Superman is not just the world's first superhero, he is also, in many ways, its best. When he was first created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Man of Steel presented an optimistic ideal that the country could aspire to. He fought injustice, bigotry, and the many evils that could be found in the world of 1930s America. However, as Superman's popularity grew, so did his array of wild and imaginative superpowers.
Despite the more otherworldly levels to which the character grew, the Last Son of Krypton remained a staple of popular culture and an icon for the oppressed. No matter how powerful he became or continues to become, Superman always uses his wealth of abilities to help those in need. Even if some of his powers are more useful than others.
10 Superman HasThe Ability To Telepathically Predict Who Is Calling Him
Siegel and Shuster first envisioned their "Superman" as an ordinary human granted great telepathic abilities through science. In some ways, it's almost poetic that their later Man of Steel would end up developing mental powers of his own.
Off and on, Kal-El of Krypton has displayed some form of thought reading and mind control, especially throughout the Golden and Silver Ages, but one of his most ingenious uses of those powers has to be his oft-forgotten skill at predicting the identity of callers decades before caller ID. It's a much better use of his skill at mental gymnastics than a problematic memory-wiping kiss.
9 Superman Can Shoot Concentrated Heat From His Eyeballs
Heat vision, at first glance, seems like one of Superman's most aggressive and violent abilities. Films and television of the last few decades haven't done much to dissuade that idea. Making his eyes glow red under intense shadow has been a quick shorthand for depicting the Man of Steel as angry or intimidating for quite some time now.
Despite that, there are plenty of non-violent uses for his admittedly sick-looking laser eyes that Clark has implemented. Welding metal, thawing ice, and even causing a small concussion on Manchester Black to humanely and temporarily disable his superpowers are just a few ways Superman has used this power. Heat vision, much like his other abilities, is more of a handy tool than a deadly weapon for a hero like Superman.
8 Superman Could Project A Tiny Clone Of Himself Out Of His Hand
Superman #125, by Jerry Coleman, Kurt Schaffenberger, Mort Weisinger, Curt Swan, and Stan Kaye, is infamous for adding one of the most bizarre powers to the Man of Steel's repertoire. After being caught in an explosion from a crashed alien ship, the Silver Age Superman is robbed of his classic powers. Instead, he now has the ability to fire a tiny "proxy" of himself at criminals via beams from his hands.
This proxy Superman becomes so popular that the original Clark ends up becoming jealous him. That is until the Smurf-sized Superman saves the real hero by taking a chunk of deadly Kryptonite to the bottom of the sea floor. May the fandom never forget Mini-Superman's noble sacrifice.
7 Superman Has A Bajillion Forms Of Super Sense
There's having 20/20 vision, and then there's having 20 different kinds of vision. Superman usually gets portrayed with his usual assortment of x-ray and microscopic vision, but rarely do fans get to see all-time classics like his Rebuild-The-Great-Wall-Of-China vision from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Superman isn't omniscient, but he is omnipotent.
Not only do these abilities provide the Man of Steel with a near-constant finger on the pulse of the planet, but it also provides him with a bevy of tools for any situation. Not to mention his enhanced hearing, smell, taste, and just about every possible sense both known and unknown to science.
6 The Super Skill Of Acting As A Mild Mannered Reporter
Anyone who has watched the original Superman film from 1978 can attest to the hero's impressive character work. The scene of Christopher Reeve transitioning on camera between the Clark Kent and Superman personas is literal movie magic.
Critics love to poke fun at the improbability of the character hiding from the public eye with a pair of glasses, but what they forget is that these are mythic characters who operate with largely the same internal logic as folk tales. Despite that, both on screen and on the four-color page, Superman has shown an adept skill at not just playing the role of Clark Kent, but also the roles of other heroes as well, including Batman.
5 The Obvious Pick Of Super Strength
Super strength is easily Superman's most iconic power. While the imagery of him flying across the skyline of Metropolis is wonderful in its own right, it's his John Carter-style feats of athleticism that first advertised the Man of Tomorrow to audiences.
It's hard to think of a more well-known comic book cover than that of Superman lifting an automobile above his head from 1938's Action Comics #1. And the classic image of Superman breaking a bond of metal chains has become has iconic a vision as any that exist.
4 Superman Can Sing At The Same Harmonic Frequency As Evil Itself
Following an attempt by Darkseid to harness the Anti-Life Equation and dominate all life on Earth in Final Crisis, the Man of Steel finds himself face-to-face with the ruler of Apokolips' metaphysical form. Darkseid taunts Superman with the simple fact that, as a being who represents the evil in the universe, he can never truly be destroyed.
Kal-El retorts this claim by singing at the exact harmonic frequency of Darkseid's form and shatters him into pieces. The New God does, of course, return later on. However, it's this moment of pure saccharin levity that set a perfect note for the story. Clark wryly references Darkseid's famous hate for music before departing.
3 Superman Soars Through The Sky At The Speed Of Sound
Superstrength may be Superman's most iconic power, but few represent his guardian angel-like behavior quite as well as flight. Superman soars above the skies of Metropolis, and even in the upper atmosphere of Earth itself, to watch over his home and keep and careful eye on its inhabitants. 2006's Superman Returns exemplifies this with a lovely scene performed by Brandon Routh where Kal-El listens to the sounds of the planet. It's a fairly well-known fact in comic circles that the character couldn't originally fly, hence the "leap tall buildings in a single bound" tagline, but it has easily become something synonymous with Superman.
2 Superman's Invulnerability Allowing Him To Act Like A Shield
No superpower represents Superman better than his invulnerability. Not just because he can take a punch and keep on going but because, as the s-shield emblem on his chest implies, he is first and foremost a guardian. Superman can take the hits that few other DC characters can.
Superman is always willing to put himself first in the firing line rather than let an ally take the blow for him. This goes double for any civilians. It's never a flex to show himself off. It's always in service to those he swears to protect.
1 Superman's Innate Incorruptibility And Super-Humanity
Superman's goodness is and always will be his greatest superpower. At the heart of who Clark Kent is, he will always be just a nice guy from Kansas trying to do the right thing. Plenty of people argue that makes him boring, but it's the core of what makes Superman so special.
If Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had gone for their original pitch of a villain who gained super telepathy, it would have just been any other mad scientist story. It's granting the character all that power and making him use it for the good of humanity that creates the central conceit of Superman. It's not about suspending one's disbelief that a man could fly, it's about believing that a man like him could do all these things and still be good. It's about believing that everyone could be that good. That's what makes Superman special.