Very few superheroes are born super, and this is true much of the time in the DC Universe. For every Wonder Woman or Aquaman who was born with their superpowers and developed them over time, there are a dozen heroes who were ordinary people who had their powers given to them.
These also are not people who had an accident, like a gamma bomb turning them into a big green monster or a radioactive spider helping them stick to walls. Many of the biggest heroes in the DC Universe had someone or something individually pick them out and give them incredible powers. Here are 10 DC superheroes who were given their powers.
10 GREEN LANTERN
Hal Jordan was a pilot who came across a downed spacecraft. Aboard that spacecraft was Abin Sur of the Green Lantern Corps. As he died, his power ring took off to find his replacement for the sector, and it chose Hal Jordan, a man who specialized in overcoming his fears. There were also alternatives, with Guy Gardner the top second choice.
Hal Jordan was one of many beings in the universe to receive their power rings to serve as an intergalactic supercop. All members of the Green Lantern Corps in DC were given their powers, with even more on Earth, including Kyle Raynor and John Stewart.
9 SUPERMAN
Some may argue with this choice, but the fact is that Superman was born a normal Kryptonian male. He had no special powers and no super abilities. However, before Krypton exploded, his father Jor-El looked across the universe and chose Earth as the destination for his baby's spacecraft.
Jor-El, a brilliant scientist, knew that the yellow sun on Earth would give Kal-El special powers and a chance to be a true hero. The sun itself gives Superman his powers, from the ability to fly to super strength, X-Ray vision, and more. By choosing Earth, Jor-El gave Superman his powers.
8 BLUE BEETLE
Both Ted Kord, the original Blue Beetle, and Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle, were given their powers. They each received the ability to fight crime as DC superheroes when they discovered the Blue Beetle Scarab, which attached itself to them and gave them all sorts of powers.
When it comes to Jaime Reyes, he has struggled to control the scarab since it has a mind of its own. When Jaime gets anxious or angry, the scarab senses it and reacts, often without Jaime controlling it.
7 SHAZAM
Billy Batson was a teenager when he met the wizard SHAZAM. At that time, the wizard was looking for a hero, and deemed Billy worthy of that role. As a result, when Billy said the wizard's name, he turned into the superhero SHAZAM! These powers were given to him by the wizard, just as the wizard did for the villain and SHAZAM's nemesis, Black Adam.
SHAZAM!'s powers are derived by the Greek Gods, with each letter of his name representing one of them. They include Solomon (wisdom), Hercules (strength), Achilles (courage), Zeus (power/lightning), Atlas (stamina), and Mercury (speed).
6 CYBORG
Cyborg was a teenage football star named Victor Stone, whose father worked for S.T.A.R. Labs. Victor's father never seemed to have time for his son, as his work always came first, and he believed Victor was wasting time playing sports. When Victor finally confronted his father at the lab, it was the wrong place and the wrong time.
An explosion should have killed Victor, but his father was able to save his life and rebuild him into a cyborg. He gave Victor several gizmos as well as implementing a computer to help keep him alive. Victor mastered his new body, one with powers his father gave him.
5 DOCTOR FATE
The current Doctor Fate, Kent Nelson, is not the first Doctor Fate. Instead, Doctor Fate is a legacy superhero who works as an agent of the Lords of Order. The holder of the title is tasked with protecting the world from chaos using three items — the Amulet of Anubis, Cloak of Destiny, and Helmet of Fate.
When it comes to Kent Nelson, it was Nabu, a powerful member of the Lords of Order, who gave him the items and therefore gave him his powers. Since Nelson, each successor that held the role was given their powers in the same way, for however long they ended up holding that great responsibility.
4 SWAMP THING
Swamp Thing, for many years, had a confusing origin story. Alex Holland was a scientist who was involved in a terrible accident and came out of the swamps as a giant swamp creature with immense powers. However, over time, it was determined that Swamp Thing was not Holland at all, but a creature with Holland's memories, but an elemental creature on its own.
This makes Swamp Thing an interesting mixture. He was born with his powers if you consider the elemental creature being born the second Alec Holland died. However, if you look at the creature as Alec Holland, it was the swamps and the Green that gave him his powers to protect all plant life on Earth.
3 HAWKMAN
Hawkman is very similar to Doctor Fate. Both are legacy heroes that gain their powers when given specific items. In the case of DC Comics, Hawkman has almost always been Carter Hall, although he has the fate of the men who took on the role before him, and that includes always seeking out his soulmate and eventually dying to pass on the role.
The wizard Nabu prophesized a spacecraft that crashed on Earth, and Prince Khufu sent his champion Black Adam to find it. He discovered a Thanagarian ship, and the Nth Metal on it gave the prince the powers of Hawkman. Every time Khufu died, he was reincarnated and ended up as Carter Hall, an archeologist who was fated to find the Nth Metal.
2 BEAST BOY
Beast Boy is a sad case. Much like Cyborg, who was his closest friend with the New Teen Titans, he was given his powers, but not by choice. In the case of Garfield Logan, he fell ill to a sickness known as Sakutia, and it took serum from a green monkey to save him.
The serum had the unintended consequences of turning him green and giving him the ability to shapeshift into any animal he thinks of. Luckily, he found people to take him in and care for him, first with Doom Patrol and then later with the Teen Titans.
1 ETRIGAN
Etrigan himself is a demon prince of Hell, but this is not about Etrigan. This is about Jason Blood. Etrigan was born powerful, with his father unable to control him despite Lucifer's commands. His father finally set out to find a wizard powerful enough to control Etrigan, which he found in Merlin.
Jason Blood was a mortal peasant in Camelot, and that made him easy enough for Merlin to attach Etrigan to. It gave Blood the power to summon Etrigan when needed, sometimes for the cause of good and sometimes to unleash total hell on Earth. The two have walked together for over a millennium.