Superpowers (also super powers or simply powers) is another term for superhuman abilities, that is, any abilities that a human cannot possess. The term is mainly used in superhero comic books but also in other media such as cartoons. The term includes normal human abilities but at a level too great for a human to have, such as superhuman strength. It also includes abilities that might not be very impressive or useful, such as the ability to change the color of an object at will, as long as it is an act that humans cannot perform except perhaps with special equipment. By that same token, a character that derives his powers from equipment (such as Green Lantern’s power ring) is not actually considered to be superhuman. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Superhero (disambiguation). ... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Cartoons started in the 1930s and 40s. ... The three of the four (Alan Scotts Starheart powered ring exlcuded) known variants of the power ring Zamaron (magenta), Oan (green), and Qwardian (yellow). ...

Overview

"Superpowers" are typically considered fictional (or science-fictional); however, some powers are based on existing forces, such as the abilities of animals, the capacities of machines, or the forces of nature. Others are completely imaginary. Certain types of superhuman abilities, such as psychic powers, are believed by some people to be real. The scientific study of the paranormal investigates the possibility of their existence. Some scientists (and some science fiction stories) posit that humans may someday have superior powers through the use of bionics or genetic manipulation. Edgar Cayce (1877 – 1945) was one of the best-known American psychics of the 20th century and made many highly publicized predictions. ... Paranormal is an umbrella term used to describe a wide variety of reported anomalous phenomena. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Bionics (also known as biomimetics, biognosis, biomimicry, or bionical creativity engineering) is the application of methods and systems found in nature to the study and design of engineering systems and modern technology. ... Genetic engineering, genetic modification (GM), and gene splicing (once in widespread use but now deprecated) are terms for the process of manipulating genes in an organism, usually outside of the organisms normal reproductive process. ...

Originally, superpowers were poorly described. Superhuman characters simply were able to achieve whatever the narrator or writer of a story needed him or her to do to fulfill its part in the story. This was also true in the early years of superhero comic books. As the years passed and more characters were created, however, a greater variety of abilities was invented, in an effort to be distinctive. An example of this can be seen in the way Superman’s powers developed over the years. Certain comic book series were created specifically to explore the possible varieties of superpowers. Examples of this include DC Comics’ Legion of Superheroes (which included the concept of would-be members being required to pass tests to determine if their powers were useful) and Marvel Comics’ X-Men series, where a school for training mutants to use their powers was a central concept. Characters with multiple powers, often copied or stolen from others, such as the android Amazo or the Super-Skrull also started to appear. Superman is a fictional character and comic book superhero , originally created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster and published by DC Comics. ... DC Comics is an American comic book and related media company. ... The Legion of Super-Heroes is a team of comic book superheroes in the future. ... This article is about the comic book company. ... The X-Men are a group of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. ... This article is concerns biological mutants; for fictional aspects see Mutant (fictional) A mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a sudden structural change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the... Amazo is a fictional android from DC Comics. ... The Super-Skrull (Klrt) is a fictional character who appears in the Marvel Universe. ...

In the 1970’s, role playing games began to develop, and soon superhero-based ones were developed as well. The game designers were faced with the dilemma of how to catalogue superpowers for their use in the games. At first the designers simply borrowed names and effects from the comics; however they soon realized that there was a redundancy of abilities as some characters' powers differed from others only in minor details like name or visible effects. The Champions roleplaying game took a radical departure in describing powers by their effects rather than their causes; for example a laser and a lightning bolt were both considered to be versions of the same power, named Ranged Attack. Another fact they realized is that some powers were simply more useful than others; to represent this, each power was given a “value” in a point system, with the more powerful abilities costing more to “buy.” In addition, players were given options to modify their powers so each character’s abilities would be unique. This system has since then influenced many other similar games. This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... Champions is a role-playing game originally by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson, Bruce Harlick, and Ray Greer, published by Hero Games, designed to simulate and function in a four-color superhero comic book world. ...

In an attempt at greater realism, the causes and effects of superpowers have been considered more carefully by writers. The possible origins for powers include natural mutations, genetic manipulation, bionics, natural forces unique to a particular universe (such as DC Comics' Speed Force or Marvel Comics' Power Cosmic) and even magic. In the 1980’s, Marvel Comics began publishing their Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe series, in which the powers of their characters were explained in great detail, often using scientific and pseudoscientific terms. This article is about mutation in biology, for other meanings see: mutation (disambiguation). ... Bart Allen surrounded By the Speed Force after absorbing it. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Galactus. ... Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is a definitive guide to the imaginary universe of Marvel Comics. ... A pseudoscience is any body of knowledge purported to be scientific or supported by science but which fails to comply with the scientific method. ...

Eventually, the powers themselves became a focus of the stories. Inspired by social science fiction, these stories went beyond the simple acceptance and use of superpowers in the roles of superheroes and supervillains and explored their effects in society at large. An example of this is the persecution of mutants in the X-Men series. An important difference is that science fiction usually posits superpowered minorities as having mainly the same kind of powers (for example, the telepaths in A.E. Van Vogt’s Slan) while in comics each superhuman is usually unique. The Green Goblin, a supervillain and enemy of Spider-Man. ... Alfred Elton van Vogt (April 26, 1912 - January 26, 2000) was a Canadian-born science fiction author. ... First edition by Arkham House. ...

List of Wikipedia superpower entries

This is a list of those superpowers that have their own article entries in Wikipedia. For a more complete list of superpowers, see List of comic book superpowers. Comic book fiction traditionally features characters with superhuman, supernatural, or paranormal abilities, often referred to as superpowers (also spelled super-powers). ...

For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ... This article is about the paranormal concept. ... Clairvoyance, from 17th century French Clair meaning clear and voyant meaning seeing, is a term used to describe the transference of information about an object, location or physical event through means other than the 5 traditional senses (See Psi). ... Human echolocation is the ability of humans to sense objects in their environment by hearing echos off those objects. ... An energy blast is a collection of energy in the form of a projectile that has destructive effects when it strikes an object. ... Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) is defined as ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience. ... For other uses, see Flight (disambiguation). ... In science fiction and fantasy literature, a force field is a physical barrier made up of energy to protect a person or object from attacks or intrusions. ... A healing factor is a term used to describe the ability of some characters in fiction to recover from bodily injuries or disease at a superhuman rate. ... Heat vision is a superhuman power, best known as one of the powers possessed by the DC Comics character Superman, in which beams of intense radiation are projected from the eyes. ... For other uses, see illusion (disambiguation). ... This article is about living for infinite period of time. ... An example of how an object could appear to be invisible through the use of mirrors Invisibility is the state of an object which cannot be seen. ... For other uses, see Levitation (disambiguation). ... Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... Mind control (or thought control) has the premise that an outside source can control an individuals thinking, behavior or consciousness (either directly or more subtly). ... Omniscience is the capacity to know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about a character including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe, etc. ... Precognition (from the Latin præ-, “prior to,” + cognitio, “a getting to know”) denotes a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person is able to perceive information about places or events before they happen through paranormal means. ... For the psychology discipline see psychometrics. ... Pyrokinesis is the paranormal or legendary ability to control, ignite, and/or extinguish fire using only the mind. ... Reality warping in superhero fiction is a superpower. ... For other uses, see Shapeshifting (disambiguation). ... Spiritual possession is a concept of supernatural and/or superstitious belief systems whereby gods, daemons, demons, animas, or other disincarnate entities may temporarily take control of a human body, resulting in noticeable changes in behaviour. ... | Superhuman strength, also called super strength or enhanced strength, is an ability commonly utilized in fiction. ... Superman and Batman, two of the most recognizable and iconic superheroes. ... The term psychokinesis (from the Greek ψυχή, psyche, meaning mind, soul, or breath; and κίνησις, kinesis, meaning motion; literally movement from the mind)[1][2] or PK, also known as telekinesis[3] (Greek + , literally distant-movement referring to telekinesis) or TK, denotes the paranormal ability of the mind to influence matter, time... Telepathy, from the Greek τῆλε, tele, remote; and πάθεια, patheia, to be effected by, describes the hypothetical transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses. ... Teleport redirects here. ... Time travel is a concept that has long fascinated humanity—whether it is Merlin experiencing time backwards, or religious traditions like Mohammeds trip to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, returning before a glass knocked over had spilt its contents. ... In fictional stories, X-ray vision has generally been portrayed as the ability to see through layers of objects at the discretion of the holder of this superpower. ...

See also

• Category:Superhero role-playing games

External links

• Superhero Database: Superpowers
• 8 Super Powers- an online Wired Magazine article on how certain superpowers might work
• The Physics of Superheroes, by James Kakalios- a book examining how the powers of several comic book characters would work if they were real.