DC Comics is home to some of the greatest superheroes and supervillains ever created, completely changing the comic book genre forever with its incredible characters and stories. However, not everything that the comics giant has created over the years has been a massive hit. In fact, some of DC's creative decisions are barely comprehensible, let alone commendable.
In its ever-expanding world of superheroes, DC Comics has introduced plenty of characters with superpowers that not only make little sense but are completely and utterly useless in every sense of the world. While there is no shortage of stupid superpowers in the DC universe, some clearly stand out among the rest as the most useless.
10 Superman's Ability To Shoot Mini-Supermen From His Fingers
Superman has some underrated powers thanks to his Kryptonian physiology, but also plenty of strange abilities that fans prefer not to talk about. One of the latter includes the remarkably bizarre power to shoot a miniature version of himself from his fingertips that has the exact same powers as the normal-sized Superman.
Not only is this power, which was introduced in 1958's Superman #125, an incredibly odd addition to Superman's already vast stores of abilities, but it is also only useful in extremely specific situations. It may be fair to assume that DC willingly forgot about this power in all future Superman stories in hopes that fans would as well.
9 Bouncing Boy's Bouncing Powers
Bouncing Boy's incredibly accurate name tells audiences everything they need to know about the absurd DC superhero who made his debut in the early 1960s. Bouncing Boy has the ability to blow up his body into a giant ball and bounce around, hitting his enemies while retaining an invulnerability factor that protects him in his offensive maneuvers.
While there is something to be said for Bouncing Boy's invulnerability, it is rather unfortunate that his powers require him to hurl his own body at the enemy in order to attack. Nevertheless, one has to respect Bouncing Boy's unerring commitment to his cause, putting his own body on the line every time he jumps into action.
8 Danny The Street's Road-Based Powers
Danny the Street is one of DC Comics' strangest characters ever introduced. Making his first appearance in 1990's Doom Patrol #35, Danny the Street is a sentient street that can transport itself to any location in the world.
Danny the Street fits in perfectly with the zany sensibilities of DC's Doom Patrol, though it is difficult to see exactly how such a character can be of any help in most superhero missions. As a result, Danny rarely comes up in conversations pertaining to favorite DC characters, though their existence still remains an interesting piece of trivia.
7 Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man's Pseudo-Shapeshifting
After falling into a vat of amino acids, Sven Larsen gained the uncanny abilities that led to him becoming the Doom Patrol supervillain known as Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. Larsen's newfound powers allow him to turn any part of his body into either an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral.
Although Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man's powers may seem quite impressive on the service, they are really more of a nuisance than a threat, remaining some of the most ridiculous superpowers in DC Comics. Nevertheless, the character actually managed to appear in the live-action DC series Doom Patrol, where he is portrayed by Alec Mapa.
6 Color Kid's Ability To Change Objects' Colors
The unimaginatively named Color Kid is a member of the Legion of Heroes in DC Comics. His powers allow him to alter the electromagnetic properties of anything in his sight. While this ability may initially sound quite impressive, a more honest way of describing it would be color manipulation.
Color Kid is essentially capable of changing the color of anything he sees, which is tremendously unhelpful in virtually any scenario outside of an art studio. Even worse, it is unclear exactly how long Color Kid's powers actually last, suggesting that his color manipulation is impermanent and, therefore, extremely useless.
5 Arm-Fall-Off Boy's Ability To Make His Arm Fall Off
Arm-Fall-Off Boy is perhaps one of the most infamous creations of DC Comics, sporting the singular ability to pull off his own arm and use it as a blunt weapon. The underwhelming superhero was shockingly turned away from the Justice League due to his woefully inefficient power levels.
While Arm-Fall-Off Boy is mostly useless in a fight, DC eventually realized the sheer comedic value in the character when he was portrayed by Nathan Fillion in The Suicide Squad. Sporting the new name of TDK, the Detachable Kid, Fillion's character was quickly killed off in the film's opening act. Nevertheless, given Fillion's extensive history working with James Gunn, TDK could actually return in the DCU.
4 Superman's Master Ventriloquism
DC is always changing Superman's power set, often to include new powers. Unfortunately, some of these powers make even less sense than others, including the hero's seemingly useless ability of super-ventriloquism, which has been of use only a handful of times in his vast DC Comics history.
While super-ventriloquism might have served Superman well had he ever entered a talent show, it has very little use in the world of superpowered crime fighting. Aside from occasionally tricking certain individuals on a momentary basis, Superman has rarely dusted off this bizarre Kryptonian ability.
3 Stone Boy's Ability To Turn Into Stone
As his ever-descriptive name so eloquently points out, Stone Boy is a boy who can turn his body into stone. While other superheroes from various companies have made great use of this premise, Stone Boy doesn't quite live up to the hype, as he is completely immobile while in stone form.
There is very little use for Stone Boy in DC Comics unless someone ever has a need for an immobile stone statue. While the burgeoning superhero's heart is certainly in the right place, it is difficult to find any reason he should continue his doomed career in crime fighting.
2 Matter-Eater Lad's Ability To Eat Anything
The awfully named Matter-Eater Lad is a superhero who is capable of consuming any and all matter. Essentially, he is capable of eating anything that may stand in his way, making him one of the most bizarre creations from the minds at DC Comics.
While there is little that can stop Matter-Eater Lad, there is also very little use for him. The character can certainly break through any barrier that may stand in his way, but unless he intends to eat the supervillains themselves, he isn't much good in an actual fight. Not to mention, Matter-Eater Lad's power set is extremely gross and certainly unhealthy.
1 Section 8's Litany Of Bad Superpowers
Section 8 is a superhero team built for individuals with odd crimefighting shticks and unhelpful powers. The team is comprised of several wannabe superheroes, including but not limited to, Six Pack, a drunken brawler, the Defenstrator, who hurls supervillains out of a window frame carried on his person at all times, Friendly Fire, a man who only seems capable of shooting his own teammates, Jean de Baton-Baton, whose power is extreme French-ness, and the Dog-Welder, who welds dogs to villains' faces.
Intended to be every bit as ridiculous as they sound, Section 8's team members all sport abilities and powers that are almost incomprehensible. Moreover, most of them don't actually have superpowers but have merely adopted a crimefighting shtick that makes them stand out from other superheroes — usually in extremely perverse and unsettling ways. Needless to say, no one will be calling on Section 8 to save the day unless absolutely necessary.