Ever since the debut of Robin the Boy Wonder back in 1940's Detective Comics #38, DC Comics have led the way when it comes to teen sidekicks and legacy heroes. Marvel's teen sidekick craze died out when Bucky was killed during WWII, which left DC it's own teen hero market to explore for a while.
Over the years DC has continually developed their roster of characters by further expanding their biggest hitters like Superman and Batman further, with new sidekicks, partners, allies, and even their sons and daughters joining the never-ending battle in the later years. Today we are going to take a look at DC's most powerful families to see how they stack up against each other.
10 WILSON FAMILY
The "Wilson Family" might not be instantly recognizable, but the name Deathstroke the Terminator should be familiar to DC fans. The enhanced mercenary is one of the most dangerous combatants in the DC Universe and has even fought and defeated the entirety of the original Justice League before, proving how powerful he is on his own. However, before he was Deathstroke he was Slade Wilson, and he had a family that his life as Deathstroke put in danger.
His son Grant followed in his footsteps as a mercenary known as Ravager, though he died shortly after receiving his abilities from a failed experiment. Joey became the body-hopping vigilante known as Jericho and worked with the Teen Titans for years. Finally, Slade had another daughter named Rose, who became the second Ravager, and is sometimes good, sometimes bad, always deadly, just like her father.
9 ARROW FAMILY
Oliver Queen has assembled a large team around him over the years to work alongside him as Green Arrow, though it all began with his young ward Roy Harper AKA Speedy, who would go on to become Arsenal and Red Arrow. While Speedy and Green Arrow's partnership soured, Ollie's relationship with Black Canary grew stronger and their superhero family began to grow.
Oliver met and worked with his son Connor Hawke, who also wore the Green Arrow costume for a time. Ollie adopted young Mia Dearden to become his new Speedy, and later met his half-sister Emiko Queen, who would adopt the Red Arrow identity. While all are masterful archers and combatants, Black Canary bumps up the team's levels considerably with her supersonic canary cry.
8 GOTHAM KNIGHTS
As Batman kicked off the explosion of teen heroes in the DC Universe, it's only fitting that he himself would have a powerful family assembled around him. While rarely officially known as the Gotham Knights, the title represents what usually connects the various heroes and partners that make up the Batman Family.
While the actual continuity of some members is questionable, Batman has had five different Robins who have all evolved into their own identities of Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler, and, well, Damian Wayne. He's also worked with three different Batgirls, his actual cousin Batwoman, Batwing, Bluebird, The Signal, Huntress, Azrael, and all of Batman, Inc. And of course, who could forget Alfred?
7 AQUAMAN FAMILY
We've mostly been discussing some of the more human characters that make up powerful families, but the Aquaman Family is on an entirely different level. Almost all Atlanteans are stronger than normal humans, considering their bodies are built to withstand the pressures of the Ocean. Aquaman is the King of Atlantis, and as such, has an incredibly powerful royal family.
Aquaman's long-time partner is Mera, who has the same enhanced strength and durability of the other Atlanteans that effectively make them bulletproof, though can also control and manipulate water as well. Aquaman's first partner Garth became a master of Atlantean magic, while the second Aqualad, Jackson King, was also able to create hard-water weapons with abilities similar to Mera's.
6 SHAZAM FAMILY
Fans recently got the chance to see this powerful family on the big screen with the release of Shazam, which adapts the story of young Billy Batson, who transforms into the World's Mightiest Mortal when he says the magic word "Shazam." He is also able to share his powers with his adoptive family, who collectively are known as the Shazam Family.
The Shazam Family was originally known as the Marvel Family before they were rebooted by the New 52, and also featured a slightly different line-up. The Shazam Family shares in the magical abilities of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury, making them a powerful, albeit youthful family.
5 FLASH FAMILY
While the family has been reduced in size with the Rebirth era, at one point the Flash family consisted of more than one Flash and a number of other speedsters who all accessed the Speed Force differently. The Flash Family has evolved over the years, but many fans feel it was at its best following the return of Barry Allen in The Flash: Rebirth.
Barry Allen and Wally West served as two generations of the Flash, while other speedsters like Kid Flash, Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, Impulse, and Jesse Quick ran together as the Flash Family. Their various speed-based abilities even included reckless time travel, so their status as a powerful family isn't often challenged.
4 HOUSE OF EL
It may seem odd to see the House of El, also known as the Superman Family, not higher up on this list of powerhouses. After all, Superman is... well, he's Superman. He's the pinnacle of heroes that other heroes strive to be. And he has assembled an equally powerful family around him as well, though it has suffered a few restructurings over the years throughout the various Crises.
Superman's Family consists of heroes like his son Jon Kent/Superboy, cousin Supergirl, the clone Superboy, Steel and his daughter, Steel II, Super-Man, Superwoman, and of course, Krypto the Superdog. If it wasn't for the extreme jump in power levels that we see in the DC Universe the House of El would stand tall as the strongest family.
3 GODS OF OLYMPUS
Wonder Woman has always been one of the strongest members of the Justice League, which was usually attributed to her intense Amazonian training and creation at the hands of the Gods of Olympus. However, Diana's origins were tweaked during the New 52, and it was revealed that she was actually the daughter of Zeus, which now made her a demigoddess.
As a daughter of Zeus, she joins one of the more powerful families in the DC Universe. Her siblings include the God of War Ares, twin brother Jason, the First Born, and other powerful members of the Greek Pantheon. Zeus' inclusion in Wonder Woman's family is more than enough for the Gods of Olympus to rank this high.
2 NEW GODS
The Greek Gods aren't the only deities of the DC Universe, though the New Gods feature some incredibly powerful members spread across the planets of New Genesis and Apokolips. There are a number of familial connections between the New Gods, with the leaders of each world even trading sons at one point to negotiate peace between the planets.
New Genesis counts powerful New Gods like Highfather, Orion, Metron, and Mister Miracle among its members, while Apokolips is ruled over by the feared Darkseid, whose family includes monsters like Steppenwolf (seen in Justice League) and his son Kalibak. Darkseid alone could challenge most of the families on this list, but when included amongst the New Gods they're almost unbeatable.
1 THE ENDLESS
Which brings us to the most powerful family in the DC Universe, and sometimes above it, below it, and around it, The Endless. The Endless are actually incredibly powerful forces of the universe, with each godly being representing a different aspect, who each rule their own realm that exists alongside the mainstream DC universe, though they interact frequently.
The Endless were created by Neil Gaiman and first appeared in Vertigo Comics' Sandman #1, and consist of Dream, Death, Destiny, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. As aspects of the universe who each rule their own dimensions and who each have near-unlimited power, they reign supreme when it comes to DC's most powerful family.