Superman has punched Imperiex, Mongul, and even Darkseid, and while these characters are heavy hitters, one villain stands above them all: Judgment Day. While there's no denying that Darkseid is powerful, even he was defeated by the terrifying Doomsday, proving that Doomsday's strength practically makes him a god.
Doomsday was designed to be the perfect living organism. Every time Doomsday is killed, he simply comes back stronger than ever, typically immune to whatever killed him before. Because of this, Doomsday has continued to evolve over the years, becoming stronger and stronger, and at some point, his powers will push him to the point of becoming a literal god. Although he hasn't reached that point yet, these ten superpowers demonstrate how close Doomsday is to becoming the darkest god in DC history.
10
The strength of the Last Judgment is almost limitless
Doomsday took down some of DC's strongest characters
Physical strength is a superpower that almost every hero in the DC Universe possesses to some degree. Even characters without powers, like Batman, are still in “maximum physical condition”, putting their strength far above the human average. But even in a world where almost everyone has super strength, Doomsday is on another level. Superman is strong enough to casually push the moon, sustain eternity, and soar to infinity. But despite Superman's incredible feats of strength, Doomsday was still capable of beating Superman to death with nothing more than his brute strength.
Superman is normally strong enough to take on anyone. He regularly sparred with Darkseid, but Doomsday's physical power was on another level entirely. During the events of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths by Joshua Williamson and Daniel Sampere, it took Superman using both hands to counter a Doomsday punch. Doomsday is so physically powerful that he fought his way out of the Phantom Zone.
9
Doomsday has poisonous claws in addition to his super strength
Doomsday has a surprising amount of ranged abilities
Doomsday has many powers, but his mobility is generally not good. While Doomsday can move fast and definitely jump far, he cannot fly. Superman even admits that one of his biggest mistakes when fighting Doomsday for the first time was getting too close and relying too much on brute strength. During the rematch in Superman/Doomsday: Hunter/Prey by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Gregory Wright, and Bill Oakley, Superman tries to right this wrong by keeping his distance during battle.
Instead of facing Doomsday directly, Superman simply remained in the air and used his heat vision on Doomsday from afar. Superman had hoped to defeat Doomsday before physically attacking him, but Doomsday had a surprising trick to counter Clark's strategy. Doomsday's knuckles are covered in bone-like claws, which he can extend with surprising speed. Not only were these claws sharp enough to pierce Superman's body, but they were also coated with a deadly poison that affected even Superman.
8
Doomsday can control Hellfire, giving him access to magic
Yes, even magic is part of the Doomsday arsenal
While Doomsday is primarily known for his physical attributes, he has a few extra abilities he can rely on when physical strength isn't the answer. One of the most dangerous of these powers is his apparent ability to control hellfire. Doomsday developed this ability after spending time in Hell. While the full extent of this power has not been demonstrated – yet – it appears that at the very least, Doomsday can enhance his physical attacks with Hellfire.
All over Superman #20 by Williamson and Dan Mora, Doomsday is seen with bright flames surrounding his arms as he fights Superman. These flames persist no matter how far Judgment Day moves or how quickly it moves. Superman even calls the flames hellfire. Being shrouded in hellfire makes Doomsday even more dangerous, as hellfire counts as magic, meaning its strikes can bypass a certain amount of Superman's invulnerability.
7
Doomsday can attack psychically if physical force doesn't work
Fortunately, Doomsday didn't retain this power for long
Doomsday is best known for using brute strength to win his battles, but there have been a few times where he has gained powers that go beyond the physical. One of the best examples of this occurred in Superman: The Doomsday Wars by Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Wright and John Workman. In this story, Doomsday has his body taken over by Brainiac, not only resulting in Doomsday gaining genius-level intelligence, but also making Doomsday capable of releasing telepathic blasts of energy.
Fortunately, Doomsday didn't keep this psychic ability forever, as he only possessed it due to fusing with Brainiac. But due to Doomsday's ability to continually evolve and gain more and more abilities each time he appears, there's no reason to assume he wouldn't eventually develop telepathic abilities if it benefited him. If Doomsday were to become permanently psychic, he would overcome one of his biggest weaknesses: his lack of ranged attacks.
6
Doomsday's durability allows it to withstand virtually anything
Not even Darkseid's Omega effect can harm Doomsday
Having incredible strength isn't particularly useful without incredible durability. It's not worth drilling into a brick wall if someone breaks their arm in the process. Fortunately, Doomsday's durability is perhaps even greater than his physical strength. Doomsday has faced some of the strongest characters in the DC Universe. He fought and defeated Darkseid and Superman. With Superman, he has demonstrated resistance to both Superman's physical strength and his heat vision.
Against Darkseid, Doomsday was not only able to beat Darkseid into submission, but he was also able to resist the Omega Effect, which even Superman struggles to do. Normally, the Omega Effect can transport anyone anywhere or even destroy them down to their atoms. But Doomsday is so long-lasting that it apparently hasn't affected him at all.
5
Even though Doomsday is damaged, he has the strongest healing factor in superhero comics
Doomsday has an unbeatable healing factor
There are so many powerful healing factors in comics. Typically, the most famous chatacyers for having healing factors are Wolverine and Deadpool, but Doomsday's healing factor blows them both out of the water. Doomsday's durability and invulnerability make him nearly impossible to kill, but if someone were to attack him and cause any real, lasting damage, it would simply be instantly repaired. Not only can Doomsday regenerate from any injury he sustains, but even if his body is completely destroyed, he can still regenerate from a single atom.
If someone somehow managed to completely destroy Doomsday down to the atomic level, that still wouldn't get rid of it. In very specific circumstances, Doomsday can regenerate from a memory. This feat alone demonstrates that Doomsday has the most powerful healing factor of all time.
4
Judgment Day is Technically Immortal
Not even death can prevent the Last Judgment
Even if someone somehow manages to do the nearly impossible and kill Doomsday, death doesn't seem to matter in the slightest. While Doomsday can technically be killed and even sent to Hell, he won't stay there for long. Doomsday has demonstrated that he is perfectly capable of simply leaving the afterlife. After being killed by the Super-Family, Doomsday was sent to Hell, where he ended up in a power struggle with the First of the Fallen for control of the underworld.
After a while, Doomsday broke the portal to Earth and exited Hell, proving that humanity will never truly be free from Doomsday, as even killing him doesn't seem to matter. This “small” feat technically makes Judgment Day immortal, since death has no real consequences for him. Doomsday's practical immortality is essentially a divine ability and definitively proves that Doomsday is just one step away from becoming a real god.
3
Judgment Day may exude features that transform people into more Judgment Days
Others can be transformed into Final Judgment
The New 52 changed a lot of things about a lot of DC characters, and one of the most terrifying changes was to Doomsday. After the New 52 changed its main character, Doomsday could emit toxic spores that transform people into Doomsday-like beings. One of the prime examples of this power was shown after Superman killed Doomsday. Clark was exposed to the virus more than anyone else and ended up transforming into a being known as Superdoom.
The transformation started slowly, with Superman only having violent fantasies and anger issues. But eventually, the virus changed his body so much that neither the Fortress of Solitude nor Krypto recognized Superman anymore. The transformation only got worse when Superman finally fully transformed on Judgment Day. If Doomsday is able to do this to Superman of all people, that means he would be able to transform just about anyone in the DC Universe.
2
Doomsday can absorb the life force of anyone near it
Every living thing is just fuel for the evolution of the Last Judgment
Doomsday is already an incredibly powerful being, but evolution isn't the only way he can get stronger. One of the New 52 additions to Doomsday's power set was the ability to drain the life force from anything near him. It has been claimed that Doomsday killed several million animals simply by walking in its general area. Doomsday is perfectly capable of sucking the life out of people to increase his own power and increase the speed of his evolution.
Lex Luthor states that this power is likely why Doomsday is so obsessed with Superman. Superman presents the greatest source of power on Earth, and if Doomsday were to drain him, he would be completely unstoppable. Doomsday, of course, didn't have this power when he originally debuted, and it hasn't been seen since – which is probably for the best, considering how incredibly dangerous he is.
1
Doomsday's ability to evolve will eventually make him a God
Judgment Day will evolve into a higher being
Doomsday's greatest power has always been its evolution. That's what made him dangerous in the first place. If Doomsday is killed, he will simply evolve to be immune to whatever killed him. If he is at a disadvantage, he will simply evolve to gain an advantage. His evolution is so powerful that he has continually gained new abilities and surpassed Superman's growth time and time again. It will eventually get to the point where Superman and Doomsday will be the last heroes and villains left alive in the universe.
After Doomsday evolves his own intelligence and becomes the Time Trapper in 2024 Superman arc by Williamson and Mora, he admits that if he can evolve just one more time, he will become a literal god. This is Doomsday's true power: he will always evolve again and again and again until he becomes the perfect being, far above anyone else. This is why, of all the Superman villains, yeah Judgment Day who will one day become a literal god.