Though the list always seems to be a work in progress, a writer on Quora tried to come up with a possible way to find the “best” superhero, the question designed to send nerds into heated arguments. And he did so by presenting his views on some of them and try to conduct as much a holistic comparison as possible.
All scores are on a scale to 10. These are personal views and the actual comics might not endorse them. The answer is not an exhaustive list, but I have tried to be as thorough as possible and to include most of the popular superheroes
All average scores have been indicated in the beginning of each section and arranged in a decreasing order from “best” to “better” to “good” and so on.
Superman: 9/10
Abilities & Strengths: 10
Extraordinary super powers, super speed, super strength, laser beams shooting from the eyes, super stamina, x-ray vision, infra red vision, freezing breath, flight; you name it and this guy has it.
Combat Skills: 8
Despite the physical prowess and abilities, nearly all close combats involving Superman are monotonous punch-punch, bam-bam routines with little or no technicalities. The villain always gets knocked out!
Intelligence: 9
The “highly intelligent” Superman is always the first one to fall against a manipulative super villain. Although highly intelligent, his emotions often occlude his decisions and pull him back.
Popularity: 9
The first prints of Superman appeared in 1938 and since then he has risen in popularity, gaining new super powers as the franchise progressed. He might be very close to, if not actually, the most popular superhero.
Revenue Generated: 8other
With decent movie, TV and radio franchises, Superman has never had a dearth of money!
Cultural Impact: 10
The prototype of superheroes, Superman has always been the benchmark for comparison other comic characters, therefore, scores high in a cultural impact.
Batman: 8.7/10
Abilities & Strengths: 7
With no inherent superpowers as such, the only abilities of Batman are his will and intelligence.
Combat Skills: 9
Expert in many martial arts, Batman can give other superheroes a decent run for their money; not to forget the great gadgets the detective has
Intelligence: 10
Highly intelligent; DC portrays Batman as one of the most intelligent characters in DC Multiverse. Batman has often shown resistance against psychopaths and mind tricks
Popularity: 8
With the success of the Nolan trilogy, Batman saw a boom in popularity and became a cult icon for fans searching for different, more realistic superheroes.
Revenue Generated: 10
Due to well-rounded revenues earned by the movies, TV series, animated films and series, video games and other franchise, Bruce Wayne have made its owners rich just like him!
Cultural Impact: 8
With a surging fan following, the popularity and impact on Batman have been increasing since the past decade or so, but still behind Superman.
Wonder Woman: 8.3/10
Abilities & Strengths: 9
Diana was formed from clay by the Queen of the Amazons and was imbued with the attributes of the Greek and Roman gods by Athena – “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, as swift as Hermes, and as strong as Hercules.”
Combat Skills: 10
Essentially a combination of Superman’s power and Batman’s fighting skills, the one thing keeping Wonder Woman from ranking any higher is her lack of perfect invulnerability.
Intelligence: 8
“Wise as Athena”
Popularity: 7
The most popular female superhero, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon.
Revenue Generated: 7
Wonder Woman has been the central character in many comics, all-star issues, TV series, animated series and video games, though none of them as huge as, say, the Batman trilogy or Arkham Asylum comic.
Cultural Impact: 9
As befitting an icon of her status, she has been referenced and meta-referenced beyond the scope of traditional superhero entertainment. For several years in the 50s, the only three superheroes to have their own comic book were Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is a continuing symbol of female empowerment since her inception.
Spiderman: 8/10
Abilities & Strengths: 7
Ability to cling to walls, super strength, ‘spider sense’, and agility help Spiderman wipe out street thugs, but while other superheroes are fighting supervillains on a ‘galactic scale’, Spiderman’s abilities fall short from being useful.
Combat Skills: 7
Hardly has there been great close quarter combats involving Spiderman, but the web slinging superhero has always come up with something to surprise the villains.
Intelligence: 8
The character was originally conceived by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko as intellectually gifted, but not a genius. However, later writers have depicted the character as a genius. and designs his own web slingers and costumes. More intelligent than you or me (or maybe even us combined)!
Popularity: 8
Greatly popular among fans, the spider insignia is well recognized among comic book fans all around the world.
Revenue Generated: 9
With “amazingly successful” comic books, animated series, movies and video games, spiderman has made a lot of money for Marvel, being its flagship superhero. When Marvel became the first comic book company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1991, the Wall Street Journal announced: “Spider-Man is coming to Wall Street”.
Cultural Impact: 9
The nerdy high school student turned superhero provided a break from the sinewy, muscular built stereotypical superheroes and has been the favorite “next door superhero”.
Wait, here are some interesting facts about Spiderman.
Iron Man: 7.8/10
Abilities & Strengths: 8
The suit has them all…you name it and he can do it: flight, combat, missiles, speed, the suit has everything packed in it!
Combat Skills: 7
Tony Stark has little combat skills as compared to other superheroes, but his suit enables him to brawl among the likes of Thor and Hulk.
Intelligence: 10
This guy is incredibly intelligent! He graduated with advanced degrees in physics and engineering at the age of 17 from MIT and creates his own gadgets, qualifying for a perfect 10.
Popularity: 8
Recent increase in popularity since Robert Downy Jr. happened to the franchise!
Revenue Generated: 8
With popular movies and garnering success in recent times, the revenues have increased.
Cultural Impact: 6
The relatively young superhero is yet to grow in stature to fill the shoes of Superman or Batman.
The Hulk: 7.8/10
Abilities & Strengths: 9
With nearly unlimited strength, rapid tissue regeneration powers, and inexhaustible stamina, fighting against the Hulk is just an all-around bad idea. The main reason he doesn’t rank any higher though is due to his lack of other superpowers.
Combat Skills: 10
Although his combats rarely last a few seconds and are all SMASH! SMASH! in nature, the brute force involved ranks high and defines how far pure muscular strength can take you
Intelligence: 5
Although Bruce Banner is considered one of the greatest scientific minds on Earth, possessing “a mind so brilliant it cannot be measured on any known intelligence test”, the irony is that the IQ of a raging Hulk a little more than that of a potato! While in rage, Hulk is just a glorified King Kong, just exponentially more destructive and emotionally fervent.
Popularity: 8
The Hulk and the concepts behind it have been raised to the level of iconic status by many within and outside the comic book industry.
Revenue Generated: 7
Popular comic books, successful movies
Cultural Impact: 8
The Hulk is often viewed as a reaction to war. As well as being a reaction to the Cold War, the character has been a cipher for the frustrations the Vietnam War raised, and Ang Lee said that the Iraq War influenced his direction.
Green Lantern: 6.6/10
Abilities & Strengths: 10
With the basic functioning of the ring, “the most powerful weapon in the universe” based on “willpower”, the abilities of the wielder of the ring are limited only by his or her own imagination. The only real downside is that the ring needs recharging, usually when the direst situations come!
Combat Skills: 7
No close quarter combats involved, but GL fight sequences are a treat to watch due to the sheer imaginativeness!
Intelligence: 6-7
Varies from one Lantern to the other, each being a separate individual, though each one has super human intelligence!
Popularity: 6
A popular comic character, the green lantern oath is probably the best know oath among comic fans!
Revenue Generated: 6
With most of the projects being “group projects” such as the Justice League, Young Justice, Hour of Adventure, etc, GL has appeared in a few animated movies too. Decently popular comics with extensive fictional universe development.
Cultural Impact: 4
Little, if there, of which I am unaware.
Aquaman: 6.3/10
Abilities & Strengths: 9
Aquaman’s powers have at times been highly underestimated. Telepathy, super strength, mind control, regeneration, Aquaman is the master of many powers.
Combat Skills: 8
He has given Superman and the rest of the league a run for their money in some Justice Leagues episodes single-handedly!
Intelligence: 6
Being a telepath, and having the ability to communicate with nonsentient sea life, we expect him to be above average.
Popularity: 5
Aquaman has become a symbol of “uselessness” in pop culture (I don’t know how!) and has never enjoyed as much popularity as other DC characters.
Revenue Generated: 4
Average comic series and no solo attention in the form of any animated series or movies
Cultural Impact: 6
Although an example of mediocrity, a cultural impact nonetheless!
Doctor Manhattan: -/-
Although appearing only in the Watchmen, and a relatively unknown character, I have included him in the list solely because of the unlimited powers he has! Originally modeled on the character of Captain Atom, Manhattan possesses superhuman strength, telekinesis, teleportation, control over matter at a subatomic level, and near-total clairvoyance. He can change the size of his body and duplicate himself at will. He perceives the past, present, and future as happening simultaneously, but states that he cannot act on that knowledge since his own actions and reactions to events.
Abilities & Strengths: 10
Combat Skills: —
Intelligence: 10
Popularity: —
Revenue Generated: —
Cultural Impact: —
If we look at the comics from a different perspective, here we have another short list
Heart – Superman. He is the embodiment of the term Super Hero.
Popularity – Batman. Need We say more?
Coolness – Spiderman. His witty remarks and his fighting style make him every teenager’s dream hero.
Closest to Reality – The Punisher. Just a guy with guns, lots and lots of guns.
Badass – The Wolverine. Face it, nobody would want to mess with him.
Morale – Captain America. He has never given up on his beliefs. Do you want Proof? Civil War!
Technology – Iron Man. He used The Destroyer(Asgardian) armor to build a suit of his own!
Brute Force – The Hulk. He is a raging monster whose solution to every problem is Smashing.
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