Some superpowers, such as super strength, super speed, or flight, don't have a particular morality assigned to them. Other powers, like healing others or using light in combat, are more associated with heroes and benevolent characters. Then, there are abilities that audiences associate with villains or darker characters.
Whether it's because the abilities are unsettling, cruel, or simply have evil connotations, powers like causing pain or mind control are often found in villains. Nonetheless, there are heroes in superhero TV shows whose powers can raise eyebrows and make audiences wonder about their morality, regardless of anything else about the character.
10 Wanda Maximoff's Powers Are Easily Abused (WandaVision)
Wanda Maximoff initially appears as a villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, acting as one of Ultron's most dangerous allies in Avengers: Age of Ultron. After that film, however, she spends a lot of time as a superhero, including starring as the protagonist of the Disney+ series WandaVision.
Of her base powers, Wanda's telekinesis isn't particularly evil, even when she accidentally kills innocents with it. However, the other use of her magic that comes naturally is telepathy and mind control. After not being used for some time, her magic returns with a vengeance in WandaVision, reflecting Wanda's very gray morality in the series.
9 Rachel Roth Inherits Demon Magic (Titans)
Sometimes the source and nature of a character's powers are all it takes to make them seem evil. An obvious case of this is Rachel Roth in Titans. As with many other incarnations of her character, she uses supernatural powers, which she has access to because the demon Trigon is her father.
Aside from being demonic in nature, Raven's powers include traditionally evil exploits such as fighting with darkness and mind manipulation. However, a major part of her character is attempting to overcome the negative aspects of her heritage and using her powers for good.
8 Ben Hargreeves Has Unsettling Tentacles And Can Possess People (The Umbrella Academy)
Ben Hargreeves of The Umbrella Academy has two different power sets at different points in time, neither of which is wholly moral. In life, his ability is to conjure tentacles from his body to fight for him. While not objectively more sinister or harmful than Luther's super strength or Allison's ability to control others, abilities of this nature have an association with more evil characters.
As a ghost, Ben shows the ability to possess his brother, Klaus, and can force him to do things he doesn't want to do. Despite these abilities, Ben is shown in seasons 1 and 2 to be one of the kindest and most benevolent members of the Umbrella Academy.
7 Alisha Daniels Can Control The Libido Of Others (Misfits)
Misfits is a less stylized take on the superhero genre. Its protagonists are largely self-involved young adults whose superpowers are equal parts useful and inconvenient. One of the most notorious powers from the show is that of Alisha Daniels, who can vastly increase people's sexual desire by simply touching them.
Given the importance of informed, unmodified consent, this power has terrible ramifications for anybody Alisha pursues a relationship with. However, this aspect of her power is examined over the course of Misfits. Alisha realizes how badly it hurts others and just how unpleasant a power it is to have.
6 Billy Butcher Uses His Worst Enemy's Iconic Power (The Boys)
Despite their obvious harmful applications, laser eyes are not considered an inherently evil power - particularly due to their association with Superman. In The Boys, however, they are one of the signature abilities of the 'hero' Homelander, who frequently uses them to their full, devastating potential.
However, Homelander isn't the only one with this power. In season 3, Billy Butcher gives himself superpowers to even the odds, and despite his personal hatred of Homelander, ends up with laser eyes himself. This is something of a subversion, as Butcher is anything other than a straightforward hero even without powers.
5 John Constantine's Magic Can Do Terrible Things (Legends Of Tomorrow)
Magic isn't often portrayed as a solely sinister or occult thing in modern fiction, but it often has darker associations. In Constantine and Legends of Tomorrow, the darker side of John Constantine's magic is frequently shown, especially the many negative consequences of his dealings with demons.
Despite his jaded nature and dark acts, Constantine is fundamentally a hero most of the time. However, his powers have darker associations, particularly when Constantine loses his magic naturally and has to rely on corrupting potions to let him fight alongside his teammates.
4 Dreamer Can Do Terrible Things To People's Minds (The Gifted)
Although it doesn't harm the body or cause pain, the ability to manipulate memories is considered an evil one because of the inherent horror people have at the thought of losing theirs. Willingness to use this power is often a sign of villainy in a character, and it's rarely considered an outright good deed.
In The Gifted, Dreamer, also known as Sonya Simonson, can read and alter the memories of others. Although she is mostly a sympathetic and heroic character, she only rarely has qualms about using her powers, often believing that the ends justify the means.
3 Lucifer Morningstar Forces People To Share Their Secrets (Lucifer)
People associate the devil with a great many evil abilities, but in Lucifer, the titular character only displays a few. Other than wings and near-invulnerability, Lucifer's main supernatural feature is the ability to make others confess their deepest desires to him simply by looking into their eyes and asking.
Although far from the most harmful ability, this has some unsettling implications. The people Lucifer uses his powers on can't refuse to share, and the desires they share are often shameful or embarrassing. Nonetheless, it's also used to solve a great number of crimes.
2 Sylvie Laufeydottir Is A Human Puppeteer (Loki)
Any ability that violates consent is morally questionable at best, but mind control is considered one of the worst because it also removes a person's bodily sovereignty and agency. Being forced to do what others want is a fear many people have, which is made worse by literally having no control of their bodies.
This is the power Sylvie Laufeydottir uses most in Loki, having focused on it more than Loki's preferred illusions. Despite being shown to be darker than Loki, Sylvie's quest to bring down the TVA and He Who Remains is a fundamentally sympathetic goal. Loki examines the morality of her abilities in passing.
1 Larry Trainor Releases A Radioactive Being (Doom Patrol)
Of all types of energy to attack with, radiation is considered one of the most sinister. It has long associations with weapons of mass destruction and disasters, and its effects of inflicting cancer, destroying DNA, and causing radiation sickness are a far cry from what most heroes want to inflict.
Nonetheless, tragic and sinister powers are part and parcel of Doom Patrol, exemplified by Larry Trainor. Infected with a unique type of radiation, he has to constantly wear bandages to avoid infecting others. Beyond this, he makes use of the Negative Spirit, a being comprised of this radiation and its own sinister morality.