Superman Kryptonian biology often grants him protection against almost everything in the DC Universe. Most physical attacks or even energy-based attacks will have little to no effect on the Man of Steel. Superman’s incredible durability actually offers him a level of protection that most characters will never achieve. But there are some powers that Superman has no defense against.
From telepathy to reality manipulation, there are a huge variety of superpowers in the DC Universe. While Superman is more than capable of withstanding physical and energy attacks, more complicated abilities can often get the better of him. Although Superman is very intelligent and has a huge variety of powers to draw on, there are some powers that Superman rarely has an answer for and must avoid or risk being defeated.
Superman’s powers are useless against intangible enemies
Robinson Goode’s powers easily neutralized Superman’s
There’s no denying that Superman has incredible physical strength, but that strength doesn’t do him any good if he can’t use it on the villain he’s fighting. Robinson Goode, also known as Red Cloud, is a woman who has the power to transform into a poisonous cloud of red mist, making her completely untouchable to Superman’s punches. Its mist form was so toxic that even Superman was affected by it.
The only ways to damage her in this form are electricity or interdimensional energy, both powers that Superman simply doesn’t possess. While Superman struggled to win a fight against Robinson, it wasn’t particularly difficult to avoid either.
Powers over density transform Superman’s invulnerability against him
Superman’s durability is turned against him
Superman is practically invulnerable due to his incredible durability. It’s a huge asset to be able to avoid any damage thrown your way, be it from a punch or a laser beam. But it was exactly this incredible durability that got him into trouble against the villain known as Porcelain. The power of porcelain allows you to reverse the density of your targets. The harder and more durable something is, the more fragile and weak it becomes to the touch of porcelain. This superpower can take one of Superman’s greatest defensive abilities and turn it into a horrific weakness with a simple touch.
Superman’s super strength can be overpowered by equal or better strength
Superman has been physically beaten in the past
Superman’s strength is absolutely incredible. He can bench press the moon, punch mountains, and take on some of the heaviest hitters in the DC Universe – but sometimes the heaviest hitters can in fact hit harder than the Man of Steel. Although Although Superman’s strength is almost unparalleled, characters like Doomsday have managed to defeat him with superior physical skill in the past.
While Superman can always train and try to get stronger, there will probably always be someone – or some creature – out there who is even stronger than him. Ultimately, regardless of Superman’s Kryptonian strength, he will always be at risk from someone who can simply hit harder.
Nuclear radiation defeated Superman
Both Nuclear Bombs and Nuclear Breathing Can Take Down Superman
One of the most surprising things Superman’s body seems to fight against is radiation. While his body processes solar radiation to manifest his powers, nuclear radiation tends to leave him in a terrible state. When Superman faced Godzilla, the latter’s atomic breath defeated Superman in a single blow, almost completely killing him. In The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, Superman has to intercept a nuclear missile and suffers the full impact of the explosion. Superman’s macabre, irradiated form must suck sunlight from a field of flowers to regenerate. While it’s not a weakness that comes up often, Superman’s Kryptonian biology actually struggles against certain types of radiation.
Superman’s powers can be stolen and used by others
Various villains drained Superman of his powers
Superman is essentially a living battery, which several supervillains have taken advantage of in the past – like Parasite, who can drain any energy source he finds, including Superman. Whenever Parasite makes contact with Superman, he drains his powers until there is nothing left, and surprisingly, Killer Frost can do the same. Killer Frost has the ability to absorb heat energy, which Superman is technically full of. During a battle between the Justice League and the Suicide Squad, Killer Frost surprised everyone by draining Superman’s solar energy and single-handedly defeating the entire Justice League.
Superman’s brain is as vulnerable as any other DC character
Superman’s brain is the villain’s perfect target
One of Superman’s most disgusting weaknesses is his brain. Even though his brain is as durable as the rest of him, he still prefers not to have anyone running around inside him. Node Injustice In the comics, for example, one of Batman’s contingencies to keep Superman in line is to have the Atom hang inside his brain with a piece of kryptonite.
If Superman manages to escape his prison, Atom can stab him with kryptonite. At the beginning of the New 52 Action comics In the story by Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert, a group of villains decide that the safest place for their secret lair is inside Superman’s brain. When they are forced to leave, they detonate a kryptonite bomb to try to cover their tracks. Both cases of “brain occupation” caused serious damage to the Man of Steel.
Superman’s iconic super hearing could be a huge weakness
But Superman’s audience is regularly turned against him
One of Superman’s most useful abilities is super hearing. With this power, Superman can listen to practically anything on the planet whenever he wants, which is one of the greatest ways to detect crime and make sure his friends are okay. But it also often turned against him. Sudden loud noises that Superman is not prepared for can quickly defeat him.
Superman’s super hearing has been his downfall several times, and he is especially vulnerable to powers like the Black Canary Scream. While under mind control, he was also defeated by Batman with a simple high-pitched whistle, which caused Superman to faint. It took Superman decades to refine his super hearing so that it wasn’t a problem, but certain sound-based superpowers can still catch him by surprise.
Superman is susceptible to pheromone control
Many villains have taken over Superman’s mind with pheromones
Poison Ivy has managed to take control of Superman twice so far in DC history. The first was during Batman: Calm down by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee, when Poison Ivy used her pheromones to dominate Superman’s mind, forcing him to obey her with kryptonite lipstick that enhanced his pheromones.
Later, in a Batman story by Tom King and Mikel Janín, Poison Ivy gained full control over the Green and again took control of Superman’s mind with little trouble. It’s honestly surprising how many times Poison Ivy has managed to take control of Superman through her specific brand of mind control, but it seems like Superman is particularly weak to being controlled by other people.
Superman has absolutely no resistance to magic
Magic is one of the easiest ways to harm Superman
Although Superman is virtually invulnerable to most physical attacks, magic has consistently pierced his defenses over the years. While Superman is no more vulnerable to magic than the average human, he is also not resistant to it. Magic affects Superman as well as everyone else in the DC Universe, making it one of the easiest and most effective ways to harm the Man of Steel.
With magic, Superman can be teleported across the universe, turned into a chicken, or simply hit by a fireball. Superman often tries to defeat magic users as quickly as possible or simply avoid them all together. It’s one of the few weaknesses that Superman simply has no real answer for.
Telepathy has proven to be very effective against Superman
Superman has very few mental defenses
Superman is surprisingly vulnerable to mind control. Over the years, the Joker has managed to turn Superman into a homicidal maniac twice. Poison Ivy was able to take control of him, and Maxwell Lord brainwashed Superman so completely that it was impossible to undo the damage – the only option was for Wonder Woman to kill Maxwell to end his control over Superman in the huge line. Countdown to Infinite Crisis plot.
Superman’s weakness to telepathy was also demonstrated when he faced the Hyperclan, a secret group of White Martians who took down Superman with ease. Using the iconic Martian telepathy, the leader forced Superman to believe he was close to kryptonite, causing him to be easily defeated.
Superman has no answer to reality or time manipulation
There are no defenses against the distortion of reality
Two of the strongest abilities in superhero fiction are the manipulation of reality and time, and Superman has no answer for either of them. It doesn’t matter how physically strong Superman is, as a reality warper can simply wave his hand and erase him from existence. This inevitability was best demonstrated when the Joker gained reality-warping powers in Emperor’s Joker and was able to defeat Superman. Superman is also only dangerous as an adult. If someone went back in time and erased his birth, then there would be no Superman to start.