Some of the most iconic superhero origin stories involve character being granted powers by
some way or another.
But this isnt the case for all of our favourite vigilantes.
Many superheroes were born with their powers, some manifesting later in their lives, others
being aware of their special talents right from the get go.
So today, were counting down the top 10 superheroes who were born with their powers.
Theres a whole lot of characters in comic books that can fit into this category, so
be sure to stick around until the end of the video to let us know who you think shouldve
made this list, or who you think should be included in a part two.
With that in mind, let get to this list friends.
10 Thor Thor is an Asgardian god.
And being an Asgardian means he was born with a whole lot of super powered abilities, specifically,
superhuman strength, speed, durability and longevity.
He comes from a very powerful family, too.
His father is Odin, the all-father, whose innate abilities extend much further than
Thors, but imply that the god of thunder may exceed his initial capabilities (which he
has, on multiple occasions in both the comics and in live action adaptations the likes of
Thor Ragnarok).
9 Charles Xavier\ Mutants are the most obvious choice for this
list.
So rather than listing a slew of them who were born with latent powers that manifested
at some point of their lives, were just going to include this one particular mutant on our
list; Charles Xavier.
The man responsible for starting the X-Men.
Mutants are a subspecies of humans born with superhuman abilities.
In Xaviers case, thats an exceptional telepathic ability, giving him the power to read and
control the minds of others.
Founding the X-Men, he wanted to provide both shelter and training to mutants, causing him
to set up a private school in the X-Mansion.
His whole schtick has been to promote peace between mutants and humans, striving for a
peaceful coexistence based in equality between the two races.
While his actions in the more recent X-Men comics may contest that, one thing that cant
be is his innate abilities; he was also born with his genius level intellect, which has
proven to be one of his most defining traits.
8 Falcon\ Sam Wilson aka Falcon has always had an natural
affinity for birds.
When he was a child, he trained pigeons, looking after the largest pigeon coop in all of Harlem.
Charles Xavier would later confirm that Sam had a telepathic link with his bird Redwing
in Captain America issue 174.
Red Skull would later amplify these powers using the cosmic cube tp create what he called
a super normal mental link between Wilson and Redwing, which Sam would state hurt like
hell.
That Red Skull bit served as a wee bit of a retcon, so it is somewhat contested as to
how much influence or connection Sam had innately with birds prior to his power being tinkered
with by the villain.
What do you all think?
7 Martian Manhunter Martian Manhunter, aka J2onn Jonnz debuted
in DCs Detective comics issue 225 in 1955.
One of the DC universes most powerful superheroes, Jonn owes his powers to his heritage and race;
hes a green martian from mars.
And what does that mean?
He can do A LOT of really cool things.
This includes having superhuman strength, speed and endurance, the ability to shape
shift, turn invisible, be intangible, make use of a powerful photographic memory, has
a regenerative healing factor, can fly, has heat vision, is telepathic and telekinetic.
In addition to this, he (and all other martians) are born with nine senses versus humans who
are born with five.
6 Hercules Even those unfamiliar with Marvels Hercules
know that hes a fictional character born with great gifts.
The son of Zeus, the Hercules in Marvels panels is based off of the Heracles of Greek mythology.
Hes spent some time on the Avengers roster, and in 2008, he was given his own solo self
titled comic, the Incredible Hercules.
As an Olympian, he was born with superhuman agility, durability, endurance and strength.
He one of the strongest Olympians, capable of smashing rocket to powder and sealing an
entire cliff around an opponent with his bare hands.
Plus, he can leap over a hundred feet into the air, run speeds of 100 miles per hour,
and has proven to have some immunity to magic attacks.
5 Echo Echo first appeared in Marvels panels in 1999s
Daredevil issue 9.
Shes a native American character who is deaf, and shes totally kick ass.
Her ability is a really fascinating one.
She possesses something called photographic reflexes.
This means she can perfectly copy other peoples movements, not dissimilar to Taskmaster.
And shes done some really cool things with that ability.
By merely watching others, she has learned to become a concert-level pianist, a highly
skilled acrobat, a talented ballerina, and a skilled martial artist.
She also learned how to pilot the Quinjet this way, too.
And this works just as well when it comes to combat.
By watching tapes of Daredevil and Bullseye, she learned to mimic their abilities; Daredevils
acrobatics and Bullseye uncanny aiming skills.
Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince is another example of a character born with an impressive physiology.
As an Amazon, she possess superhuman strength, speed, nigh-invulnerability, flight, a healing
factor and much more.
Some of her natural gifts have been altered over the years based on the iteration; for
example, in the golden age, her strength was comparable to Supermans, capable of bench
pressing 15,000 pounds prior to having her powers increased thanks
to her bracelets.
Even when her super strength was nullified, she still had enough strength to break down
a prison door in order to save Steve Trevor in Sensation Comics issue 6 from 1942.
But, post Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dianas powers are thanks to a blessing from Olympian
deities.
Now, regardless of iteration, many of her abilities were refined and honed due to extensive
training, or blessings from the gods, but her innate talents are undeniable.
And undeniably strong.
3 Aquaman DCs king of the seas first appeared in More
fun Comics issue 73 in 1941.
While his origin story has fluctuated over the years (and the source of his powers to
boot), his Silver Age origin retcon is the one that lands him on this list.
Aquaman aka Arthur Curry is the son of a lighthouse keeper the name of Tom Curry, who gets romantically
involved with a woman named Atlanna, an outcast from the underwater city of Atlantis.
As a youth, Arthur discovers hes got more abilities than a regular kid his age; he can
survive underwater, communicate with sea life, and more.
The story would be further refined, with Arthur being born Orin, the son of queen Atlanna,
abandoned as a child and raised by a lighthouse keeper who would name him Arthur Curry.
Regardless, Aquaman powers have generally always been a product of his advanced not-fully-human
physiology.
Speaking of kings of Atlantis, that brings us to our next
2 Namor Namor is a golden age hero who first appeared
in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly issue 1 in 1939, a comic published by Marvels predecessor
Timely comics.
He is the mutant son of a sea captain and a princess from the underwater kingdom of
Atlantis, qualifying as a member of the homo mermanus race.
Because of his mutant genes combined with his Atlantean physiology, the character is
capable of some pretty impressive stuff.
His skill set includes superhuman strength, speed, agility, senses and reflexes, aquatic
adaptation, mild invulnerability, flight, telepathic control over sea creatures, longevity,
hydrokinesis, the ability to copy the powers of oceanic lifeforms, bodily water generation,
and of course, marine life empathy.
1 Franklin Richards Franklin tops our list because hes a character
in the comics whose birth, grow and power manifestation weve witnessed as it happened,
versus learning about it via an origin story.
Franklin Richards is the son of Reed Richards aka Mr Fantastic and Sue Storm, the Invisible
Woman.
And he was born with AWESOME power.
He can manipulate matter and energy on a molecular level, meaning he can warp reality, project
energy, and teleport.
He has a slew of psionic abilities the likes of telekinesis, telepathy, astral projection
and precognition.
He once created a pocket universe that was an exact replica of the 616 universe (a feat
he did subconsciously might I add).
And lastly, the kid is immortal.
Perhaps the most impressive of all of those is his reality warping scale.
He can alter reality on a cosmic scale.
As you can imagine, he '92s still honing his skills, so who knows what this kid might be
able to pull of in the future.
There we have it!
Alright, i\'92s time for you all to give us a shout in those comments below and share
with us who your top picks for heroes who were born with their powers would be.