Updated
Superman's powers and weaknesses explained
What powers does Superman have, where do they come from, and what can hurt him? Flight, heat vision, kryptonite, magic and red sunlight explained.
The short answer
Superman's powers come from Earth's yellow sun charging his Kryptonian cells. He has super-strength, flight, invulnerability, super-speed, heat vision, X-ray vision, freeze breath and super-hearing. His main weaknesses are kryptonite, magic and red sunlight.
Where the powers come from
Superman is a Kryptonian. His cells soak up yellow-sun radiation like a battery, which is why a long day in the sun recharges him and why stories sometimes show him weakened after a huge effort. For how the idea developed, see Superman’s solar battery.
Core powers
For the full list of Superman’s powers, with first appearances, see the Superman Codex powers section.
- Super-strength: enough to move mountains in most modern versions (read how strong Superman really is)
- Flight
- Invulnerability: bullets bounce off, and most modern takes have him surviving in space
- Super-speed: faster than a speeding bullet
- Heat vision
- X-ray vision, though he can’t see through lead
- Freeze breath (super-breath)
- Super-hearing and other enhanced senses
- Super-intelligence and memory, in many versions
Weaknesses
Kryptonite
Radioactive fragments of his home planet. The colours do different things (see every colour of kryptonite and what it does):
| Kryptonite | Effect (classic comics) |
|---|---|
| Green | Weakens and can kill him |
| Red | Unpredictable, temporary changes |
| Gold | Removes his powers, permanently in classic stories |
| Blue | Harms Bizarro rather than Superman |
| Black | Splits a person into good and evil versions |
Magic
Superman has no special resistance to magic, so sorcerers, enchanted weapons and imps from the fifth dimension can all hurt him.
Red sunlight
Under a red sun, such as Krypton’s sun Rao, his powers fade. Villains use red-sun lamps for exactly this reason.
His humanity
The weakness writers return to most is his care for others. Lois, his parents and the people of Metropolis are leverage his enemies use again and again. See our guide to Superman’s villains.
Questions
What does green kryptonite do to Superman?
It weakens him, causes pain and can kill him with prolonged exposure. Kryptonite was introduced in the Superman radio series in 1943.
What can hurt Superman?
Mainly kryptonite, magic and red sunlight. Magic gets past his invulnerability, a red sun drains his powers, and kryptonite's radiation weakens him.