The Injustice universe is full of many changes for DC's biggest characters. Superman loses his mind and becomes an evil dictator, Lex Luthor becomes a good guy who is secretly working with Batman, and Harley Quinn suddenly becomes a much more sympathetic character. These changes are just the tip of the iceberg, with most of the characters having their powers altered for the sake of the story. After all, there has to be a reason that certain characters can go toe-to-toe in the Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2 video games. Let's face it, there is no way that Robin would be able to stand against Darkseid on his own in the regular DCU.
With all the changes in the strength of certain characters, there were some that reaped the benefits. While they might've been impressive back in their original universes, they are much stronger now, either posing a much more serious threat or having a greater chance at saving the world. DC has held nothing back with some of its characters during their time in the Injustice universe. Likewise, other characters were significantly weakened in this alternate world. Whether they were weakened because they would be too strong or just turned into fodder for stronger characters, some of DC's most familiar faces got severely nerfed for the sake of the Injustice comics and games. With that in mind, we're going to explore the changes DC made to its characters by highlighting 10 characters that became more powerful in the Injustice universe, and 10 that got severely weakened in it.
20 STRONGER: HARLEY QUINN
Harley Quinn gets a lot of development in the Injustice saga. Considering Mister J bit the dust at the beginning of the story, she's had to figure out her own way in the world. Not only does she join Batman's insurgency, but she was rehabilitated to the point of even being allowed in the Bat Cave.
However, Quinn manages to be no pushover either. Having access to the superhuman pill as well as combat training thanks to being a part of Batman's team, she is a much more capable fighter than she was in the original timeline. She can hold her own against some dastardly foes.
19 WEAKER: DOCTOR FATE
Doctor Fate is easily one of the strongest characters in the DC Universe. When being brought into the Injustice universe, Doctor Fate would understandably have to get his powers weakened in order to keep the conflict going. He did manage to alter fate in the comics, but his appearance in Injustice 2 comes without a lot of the impressive abilities that he has in the original timeline.
As a matter of fact, Doctor Fate easily falls thanks to Brainiac, where most fans know that he would normally have the power to avoid something like that. Doctor Fate is beyond many of DC's cosmic foes, but that wasn't the case in the Injustice universe.
18 STRONGER: SUPERMAN
Superman is the central antagonist of the Injustice story, so it makes sense that he would get even stronger than before. Even if his power level is identical across both universes, Injustice depicts a Superman that no longer holds back, which alone makes him a much more serious threat.
He ends the Joker in a matter of seconds, destroys Shazam with ease, and even takes on the entire planet of Mogo and wins. With each new chapter in the Injustice saga, Superman's strength only got more impressive, leading Batman and his friends to go to desperate measures by bringing in heroes from another universe.
17 WEAKER: SHAZAM
Shazam is a character who has the power of several gods that he can activate with a single word. Joining Superman's regime, he was bound to be someone worth fearing, ater all, his powers are similar to the Man of Steel's, with the two having fought a few times.
However, Shazam grows a conscience and gets destroyed by Supes' lasers in a matter of seconds. While Shazam is a character known for being Earth's mightiest mortal, it's a bit of a step down when he just takes a blast from Superman and doesn't fight back. He also loses his powers in the comics because of some weird interference from the Gods.
16 STRONGER: BATMAN
With the right amount of prep time, Batman can win just about any fight. Considering he is the main character going up against Superman in the Injustice universe, that statement needs to have more realization behind it. The Dark Knight puts together his own insurgency, fights better than he ever has, and creates some of the most impressive tech he's ever used.
When his army goes to take on Superman's, he is often the one to fight the Man of Steel himself, having the right tech at all times to win the battle. He seems prepared for just about any move and has a seemingly endless of supply of comrades he can summon for the war.
15 WEAKER: THE FLASH
Translating a character like the Flash to a fighting game is always going to be tricky. Someone who can move faster than the speed of light and harness the Speed Force wouldn't realistically make for a balanced fighting game character. Likewise, his feats aren't that impressive in the Injustice universe storyline.
Sure, he's fast, but he should theoretically be able to take on plenty of foes without leaving any trace. However, he manages to get ambushed by characters like Deadshot and Captain Cold. The Scarlet Speedster should be able to tackle someone like Superman just by being faster alone.
14 STRONGER: AQUAMAN
Aquaman is a bit of an odd character, always being more powerful when in the water. However, his strength was upped for the Injustice universe, with Arthur Curry turning into a no-nonsense leader who had the equipment, powers, and skills to take on people on the ground as well.
He fought all sorts of characters without breaking a sweat and has access to a host of soldiers if things get too hairy. Aquaman is also able to summon tidal waves at just about any place in the world, which he uses to deal serious amounts of damage to his opponents.
13 WEAKER: SWAMP THING
There's a lot of potential with a character like Swamp Thing. Being made of the life of nature, Swamp Thing can regenerate if there is just a single vine left. That, combined with his impressive strength and durability, make him one of the DC Universe's strongest characters. He still has those regenerative powers in the Injustice universe, but his power levels took a serious hit.
When fighting Harley Quinn, he actually lost, which is a bit of an embarrassment when you think about it. Swamp Thing was later used as a pawn for Brainiac, which is just a shame when knowing how powerful the character has been in other universes.
12 STRONGER: GREEN ARROW
Green Arrow has always been a character held back by his own humanity. Without any of the superior gadgets nor training of Batman, he hasn't seemed very fit for fighting much larger threats. However, Green Arrow was a better fighter in the Injustice universe. He was fitted with all sorts of trick arrows, but his aim was one click away from being utterly perfect.
Green Arrow would later join Batman's insurgency and help fight characters like Gorilla Grodd. In the Green Arrow ending for Injustice 2, he ends up joining a multiverse Justice League that fights Brainiac in multiple dimensions, which is a testament to what he was able to do in that universe.
11 WEAKER: HUNTRESS
Huntress was never a character who was that strong in any version of the DC Universe. However, she gets a bit of a downgrade in the Injustice universe. She still knows how to fight and even takes the super pill to get some extra powers for a limited time.
Apart from helping out Batman's army, she doesn't do all that much. During a fight with Superman's regime, she's taken down by Wonder Woman despite having some added strength. Because of that, Huntress never seemed all that great of an asset to Batman and his team -- she felt more like a filler character.
10 STRONGER: DETECTIVE CHIMP
As ridiculous as it is that a chimpanzee has managed to dress up like Sherlock Holmes and become a renowned detective, that is exactly what happened in the DC Universe. Detective Chimp is one of the best detectives in the universe, and he is arguably even better in the Injustice universe, being called to work with Batman's insurgency.
Detective Chimp is a unique character who is immortal and smarter than the majority of people on the planet. Chimp also has ties with the supernatural realm, which made him a prime candidate to help the Dark Knight. While he was down for the count after a short while, Chimp ends up being a more than a useful companion.
9 WEAKER: FIRESTORM
Firestorm was created as the result of a nuclear connection between two people. This unstable bond is what causes Firestorm to have all sorts of dangerous powers at his disposal. With this level of strength, Firestorm has the potential to deal damage to a massive corner of the world by messing with that nuclear bond.
However, he is little more than someone who shoots fire in the Injustice universe. He doesn't have any serious impact on the world and was just brought in to help pad out the roster of Injustice 2. Had more care been placed into his arrival, he could've been a ticking time bomb.
8 STRONGER: SPECTRE
If there is one thing that Batman had access to that Superman didn't, it was friends in the Injustice universe. Because of the Man of Steel's weakness to magic, the Dark Knight was able to call upon people like Jason Blood and Doctor Fate to help fight the good fight.
However, things changed when Superman gets the Spectre on his side, who can show up at any second and destroy anyone that stands in his way. Spectre is so powerful that he can find anyone who wasn't guarded with a magical seal. This meant that Batman's team couldn't go anywhere without being spotted by him while he was around.
7 WEAKER: BLACK CANARY
Black Canary has a similar level of combat training to Batman, so it's weird that she regularly gets the short end of the stick. While she has been extremely potent in other universes, she lacks that same level of strength in the Injustice universe.
Based on her fighting skills and Canary Cry, she should be better at fighting than a large number of the Injustice heroes. However, Black Canary is never fully utilized, often being relegated to a background character just to make room for more popular DC heroes. She could win a lot of battles with her own skills, but this world doesn't seem to care.
6 STRONGER: NIGHTWING
Nightwing's story in the Injustice universe is a bit tragic. After accidentally losing his life thanks to Damian Wayne, Nightwing's time had seemingly come to an end. However, he managed to become the new version of Deadman and returned to help fight Superman's regime.
With his new powers as Deadman, Nightwing has become much stronger than normal, having the powers to phase through walls, be unaffected by most attacks, and go just about anywhere in the world whenever he decides. Nightwing has much greater skills with his new mantle, and they surpass anything he could've done in other universes.
5 WEAKER: LEX LUTHOR
Lex Luthor is often the person who is primarily contesting Superman. Creating all sorts of impressive suits and machinery just to combat the Man of Steel, having him on Batman's team was a serious victory for the Dark Knight. However, Luthor didn't seem to be functioning on all cylinders, as his massive suit did little to properly defend himself against the vicious Superman.
When the two characters actually fought, Luthor didn't stand a chance and was destroyed by his arch rival. He was helpful to the insurgency's goal, but he wasn't strong enough to keep holding his own in a fight.
4 STRONGER: WONDER WOMAN
Wonder Woman has a lot of training and skills to back her up. As a matter of fact, there should be little reason for her to be considered inferior to Superman. In the Injustice universe, we finally figured out what that would look like. After being convinced to turn on the Man of Steel, she fought him and managed to wipe the floor with him.
The big reason she won out was because she had superior combat training where Superman solely relied on his powers to get the job done. Wonder Woman is a much bigger threat in the Injustice universe than she has ever been in the main timeline.
3 WEAKER: THE GODS
The Gods are a series of entities that have a lot of crazy powers in the DC Universe. Home to many powerful characters, such as Zeus and Atlas, they are some of the strongest beings in comic book history. When the conflict with Superman starts to go off the deep end, the Gods get involved, and things get a bit difficult from there.
Zeus decides that it was high time for all the metahumans to go extinct out of fear of what would happen to the rest of the world. However, Wonder Woman takes her Amazons and goes to war with the Gods. Despite their superior strength in other realities, the Amazons win in the Injustice universe.
2 STRONGER: PLASTIC MAN
While Plastic Man is a ridiculous-looking character, the Injustice universe proves that his powers are much more useful than other comics let on. Not only did he tell Superman off to his face, but he disguised himself as the Flash to figure out the location of a regime prison. Not only did he infiltrate it, but he also broke a lot of the inmates out.
Even when members of the regime came to try and stop the inmates, Plastic Man's powers and quick thinking allowed many of them to get out. While he'd probably need a costume change to be a fighter in the series, he could be a likely candidate for the next game.
1 WEAKER: GUARDIANS OF THE UNIVERSE
When Superman starts to go crazy and take over the world, there are a multitude of people that try to stop him. It's not long before his antics catch the attention of the Guardians of the Universe, who unleash an entire host of Green Lanterns to fight the Man of Steel. Despite having trouble at first, Superman manages to overpower them with the help of a Yellow Lantern Ring.
He even flies straight to the Green Lanterns' planet and destroys it with all of the Guardians on it. Their role as ancient protectors of the universe did them no good against the Injustice version of Superman.