Superhero strength scale

[AdamWarlock]

Edit: Iron Man is up, some others may be up or down. And in special notations are people who may be at multiple levels due to having very different forms over time, and also here are people not in the game just yet or only strongly rumored yet not confirmed.


I was looking at the 12-month Marvel superheroes calendar I got for this year and I was delighted to note that they'd put power grids up for each month's featured character like they used to do for Marvel trading cards.

One thing that threw me though is that, on their scale of 1-10, HULK only scored a 9 in strength. Well ok, it didn't so much throw me as make me wonder who could possibly warrant a "10".

What I've concluded really is that the only people in the Marvel universe who can warrant 10 in strength are the cosmic entities with limitless potential such as Eternity; and possessors of the Power Gem (Drax, Champion, Warlock/Thanos when they had the infinity gauntlet) who can draw on as much power as their will demands.

Anyway, I drew up a personal opinion power grid scale for superhuman strength and applied it to everybody currently appearing in Heroclix, both marvel & Dc. Well its the same scale as marvel's I guess, just applied to a lot more people.

Putting some of these numbers into perspective
10: Already explained as "limitless physical power"
9: Enormous superhuman strength (100+ tons or there-abouts) that still has limitations in that maximum number
5: Rare individual "normal humans" whose physical prowess is above even most "peak human condition" people; also can represent VERY minor amounts of superhuman strength.
4: Peak human potential
3: Average human potential who exercises semi-regularly
2: Average human potential who exercises rarely
1: Frail, perhaps handicapped or very aged.

Now, who falls into each category from those now in the game:

10: Nobody in the game yet warrants this. {{{Drax the Destroyer (When he was possessor of the Power Gem only), Adam Warlock, Thanos, Magus (all of them only when they possessed the Infinity Gauntlet, which includes the power gem only), Galactus}}}
9: Hulk, Thor, Superman, Doomsday, {{{Hercules (Previous to losing his immortality and edge), Namor, Abomination, Bizarro}}}
8: Thing, Hercules, Juggernaut, Swamp-Thing, Super Skrull (Up; if he has the powers of the fantastic four then his strength, when using Thing's powers, is equal to Thing's), Thanos (up), Darkseid (Up), {{Drax the Destroyer (without power gem), Silver Surfer (he may be listed in some sources as class 100 strength, but he's hard to judge since he never relies on it), Wonder Man, The Destroyer, Iron Man (with Iron Man / Destroyer combo armor), Ulik, Colossus, Doc Samson, Gladiator, Wonder Woman, Metallo, Captain Marvel (Dc's "Shazam")}}}
7: She-Hulk, Blastaar, Parasite, Iron Man (Up; default armor), Titania (up), {{{Rhino, Sasquatch, The Wrecking Crew, Apocalypse, Gravitron (with use of TK power as super strength), Goliath/Atlas, Giant Man}}}
6: Blob, Spider Man, Rogue, Mr. Hyde, Vision, Dr. Doom, Ultron, Sandman, Annihilus, Steel, Bane, Brainiac 13, Dr. Octopus, Aquaman, Sabretooth, Gorilla Grodd, Hawk, Arcane, Firelord (Up), Enchantress (Up), Beast (now confirmed; 1st placing) {{{Moonstone/Meteorite, Beetle/MACH-1, Tombstone, Nova (New Warriors), Loki, Martian Manhunter, GL: Kilowog, Hourman, average Asgardians & Olympians, Luke Cage, Ghost Rider, U.S Agent, Man-Thing, Sebastian Shaw, Vermin, Scorpion, Killer Croc, The Demon}}}
5: Wolverine, Captain America, Kingpin, Wolfsbane, Hawkman, Controller, Booster Gold, Clayface, Man-Bat, Spiral, Medusa, Blade, Changeling, Kang, Vulture (UP! His suit DOES grant him a small though legitimate amount of super strength; the official marvel handbook says so :-P ), {{{Cable (full TO-virus attachments), Tigra, Triathlon, Absorbing Man (default) Kraven, Green Goblin, Ra's Al Ghul, Captain Marvel (from Marvel Comics)}}}
4: Daredevil, Elektra, Bullseye, Batman, Plastic Man, Black Panther, Psylocke, Flash (current/REV), Red Skull, Nick Fury, Constrictor, Hawkeye, Boomerang, Whirlwind, Dove, {{{Bishop, Ka-Zar, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, Green Lantern: Kyle Hal Sinestro Guy Garner John Stewart, Mr. Freeze, Lex Luthor, Punisher, Taskmaster}}}
3: Flash (Original/unique), Cyclops, Nightwing, Jean Grey, Storm, Mojo, Moondragon, Nightcrawler, Catwoman, Blue Beetle, Black Cat, Black Widow, Toad, Quicksilver, Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Blizzard, Dr. Strange, Weather Wizard, Avalanche, {{{GL: Alan Scott, Storm, Batgirl (Current and pre-paralysis Oracle), Longshot, Dazzler}}}
2: Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Robin, Harley Quinn, Joker, Pyro, Riddler, Wasp, Desaad, Yellowjacket, Commisioner Gordon, The Key, Invisible Woman, T.O Morrow, {{{Mole Man, Gamesmaster, Leader, Mandarin, Shadowcat, Scarecrow, Penguin}}}
1: Professor Xavier, Puppet Master, Mad Hatter, {{{Oracle, Destiny}}}
**Un-rateable: Klaw. Dude, he's not even solid (I'm not changing this just due to how silly this "Solid sound" concept is), {{{Shadow King, Proteus, The Supreme Intelligence}}}

[Djangomank2k]

looks good, but id either put spiderman lower, or doom and iron man higher. also thanos should be up with thor and hulk IMO

[AdamWarlock]

I'd maybe put THanos up a notch on par with Thing & Hercules, but not up with Hulk. He's durable as all heck and he throws quite a punch, but I don't think there has ever been a showing of just how much he can lift for example. He throws quite the punch due to his being hard as a rock like Thing more or less, but I don't think he has quite the muscle potential as Thor & Hulk. Granted, Thor & Thanos were both born with their gifts of strength, but Thor has waded into battle and trained for such vigorously for hundreds of years, as Thanos usually just sits around and contemplates.

[Aron]

Originally posted by AdamWarlock
I'd maybe put THanos up a notch on par with Thing & Hercules, but not up with Hulk. He's durable as all heck and he throws quite a punch, but I don't think there has ever been a showing of just how much he can lift for example. He throws quite the punch due to his being hard as a rock like Thing more or less, but I don't think he has quite the muscle potential as Thor & Hulk. Granted, Thor & Thanos were both born with their gifts of strength, but Thor has waded into battle and trained for such vigorously for hundreds of years, as Thanos usually just sits around and contemplates.

Actually Thanos goes out on quests routinely and has on occassion slaughtered entire planets just for the challenge of taking on an entire planet by himself (something late 90s or so)

He's definetely Thor scale.

[AdamWarlock]

yes, he slaughtered a whole planet... (Cosmic Powers #1)... a whole planet where not one warrior was of note and none were armed with anything better than makeshift blades where it is unlikely that even a decent sword could cut Thanos' hide. Thanos can stand up to a full-force blast from ODIN, so such a blade could not possibly do him harm, meaning that no being on that planet was a threat to him.

Super strength & being impervious are not the same thing, however. Thanos couldn't be hurt by anybody on that planet. This does not indicate that Thanos could lift up a large dwelling home there one-handed as Thor could.

[Mongoose]

Actually Juggernaut is as strong as Hulk, believe it or not. Hercules is also as strong, as is Thor. All those characters can lift press 100 tons under optimal conditions. Have you ever played Marvel Superheroes Role Playing Game? They rate the charceters strength there. Hulk is actually only able to press about 90 tons when he is not hulked up. When he gets really pissed off, he is said to be able to press 500 tons!!!!! (Shift Z strength). thor has a belt that amplifies his strength to shift X (150 tons0. This is all according to the game, which was made by TSR in conjunction with Marvel. Juggs and Hercules should have the same damage scale as each other, but wizkids really screwed up on the unstoppable one's damage.

[AdamWarlock]

I'd still put Juggernaut on a peg below hulk. He may be of equal strength in regular conditions, but Hulk can keep on getting stronger as he gets more and more enraged while Juggy stays at the same place. As for Hercules... I don't really have anything to back up why I feel him to be slightly weaker than Thor... I just do. Maybe just recently now that he's been stripped of his immortality.

[Xavier PhD]

actually check out marveldirectory.com and check their strength level link...

pretty much hercules, juggs, hulk, thor and some other folks are 100+ strength. out of those people i'd think the order of strength would go hulk, herc/juggs, thor. thor has fought against juggs and hulk many times and they both edge him out by a bit, but he hangs in the fights because he flies and has that pesky hammer. Herc has also kinda fought thor (i believe, not sure) but i would place him above thor also, because they are both gods and hercules is known for strength and thor is known for power. Thing is about 75 up there with namor. i don't know about thanos, but i think although he is very strong his main power that allows him to beat up everyone is his energy beams and his near invulnerability.

so now i as how come thing is SOOOOO MUCH MORE powerful than juggs?!!! 4 damage for 3 clicks? then juggs should get 4 damage for at least 4 and herc too.

[AdamWarlock]

Thing has higher damage than Juggs but he is NOT more powerful. His damage is a nice 4 for longer than Juggs, but his sad attack value isn't going to connect with Juggs. Vet thing has an attack of 10 for one click I think; Vet Juggs starts with an AV of 13. Juggs has a far better chance of connecting, even if he won't do as much damage to invulnerable guys.

[scowlingone]

Superman is a 10 on that scale.

He is as strong as the writers need him to be. Lift the Space Shuttle? No problem. Carry a frozen lake at full speed? Easy-peasy. Move the moon? Twice since Saturday.

Nobody on the list even comes close.

And it sounds weird, but that's why Superman's Damage value is so low in Heroclix. It should be up around 12, but he has to pull his punches.

[panther_king]

Superman's attack value is low because he is in the DC set.. all values from DC are lower than Marvel.

[imafineboy]

thor is stronger then Herc. Tho not really by much. I remember in the 80's herc was on the avengers and when thor came in, he felt that they wouldn't need him anymore with thor as their better heavy hitter so he took off. Its been ages and i don't want to go and dig up my old issues, anybody care to back me up?

[Silverlynx35]

I agree that Jugg and Herc should be up a peg. I think Thing's damage represents a better fighting ability than Jugg. I would actually put Hulk at the strongest (benefit of the doubt because of "Hulking up"). Then Thor barely over Jugg and Herc.

Just a thought
SL35

[Teletran]

hmmmm.....

I'd add Aunt May to the 0 level... heheh....

But Klaw?!? Well... I don't see him lifting things, but SOLID is something Klaw is. SOLID SOUND I believe. That's why you can bash at him and disperse him... (not that it should hurt him for that matter) But we know that Dazzler once absorbed Klaw for each and every decibel he's worth. So... guys like Ironman, Reed, or Doom should not be having problems with this guy (counter frequency engaged!... watches as Klaw get's canceled out..) but I digress... :p

Anyway, as for Strength, Herc (not the Herc with lost immortality) is definitely as strong as Thor. Hulk, on the other hand, starts off less stronger but does get stronger the madder he gets and I believe should surpass Thor/Herc in pure strength.

Ironman can lift at least 85 tons from the last time I checked a reference. He should be in the upper level where Thing and She-Hulk are. Pumping more juice to his strength, I don't see why he can't match Thor-level for a limited duration. Ironman's supposed to be one of the most powerful non-cosmic characters in MU.

Well, check the ol; Marvel TSR for reference.. Spidey can lift 10 tons with his Incredible Strength.... not something in the level of Sabretooth. Also, Enchantress is an Asgardian! The least an Asgardian could lift is 10 tons and the likes of Loki could lift 50 tons. (please recheck if I'm wrong... it's been a while since I saw those stats)

If you read Secret Wars, you'll notice that Enchantress slapped She-Hulk to the ground and She-Hulk commented on her strength. Had Cap punched She-Hulk with all his might, all Cap would have is a "borken" hand and a lot of laughs from She-Hulk.

[Perfectstorm]

Well, Juggs is much stronger then normal hulk. If Juggs was to pound him before he knew what hit him, he would win, but If Hulk gets angry it becomes a instant stalemate.

I think that in strait, one lift, Juggs will beat everyone under normal condtions. Hulk would slaughter everyone if he is angry. so i think hulk should exist on 2 levels. Both a 9, being normal, and lets say...47 for angry.

[Teletran]

hmmm... wondering about Hulk's "madness"...

Just how "MAD" can Hulk be before he gets a busts a gut or suffers a heart attack? Surely all that rushing blood would pop out of his head after a prolonged anger session. Tough as Hulk is, it's his blood anyway so he should theoretically affect himself as a normal person would.

Anger is bad for one's health. :p

Anyway, is there such a thing as an upper limit to anger? I can't imagine infinite incremental madness/anger.

[Xavier PhD]

oh yeah i also forgot that gladiator, apocalypse, silver surfer and abomination is 100+ class also... so this is how i would rank them now -->

galactus >>>>>>>hulk >juggs/herc >silver surfer>thor/gladiator >thanos >abomination>>>thing/namor

all right really gladiator is what i'm shakiest about. sometimes it seems he is the strongest in the freakin marvel U, making juggs look like a wuss, and then sometimes it seems he is really weak... i put him on thor's level, although thor has beaten him...

abomination is the weakest IMO of the 100+ classers and apocalypse doesn't really count because he has to become super large to get to 100+ strength. but i guess if he got big enough he would be up there with hulk (but probably not stronger).

silver surfer is like thanos---> his main power is shooting stuff up, flying and being close to invulnerable, but his cosmic strength probably edges out thor.

there are more on this list: http://www.marveldirectory.com/strengthlevels.htm but i only used popular ones that most people post about.

[Terman8er]

I don't mean to insult anyone here...but do any of you really read comics anymore? I mean both DC and Marvel. It seems that a lot of you really don't know the characters and are relying on HeroClix or RPG's or handbooks to judge strengths.

If you want to REALLY discuss this stuff then I suggest you visit: superherochat.com and drop by the forums...mainly ICT.

Later all!

[Doctor Strange]

Thanos is class 100 (which means he can lift over 100 tons with brute strength). Herc, Thor, Thanos, Abomination, Hulk, Jugernaut, Apocalypse and Silver surfer are all Class 100.. As for which is stronger...thats hard to say, but they all diserve a 9 rating.

Incidentally, Magneto (I don't think his name is mentioned here) Is considered to be class 100 strength by marvel. Now, he does not use brute force, but he can lift/press over 100 tons by supporting the wieght on a reinforced metal platform or 100 tons of metal. He can also project metal with enough force per square inch to equal a punch from one of the above brusers.

[Xavier PhD]

yeah i think magneto shouldn't be on the list... if magneto is on the list then GRAVITON would be the mother of all superstrength people

he actually raised a huge chunk of land up and made it his own floating country... that is MUCH more than 100 tons.

[Ramplate]

Originally posted by Djangomank2k
looks good, but id either put spiderman lower, or doom and iron man higher. also thanos should be up with thor and hulk IMO

Spider-man can press 10 tons in the comics:D

[PantherPriest]

Black Panther and Captain America are actually on the same level of strength. (of course he's going to say something about black panther) It has been said in several panther comics that they both represent the pinnacle that a human could possess semi-normal means. They each have their enhancers: the heart shaped herb and the supersoldier serrum. They also come to a draw just about everytime they fight which is rare. (I don't read avengers, tho)

Captain America might be able to lift 50 lbs more than King T'Challa, maybe. In this case I'd say T'Challa lifts about 750 and Cap could do 800, if any difference at all. So unless your levels are that specific I'd push cap down or bring panther up.

I might be wrong on klaw, he's old school panther I'm new, but I think he has two forms a human/sound form like the click shows and a not-so-human-less-solid-but-still-solid form, at least that's how it appeared in issue 29 of the current black panther series. I'm only 18, so I'm sure some older panther fan will come in with some better proof.

[Teletran]

I do think that Klaw is SOLID SOUND.

His blaster thingie is definitely solid. If Klaw's sound body can lift it up (well, attached to his arm made of sound), then Klaw definitely is solid.

The creatures Klaw makes are also solid sound. Or else, they wouldn't do much against his enemies. We all know how much damage sound can make (e.g. when Supes and Doomsday were duking it out and windows shatter) so Klaw is purely that force shaped into well.... Klaw's appearance. Funny he has color though. :p

Well, at least that's my take on it. Feel free to argue. I'm not claiming to be a scientist supreme.

[Heretic]

Thanos in the comics has fought Thor, Captain Marvel, and the Thing at the same time. He was also winning untill the spirit of Warlock was released and turned him to stone. In the comics, Thanos is definitely a 9.5. As for Eternity, etc. they are abstractions for concepts like space and time and never act, but rather use mortals to do there work. They wouldn't even register in a power chart.

[the itsy bit]

Colossus ?
he should definately be as strong as She-hulk ! (a class-7/8).

But really it all depends on the writers (and how popular a character is at that time) how much a certain character can do !
and how effective is a character (I've seen many comixs where Juggernaut is outmatched) ?!

[X'an Teris]

According to the old Marvel Universe series Colossus could lift around 75 tons. However, this was when he was still a teenager and his strength had not yet reached its peak level. He should be stronger than that.

Also, in Secret Wars (I don't know how many of you guys remember this but it was a 12 issue mini-series from the 80's where the Beyonder sent a bunch of good guys and a bunch of bad guys to a planet just to see who would win a war between them) someone, I don't remember how it happened, dropped a mountain range on the "good guys". Hulk caught and held up the mountain range long enough for the other bricks (Thor, Thing, Colossus, etc.) to pound out a cavity to keep them all from being squished. How much strength do you need to hold up a mountain range? I can pretty much guarantee nobody else there coulda done it.

BTW, when reading my posts keep in mind that I'm and "old school" comic reader. I got real heavily into it in the mid 80's and then quit around 1990. Got about 10 boxes of comics still, mostly Marvel. Lot of X-Men, New Mutants, Alpha Flight, She-Hulk, West Coast Avengers, etc. So I'm not up to date on the current status of comics.

X'an

[DTM]

It was the Molecule Man, who easily lifted the entire mountain range and SLAMMED it onto our heroes during the Secret Wars. And it wasnt Thor or Colossus who got them out, but a combination of Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, Captain Marvel and Spiderman, from the inside out. And of course, the Hulk, who thanks to Reeds insults and teasings, in order to keep Hulk angry and increase his strength, managed to hold the mountain range up long enough for them all to escape. Thors mightiest blows were actually heard as tappings from how deep our heroes were buried.

And with this post, are we comparing ALL comic characters, or just ones made into HC? If only HC, then maybe we should get rid of 10 being for Cosmic Powers, who theyll never make a HC of, and stick people like Hulk, Superman, Thor, Thanos, etc. in there, and so on with 9 and 8, etc.

Thanos might not be known for his power in physical combat, over his massive energy attacks, but he is VERY strong, and definately deserves to be in the top level, probably just under The Hulk, who can raise his strength to surpass any non cosmic being, Drax with the Power Gem the probably exception.

[ex nihilo]

by the way, i read on the marvel website that after further mutation the blob can now lift about 75 tons. so he's alittle low on the list.

[hellboy19]

Am I the only person here who reads Iron Man? In his classic red & gold armor he knocked out the Hulk with ONE PUNCH after shooting him in the face with repulsors to blind him. Sure, it took all the power in his suit, but can anyone else name a time anyone did that to the Hulk? With the increased technology in Tony's new suits, he should be able to go toe to toe with just about anyone and have a good chance of coming out on top. And I don't want to hear any whining about how Hulk wasn't at his maddest when IM knocked him out, they had been fighting for a while and Hulk was extremely ticked off. I have these comics, and tomorrow I can post the issue numbers for you nonbelievers out there. Iron Man should definately be equal to or just under the strength/ power level of the Hulk.

[AdamWarlock]

A note on all the comments for Colossus, Surfer, Apocalypse; etc: my post was only including people who are currently in the game or are 100% confirmed such as Beast.

On some individual cases...
-Ok, I just looked at the latest few issues of Iron Man where he dukes it out with Thor and isn't even flinching, so evenly matched are they. Then again, he's in a different armor that is in fact a combination of the Iron Man armor and THE DESTROYER armor, so this would be a unique case that the regular Iron Man coming up in Xplosion won't have. I'd still push him above Spider Man's level up to She-Hulk's, but no higher.

-Enchantress: I'd forgotten the superior Asgardian physique was SO superior, I suppose. I know that the bruisers such as Thor are on par with Superman pretty much, but I didn't think the likes of "The Warriors 3" or "Balder" were ALL such bruisers. I suppose, also, that I could have been a bit sexist and merely assumed that The Enchantress, as a female asgardian, would be a bit weaker than her male counterparts.

-Magneto: His telekinesis is irrelevant. This is entirely a matter of physical strength from actual muscles (with very few exceptions such as in the cases of Gladiator or Gravitron if they ever go into the game since they are telekinetic but they ONLY use it for super strength purposes more or less).

-Thanos: Yes, he fought with Thor, Thing, Captain Marvel all at once... but this is just judging physical strength, and Thanos was only partially relying on this as ever, usually just firing those devastating energy blast thingies to repel multiple people at once when he's getting overwhelmed.

[Mongoose]

I'd still put Juggernaut on a peg below hulk. He may be of equal strength in regular conditions, but Hulk can keep on getting stronger as he gets more and more enraged while Juggy stays at the same place. As for Hercules... I don't really have anything to back up why I feel him to be slightly weaker than Thor... I just do. Maybe just recently now that he's been stripped of his immortality.
Yes I agree. When Hulk is pissed he is pretty much the strongest (Not the most powerful, Vegeta) character in Marvel.
A comment about Magneto having physical strength was made. He can't lift that much physically. I mean the guy is in great shape, but he relies on his magnetic powers to lift heavy items. If he was to go into physical combat with the Hulk he would get punched into applesauce. On another note, Graviton is defintely more powerful then Magneto. He basically lifted up an entire island worth of land. (In heroclix that guy would need to do atleast 5 damage. Although he wouldn't have that much health). Thor is as strong as Hercules (I believe that they arm wrestled before). I'd put Thor with Herc and Juggeranut, unless he has his belt. Then he should be even stronger then them. If you guys want pure strength then look no further then Kurse. At the beginning he could only press 100 tons, but the Beyonder pushed his strength way further then that.

[Perfectstorm]

Gravitron can lift a island, but magneto almost moved earth off its orbit but he still shoudnt qualify, because it is metal strengh not physical.

And on the side note, someone mentioned Hulk would kill magneto, it is quite the opposite. Hulk *MIGHT* be able to break magnetos force feild, but whats stoping magneto from wrapping a peice of adamatuim around Hulk and tossing him into space. If magneto really got to the point of pure evil, he really couldnt be stopped by to many things. He could just fling people into space, or rip the iron out of there cells, causeing them to run out of oxygen and suffacte.

[Doctor Strange]

Class 100
Watchers
Thor Galactus
Beta Ray Bill
Shaper of worlds
Dragon Man
Ego
Nimrod II
Binary
Juggernaut
Abomination
Hulk
Orka (in water)
Terminus (enhanced by armor)
Iron Man I (enhanced by armor and sufficiently powerful energy sorce)
Surtur
Odin
Hercules
Maelstrom
Stranger
Kurse
Gladiator
Forgotten One
War Machine (enhanced by armor and sufficiently powerful energy sorce)
Atlas
Utgard-Loki
Silver Surfer
Apocalypse
Magneto
Joseph
Mphisto
Magus
Ymir
Thanos

[Vegeta1]

"Yes I agree. When Hulk is pissed he is pretty much the strongest (Not the most powerful, Vegeta) character in Marvel."

That has yet to be PROVEN.