Weaknesses.

What really hurts the Man of Steel.

What is Superman's weakness?

Kryptonite, radioactive fragments of his home planet, is the famous one. He's also vulnerable to magic and loses his powers under a red sun. Emotionally, his love for Lois, his family and the people of Earth is often written as his true weak spot.

Weaknesses · sources below

Is lead Superman's weakness?

No. Lead doesn't hurt Superman at all. It blocks his X-ray vision and shields him from kryptonite radiation, which is why villains use lead boxes and lead-lined rooms to hide things from him. Calling lead a weakness is one of the most common Superman myths.

Weaknesses · sources below

What happens to Superman under a red sun?

Under a red sun, such as Krypton's sun Rao, Superman loses his powers and is effectively an ordinary man. The rule was set in 'Superman's Return to Krypton' in Superman #141 (November 1960 cover date). Villains, including Lex Luthor in Superman #164 (1963), have used red-sun worlds to trap him.

Weaknesses · sources below

Superman's biggest weaknesses are green kryptonite, red sunlight, magic and running out of stored solar energy. Red sunlight, first shown in Superman #141 (1960), turns him effectively human. Magic affects him like anyone else because his invulnerability doesn't protect against it. Writers also use his moral code and his love for his family as weak points.

The full list.

Superman is the most powerful hero in comics, so his weaknesses matter more than most. Nearly all of them come back to one idea: his powers run on stored sunlight, and anything that blocks, drains or ignores that energy can hurt him.

Superman’s weaknesses, ranked

This is our editorial ranking of how often, and how seriously, each weakness is used in the comics and films. The citations are the stories that established or best show each one.

#	Weakness	What it does	Key story
1	Green kryptonite	Weakens, hurts and can kill him	Radio, 1943; Superman #61 (1949)
2	Red sunlight	Removes his powers	Superman #141 (1960)
3	Magic	Ignores his invulnerability	Superman #171 (1964), per Wikipedia
4	Solar depletion	Powers fade as stored sunlight runs out	The Final Night (1996)
5	Mind control and telepathy	Turns his power against his friends	Sacrifice (2005)
6	Equally strong foes	Raw force can injure or kill him	Doomsday, Superman (vol. 2) #75 (1993)
7	His moral code and his loved ones	Villains exploit his refusal to kill and his need to save everyone	Superman (vol. 4) #30 (2017)

In short, kryptonite and red sunlight are the physical weaknesses everyone knows; magic, depletion and mind control are the ones writers use to surprise him; and his own goodness is the weakness they return to most.

Red sunlight

Krypton orbited a red sun called Rao, and under red sunlight Kryptonians are effectively human. The rule was established in “Superman’s Return to Krypton” in Superman #141 (cover date November 1960), by Jerry Siegel and Wayne Boring, where Superman finds himself powerless under Rao on Krypton. Lex Luthor fights him on a red-sun world in Superman #164 (1963), and in Superman: The Animated Series the villain Luminus turns Earth’s sun red.

Magic

Superman’s invulnerability gives no protection against magic, so a spell or an enchanted weapon affects him as it would anyone else. Wikipedia cites Superman #171 (1964), but no explainer we found names a first story. Magic-based foes include Mr. Mxyzptlk, the imp from the Fifth Dimension, and Captain Marvel (Shazam), a famous rival in strength contests. Calling magic his “weakness” is a simplification: it simply bypasses his defences.

Solar depletion

Because Superman stores sunlight, heavy use or a long time without sun drains him. In The Final Night (1996) a Sun-Eater dims the sun and his powers fade, returning fully only in Superman Forever (1998). After using his solar flare he is powerless for about 24 hours.

The Phantom Zone

The Phantom Zone is a prison dimension where Kryptonian criminals exist as ghostly “phantoms”. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283 (April 1961), by Robert Bernstein and George Papp, the same issue that introduced General Zod. It threatens Superman twice over: he can be sent there, and its prisoners, such as Zod, Faora and Jax-Ur, share his powers.

Mind control, telepathy and fear

Superman’s mind isn’t powered by the sun, so telepaths are some of his most dangerous enemies. In the 2005 crossover Sacrifice, Maxwell Lord takes control of him, and Wonder Woman kills Lord to stop it. The alien Black Mercy plant overpowers his mind in Superman Annual #11 (1985), “For the Man Who Has Everything”. In Injustice, the Scarecrow’s fear toxin laced with kryptonite makes him see Lois as Doomsday.

Is lead one of Superman’s weaknesses?

No. Lead is a myth weakness. It doesn’t harm Superman; it blocks his X-ray vision and shields him from kryptonite. Fans used the rule to explain why he couldn’t see inside Ultraman’s mask in Superman (2025).

His moral code: Superman’s greatest weakness?

Many writers say Superman’s real weak point is his goodness. Villains survive because he won’t kill: an editorial code usually credited to Whitney Ellsworth stopped him killing in 1940 or 1941. They target Lois, Jon and the Kents because he loves them, and they stage disasters in several places at once because he has to save everyone. He has broken the rule rarely and painfully: in Superman (vol. 2) #22 (1988) he executes three Kryptonian criminals and goes into self-exile, and in Man of Steel (2013) he kills Zod.

There’s more on his values and fears in Superman’s personality, and the Doomsday story is in our Superman comics reading order.

Disease: Virus X

Superman is almost never ill, but one Kryptonian disease nearly killed him. Virus X, nicknamed Kryptonian leprosy, first appeared in Superman #156 (October 1962), and Lex Luthor infected him with it in Action Comics #363–366 (1968) before white kryptonite cured him.

Sound: a weakness or not?

Some lists claim sonic attacks are a major Superman weakness because of his super-hearing. We haven’t found a reliable source that treats it as one, so we’ve left it out of the ranking. Some foes do use sound against him, though: Silver Banshee, who first appeared in Action Comics #595 (December 1987) by John Byrne, has a scream that nearly kills him, and his super-hearing makes such attacks worse. The Parasite, often listed alongside sound, drains energy by touch.