Since they made their debut in 1958's Adventure Comics #247, the Legion of Super-Heroes has seen their ranks go from a simple three members to dozens of teen heroes working together to keep the future of the DC Universe safe. Through numerous Crises and reboots, from Five Years Later to being cloned and turned into a second team, the Legion has always found a way to carry on.
And in all those years and reboots and changes, this team from the 31st century that prides itself on carrying on the ideals of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the other icons of the Age of Heroes has had quite a few members who are, to say the least, very odd. The oddities come, for most of them, from their powers, but for others, the strangeness lies in what they did or didn't do.
10 Bouncing Boy
Earthling Chuck Taine started his superhero career when he mistook a superplastic formula for soda and drank it down, giving him the ability to inflate his body and become invulnerable. As Bouncing Boy, Chuck started off solo, but his actions quickly brought him to the attention of the Legion of Super-Heroes and he became a member of the team. Chuck was made the Legion's "Morale Officer" and had one of the all-time great and unlikely superhero romances with Triplicate Girl. He even became a teacher at the Legion Academy before losing his powers. He married Triplicate Girl and the two retired from the Legion.
9 Chemical King
Coming from the planet Phlon, Condo Arlik is unlike any other Legionnaire in one very interesting way. Condo, as Chemical King, was first mentioned in 1967's Adventure Comics #354 as a member of a future version of the Legion who would die in battle. It would be another year before Chemical King actually joined the team in Adventure Comics #371.
Chemical King, who had the power to speed up or slow down chemical reactions, suffered from a lot of self-doubts, often believing that not only was he far from being one of the best Legionaries, but that he was not worthy of being a member of the Legion. Chemical King proved his worth when, a decade after his debut, he sacrificed himself to stop the governor of Australia from starting World War VII.
8 Monster Boy
A new character introduced in the latest incarnation of the Legion of Super-Heroes, there isn't much known about Monster Boy, but what is know is filled with weirdness. Monster Boy, as his name suggests, has the power to turn into a variety of monsters, including the Classic Universal Studios Monsters from the 1930s and 40s, but he can only become each monster once.
Adding to the strangeness is the planet that Monster Boy comes from — Tor-Etto. It's hard to ignore that the planet's name shares more than a passing similarity to the name of Vin Diesel's character, Dominic Toretto, from the Fast & Furious films. Could there be a planet of Fast & Furious fans one thousand years in the future?
7 Chlorophyll Kid
Born and raised on Mardru, Ral Benem was raised to work in agricultural research and development, just like his father and so many others from the planet, but that all changed when Ral fell into a vat of experimental fertilizer and came out with the ability to accelerate plant growth.
As Chlorophyll Kid, Ral tried out for the Legion of Super-Heroes but was rejected. Not willing to give up, Ral brought together other rejected superpowered teens to form the Legion of Substitute Heroes. After saving the actual Legion, Chlorophyll Kid was offered membership but chose to stay with his team. The Legion of Substitute Heroes was made reserve members of the Legion and sent out on less urgent missions.
6 Kid Psycho
Coming from the planet Hajor, Gnill Opril — who went by Kid Psycho — was born with an abnormally large head, thanks to radiation that he was doused with while in utero when his pregnant mother battled a space monster. Along with a big head, Kid Psycho also had amazing mental powers, but they were not enough to save Hajor from crashing into another planet.
Like Superman and Martian Manhunter a thousand years before, Kid Psycho was the last of his race, and like them, he wanted to be a hero. Kid Psycho became a member of the Legion, but when the team learned that every time Gnill used his powers, he lost a year of life, they decided to only use him in dire circumstances.
5 Anti-Lad
With so many members over so many versions of the Legion of Super-Heroes, you wouldn't be able to blame someone like Cosmic Boy, who has been a part of every version, to forget a teammate or two over the decades, but when it comes to Anti-Lad, not one Legionnaire remembers him.
Traveling back in time from the 75th century, Anti-Lad joined the Legion to complete a single goal; making sure that Superboy became a member of the team. After convincing the Legion that Superboy failed his first test because of outside forces, Anti-Lad erased everyone's mind, wiping out their memories of him, and returned to his own time.
4 Matter-Eater Lad
A native of the planet Bismoll, Tenzil Kem comes from a race of people who can literally eat anything. As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Tenzil Kem became Matter-Eater Lad and while his ability to eat anything is pretty weird, it proved quite useful on a number of occasions.
Over the years, Matter-Eater Lad ate his way out of traps, dungeons, and even jail cells, but most importantly, he ate the indestructible Miracle Machine to make sure that it would never fall into the wrong hands. In one reboot of the Legion, Matter-Eater Lad was the team's cook, which turned out to be a terrible idea.
3 Command Kid
Coming from the ocean planet of Preztor, Jeem Rehtu ended up on Taboo Isle and was possessed by a demon. The demon used Jeem to travel to Earth and join the Legion as Command Boy so he could prepare other bodies to be possessed by more demons. After tricking a number of Legionaries into taking a pill that would put them into a state of suspended animation, the demon inside of Command Boy was discovered by Element Lad and Saturn Girl.
The two heroes were able to exorcise the demon out of Command Boy, saving his life, but also leaving him powerless. While Command Boy isn't the only hero to ever have powers that come from Hell, he is the only Legion member to have that odd honor.
2 Stone Boy
Like all Zwenians, Dag Wentim has the ability to turn his body into stone, which can be a wonderful defensive power in battle, but it does come with one drawback — when Dag, better known as Stone Boy, turns to stone, he can't move. While this power wasn't good enough to make Stone Boy a regular member of the Legion, he did join the Legion of Substitute Heroes.
As a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, Stone Boy was used in a variety of ways. He would sometimes turn to stone and be used as a decoy or, when the moment called for it, as a battering ram. On a few occasions, Stone Boy's teammates would even drop him on their foes.
1 Pete Ross
One of the main rules that the Legion of Super-Heroes has is that each member must have a superpower that is unlike any other member's powers. The team has bent this rule from time to time for heroes who used special devices like Storm Boy or Insect Queen, but there is only one member who had no powers, Pete Ross.
Pete Ross was given Legion membership purely for being Superboy's best friend. It was Pete's ability to keep Superboy's true identity as Clark Kent a secret that made him, according to Cosmic Boy. Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, Legion material. Why Ma and Pa Kent weren't also made members remains a mystery.