For every superhero or supervillain, there is a weakness that puts them in danger. A superhero with no weaknesses is a boring hero and there has to be that Achilles heel that the villains can use to make it seem like the heroes can fall in battle. The most obvious example is Superman and Kryptonite, giving the most powerful character in comic book history one major weakness that a human villain like Lex Luthor can utilize to try to bring him down. However, for every legitimate weakness like Superman's Kryptonite, there is a weakness that is so silly that it comes across as ridiculous.
This is true for Marvel Comics and DC Comics both, as there are heroes and villains who have weaknesses that are either absurd to consider or just dumb enough to make no sense at all. Some of these weaknesses were so dumb that the comic book publishers chose to bury the weaknesses completely and some are not even considered canon anymore. However, there are other really dumb weaknesses that heroes and villains have that remain in place decades after their first appearance and still makes fans and critics roll their eyes at the absurdity. Whether it is falling to a specific color or having a weakness to something that is actually a natural part of the habitat, here is a look at 12 Marvel characters and 12 DC characters that have the dumbest weaknesses.
24 HUMAN TORCH - ASBESTOS
It should be obvious that the Human Torch has major weaknesses to water and a lack of air -- the two things that put out flames. While those two weaknesses make plenty of sense, there is one other weakness that the Human Torch had that makes no sense at all. His weakness was asbestos, which made one of his key enemies in the past in the Asbestos Man so dangerous.
The way that this weakness worked was that the suit that Asbestos Man wore was fire-proof and he also had a net that could somehow catch the flames thrown by the Human Torch and launch them back at the hero. This was a time where asbestos was basically Kryptonite to fire-based heroes, but soon, in no surprise, the Asbestos Man contracted a disease due to his suit.
23 AQUAMAN - LACK OF WATER
Aquaman shares a weakness with Namor, the Sub Mariner. When the two men are out of water for too long, they weaken and lose strength. While that makes sense for Namor, who came from under the sea, this weakness for Aquaman makes no sense and is just a dumb weakness for this DC Comics hero to have.
Unlike Namor, Aquaman was born on land to an Atlantian and a human. He was raised on Earth and spent more time on land than in water as a child growing up. Yes, it makes sense that he grows in power when he gets into the water since his powers are Atlantian in nature. However, the fact that he weakens when he is out of water makes no sense based on his origin.
22 VENOM - MATCHES
Venom has two major weaknesses. The first of the weaknesses is loud noises. That doesn't make too much sense, as the high frequency of the noise causes the symbiote to leave the host. The comic books have shown that it can be nothing more than just loud music, so if someone literally just blasts heavy metal, they have one-upped Venom. At one point, the military played "Ride of the Valkyries" to disable Venom's power.
However, an even sillier weakness is that of even just a small bit of fire. In the comics, even a lit match is enough to make the symbiote run in terror. While that seemed like a dumb weakness for this antihero, the good news is that the writers of Marvel Comics realized over time that a simple match was just silly and had Venom build a resistance to varying levels of thermal attacks.
21 FLASH - RUNNING TOO FAST
Flash's superpower is the use of the Speed Force, which allows him superhuman speed in just about every area. This includes his reflexes, healing, time travel, dimensional travel, and at the base of it all -- he just runs really, really fast. When he taps into the Speed Force, nothing on Earth can really hurt him. That makes his major weakness seem very strange since one of his downfalls was running too fast.
When it looked like the Anti-Monitor was going to destroy the entire DC Comics universe, Flash saved the day when he ran so fast that it ended his life and changed time. The most interesting thing about Barry Allen's passing was that it lasted longer than just about any major hero and it just turned out he was stuck in the Speed Force, but his strength as his weakness being the exact same thing is very strange.
20 DAREDEVIL - LOUD NOISES
Daredevil is blind and his superpowers make up for his lack of sight. Daredevil has superhuman enhanced senses, including his sense of smell, hearing, and touch. He can hear a person's heartbeat and tell if they are telling the truth or not. He can smell someone and know who they are if he sees them again at a later time, such as when he learned that Peter Parker and Spider-Man were the same.
However, while his superpower involves his enhanced senses, the fact that they are so enhanced means that they can really cause pain to him if they are too loud. It took Matt Murdoch a lot of hard work to be able to handle hearing all the voices around him at the same time. With that said, loud noises is a weakness for Daredevil and can almost cripple him and take him out of a fight.
19 ZATANNA - SILENCE
Zatanna is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the DC Comics Universe. If there is one thing that makes her powers funny, it is that her ability to cast spells has her saying the words backward. In other words, if she wants someone to stop, she says pots -- an ability that is part of Logomancy. She is a skilled magician and illusionist and matches up well in spell casting with even someone like John Constantine.
However, no matter how powerful Zatanna is when it comes to her magic powers, she is completely powerless when she is gagged or her mouth is forced shut. Zatanna is unable to conjure any spells without speaking the words, making her completely worthless as a superhero if she isn't able to speak. It also doesn't help if she gets sick and loses her voice, which makes her nothing more than a normal human.
18 GLADIATOR - LOST CONFIDENCE
For fans who are not familiar with him, Gladiator is basically Marvel Comics version of Superman when it comes to his power level. As a member of the Imperial Guard, he is one of Marvel Comics' strongest characters with no known exact limits to his strength. He is also invulnerable, has superhuman speed and stamina, and accelerated healing factor in case anything does happen to somehow hurt him.
As a result, Gladiator is one of those characters that seem almost boring since he is so overpowered. Unlike Superman, who has his Kryptonite to level things out, Gladiator does not have a weakness like that. However, Gladiator has one of the dumbest weaknesses in comics. If he loses his confidence, his powers are affected and he becomes vulnerable. All an opponent has to do is make him lose confidence in himself to beat him.
17 POWER GIRL - STICKS AND STONES
Today, the weaknesses of Powergirl is the same as the weaknesses of Superman, where she is vulnerable to Kryptonite and magic. However, before the New 52, she had another weakness that was possibly one of the dumbest in Marvel or DC Comics for an overpowered character. Power Girl had a vulnerability to unprocessed, natural materials.
What is unprocessed, natural materials? Basically, it is material used to process goods in its natural state. This means sticks and stones, twigs and lumber, and basically the Earth in general. This was shown in a comic book where wood pierced through her skin, weakening her until Supergirl pulled it out and mocked her for it. That is when Power Girl revealed this was one of her weaknesses, although a really silly and random one.
16 THANOS - A DESIRE TO LOSE
As he showed in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is one of the most powerful characters in all of the Marvel Universe. Even without the Infinity Gauntlet at full strength, Thanos had the power to take down the greatest of heroes, from Thor to Hulk. In the comics, Thanos admitted that Hulk is likely more powerful than he is but that is about it. Also in the comics, he became even more powerful after Death herself resurrected him.
The greatest weakness for Thanos is Thanos. It isn't his ego that threatens to always ruin his plans, although it doesn't help. It is his insecurities about whether he is actually worthy or not. Adam Warlock once said that the one thing that will always stop him is that Thanos will never let himself win because he has never considered himself worthy enough to possess the power he possesses.
15 MARTIAN MANHUNTER - CHOCOS
Martian Manhunter has one key weakness and that is the psychosomatic fear of fire. When the Guardians of the Universe first encountered the Burned Martians, they built in this fear of fire. While there is nothing that actually hurts Martian Manhunter when it comes to flame, he loses control over his powers and is vulnerable to injury when in this state of mind. However, one former weakness that is incredibly dumb is Chocos.
In Martian Manhunter Vol. 2 #24, he would sit around and munch on a cookie snack called Chocos all the time. Being the pranksters that they are, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle stole all his Chocos and then bought up all the Chocos in the city. J'onn ended up growing out of control and destroying the town until he got his cookies back. Turns out that the cookies created a chemical reaction to Martians that caused an addiction that had to be exorcized.
14 ELECTRO - WATER
Electro is a B-level Spider-Man villain, but he is also one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe when fully charged. At the base level, Electro is a living battery and can generate energy and harness it to many effects. He can actually generate up to 10,000 volts of energy per minute and that makes him extremely dangerous if he ever took his power to the limit.
However, there is one weakness that makes him easy to beat. Anything that can short-circuit him can depower him -- and the biggest weakness is water. Up to 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water, so that limits where Electro can accomplish his most impressive feats. It is also possible to beat him by just cutting off the electricity where he is, sapping him of the source of his power.
13 ADAM STRANGE - EARTH
Adam Strange was an archaeologist who somehow ended up on a planet called Rann. This gave him superpowers and he ended up getting married, having a child, and enjoying life on his new planet. However, suddenly Strange was teleported back to Earth and when he arrived back to his home planet, he lost all his superpowers.
This is a terrible weakness for Adam Strange because it is a Zeta-Beam that allows him to go from Earth to Rann and when he gets transported back to Earth -- usually without notice -- he is stuck there without his powers until the beam reaches Rann again. Even if he is in the middle of a battle, he could end up whisked back to Earth, powerless and unable to return until later.
12 THOR - HIS HAMMER
As Thor: Ragnarok showed, the God of Thunder is able to use Mjolnir to channel his powers through the weapon and that makes it very handy. Luckily for Thor, the really dumb weakness that he had in the comic books for years was wiped out and he was able to make it through that movie without his trusty hammer. He learned that he could channel his powers through his body just as well as any weapon.
However, from the time that Thor entered the Marvel Comics universe until 1984, he had one major weakness that seemed really dumb. If Thor was without Mjolnir for just 60 seconds, he would revert back into Dr. Donald Blake. This meant that all a villain needed to do was to distract Thor for just one short minute and if he didn't get his hands back on his hammer, he would depower instantly.
11 BLACK ADAM - SAYING A NAME
Captain Marvel Jr. has a similar weakness, as does Shazam it seems. However, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson portraying Black Adam in an upcoming DCEU movie, it is interesting to learn what his major weakness is. Black Adam has the same powers as Captain Marvel, but since he has had the powers for much longer than Billy Batson, he is stronger -- a more powerful god.
The animated movie Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam showed one major weakness that seems ridiculous to consider. Just like Captain Marvel, if he says Shazam he gets his powers. However, if he says Shazam again, he reverts back to his former form -- and as the movie showed, that meant he turned to dust since he was so incredibly old. But, honestly, if that is his weakness, why would he ever say the word?
10 RED HULK - FIGHTING TOO HARD
When Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross became the thing he hated the most -- a Hulk -- he had one power that was the polar opposite of his green-skinned nemesis. When Bruce Banner is The Hulk, he grows in power the angrier he gets. As a matter of fact, Hulk might be the most powerful being in the entire universe as his powers just increase more and more the angrier he gets and pain just adds on strength and endurance until he can beat anyone.
On the other hand, Red Hulk can't exert too much energy at one time. If Red Hulk fights too hard, he gets hotter and hotter until eventually, he burns out. This is because he is always emitting energy and if he gets too hot, he reverts back into Ross and has to wait a short time before he can change back into Red Hulk again.
9 MISTER MXYZPTLK - SAYING HIS NAME BACKWARDS
If there is one weakness that seems dumber than all others, it is the sole true weakness of Mister Mxyzptlk. If Captain Marvel Jr. says his name, he reverts back to human and is instantly depowered. If Black Adam or Captain Marvel says "Shazam," they are reverted to human, or at least in one movie t0 dust, and are instantly depowered. However, what beats Mister Mxyzptlk is when the little imp says his name backward, which then returns him to the 5th Dimension.
Of course, in the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Comics world, writers started to play with how ridiculous Mister Mxyzptlk's weaknesses were. After the backward name was used in his first appearance, he made Superman achieve feats like painting his face blue and forcing Superman and Flash to race around the world.
8 SENTRY - LACK OF CONFIDENCE
Sentry is the most powerful character on Earth in the Marvel Comics universe. He was the result of Department K and Operation: Rebirth trying to recreate the Super Soldier Serum, but magnified a thousand times over. He was an addict before the era of heroes who broke into the lab and consumed the serum, gaining powers greater than almost any hero on the planet.
However, it was the darkness in Sentry, called the Void, that caused him to annihilate many people and become a villain, so he chose to have the world forget him and went on with his life, unable to even remember he was the Sentry. Since getting his memories back, he has one major weakness -- he feared his own powers and held himself back, believing that using his powers would bring destruction.
7 ALAN SCOTT - WOOD
The Green Lantern members have always had strange weaknesses. This all started in the Golden Age with Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern. His weakness was wood. This really limits where Scott could battle evil as 30-percent of the Earth is forest land and there is enough wood there to keep Alan Scott completely powerless in a fight.
The way this weakness works is that the original Green Lantern's ring energy was ineffective against anything made of wood. He can't lift wood or destroy wood with his ring's energy and it can even disrupt his power. If he tries to use his ring on a house made of wood, it won't do anything and if someone hides behind a tree, he can't use his power to affect them at all.
6 SPIDER-MAN - ETHYL CHLORIDE
Spider-Man is one of the most popular and well-known superheroes in Marvel Comics or DC Comics. His main powers are enhanced versions of what a spider can do, including climbing walls and lifting things much heavier than his own body weight. However, no matter how popular he is, most fans have no idea that one of Spider-Man's dumbest weaknesses is to Ethyl Chloride.
So, what is Ethyl Chloride? It is a medication used to prevent pain caused by minor surgeries and injections. It is also a chemical used in pesticides. Since Spider-Man gets his powers from spiders, he also has the weaknesses of spiders. If he gets blasted with the right amount of Ethyl Chloride, it will drain him of all his spider-like powers and could end his life if the dosage is enough.
5 SUPERMAN - MAGIC
Many people don't seem to understand why Superman is allergic to Kryptonite since it was simply a part of his home planet. However, it makes sense when you understand that Kryptonite is radiated elements from Krypton. Radiation from Earth causes major health problems for humans so it makes sense that radiation from Krypton would cause problems for Kryptonians. However, with Krypton and Earth so far apart, how so much Kryptonite made its way to Earth makes no sense.
With that said, Superman is also vulnerable to magic, which makes no sense. Superman's powers come from his bio-matrix force field but that also causes this weakness as magic disrupts that force field. Honestly, it is just a way to give someone as overpowered as Superman a weakness to make him more interesting, but it really makes no sense that magic is his biggest Achilles heel.