Which superheroes would actually be the most powerful in the DCU realistically.

[Zero Hunter]

Element Lad can be a very scary character when he is written without his pacifist nature. Just look at how insanely powerful he was in the Legion Lost mini series. He can literally rip you apart at a genetic level.

[Robotman]

I’ve never been a fan of Firestorm because he’s comedically powerful. He can create actual nukes out of thin air. Which is just stupid as it’s not like changing one element into another because you know the chemical makeup. No, he can someone figure out how all the minuet incredibly complex pieces of a missile (or any device) fit together instantly. Green Lanterns create constructs but they aren’t the actual objects with working parts inside. Firestorm can create ANYTHING out of air.

The only way the character works is by keeping Ronnie an idiot who can’t comprehend the full extent of his powers. He’s basically a god.

He would be a much better character if they just depowered him a bit so he can only change elements.

[9th.]

"Realistically" Barry Allen and Wally West should be able to handle a good 90% of the threats without the world even knowing about it given how fast they are.

I was going to show some love Jonn but it looks like yall got that covered so I'll go with the runner up, this guy

[prepmaster]

I was going to show some love Jonn but it looks like yall got that covered so I'll go with the runner up, this guy

Didn't Captain Atom get rekt by Swamp Thing? (I know that ST beat the likes of Superman and Aquaman as well)

[Superfan90]

Martian Manhunter is hardly the most powerful hero, he has like one story which stated as such. But he is almost always below Superman in power despite what internet would like to believe. He is a stupid character anyway with a mishmash of powers.

[M L A]

Matter Eater Lad could just vore everybody tbh

[Aahz]

If you count him as Superhero probably the Spectre.

[Agent Z]

Flash, Zatanna, Captain Atom, Firestorm and Dr Fate would be right up there.

He is a stupid character anyway with a mishmash of powers.

You really don't see the irony of saying this while you have a Superman avatar?

[achilles]

Unless the Flash is taken by surprise, he probably wins. He literally can move faster than most characters can think. Take MM for example, his telepath is probably useless if the Flash is moving at lightspeed.

Kryptonians are usually second only to the Flashs, so they probably have the best chance against them, but they still are on disadvantage, imo.

But what if the MM is intangible? What is the Flash going to do now? And what is the Flash going to do anyway? How is he going to hurt Superman without killing himself? I like the Flash, but...when they really stretch him, he's just so internally inconsistent with his powers that he's a bit hard to take seriously. Even more when half the powerful heroes DC has have ways of simply being where he can't get to them. And many more have ranged weapons they can use on him without him even noticing them.

But it has occurred to me that this is not what the question was. It wasn't who would win one of those fights between heroes comic books love so much. It was simply, or not so simply, who is the most powerful. Which is nearly impossible to answer without knowing what the OP considers to count as power. Mostly, IMO, just measuring raw potential power, the Spectre wins every time by DC's own admission and by his very definition. By definition in the DCU, nothing beats God. Which means that bar the odd limit on the Spectre's power, (basically the Spear of Destiny can mess him up, and nothing else)...only God himself can reign him in.

Which is why the best Spectre stories concentrate not on whether he can beat the bad guy, but on other struggles he may have. Or on the horror of the situation, from the bad guy's perspective. Which....doesn't make him the best team player IMO. It's the Superman on the JLA problem writ much larger.

[Killerbee911]

Martian Manhunter is hardly the most powerful hero, he has like one story which stated as such. But he is almost always below Superman in power despite what internet would like to believe. He is a stupid character anyway with a mishmash of powers.

Uhmm Martian Manhunter has one of the most broken powerset in comics. Just for fun we are going to take away Super strength, Heat Vision, Super Breath, Flight, and Durability aka I just removed Superman from him. Martian Manhunter still stomps on most DC characters.

1. Invisibility
2. Phasing
3. Shape Shifting
4. Telepathy

That is the ultimate Predator set up. Exactly how do beat a Telepath that you can't hit? Martian Manhunter is the one of most effective Guerrilla hit and run characters in all of comics. And if you force him to stop playing the hit and run game. Oh yeah he is character in the strength tier of Superman. Objectively why would Martian Manhunter try to fight anybody straight up.

I have always been an advocate of taking a bunch of Martian Martian powers away not because those powers make him OP because they are redundant to Superman and Wonder Woman and he can do what they do but in a different way

Top Tier niche Super Strength=Telepathy
Flight=Telekinetics
Super Durability= Phasing, Regeneration
Esoteric Powers eyebeam,cold breath, =Invisibility, Shapeshifiting

Superman is flying Brick, MM is floating Blob. They do functional same thing but differently. All those powers distract writers from his niche(Most powerful Telepath at DC) and less is actually more because Martian Manhunter has an amazing creativity powerset. How many times has MM stuck someone in wall or made himself weight tons to resist damage? MM get powers better with smart use, He is over powering because he has crazy flexibility.

[prepmaster]

Uhmm Martian Manhunter has one of the most broken powerset in comics. Just for fun we are going to take away Super strength, Heat Vision, Super Breath, Flight, and Durability aka I just removed Superman from him. Martian Manhunter still stomps on most DC characters.

1. Invisibility
2. Phasing
3. Shape Shifting
4. Telepathy

That is the ultimate Predator set up. Exactly how do beat a Telepath that you can't hit?

MM is OP but his endurance is not on the same level as Superman's. I remember reading a comics where MM was basically exhausted when he had to fill in the role of a hard hitter Superman against an alien army. MM can phase and strech however he likes but he also needs to be tangible at certain points in a fight to land hits on his opponents if his TP doesnt work against them. Telepathy is the kind of power that either works or doesnt. I believe that even Batman has tech that protects him from telepathic assaults.

[Killerbee911]

MM is OP but his endurance is not on the same level as Superman's. I remember reading a comics where MM was basically exhausted when he had to fill in the role of a hard hitter Superman against an alien army. MM can phase and strech however he likes but he also needs to land hits on his opponents if his TP doesnt work against them. Telepathy is the kind of power that either works or doesnt. I believe that even Batman has tech that protects him from telepathic assaults.

Moving past that is probably one of those moments that writers love to do at expense of other characters. Again yes MM can fight like a heavy hitter against an alien army but why would he do that? He can

1. Use Telepathy to attack them or turn them against each other
2. Turn himself into members of the alien army and start attacking other members, causing them to fight against each other
3. He can turn himself into the Alien commander make the army stop attacking
4.Use Telekinetics
5. Go invisible and picking off people popping in and out of stealth
6. Incapacitate people with phasing
7. Incapactiate people with shapeshifting, You can't breathe with a tentacle in your throat

Why in the world would MM fight like a Hammer when he is better at fighting like a scalpel? Saying MM can't fight as well as Superman at what Superman is the best at silly imo. MM can do all things I mention above AND do a pretty good impression of fighting like Superman that is why he is Overpowered. MM is the X-men Xavier but he has also Kitty, Invisible Woman, Reed, Mystique, and Superman powers. Fighting like Superman would/should be the last resort and is not the scariest tools in his belt.

[LordAllMIghty]

Most magic users.

Most of DC's speedsters would be limited in their speed feats because of real world physics.

[Ra-El]

But what if the MM is intangible? What is the Flash going to do now? And what is the Flash going to do anyway? How is he going to hurt Superman without killing himself? I like the Flash, but...when they really stretch him, he's just so internally inconsistent with his powers that he's a bit hard to take seriously. Even more when half the powerful heroes DC has have ways of simply being where he can't get to them. And many more have ranged weapons they can use on him without him even noticing them.

But it has occurred to me that this is not what the question was. It wasn't who would win one of those fights between heroes comic books love so much. It was simply, or not so simply, who is the most powerful. Which is nearly impossible to answer without knowing what the OP considers to count as power. Mostly, IMO, just measuring raw potential power, the Spectre wins every time by DC's own admission and by his very definition. By definition in the DCU, nothing beats God. Which means that bar the odd limit on the Spectre's power, (basically the Spear of Destiny can mess him up, and nothing else)...only God himself can reign him in.

Which is why the best Spectre stories concentrate not on whether he can beat the bad guy, but on other struggles he may have. Or on the horror of the situation, from the bad guy's perspective. Which....doesn't make him the best team player IMO. It's the Superman on the JLA problem writ much larger.

If the Flash attacks first MM won't be able to become intagible. He also can phase trough walls, right? So he probably can ripp Superman's heart from inside his body.

The Flash could possibly wake up one day, decide to take down the entire JL and do it before breakfast, he is the most OP character on the Justice League, people usually point at Superman, but it is the Flash.

[NaVi]

Please do not include superman in this discussion, even I can kill him if I have kryptonite, or a red flashlight (if I remember correctly, they once weakened him just because the light is red). The most powerful by far is flash, he can hit with a force comparable to superman, but he is 1 million times faster, he can steal speed, see the future, only with that he wins the entire league.