When the Justice League became too hampered by politics to be effective, Batman formed his own team of metahumans known as the Outsiders to deal with the problems around the world that the League couldn't, and kicked off a long line of DC teams that have made a reappearance in the DC Rebirth era with Batman and the Outsiders.
Following a tease of the Outsiders during Dark Nights: Metal, Batman and Black Lightning have begun training a new group which is lacking some of the firepower of the earlier iterations. So today we wanted to take a look at the most powerful members of the Outsiders to see who they could add to the roster to upgrade their threat level.
10 LOOKER
The character known as Looker began her life as Emily Briggs before she learned of her alien heritage, which transformed her and gave her abilities she used alongside Batman's first team of Outsiders. She would work the Outsiders through a few different iterations of the team and reappear in a few events, though she was altered quite a bit by the New 52 reboot.
Originally, Looker's alien physiology gave her a wide range of powerful psionic abilities like telepathy and telekinesis, though her abilities were further enhanced when she was transformed into a vampire during one of the Outsiders' missions. A fully vampiric version of Looker exists in the New 52 universe, but she shares little connection to the original character.
9 THUNDER
Anissa Pierce is the daughter of founding member Black Lightning, and as Thunder, she joined Nightwing and Arsenal's group of Outsiders. She was new to the superhero game at the time so her role with the Outsiders was intended to help train her, though she would quickly find a few situations to prove herself.
Thunder is able to control her density and make herself almost completely invulnerable, and when coupled with her super-strength allows her to slam her incredibly dense foot down to create a powerful shockwave that earned Anissa her codename.
8 FAUST
The name Faust might be recognizable to DC fans thanks to the powerful dark magician Felix Faust, who made a deal with the devil to regain lost mystical powers like his literary namesake. Faust's lifelong search for increased magical abilities led him to again try to sell a soul for power, though this time he used his infant son Sebastian's soul.
Demons, of course, are notoriously tricky, and young Sebastian was granted the power instead, which he used as an adult alongside a new team of Outsiders that was based in Markovia. Faust, as he was known, utilized black soul magic that allowed him to drain other souls to gain their abilities and energize himself, making him a short-lived but very dangerous member of the Outsiders.
7 BLACK LIGHTNING
Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning has been a member of almost every iteration of the Outsiders before and after the Flashpoint event rebooted the DC universe. He's also worked alongside the Justice League and even served in the White House as the Secretary of Education, though it was during Lex Luthor's brief presidency.
While originally Black Lightning's electrokinesis was generated by his costume, his metagene eventually activated and his powers have been self=generated ever since. He is able to project electrical energy, force fields, and use his abilities in a number of ways that, combined with years of experience, keep him near the top of the list.
6 JADE
Jenny-Lynn Hayden/Jade is the daughter of DC's first Green Lantern Alan Scott, and she was worked alongside a number of teams, including Nightwing and Arsenal's Outsiders team, which she would go on to lead for a time as well.
Jade was born with the Starheart energy that powers her father's GL ring, allowing her to make constructs, force fields, and fly like most Green Lantern's without the aid of a ring or need to recharge, though she has also been a member of the Green Lantern Corps as well. Jade also shares her mother Rose/Thorn's connection to plant life, though she hasn't developed that power.
5 HALO
Halo is an alien energy being known as an Aurakle who inhabited the body of the recently murdered Violet Harper, which caused her to lose her memories but imbued her with powerful abilities that brought her to the attention of Batman, who brought her on to the Outsiders.
Halo is able to generate various colored energy around her body, with each color producing a different effect/ability, ranging from concussive blasts and force fields to enhanced healing and even resurrection. While her skill with her abilities has never developed to its full potential, she still has access to a huge range of abilities.
4 GEO-FORCE
Another character who has appeared on most Outsiders teams is Brion Markov, the Prince of Markovia and superhero known as Geo-Force. Markov and his country have often served as the home base for the various Outsiders teams, and Brion's sister Tara Markov/Terra also worked alongside the Teen Titans for a short but memorable time.
Brion Markov gained his abilities due to scientific experimentation, and he has a laundry list of powers that stem from his unique connection to the earth, which includes gravity manipulation, geothermal control (energy blasts), geokinesis (earth manipulation) and myriad of other abilities that have allowed him to go toe-to-toe with some of DC's heaviest hitters on occasion.
3 INDIGO
Following her arrival from the future that led to the death of Titans Omen and Donna Troy, the female android being known as Indigo was included on Arsenal's Outsiders team so they could keep a watch on her, where she became a valued member of the team and even forged a romantic relationship with Shift, a sentient fragment of Metamorpho (more on him soon).
Indigo's abilities initially included her advanced computer brain, and ability to project energy blasts and force fields, though when she revealed she was actually Brainiac 8 her true power levels were demonstrated and she was a match (alongside a mind-controlled Superboy) for both her team of Outsiders and the Teen Titans.
2 METAMORPHO
Two different versions of Metamorpho have joined with the Outsiders at different points in the team's history, as the aforementioned Shift was a part of the team as well before he rejoined with Metamorpho. Rex Mason had been a member of the Outsiders since the earliest version of the team and continued to work alongside them for years.
Mason is a shape-changer who is also capable of elemental transmutation, meaning he can essentially become any solid, liquid, or gas on the elemental table, which could be used in all kinds of ways to take down any of his teammates on the Outsiders, even though he usually plays the comedic relief on his other teams like The Terrifics.
1 STARFIRE
While princess Koriand'r/Starfire is more closely associated with the Teen Titans, and more recently the Justice League Odyssey team, she did serve on the Outsiders temporarily at the request of Jade as the team needed some extra firepower and Jade needed support as the new leader of the Outsiders.
Starfire is practically the definition of firepower, as not only is she capable of Superman-levels of strength, but she is can also generate intense amounts of energy that she often uses to fire her signature starbolts, though she can also push herself to the limit and create a battle-ending burst of absorbed energy when needed.