DC Comics is well-known for having hundreds of superheroes capable of shaking continents and destroying planets with the snap of their fingers. Many of these overpowered heroes are icons of the genre, including Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, and Green Lantern. However, not every superhero with such world-destroying power receives the same level of recognition, and numerous examples exist of such characters falling into obscurity. Yet despite their lack of popularity, these underrated heroes possess god-like abilities that put them well above the majority of DC’s extensive superhero community. With such incalculable abilities, these superheroes should be recognized as some of the universe’s greatest protectors.
The vast majority of superheroes fade into the background and are forgotten by writers and readers. Nonetheless, when these heroes were first introduced, they were established as virtually all-powerful beings who could rival and surpass even the strongest Justice League members.
While heroes like Superman and Captain America represent the values of the United States, Uncle Sam is literally those ideals brought to life. Uncle Sam, the leader and founder of the Freedom Fighters, personifies the spirit of America and its values. The more people believe in the ideals of truth, justice, and equality for all, the stronger Uncle Sam becomes. At his peak, Uncle Sam is strong enough to deliver a significant beating to Superman and destroy a Nazi Cyborg Superman. Uncle Sam also has a near-unlimited set of additional abilities, including light-speed flight, multiversal teleportation, invulnerability, healing, plant manipulation, telepathy, illusions, and size alteration. Uncle Sam even has a level of omniscience and is aware of every event that occurs across the United States. And as long as the ideals of freedom live on, Uncle Sam will persevere. With all this power, Uncle Sam is the ultimate champion of America and its people.
Out of all the New Gods that make up the Fourth World pantheon, the youthful Forever People are among the most underrated. Made up of Beautiful Dreamer, Big Bear, Vykin the Black, Serifan, and Mark Moonrider, the Forever People use their Mother Box to summon their champion in times of crisis: Infinity Man. Over his many incarnations, Infinity Man has had numerous origin stories that all convey his godly power. He’s been described as the accumulative power of the Forever People, the long-lost brother of Darkseid, and a fragment of Highfather and the infinite Source. Standing several stories tall, Infinity Man is among the most powerful of New Gods. He possesses superhuman strength, energy projection, gravity manipulation, phasing, flight, teleportation, telepathy, and magnetokinesis. Infinity Man can kill lesser New Gods in an instant and fight an Anti-Life Equation-empowered Mister Miracle. Infinity Man is one of New Genesis’s greatest weapons in the eternal war against Darkseid and Apokolips.
Originally a knockoff of Hawkman in Grant Morrison’s JLA comic run, the angel Zauriel quickly proved himself to be far stronger than the winged hero he had replaced. Once one of the four generals of the Heavenly Host, Zauriel gave up his divinity to be with a human woman whom he fell in love with. Yet despite giving up his Heavenly role and immortality, Zauriel didn’t lose any of his divine powers. Zauriel can defeat all manner of demons and can fly at supersonic speeds. His most impressive ability is his Sonic Flash scream, which can vaporize angels and even harm the embodiment of God’s wrath known as the Spectre. Zauriel also wields the sword of Archangel Michael, which endlessly spews heavenly fire and can cut through anything, from atoms to dimensions. Despite all this incredible power, Zauriel has been unfairly sidelined after Morrison’s JLA run and has rarely made an appearance since. Given his abilities and unique background, it’s far past time that Zauriel made a comeback.
Unlike her villainous predecessor, Kimiyo Hoshi used the Doctor Light mantle to become a multiversal hero. Ironically, despite providing significant contributions to no less than two Crisis Events, Doctor Light faded right back into the background once they were over. As her name suggests, Doctor Light can manipulate all forms of light and is practically a living star. She can fly, fire energy blasts, create light constructs, make illusions, and turn into a being of pure light. During the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Doctor Light channeled the power of a star to injure the multiversal villain the Anti-Monitor. And during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, it was revealed that Doctor Light’s power comes from her connection to the Light of Creation, the infinite source of all life and light in the multiverse. With this power boost, Doctor Light is one with the multiverse and can purge the corruptive influence of the omnipotent Great Darkness.
There are few characters in all of DC Comics mightier than Joshua Sanders, aka Takion. Despite his current obscurity, Takion was once in line to succeed High Father and become the next leader of the New Gods of New Genesis. This position granted Takion access to the Source, the primordial, infinite energy from which all existence originates. As the avatar of the Source, Takion possesses near infinite power. Even other infinite cosmic energies like the Flash’s Speed Force, Captain Atom’s Quantum Field, and the entire Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum are all mere aspects of Takion’s being. With his omnipotent powers, Takion has stopped time, gained access to universal knowledge, manipulated souls, turned people into antimatter, erased a town with a thought, and become one with the universe. Takion is a god-like being whose power rivals even that of DC’s strongest heroes. He should make a comeback as one of the multiverse’s greatest protectors.
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