In the Mutant Universe, there is a clearly defined scale accounting for the power level of the various superheroes, villains, robots, mutants and aliens that bum around, because of course there is. We geeks need something tangible to hang our terrible arguments about “who would win in a fight” on, which is exactly what this scale does. At the lower end of the spectrum you have the everyday shmoes – the comic book equivalent of us civilians – and at the very top of the scale is where you’ll find the so-called “Omega level” superpeople.
They are characters who were born with the X-gene and have had an almost limitless amount of power at their fingertips as soon as they left the womb (or even before, in some cases). So with that said lets start off our list! See if any of our top 10 hit your list!
Keith – Leonardo (TMNT)
Powers: mutated into large turtle, ninja skills
Leonardo, often shortened to Leo, is one of the four protagonists of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In the Mirage/Image Comics, all four turtles wear red bandanas, but in other versions he wears a blue bandana. His signature weapons are two katanas. Leonardo is the most spiritual, the most disciplined, and the most in-line with Splinter’s teachings and thoughts. He is named after Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is depicted as the oldest brother and the calmest of the four.
David – Daleks (Doctor Who)
Externally, Daleks resemble human-sized pepper shakers with a single mechanical eyestalk mounted on a rotating dome, a gun mount containing an energy weapon (“gunstick” or “death ray”), and a telescopic manipulator arm usually tipped by an appendage resembling a sink plunger. Daleks have been known to use their plungers to interface with technology, rush a man’s skull by suction, measure the intelligence of a subject, and extract information from a man’s mind. Dalek casings are made of a bonded polycarbide material dubbed “dalekanium” by a member of the human resistance in The Dalek Invasion of Earth and by the Cult of Skaro in “Daleks in Manhattan”.
Keith – Gambit
Powers: Energy Charged items
Everyone’s favorite Ragin’ Cajun is almost too goofy for words – he can charge up objects, but almost exclusively uses playing cards? He wears a trenchcoat ON TOP of that weird pink breastplate? His gloves are missing fingers in a few places but not others? He wears metal shinguards/boots?
But maybe it’s this unrelenting overdesigned weirdness that makes him so great – that, and the fact he has a long relationship with Rogue – the one X-Men who explicitly cannot be touched.
David – Danny Torrance (The Shining)
Power: Shining Ability
Danny Torrance in The Shining is one of several child characters in Stephen King’s early fiction who deal with parental abandonment or the fear of it; other characters include Carrie White in Carrie and Charlene “Charlie” McGee in Firestarter. Heidi Strengell, in Dissecting Stephen King, says, “In King’s view children, like Danny Torrance, are able to deal with fantasy and terror on their own terms better than adults because of the size of their imaginative capacity and their unique position in life.”The reference guide Characters in 20th-Century Literature wrote, “Some critics complain that Danny displays an improbable maturity for a child his age.”Author Dale Bailey, writing about haunted houses, said King’s writing of Danny, a psychic in a haunted setting, borrowed the link made by Shirley Jackson and Richard Matheson in their works. Bailey perceives Danny as having ambivalence toward his father, being devoted but also learning psychically how emotionally disturbed his father is. The author said there was evidence of parallels between Danny and his father, “Danny, like Jack himself, may someday fall into behavioral patterns of the father he both loves and fears.”
In the novel The Shining, Danny shares his power of “the shining” with several strangers, where in the film adaptation, he is secretive about it, even when sharing with Dick Halloran. In the novel, Danny has an extraordinary intelligence, a large vocabulary, is attached to his father and is able to foresee all of Hotel Overlook’s horrors. In contrast, in the film, he is portrayed as an ordinary boy with only the extraordinary power and has visions that change with events that happen at the hotel. Academic Greg Jenkins says the primary reason for Danny being less talkative was the difficulty for a child actor to memorize lines, but he said the minimal dialogue also created more suspense.
Keith – Magneto
Powers: Near-complete control over electromagnetic spectrum with mastery so fine he can actually redirect the flow of iron in someone’s brain to effectively alter their mind.
Magneto is Xavier’s perfect foil. Yet he has also been one of the most compelling X-Men of all time. After surrendering himself to authorities and being acquitted of his crimes, Magneto took over Xavier’s school for a brief period. It is only through the contrast from his malevolent actions that Magneto’s good side can shine so brightly. For all of the “bad guys” who have converted to the X-Men, Magneto remains the true test to Xavier’s Dream. When Magneto is finally swayed, The Dream can truly thrive.
David – Killer Croc
Power: disfiguring skin disorder
Killer Croc is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and by artist Don Newton. The character’s first appearance was a shadowy cameo in Batman #357 (March 1983), which was also the first appearance of Jason Todd. Killer Croc belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman’s rogues gallery.
Depicted as having a rare genetic condition that gives him a crocodilian appearance, sideshow wrestler Waylon Jones develops into a dangerous and animalistic criminal. The extent of his resemblance to a crocodile varies between merely a large man with hardened skin, and essentially an anthropomorphic crocodile with a snout and tail. The character is often portrayed as having cannibalistic tendencies.
The character has been adapted into various other media featuring Batman, including animated TV series and film, video games and novels. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje will portray Killer Croc in the 2016 live-action feature film Suicide Squad.
Keith – Rogue
Powers: Absorb powers and memory through skin contact, flight
Rogue is the perfect example of why the Xavier Institute must exist. Any skin-to-skin contact causes Rogue to absorb the powers and memories of whomever she touches. Though Xavier’s school never taught Rogue how to control her powers, it has helped teach her to deal with a world she can never truly touch. Long ago, Rogue was a villain, who absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers before being brought to the X-Men by her surrogate mother, Mystique. She’s grown to become a vital member of the X-Men and proof that Xavier’s methods can work and are, in fact, necessary.
David – Wolverine
Powers: Healing factor, six adamantium claws capable of cutting through almost any material, heightened senses, immobilizing cigar breath.
Though he may have become oversaturated, Wolverine is no less one of the greatest of all X-Men. Logan is a loner by nature and a man fighting to keep his animal instincts from controlling his actions. He argues regularly with his fellow X-Men and leaves the team often to pursue his own personal agenda. Yet his support of the X-Men rarely, if ever, wavers. He may not be a team player, but Logan has the best interests of the X-Men at heart. Despite his wandering ways, Wolverine has been one of the most reliable X-Men over the years.
Keith – Cyclops
Powers: High-intensity, continuous optic blast
The student has become greater than the master. That’s the nature of the world and so to is it with the X-Men Universe as Scott Summers has surpassed Xavier to become the greatest X-Man. A heavy burden was placed on his shoulders as a young man. He was chosen to lead a team of mutants on a crusade that would likely determine Homo Superior’s place in the world.
He’s lost two wives, reunited with his space pirate father, discovered two lost brothers, fought beside both a son and daughter from alternate futures, and defended The Dream as a knight might protect the Holy Grail. Through all of this, he’s still standing.
David -Magneto
Powers: Near-complete control over electromagnetic spectrum with mastery so fine he can actually redirect the flow of iron in someone’s brain to effectively alter their mind
Magneto is Xavier’s perfect foil. Yet he has also been one of the most compelling X-Men of all time. After surrendering himself to authorities and being acquitted of his crimes, Magneto took over Xavier’s school for a brief period. It is only through the contrast from his malevolent actions that Magneto’s good side can shine so brightly. For all of the “bad guys” who have converted to the X-Men, Magneto remains the true test to Xavier’s Dream. When Magneto is finally swayed, The Dream can truly thrive.
Keith – Cable
Powers: Telekinesis, telepathy, grossly disproportioned anatomy
Initially, Cable was little more than an over-muscled, gun-toting thug with a glowing eye. Over time, the character has evolved into one of the more interesting, if underappreciated, X-Men. Son of Scott Summers and Madelyne Prior, Cable was raised in an alternate future, where Apocalypse rules. The time-displaced mutant could be the most powerful on the planet, if the majority of his telekinetic skills were not focused on keeping his cybernetic body from falling apart. Cable lives on the fringes of the X-Universe, but he’s an integral part of the X-Men’s past and future.
David – Professor X
Powers: The world’s most powerful telepath (currently de-powered)
It’s Xavier’s Dream the X-Men follow. Without Xavier, there would be no X-Men and no unified opposition to Magneto. He is, to put it bluntly, a prophet of the new age. His students, his followers, may interpret the meaning of his words and dream differently, but Xavier’s core belief has remained intact through an entire generation of mutants. The Dream has grown to outpace the man. Xavier has lost faith in himself several times, abandoning his team for sometimes selfish reasons. While that can be acceptable for followers, a man like Xavier must maintain a strong front and never walk away from his children.
Keith – Ice Man
Powers: Can lower his own body temperature and free moisture around himself allowing for a multitude of creative applications
Bobby is the kid brother who never thought he could live up to expectations, so he didn’t bother. Believe it or not, Iceman is one of the rare Omega mutants, a being potentially more powerful than Magneto or Xavier. This potential, however, may never be reached, because Bobby has little faith in himself. Despite his own personal issues, Iceman has been an X-Man almost his entire life. As with the best students, Bobby’s time at Xavier’s is about more than just The Dream — it’s about his own personal journey, one that sees him continuing to learn and grow.
David – Onslaught
Power: Onslaught was written as a sentient psionic entity created from the consciousness of two mutants: Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. During a battle between the X-Men and Magneto’s Acolytes, Professor Xavier used his telepathic powers to shut down Magneto’s mind, rendering him catatonic. It was explained through the Onslaught crossover series that the darkest aspect of Magneto’s mind escaped into Xavier’s subconscious, where it ‘merged’ with Xavier’s own darker nature to eventually grow into a separate persona of its own.
Onslaught is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in cameo X-Man #15 (May 1996), his first full appearance in X-Men vol. 2, #53 (June 1996). Onslaught was co-created by writers Scott Lobdell, Mark Waid, and artist Andy Kubert. He was written and introduced as a villain that was part of the effect of events in the 1993 Fatal Attraction storyline. Onslaught’s introduction into X-men storylines caused its own cross over event across multiple Marvel comic book titles (several Fantastic Four issues, X-men and Uncanny X-men issues, and the Cable issues).
Keith – Wolverine
Powers: Healing factor, six adamantium claws capable of cutting through almost any material, heightened senses, immobilizing cigar breath
Though he may have become oversaturated, Wolverine is no less one of the greatest of all X-Men. Logan is a loner by nature and a man fighting to keep his animal instincts from controlling his actions. He argues regularly with his fellow X-Men and leaves the team often to pursue his own personal agenda. Yet his support of the X-Men rarely, if ever, wavers. He may not be a team player, but Logan has the best interests of the X-Men at heart. Despite his wandering ways, Wolverine has been one of the most reliable X-Men over the years.
David – Franklin Richards
Power: Franklin is a mutant who possesses the power to warp reality, i.e., to make any thought or desire come to fruition, even up to a cosmic scale; conjunctively, he is able to rearrange the molecular structure of matter. Franklin once subconsciously created his own pocket universe, encompassing a virtual replica of Earth-616. As a result, several cosmic entities, including Galactus, Eternity, and Infinity, as well as Omniversal Guardian Roma and Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne, began to take notice of Franklin’s tremendous gifts, going so far to describe him as a “being whom the Celestials felt was on par with themselves.
Franklin Benjamin Richards is a fictional comic book character appearing in books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a supporting character in Fantastic Four. He’s generally portrayed as a child and as a budding super-hero, albeit inexperienced.
Franklin is a mutant beyond Omega-Level, with vast reality-manipulating and psionic powers. He is the young son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four, the older brother of Valeria Richards, and the nephew of Invisible Woman’s younger brother, the Human Torch. His parents named him Franklin Benjamin Richards; his middle name is taken from his godfather Benjamin Jacob Grimm, the Thing. Franklin’s first name comes from Franklin Storm, his maternal grandfather.
Keith – Colossus
Powers: Transmute flesh into organic steel, making him nearly invulnerable and providing super-strength
For most, the X-Men is an extended family. It figures that with few internal conflicts for Piotr within the X-Men, it’s his biological family that causes so much trouble. Insanity runs through the Rasputin’s, as does premature death. Faced with repeated tragedy, Colossus continues to maintain a positive outlook on life. He is the perfect contrast. In battle, he is the strongest X-Man, a brute force few can withstand. In private, he is a sensitive artist, deeply in love with Kitty Pryde.
David – Thanos
Power: Thanos is a mutant member of the race of superhumans known as the Titanian Eternals. The character possesses abilities common to the Eternals, but amplified to a higher degree through a combination of his mutant Eternal heritage, bionic amplification, mysticism, and power bestowed by the abstract entity, Death. Demonstrating enormous superhuman strength, stamina, and durability, Thanos can absorb and project vast quantities of cosmic energy and is capable of telekinesis, telepathy and matter manipulation.
Thanos is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Iron Man #55 (Feb. 1973) and was created by writer-artist Jim Starlin. Debuting in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the character has been featured in over four decades of Marvel continuity and a self-titled series.
Thanos appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s various films; a cameo during the mid-credits of The Avengers (2012), Josh Brolin portrays the character in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) and will reprise the role in both parts of Avengers: Infinity War (2018/2019). The character has appeared in other Marvel-endorsed products, including animated television series, arcade and video games. Thanos was ranked number 47 on IGN’s top 100 comic book villains of all time.
Keith – Deadpool
Powers: Healing factor,
Deadpool’s more of an excuse for Marvel to let loose with all the meta jokes they’d spent decades restraining themselves from including. Totally self-aware and constantly breaking the fourth wall, Deadpool was a gift to comic lovers, since he – more than anything else in comics – understood things from their perspective.
David – Akira
Power: physic ability, starting WW3, nuking Tokyo.
Akira is the titular character of the ‘Akira’ universe, both in the manga and the anime. He is a psychic child who serves as a key in the lives of the main characters, particularly Tetsuo Shima.
And thats our list! What did you think? Were some of your favorites on this list? Would you agree with one of us or both of us? We want to know, so comment below.
To see our list of Honorable mentions, and David’s rationale behind his list, check out our sister blog.
And if you really want to dive into more about our list you can list to this list and other like it at podcastunlimited.com. go to our archive section, and look up episode 86 to listen to this list.
Crime’s the disease, meet the cure. Okay, not the cure, but more like a topical ointment to reduce the swelling and itch. Hi, Tom!
-The Engineer!
“But what to do when they’re all looking at you,
‘Cuz you’re the freak of the week, ‘cuz you’re on the TV”
-Marvelous 3 – “Freak of the Week”