Superman is one of the most iconic fictional characters in popular culture and he tends
to come out on top in most of his battles.
He's had some memorable fights against villains and fellow heroes alike, and boasts victories
against equally iconic good guys like Thor, Hulk and He-Man.
His most memorable defeats have come against villains.
The likes of Doomsday, Darkseid and even The Joker can lay claim to having beaten the Man
of Steel - but several heroes have actually gotten the better of him too.
In this video, we'll take a look at just some of the heroic characters who have done so.
Here are ten powerful superheroes who have beaten Superman.
Batman In spite of the fact that Batman is a fellow
superhero and indeed a good friend to Superman, he has actually gone up against the Man of
Steel almost as many times as any villain - this year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
movie is testament to that - and, in spite of the fact that he is infinitely less powerful
than the Man of Steel, the Dark Knight has gotten the better of him many times.Batman's
victories usually come courtesy of Kryptonite - Superman's weakness.
In fact, Bats was actually given some of the green stuff by Supes as a contingency in case
the Kryptonian hero ever went rogue - and whenever Batman has felt the need to take
him down, he has used it with great success against him.
Captain Marvel Although it's not a specific weakness of his
as some people would have you believe, Superman is as vulnerable to magic as any normal person.
So, bearing that in mind, the fact that Captain Marvel - who is every bit as strong, fast
and durable as the Man of Steel - obtained his powers from a magical source in the form
of the wizard Shazam, it's no wonder that he has overcome the Kryptonian on a number
of occasions.The two heroes have fought many times across various forms of media - and
Superman has actually won a lot of those bouts - but Captain Marvel's magical edge has allowed
him to knock Supes out with basic physical attacks and take him out with magical lightning
just as many times as he's been defeated.
Green Lantern Obviously, the title of "Green Lantern" isn't
specific to a single character, but if comic book history has proved anything, it's that
any given Green Lantern could defeat Superman if the opportunity arose - because their rings
have been known to create a synthetic form of Kryptonite, Superman's weakness.This first
became apparent in DC Comics Presents #26, when a villain posing as Hal Jordan discovered
it was the case - but Jordan later found another way to defeat the Man of Steel.
Jordan bonded with the cosmic fear entity known as Parallax in Zero Hour #1 and took
Superman out with ease.
Wonder Woman As one of DC's "Big Three", Wonder Woman is
a very popular character - but she doesn't get the same respect as Superman and Batman.
And, as a general rule, when she goes up against the Man of Steel in combat, he tends to get
the better of her - but there was a particular occasion where that wasn't the case.It was
during the Infinite Crisis arc, but there was a catch; the Superman that Wondy got the
better of was being mind-controlled by Maxwell Lord - but that doesn't change the fact that
she did indeed briefly take him down.
She did so by slitting his throat using her tiara.
And it's not as if Superman wasn't trying - he had been influenced into believing that
Wonder Woman was Doomsday!
Hawkman Sometimes it takes a plot device even more
wacky than Kryptonite to take out the Man of Steel - and, fortunately for Hawkman, he
possesses one in the form of the Claw of Horus.
It's a weapon that was forged in ancient Egypt using Nth metal and it draws its power from
the magnetic core of the Earth - and Hawkman used it to knock out Superman.It happened
in Superman-Batman Book 1: "Public Enemies", when the two got into an altercation, and
Hawkman ended the exchange by hitting Supes with the Claw of Horus and saying "essentially,
I just hit you with the planet," which is a pretty damn awesome line in anyone's book.
Orion Orion is unique on this list, as he's the
only character on it to defeat Superman with a single blow - that's right, this guy one-punched
the Man of Steel.
It happened in the New 52 timeline - a timeline in which the pair generally fight quite evenly
when they face each other - in Superman #20, when Orion did indeed managed to deliver a
single punch that put Superman down.The son of Darkseid - one of Superman's most fearsome
enemies - Orion possesses incredible super-strength that is on a par with the Kryptonian hero,
and it's augmented by advanced technology such as the Asto-Harness.
He really isn't to be messed with.
Lobo Lobo is one of the most bad-ass characters
in comic books and, as an intergalactic bounty hunter, has made Superman a target on a number
of occasions.
And he's actually come out on top on more than one of those occasions.A prime example
would be their first ever encounter, in the Superman: Eradication storyline, when Lobo
was tricked into drunkenly travelling to Earth to destroy the Man of Steel.
Lobo beat Supes so badly that the Kryptonian hero had to obtain some power armour to fight
back - and Lobo had the audacity to refer to him as names like "Superwimp".
Muhammad Ali The late boxing legend Muhammad Ali was the
closest thing to a real-life superhero that we're ever likely to see - and he possessed
one hell of a powerful knockout punch - and he actually defeated Superman in a boxing
match in the aptly named Superman vs. Muhammad Ali comic of 1978.When a maniacal alien leader
demanded that Earth's greatest fighter challenge the greatest warrior from his planet, both
Superman and Muhammad Ali put themselves forward to face him.
In order to determine who wet on to challenge the alien warrior, Supes and Ali fought each
other in a boxing match - with the Man of Steel depowered to make things fair.
The greatest of all time prevailed and went on to defeat the alien by knockout as well.
Lex Luthor Wait?
What?
Why is Lex Luthor appearing on a list of superheroes who have beaten Superman?
Well, that would be because he IS a superhero in the New 52 reboot - having joined the Justice
League in that timeline - and he HAS defeated Superman on numerous occasions over the years.Lex's
power comes from his mind - he truly is a genius - and he has used this to great effect
against his long-time arch-foe.
Knowing Superman's weakness is Kryptonite, Luthor has utilised it against the Man of
Steel many times - even building a power armour with various Kryptonite-based weapons installed
to take the hero down.
The Avengers Superman and his fellow DC characters have
crossed over with characters from other brands and franchises on countless occasions over
the years - and Superman tends to get the better of most of them - but when DC and Marvel
crossed over on this particular occasion, Earth's Mightiest Heroes got the better of
the Kryptonian hero.It happened in Avengers/JLA #2, when Superman had actually just narrowly
defeated Thor in one-on-one combat.
A tired Man of Steel was set upon by the likes of Iron Man, Vision, Hercules, Wonder Man
and She-Hulk - and the five-on-one beatdown was enough to see Supes knocked unconscious.
Thanks for watching our video about ten powerful superheroes who have defeated Superman.
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