let it go.

[Sin Nick]

I've always saw Cap on par with Wolverine as far as strength goes. Maybe just a tad lower because of Logan's adamantium bones and his ability to push himself further because of his mutation. Whatever strength feats Logan has pulled off, I can see them being replicated by Cap and vice versa.

[davew128]

I've always saw Cap on par with Wolverine as far as strength goes. Maybe just a tad lower because of Logan's adamantium bones and his ability to push himself further because of his mutation. Whatever strength feats Logan has pulled off, I can see them being replicated by Cap and vice versa.

Cap is stronger than Logan. Period. Logan can push beyond normal person limits because of his mutation and adamantium skeleton yes, but only to the limits his size and athleticism would ordinarily reach. Cap's is beyond that. Where Logan matches Cap is in endurance, where his healing factor might match the SSS. Certainly Logan cannot run or jump like Cap, at 5' 2" with extra weight from the adamantium, he could never match it.

[JudicatorPrime]

I've always saw Cap on par with Wolverine as far as strength goes. Maybe just a tad lower because of Logan's adamantium bones and his ability to push himself further because of his mutation. Whatever strength feats Logan has pulled off, I can see them being replicated by Cap and vice versa.

When I first saw Wolverine and found out about his adamantium laced skeleton and the fact that he tussled with a Wendigo and the Hulk, I thought for sure that he had superhuman strength. Just carrying the extra weight of adamantium -- which while light is not a zero-weight nonfactor -- should make him physically stronger than your peak human. I figured Logan would be in the 1 - 3 ton range, increasing to the five and dime threshold when he was having a psychotic, berserker episode. But then OHOTMU came out and spoiled my day. He had human scores strength-wise roughly on par with a top high school or college football player. It didn't make sense. Hopefully, they changed that.

[MichaelC]

When I first saw Wolverine and found out about his adamantium laced skeleton and the fact that he tussled with a Wendigo and the Hulk, I thought for sure that he had superhuman strength. Just carrying the extra weight of adamantium -- which while light is not a zero-weight nonfactor -- should make him physically stronger than your peak human. I figured Logan would be in the 1 - 3 ton range, increasing to the five and dime threshold when he was having a psychotic, berserker episode. But then OHOTMU came out and spoiled my day. He had human scores strength-wise roughly on par with a top high school or college football player. It didn't make sense. Hopefully, they changed that.

The idea that the adamantium is heavy is actually fairly new. Back in the day, the implication seemed to be that it wasn't any heavier than it would be to wrap aluminum foil on your skeleton.

[Alan2099]

The idea that the adamantium is heavy is actually fairly new. Back in the day, the implication seemed to be that it wasn't any heavier than it would be to wrap aluminum foil on your skeleton.

I remember one comic where they specified that he only had ten pounds of metal in him.

Somehow that became 100 pounds over the years.

[davew128]

I remember one comic where they specified that he only had ten pounds of metal in him.

Somehow that became 100 pounds over the years.

Well it was around 1980 where it was shown that he was a lot heavier than he looks when Kitty had trouble dragging him out of a cage after being captured by the Hellfire Club. Not that I would expect a 13 year old girl to be very strong, but where Logan wasn't taller than her, it was surprising.

[MichaelC]

I remember one comic where they specified that he only had ten pounds of metal in him.

Somehow that became 100 pounds over the years.

Yeah, I never liked that retcon. Adamantium is indestructible. There's no real advantage to having a ton of the stuff. The old version where it was basically as heavy as it would be to wrap all your bones in aluminum foil was fine.

Having Wolverine always lugging around a hundred pounds just sounds wrong and silly for that character. He's a light, quick character, not a lumbering colossus.

[Sutekh]

When I first saw Wolverine and found out about his adamantium laced skeleton and the fact that he tussled with a Wendigo and the Hulk, I thought for sure that he had superhuman strength.

Back when he tussled with Wendigo and the Hulk, his mutant power was super-speed (and his claws came off when he took off his gloves, being part of his outfit), and he mainly got through it by moving far too fast for either of him to lay a paw on him.

Obviously a lot has changed since then.

But yeah, due to the nature of his powers, constantly regenerating damaged tissue, which is how one bulks up, he should be a musclebound little fireplug of a man, like if Danny DeVito and Arnold Scharzeneggar had a kid, and stronger than he looks. If he can run or react quickly (or jump, or *swim*) even a little bit, the adamantium has to be pretty light, and his physical strength has to be able to compensate for it. (Granted, this is a guy whose ranged utility is 'get Colossus to throw me at it.')

[Alan2099]

Well it was around 1980 where it was shown that he was a lot heavier than he looks when Kitty had trouble dragging him out of a cage after being captured by the Hellfire Club. Not that I would expect a 13 year old girl to be very strong, but where Logan wasn't taller than her, it was surprising.

Heavier than he looks doesn't really mean much. Besides, while Logan is short, he's also pretty bulky. It's not surprising that it's hard to guess his weight by looking at him.

[theoneandonly]

I wonder if they are evenly matched in the strength department as both seem weaker than spider man. speaking of spider man in spider man vs wolverine he specified that spidey could kill him by snapping his neck if he used his full strength. does that indicate he has admantium protection for his lungs and spidey can twist it if he used his full strength otherwise he pretty much would have normal neck muscles and it wouldn't take him any more strength than breaking a normal persons neck to stop him unless he is referring to his healing factor which would have healed all his wounds expect a neck snap for some reason.

[DrNewGod]

I wonder if they are evenly matched in the strength department as both seem weaker than spider man. speaking of spider man in spider man vs wolverine he specified that spidey could kill him by snapping his neck if he used his full strength. does that indicate he has admantium protection for his lungs and spidey can twist it if he used his full strength otherwise he pretty much would have normal neck muscles and it wouldn't take him any more strength than breaking a normal persons neck to stop him unless he is referring to his healing factor which would have healed all his wounds expect a neck snap for some reason.

I assume you're comparing Wolverine and Captain America. Probably pretty close. In the original Contest of Champions mini-Wolverine and Black Panther wound up tangling, and they looked pretty even. As Cap and BP have always been roughly equals, I'd guess that would mean Wolverine's in their club too.

[JudicatorPrime]

I wonder if they are evenly matched in the strength department as both seem weaker than spider man. speaking of spider man in spider man vs wolverine he specified that spidey could kill him by snapping his neck if he used his full strength. does that indicate he has admantium protection for his lungs and spidey can twist it if he used his full strength otherwise he pretty much would have normal neck muscles and it wouldn't take him any more strength than breaking a normal persons neck to stop him unless he is referring to his healing factor which would have healed all his wounds expect a neck snap for some reason.

I'm not sure what is the current standard, but back in the day it was said that Wolverine's bones were only laced with adamantium, not every inch of bone wrapped in adamantium. From a physiological standpoint, blood still needs to get to bone from the soft tissue and such, so in theory there's no way for his skeletal structure to be completely covered by the metal. Plus there are the joints, cartilage, etc., to consider. My guess is that someone sufficiently strong should be able to fracture Wolverine's bones in some places. Believe it or not, it doesn't take much. Even the tiniest hairline fracture can be really painful. Fortunately, Wolverine's healing factor saves the day. I'm not sure if that necessarily means that if the bone isn't properly reset that it will heal per the original design structure.