DC Characters
Superman
What can you say about this guy? He’s the most iconic comic book character ever, he’s saved earth a stupid number of times, and… he’s fucking Superman!
Character Background
Born as Kal-El (or Kal-L, depending on what universe you’re in) on the planet Krypton, he was rocketed to Earth as an infant by his mother and father just before his home world was destroyed. He flew through space until he landed in Smallville, U.S.A., where the Kent family adopted him and gave him the name, “Clark.” His powers became evident at an early age, but luckily his adoptive parents gave him a very strong moral code, which is why we have superhero instead of a megalomaniac. As he grew up he decided to fight crime disguised as the unmistakable symbol of peace and justice; Superman.
Powers and Abilities
Superman has a power for pretty much every situation. He can fly faster than a speeding bullet, which is very fast, but not the fastest out of superheroes. He also has super strength, able to toss cars like baseballs at anyone he needs dead. His body is also extremely dense, able to shake off direct hits from mortar shells and other explosives. He also has various vision powers, like heat vision, x-ray vision, and infrared (he’s like Predator with eyebeams!) as well as super hearing. He can even blow air at a tremendous rate, sometimes able to freeze whatever he’s aiming at. His powers are derived from direct sunlight, which is a major advantage, since he can recharge continuously on a nice day, and on a cloudy day he can just fly above the clouds.
Weaknesses
By far the most potent weakness Superman has is that of kryptonite, which is radioactive pieces of his home world Krypton. Fortunately for him, most of his opponents won’t have access to it, so he’s going to be a tough kill. Slashes and stabs will have very limited effect on him, since he’s so damn dense. The best way to take him down is blunt force, or even shockwaves, since getting him to stumble is going to be a major part in stopping him from recovering his power. Very fast, concentrated attacks are going to be necessary to take down this beast of a man.
Martian Manhunter
Undoubtedly one of the most underrated and underappreciated characters in superhero history, this guy has been called the most powerful being on the face of the Earth by Superman, who is not known for his modesty.
Character Background
Not too much is known about this guy, other than the obvious green-skinned Martian part. He got to Earth due to a botched communication attempt made by a scientist, which ended up teleporting Manhunter to Earth. The encounter gave the scientist a heart attack, which killed him, so Manhunter figured that since he was stuck here, he might as well be a superhero until his buddies on Mars come and pick him up. He took up the identity of a man named John Jones (though he spells it J’onn J’onzz for some reason) and has been kicking ass with the Justice League ever since.
Powers and Abilities
This guy is like a jacked up version of Superman as far as his powers go. He has pretty much all of Superman’s powers, including his strength, flight, speed, vision powers, breath, and invulnerability, and all to about the same degree as Superman himself. On top of those, he can also shapeshift, allowing him to grow, shrink, or change his shape to a form more suitable to a situation. This shapeshifting also allows him to regenerate parts of himself by absorbing the mass of anything, including straight from Earth, and morphing it into a fully functional body part he was previously without for whatever reason. He also has telepathy, so he can read the mind of anyone unable to resist it. Also, he can become intangible and pass through solid objects. More Also, he can become invisible, but at the expense of most of his powers. Still More Also, he can absorb energy beams and waves and such. Finally done? Goodness, with this list of powers, why not give him the win right now…
Weaknesses
Unfortunately, he’s weak to fire, a very common and easy to make substance. By weak to fire, I mean he gets hurt by small amounts, and turns into a green goo with large amounts. Because of this he is also (very reasonably so) pyrophobic, and will think much less about fighting and much more about getting the fuck away from his death substance, allowing his enemy to get in a few good hits. Anyone who knows this will be able to exploit it endlessly, possibly even using it to kill him once and for all.
The Flash
Often dismissed as simply “the really fast guy” Flash actually possesses a number of speed related powers that most don’t know about. He is really fast though. Like really really fast. Remember the end of Superman where he flys around the earth fast enough to go back in time? He can actually do that, except faster.
Background Information
Barry Allen was a simple forensic scientist with a reputation for being slow, deliberate, and often late, when one night, a lightning bolt struck a case full of chemicals, spilling their contents all over his body. When he woke up, he found he could run extremely fast, so he donned a red costume and fought crime as…
THE FLASH!
Powers and Abilities
The Flash’s powers all have to do with speed, and because of how fucking fast he is they are actually very useful. For one, he can run faster than the speed of light on cruise, and up to ten times the speed of light if he is pushing himself to his absolute limit (though he never gets that fast because of how dangerous it is to himself and everyone around him. For comparison, the Sun’s light, which is 93 million miles from Earth, gets to Earth in just over 8 minutes. The friction from him moving that fast would light the air around him on fire. His reflexes are equally as fast, making him quite possibly the hardest bastard to hit with an attack. He can also vibrate his body fast enough to phase through solid matter, which also allows him to explode matter (heads) by phasing his hand through it and turning off the vibrations (or whatever he does) while it’s still inside. He also has an accelerated healing factor, and can heal from injuries almost instantaneously. He is even immune to mind reading, since he can shift his thoughts faster than anyone can read them. And yes, he can run fast enough to travel back in time, but that has no practical use during a fight like this. Unless of course he wants to go back in time and kill his opponent before the fight starts, but that’s cheating, and the Dude does not abide cheating.
Weaknesses
While he doesn’t have any hardcore weaknesses like the two guys above, one disability he has that others could take advantage of is his inability to fly. He can run up buildings like a mother, which he could conceivably use to get some height, but he has very little control at that point, and he’s much more vulnerable in the air than on the ground. He can’t even jump very high, so he’s purely a ground fighter. Luckily, his speed and reflexes will make it nearly impossible for anyone high enough to stay away from him to hit him with anything, and Flash never gets tired, so they’ll have to come down eventually.
The Green Lantern
So he’s got a cool ring, why does that make him so special?
Character Background
As a boy, Hal Jordan idolized his father, who was a test pilot at a military air base. He then got to see him die in a plane crash. Fun stuff. Despite this experience, he still followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the air force. Years later, an alien crash-landed on Earth and Hal was the first to try to help him, to no avail. The dead alien’s power ring chose Hal as its next wearer for his ability to overcome his fears. HE agreed, and became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, and eventually the Justice League.
Powers and Abilities
All of his powers come from his power ring, which derives its power from the wearer’s willpower. All of the offensive and defensive capabilities of this ring are limited by Hal Jordan’s willpower. I said that twice to emphasize it, because that’s the only limiting factor in its power. It can surround Jordan with a force field, complete with life support capabilities. It also allows him to fly, and this ability can be used in conjunction with his other abilities as well (most abilities can only be used one at a time.) The ring can also make various weapons, like hammers and maces, come out of it, and the size of the weapons are limited only by his imagination and willpower. The most potent offensive ability, however, stems from its ability to shoot plasma beams out of it, with intensities that are limited by… you get the idea.
Weaknesses
The Green Lantern‘s only weakness is that he can’t use his abilities simultaneously, which can be very limiting since his main defensive ability is incompatible with his offensive abilities. Of course, without willpower, Hal Jordan is powerless, but when you have what is consistently described as the “most powerful weapon in the universe” at your disposal, you can get cocky, which might make you a bit of a dick, but Jordan rarely admits defeat because of it, which allows his ring to stay powerful in the worst of situations.
Batman
One of the only characters in comic book history to have kept a consistent story and appearance since his first appearance, Batman has no superpowers, but has enough training and equipment to be a threat to most any being in the world.
Character Background (Seriously, who doesn’t know this story at this point?)
When Bruce Wayne was just a boy, he saw his parents get shot and killed in front of him, and the killer was never caught. Because of this, he became dedicated to training his mind and body to fight crime to the best of anyone’s ability. At age 14 he started traveling the world, studying at various universities and under many martial arts instructors, so that by age 18, he was at peak physical conditioning and one of the smartest men in the world. When he set off to fight, crime, he felt something was missing, so he used his childhood fear of bats as inspiration for his costume. Also he’s a billionaire.
Equipment and Abilities
Batman is one of the few superheroes that has no inherent superhuman abilities. Despite this, he has the longest list of abilities I have ever seen. He can bench press over a thousand pounds, run as fast as an Olympic athlete, dodge a bullet from point blank range, and beat out a master ninja in a test of agility. His endurance is also crazy, able to hold his breath for over 3 minutes and continue to fight unfazed by multiple gunshot wounds. He also has enough willpower to wield the ring of a green lantern if necessary. He is a master of stealth, martial arts, and marksmanship, so he can get into a room undetected, take out the first three guys with throwing knives, and knock out the last 8 with his fists. As far as intellect goes, he is a genius in every science ever used in solving a crime anywhere, he is a master tactician, and he is an expert at escaping from sticky situations. As far as equipment goes, to say he is “packing” would be an understatement of the highest degree. His batsuit is composed mainly of Kevlar with bits of titanium, so it’s bullet-proof, explosion resistant, flame retardant, and radiation resistant (it also has lead.) His gloves and boots have been designed to rebound with the impact of his punches and kicks, and he has retractable blades on his forearms as well. His cape can be used to glide, and his mask has a bunch of hearing and vision enhancements, including, x-ray, sonar, telescopic, infrared, and night vision. Finally done? Nope, because he also has a belt with tons of fun stuff in it, like plastic explosives, a grappling hook, nerve-gas pellets, and different types of batarangs, like some that can electrocute on impact. He even has a kryptonite ring given to him by Superman in case he was ever used for evil. Boy is he going to regret that decision.
Weaknesses
All of Batman’s weaknesses stem from his lack of superpowers. He may be strong, but compared to Superman he’s nothing, and his speed is less than nothing compared to The Flash. His intellect is one that is great enough to find solutions to many of these problems, mainly because most superheroes have some specific weakness he can exploit, but it’s going to be very hard for him to counter someone who has no exploitable weaknesses…
Captain Atom
Possibly the most unknown character on this list, Captain Atom is actually one of most powerful beings in the universe at this point in time, but for fairness sake I’m using him from the time before he absorbed 51 versions of himself and gained the power to create and destroy universes… because that’s insane.
Character Background
Nathanial Adam was an Air Force officer in Vietnam who was framed for a crime he didn’t do and sentenced to death. Instead of execute him normally, however, the government put him inside an alien spacecraft and explode a nuke directly below it, because fuck him apparently. The metal from the spacecraft melded into his skin and the energy from the blast sent him forward in time 20 years. When he came back, he found he had the power to absorb and control any type of energy in any way he wanted.
Powers and Abilities
Captain Atom’s most potent ability is his ability to absorb and control energy of any form. The more energy he absorbs, the more powerful he becomes, so any energy-based attacks will serve no other purpose than to help him win. His manipulation abilities can be used for many ways, force fields, energy blasts, ect. But what will really set him apart from everyone else is his ability to duplicate living organisms, including superheroes. If he’s fighting Martian Manhunter, than he can create a fully functional version of Martian Manhunter to fight on his side, albeit not quite as strong as the original. He can also “detonate,” which is him releasing massive amounts of energy into what is essentially a nuclear explosion with him at the epicenter. He can also convert the energy into increased strength and speed for himself, as well as the ability to fly. These abilities come from his metallic armor made from the spacecraft that he was in when he got the powers, and the armor itself is basically a set of Superman skin in that it’s damn hard to get through.
Weaknesses
Captain Atom’s power does not come without any consequences, however, as he has a tendency to make random quantum leaps in time and space whenever he has absorbed a particularly large amount of energy. While it won’t kill him outright, this will count as a loss for Atom, and wherever and whenever he ends up, Galactus and Doomsday will be there to kill him for good.
Cyborg
Better known through his tenure with the Teen Titans, later in his career Cyborg actually became an integral member of the Justice League once Martian Manhunter went back to his homeworld.
Character Background
Victor Stone’s parents were scientists, and used him as a test subject for various intelligence-enhancing procedures. He eventually grew to resent this, however, and fell into a rough crowd of miscreants, where he got into trouble on many occasions. One day, however, he visited his parents at their laboratory while they were conducting an experiment in dimensional travel (which, studies show, have a 80% chance of creating a superhero one way or another.) Something bad happened, and suddenly an octopus from Hellboy was there, and it killed Victor’s mother. It then went for Victor, and it horrifyingly mutilated him before Vic’s father forced it back through the portal. His father saved him by equipping him with various cybernetic enhancements, which he eventually learned to use with superhuman results.
Powers and Abilities
Cyborg possesses a number of abilities normally associated with Cyborgs. For example; his cybernetic enhancements provide a natural body armor, and he can lift in excess of 4 tons without straining himself. He’s also very fast and can jump very far. His bones have also been reinforced with molybdenum, which is a very strong and dense metal, so he has what is essentially a second set of armor underneath his skin. His cybernetic eye can see in infrared, and he can hear much better than normal humans as well. His most useful ability, however, is his ability to shape-shift into pretty much any mechanical vehicle, including tanks and aircraft. This shape-shifting can also be used on individual parts of his body allowing his feet to turn into jets and his arm to turn into laser cannons, among other things.
Weaknesses
Cyborg doesn’t have any real weaknesses. He’s probably one of the most well balanced participants in this tournament, defensively anyways. I suppose he’s most vulnerable at close range against one of the stronger guys, but he’s not exactly defenseless there either. I guess the best way to kill him is to just bash him into oblivion. Fun.
Wonder Woman
Make sure all children are out of the room when Google image searching wonder woman…
Character Background
Alright, Wonder Woman’s backstory is insane. Her mother was Hyppolyta, she was born out of some clay with the soul of an unborn lady-fetus, and the clay was infused with powers endowed to her by the Greek pantheon. Also, she was born on an Amazon island of pure women (hell) and came to America as an ambassador who didn’t speak any English. Told you.
Powers and Abilities
She’s got super human strength on par with Superman, and durability to match (though she is more susceptible to non-energy/magic based attacks.) She also has an accelerated healing factor from her Amazonian race. She’s very fast too; second only to the Flash within the Justice League, with reflexes that match it. She uses these reflexes in conjunction with her indestructible bracelets to block any attack. She is immune to telepathy and proficient with nearly any weapon ever made. She also has enhanced senses and is a master strategist. Her intelligence is second only to Batman, and her wisdom is second to Manhunter. She also wields the lasso of truth, which is one of the dumbest weapons ever created, and is only useful in that it is indestructible unless the truth is challenged, so she can bind people with it. Her tiara can also be used as a weapon, and is sharp enough to cut Superman. Also, she can fly.
Weaknesses
Her major weakness is that she can be hurt by piercing weapons and attacks. She still has a degree of defense against it, and her bracelets can deflect most of the attacks, however something as simple as bullets can hurt her. Her ability to take concussive force is huge though, as she’s been able to survive a blast from a nuke. She also has an oddly specific and archaic weakness that, while situational, can be a major weakness; she loses her powers when her hands are bounded voluntarily by a man. It won’t really be a problem in this tournament, but it’s interesting to note.
Marvel guys should be done by next weekend, then the tournament can start.
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