Ranking Marvel characters

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:31 am

Interesting typo.

Civil War. And I can't imagine Thor would be on the side he appears to be on. I'm betting either it's not him, or he's posing for some reason.

Post by **matrixman** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 3:06 am

Thor is great. One of my favorite comic book heroes. Honestly the only Marvel character I ever really cared about, besides Spider-man. Well, okay, Silver Surfer has my sympathies, too. (Yes, I know, this is the wrong thread to discuss favorites.)

Fist, I just wanted to compliment you on your posts here. As I'm an ignoramus about much of the Marvel universe (admittedly, by conscious choice), you've helped to enlighten me. I know, I can't be bothered to peruse Marvel's website to learn stuff for myself.

Now where's aTOMiC, the other authoritative voice on Marvel characters?

Surely he could also enlighten us further. Or me, at any rate.

Ooh, let's see a debate between Fist and aTOMiC on this topic! It would be a cosmic clash that Thanos could only dream about.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 3:19 am

Why, thank you!

Post by **sgt.null** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:20 am

I get no love.

Wonder Man stopped being human after he died.
Thor is a god.

so I would say that the Hulk is the strongest human. the Thing has been shown to be just a notch below him in brute strength, but the Hulk has a healing factor.

I am not sure what Sentry is, I have the miniseries, but he has an origin after that?

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 7:11 am

Who is the most powerful woman?

I've never considered the Thing to be anywhere close to the Hulk, but I guess I'm wrong.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:13 pm

Yeah, sarge. But dlb didn't ask for a ranking of only humans. I limited his question to those with Earth origins. Otherwise, the Celestials would possibly be the winner in every category. (Damn, anybody remember them taking out the Destroyer armor when it had grown to their size from being infused with the essence of all the Asgardians but Thor? In Thor #300. Excellent stuff!

)

dlbpharmd wrote:Who is the most powerful woman?

I imagine She Hulk is extremely strong, but I don't really know her.

Carol Danvers was darned tough when she was originally Ms. Marvel. I think even tougher as Binary. I don't know the origin or levels of her current powers, but she's very powerful.

Storm is capable of much more than we usually see. She does subtle things, like making individual people fly, very well. Bigger storms are easy. But she could likely mess with the entire planet's weather if she really wanted to. She did a good job of it when Doom froze her into a statue.

The most powerful woman has got to be whichever one has the Phoenix Force in her. The only thing holding her back is herself. Rachel defeated Galactus, and even the Beyonder couldn't stop her at one point.

Speaking of the Beyonder, the Molecule Man should be counted among the most powerful beings ever. He had an unconsciously self-imposed inability to mess with living matter, but, basically, he was another Beyonder if he wanted to be. He could have done anything he wanted to do.

dlbpharmd wrote:I've never considered the Thing to be anywhere close to the Hulk, but I guess I'm wrong.

It depends largely on which comic the battle takes place in. Also which Hulk it is.

Post by **sgt.null** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:58 am

well we should efine what sort of power then. brute strength I would also go with She-Hulk. although Wonder Woman is the better fighter. and wouldn't Princess Power be comparable to Wonder Woman?

on the male side, the Hyperion from Exiles was damn near indestructable, only taken down by his own arrogance.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:54 am

I had been thinking about the Squadron Supreme. There's supposed to be a Squadon/Avengers crossover coming up soon, at the end of which one character from each team will stay with the other team. The current Hyperion is extremely powerful. And yes, Power Princess is very tough. (She also walks around naked a lot. Which is very cool.)

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:20 am

Is Mjolnir the most powerful weapon?

Post by **dennisrwood** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:29 am

the Ultimite Nullifer and the Cosmic Cube both outpower it. a Green Lantern ring is as powerful as the person using it, so it would depend on the wearer.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 12:32 pm

To be more precise, a GL ring (Although we're in a Marvel thread. Heh) is as powerful as the user's willpower and imagination. A Kryptonian or Daxamite is not automatically a powerful GL. But the potential of the ring is extreme.

And I guess the same can be said of the Nullifier (LOL! Nullifier!) and Cube. The Nullifier is particularly interesting. I wonder how thoroughly the image of the target must be in the user's mind. In a What If, Korvac nullified the entire universe. Obviously, most characters could not envision the entire universe. But could Johnny Storm really have envisioned the totality of Galactus? Or is the image of him enough?

Post by **dlbpharmd** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 2:34 pm

In the DC mythos, the power ring is listed as the most powerful weapon.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:04 pm

It's true that Hal was always very powerful even when the writers were not very imaginative. A gigantic boxing glove can still be a great weapon. But Englehart's Silver Surfer used his power in amazing ways; ways which any GL could also use.

Post by **sgt.null** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:09 am

Fist: maybe Johnny was the best choice to hold the Nullifier (I did miss the pun.) because his scope was limited? some others might start to imagine all the damage they could do. Johnny seems pretty task specific.

I would discount most magic items for most powerful becasue so few could use them. the cube and nullifier seem easily activated.

could you imagine sone like the Punisher with a power ring?

Post by **Xar** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:38 am

About powerful items, remember the infinity gems (the Infinity Gauntlet was the most powerful item in Marvel continuity, although now it doesn't work anymore; it gave omnipotent power to anybody who wore it, as seen in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline in the hands of Thanos, Nebula and Warlock).

sgtnull wrote:I am not sure what Sentry is, I have the miniseries, but he has an origin after that?

Well, my last comics date back to three months ago (the new batch is back in Italy, I'll get it when I go home for Christmas), but Sentry was introduced in the new Avengers comics. Basically his origin story is the same as in the miniseries, which technically makes him immortal as well; in the new Avengers comics it was revealed that in the end, he was the one whose mental powers made sure that nobody remembered him, after he had been unknowingly conditioned by Mastermind and the General into doing so. Void was apparently a "fail-safe" the two villains installed so that whenever Sentry were about to remember all about himself and his powers, Void would appear and distract him, possibly leading him to erasing his memories again. And the only way his subconscious had found to try and awaken Sentry had been to inspire Paul Jenkins (the author of the Sentry miniseries, if I recall correctly) into writing a series of comics based on the Sentry character!

Post by **___** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 12:36 pm

I'm the strongest one there is. That's the only rank that counts.

Post by **sgt.null** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:00 pm

Xar: if so, his only weakness would be the mental tampering? because unless there is some Senrtynite somewhere there would be no defeating him. this is the problem I also have with Superman. if you make them so powerful how can he be bothered by Luthor. such powerful characters work when matched against other powerful characters. a battle between Hulk and Zod should destroy half the nation...

Post by **A Gunslinger** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:02 pm

sgt null. I really dig Wonderman myself. I doubt he is any stronger than the likes of Thor, the Surfer, etc. It would be interesting to see him battle the Hulk. I think he would smoke the Thing.

Post by **sgt.null** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:15 pm

I think Wonder Man has the advantage of not being a living being, so you can't kill him. if you break his physical form he can get it back. as for pure strength? he should be somewhere between the Thing and the Hulk.

Post by **Xar** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:12 pm

sgtnull wrote:Xar: if so, his only weakness would be the mental tampering? because unless there is some Senrtynite somewhere there would be no defeating him. this is the problem I also have with Superman. if you make them so powerful how can he be bothered by Luthor. such powerful characters work when matched against other powerful characters. a battle between Hulk and Zod should destroy half the nation...

Well, the last issue I read before coming back here (and thus losing access to comics until Christmas

) seemed to imply that; obviously there must be something more, otherwise it doesn't explain how he could be captured for the mental tampering to happen in the first place. The Sentry miniseries was deliberately vague about what he could do - we saw him flying, showing super-strength and invulnerability, having a calming effect on the Hulk (the dumb Hulk remembered he is Bruce Banner when around Sentry), telepathy and so on; in the Avengers comics, we saw him flying out of the atmosphere and ripping Carnage in half with his bare hands. The appearance of Void suggests Sentry's powers - whether mental or not - involve the ability to give physical substance to creations of his mind, but that's not too uncommon among telepaths and telekinetists in Marvel comics. In the miniseries, he was said to be the most powerful and the first of all superheroes... but I'm not sure anybody has fully explored Sentry's powers.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Ranking Marvel characters