For every superhero with super strength and super speed, there are superheroes that melt everything they touch without the ability to control it or heroes like Butterball who are invulnerable with terrible side effects. In the Marvel universe, this rings extremely true given just how powerful the Earth is with Inhumans, Mutants, Avengers, chemical spill victims, and everyone in between are.
Some superpowers are too scary for even their owners to use. While some of these powers are used by other members of the Marvel universe, the characters highlighted are often shown to be afraid of their powers and opt not to use them.
10 Touching People Is A Bad Move For Wither
Introduced alongside the rest of the Next New Mutants alongside other members like Prodigy and Elixir, Kevin Ford’s life was a tragic story from the start. His power is that of Wither, which means he decays organic matter at an accelerated rate.
When his powers first appeared, he began to decay the clothes he was wearing. When his father tried to calm him down, Kevin withered his father immediately. Even worse, he was not one of the mutants affected by M-Day, which he found out by withering his crush’s arm into oblivion, sending him on a spiral.
9 A One-Time Explosion Is The Most Tragic Power
As sad powers go, there is none sadder than the ones that can kill you by using them once. Introduced in X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever by Max Bemis and Michael Walsh, Bailey Hoskins is the titular worst X-Man due to his power, being able to explode exactly one time.
When a Sentinel steps on his parents, literally a minute after finding out about his terrible power, he is taken in and made an intern of various teams until Xavier’s death. Bailey would eventually use his power to kill the man responsible for Xavier’s death. It did take over a decade.
8 The Void Is Darkness That Must Be Fought Inside The Sentry
The Sentry is one of the strongest beings in the entire Marvel Universe, but those powers come with a caveat called the Void. The Void is a reflection of the darkness within the Sentry. Though the origin of the Void is debated within the comics themselves, ranging from being a biblical figure to a figment of imagination, one thing is known, it is powerful.
The Sentry doesn’t actually need the Void to operate as a powerhouse of Marvel, but it is shown time and again that the Void could make the Sentry more powerful, at a cost. The Sentry is always fighting the Void inside.
7 Black Bolt's Whisper Can Shatter The World
At this point, the power of the Inhumans king and leader is the stuff of legend. A member of the Attilan Royal Family, and the Illuminati, Black Bolt has been seething in power since he was born. Conversely, he also can’t speak even a whisper of a single word without shattering everything around him.
His power is the ultimate level of particle manipulation, as his powers actually originate in the speech part of the brain. He refuses to speak except in the direst of circumstances for fear of what he could do.
6 Berserker Rage Is Pure Murderous Intentions Without Conscience
Technically less of a power and more of a state, most of the Weapon X has been set up with various controlling apparatuses, from straight-up control technology to scent-based triggers. X-23, now going by Wolverine, having been created from Wolverine’s DNA, was raised as a deadly weapon by the Weapon X facility.
One of the ways they learned to control her was through the use of a trigger scent which would send her into a berserker rage. The rage was unstoppable and completely feral, which X-23 hated. It was recently purged from her, but will likely make a return.
5 Reality Manipulation Is A Power One Shouldn't Take Lightly
Franklin Richards is an Omega-level mutant and child of two of the world's greatest superheroes. With this power and responsibility comes big shoes to fill, though he is unlikely to use his powers due to the strength and magnitude of his actions.
He has the ability to manipulate reality on a whim. Though he has been instrumental in saving the multiverse a few times, he’s always had a healthy fear of using his powers as one minor shift could change the entire universe.
4 Hyper Sizing Can Tear The Body Apart
Even though several of the size-changing heroes of the Marvel universe have gone by the names of Giant, there have always been limitations to what things like Pym Particles could do. One such limitation was hypersizing.
It has been established several times that hypersizing, the act of growing in excess, is a dangerous process. The origins of Hank Pym saw him capping his growth because hypersizing could tear the body apart. Because of this, most size changers limit their growth to a safe level unless they become desperate.
3 The Power Of Ressurection Must Be Used With Caution
Every comic fan knows that death is never the end of a character, with certain exclusions like Captain Marvel, so resurrection powers are often hit or miss. This is what keeps some of the most powerful of the Marvel universe from resurrecting.
Most recently, the negative effects of resurrection were seen by Scarlet Witch, as she brought back hundreds of mutants, including Bailey Hoskins, that lost their lives on Genosha, though they came back undead. Xavier and The Five figured out a way to actually resurrect Mutants, but Wanda was haunted by her actions once again.
2 The Shedding Of Blood For Magic Is A Harsh Trade-Off
Nico Minoru has been a member of several major teams, including A-Force, but that doesn’t make her powers any less scary for her. She uses magic via the Staff of One, a magical staff bound by blood magic. In order to use the staff, Nico has to bleed. Once the staff is free, she can create spells any way she can, but cannot repeat spells.
Nico changed the deal with the being inside the staff, which trades a drop of her soul for each spell cast, no longer having to cut herself. In the final issue of Runaways by Rainbow Rowell, Nico gives up the staff to be thrown into the sun so she can’t use it.
1 Legion Fears Himself As Much As The World Does
The many personalities within David Haller have been the topic of several major storylines in the comics, and even a television show on FX. Having hundreds of personalities, each with their own powerset has caused major issues for David as, sometimes, he doesn’t even know what happened when they took over.
Because of his inability to control the personalities and powers, David is often shown fearful of having his powers come out. He might be one of the strongest mutants in the world, but his fear of his powers has always stunted him, potentially even saving lives in the process.