When it comes to comics, movies and television, there are thousands of amazing characters capable of superhuman feats. In most of these depictions, the characters are well into adulthood with little focus ever being placed on children with superhuman abilities. When Spider-Man first hit the shelves back with Amazing Fantasy #15, written by Stan Lee and penciled by Steve Ditko in 1962, depicting a superhero as young as Peter Parker was considered unusual. These days, that hasn't changed all that much. Most superheroes and supervillains are adults, which is odd considering a lot of comic book readers are children (or adults who began reading as a child).

Of course, time went on and many of those characters grew up. It made sense to begin introducing children into the mix as these characters eventually married and started a family. We never would have expected the Fantastic Four to increase in size thanks to the addition of children, but it happened and that's a good thing. Children with superpowers are becoming more common in comics, films and television and they come with innovative and creative stories. Some of these kids have powers that make them dangerous to themselves and others. After all, an infant with the ability to shoot laser beams out of their eyes capable of cutting anything in their path makes it hard to find a babysitter. We decided it was high time we compiled as many of these superpowered kids together and compared their powers to see which was the most powerful of them all. Here are 20 children too powerful for their own good.

20 BRUCE BANNER JR.

When we first saw Bruce Banner Jr., he was only an infant and the sole survivor of the Hulk Gang after Old Man Logan wiped them all out. Logan scooped up the baby and walked off into the sunset with him to start his own team of superheroes who would go on to retake the country. Logan was particularly pleased to kick off his new group with the last surviving member of the Hulk Gang.

As a Hulk baby, he was stronger than any human kid, but we didn't get to see much from this time-period. Fast-forward 500 years, and the baby grew up to become one of the strongest beings in the Marvel Universe. He not only shares his grandfather's incredible strength, he maintains his genius-level intellect in Hulk form.

19 MOLLY HAYES

Molly Hayes was the youngest member of the Runaways when the series premiered and the only mutant on the team. Unlike her supervillain parents, she did not inherit telepathic abilities, but instead possesses superhuman strength (with a twist) and invulnerability that has allowed her to withstand pretty much any attack.

Molly's strength is immense, but it comes at a cost. She tires immediately after using her powers. Initially, this resulted in her falling asleep after throwing one punch. After some time, she adapted and could remain awake for longer periods while using her powers. She was once even boosted with caffeine so she could continue fighting a large monster for longer than she would normally have been able to.

18 KAROLINA DEAN

Karolina Dean is a member of the Runaways and the only extraterrestrial member of the group. Dean is also the only member of the Runaways who is a lesbian and she is also older than many of the other children in the group. Her parents were Majesdanian invaders who passed on their ability to absorb solar energy and then radiate it out in different forms of the visible light spectrum.

Karolina's powers allow her become a luminous being, which is her true form as a Majesdane. While in this form, she can fire concussive blasts, shoot laser beams and create force fields. She can even bind people within a colorful sphere should the mood strike. If she uses her powers too much, she reverts back to human form.

17 NICO MINORU

Nico Minoru in the middle of a jump using her magic

Nico Minoru joined the Runaways when she learned she was the daughter of evil dark wizards. Not wanting to end up like her parents, she decided to run away. She later finds out she inherited their magical abilities, which manifest when she bleeds. This causes a powerful magical staff to emerge from her chest allowing her to bend magic.

Nico went on to lead the group as a talented sorceress, but like many on this list, her powers come at a cost. Nico can cast any spell imaginable, but only once. If she casts the same spell a second time, it will misfire and a completely random magical effect will take place. This makes casting a spell more than once a risky endeavor because she never knows what will happen.

16 JUDITH WINTERS

judith_winters_doctor_who

Judith Winters was a normal human schoolgirl who attended the Coal Hill School in 1963. She was abducted by the Black Dalek who enslaved her to the Battle Computer for the purpose of utilizing her human imagination to develop strategies that could be used against the Imperials, a rival Dalek faction.

Judith was also enhanced by the renegade Daleks so she could fire lightning out of her hands. She was attached to a special chair so she could operate the Time Controller and link with the Black Dalek. She was also "enhanced" to speak like a Dalek. Ultimately, Judith was freed from the Black Dalek's clutches and restored, but she never recovered mentally from her time with the Daleks.

15 JASON WHITE

Jason White from Superman Returns

Jason White was the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent, though he grew up believing Lois' fiancé, Richard White, was his father. His true parentage was revealed when he seemingly pushed a full-size grand piano across the room into a minion when he was threatening his mother. Before that point, he was presented as a sickly boy who could barely breathe thanks to his asthma.

Once it was revealed Superman was his true father, Clark took on a protective role, though he remained on the periphery. Jason's powers were never fully explored as Superman Returns did not yield any sequels, but his powers may have continued to manifest similarly to Jon Kent in the comics.

14 DION REESE

Raising Dion

Dion Reese is the young son of Nicole and Mark who began to manifest superhuman powers after the death of his father. The comic (and future Netflix live-action series) takes on the role of raising a superpowered child from the perspective of the mother. Nicole's struggle to raise her son while keeping his powers a secret are challenged by the fact that Dion is just a kid.

Dion's powers allow him to create blue fields of energy he can use to manipulate objects. He is also telekinetic and can make himself invisible, which can not make raising him very easy. Raising Dion is being adapted into a Netflix series with Michael B. Jordan signed on to play the role of Mark Reese.

13 JON KENT

There are a lot of children of Superman or characters who go by the name of Superboy, but the most recent addition may be the most powerful. Jon Kent is the son of Lois Land and Superman making him a human/Kryptonian hybrid. Batman theorized his mixed genealogy might one day make him even more powerful than his father.

Jon Kent's powers are still developing like his father's did during his childhood. He has already demonstrated abilities with X-ray vision, freezing breath, super speed, enhanced vision, super breath, super flare, super strength, invulnerability and the ability to fly. His powers have fluctuated due to outside interference, but have since stabilized and he is becoming more powerful by the day.

12 DASHIELL "DASH" PARR

The Incredibles – Dash

Dashell "Dash" Parr is the middle-child in the Parr family who was shown to have manifested his powers at a very early age. Dash has the ability to run so fast people cannot see his movements. Dash can also move fast enough to run on soft surfaces like water.

Dash has a bit of a cocky attitude about his powers and prefers to use them whenever he can. He has shown restraint when he ran in a track meet at school and slowed down enough to make it look like he was running like the rest of the kids. Dash is always quick to jump into a fight and desperately wants to be a superhero.

11 RYAN JAMES

Ryan James Smallville

Ryan James was a young boy who was being abused by his stepfather when he came into contact with the Kents. His stepfather was using him to rob pawnshops, which led to Ryan running away right into Martha Kent's car. Feigning amnesia from the accident, he was taken in by Martha, to the farm where he became friends with Clark.

Ryan had powerful telepathic abilities that enabled him to learn Clark's secret by reading Martha's mind. He wasn't able to read the minds of Kryptonians, too, which actually made him closer to Clark who thought of him like a little brother. It was later revealed his telepathy was the result of an inoperable brain tumor. Clark did everything he could to save Ryan, but he eventually passed away, leaving Clark devastated.

10 MALCOLM DRAGON

Malcolm Dragon

Malcolm Dragon is the son of Rapture and the Savage Dragon. His appearance favors his father as do many of his superpowers, but he also inherited his mother's ability to generate electricity throughout his body. When he was born, he was stolen by a secret organization who told his parents he had died. This led to his being raised by an alternate reality version of his mother and his upbringing was less-than perfect.

Eventually, Malcolm returned to his home reality and took the place of his father, who went to prison after giving up his powers. Malcolm is incredibly strong and possesses powerful regenerative abilities that allow him to regrow lost limbs if necessary. He is the current "Savage Dragon" in the Image Comics universe.

9 THE POWERS

Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four children: Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power. They ranged in age from five to 12 and all of them were given immense powers by an alien from the Kymellian race, who died saving them from a potentially disastrous explosion. At the same time, their parents were kidnapped by aliens, leaving the children to fend for themselves.

The children's powers run the gamut of superhero abilities. Alex, had mastery over gravitation, Julie could manipulate acceleration, Jack had control over density and Katie Power could manipulate energy. Their powers changed hands from time to time and the children went on to appear in other series, including the New Warriors, but fans would argue they were at their best when the family stuck together.

8 EMILY DINSMORE

Emily Dinsmore from Smallville

Emily Dinsmore was Lana Lang's best friend in childhood, but she drowned in a river when they were very young. Years later, Emily's father successfully cloned his daughter by using refined meteor rocks (Kryptonite) and the help of Lionel Luthor and Luthorcorp. The child was a perfect clone of the original Emily, but she had a few changes warranting her placement on this list.

Emily had the ability to run at high speeds rivaling Clark Kent. She also could alter her molecular structure to make her body intangible allowing her to pass through solid objects. Additionally, Emily's aging was advanced as a result of the cloning process. Calling Emily mentally unstable would be an understatement -- she killed her father by pushing her arm through his chest.

7 BO ADAMS

Bo Adams

Bo Adams is one of the main characters on Believe and she is an incredibly powerful little girl. Bo was initially raised in a special facility called Orchestra where she was experimented on due to the various phenomena that occurred in her vicinity. She ended up leaving the facility and was taken in by Maggie and George to keep her safe, but they were killed shortly after.

Bo's powers cover a wide range, including the ability to manipulate animals, generate electricity, levitate and heal herself. She also has various mental abilities as well. Bo has precognitive powers as well as telekinesis, telepathy, photokinesis and agrokinesis. Given her power set, she could easily be higher on this list, but her ability to control them isn't fully established, which somewhat limits her.

6 VIOLET PARR

Violet Parr is the eldest child of the Parr family and the only daughter in the clan. She is a somewhat socially awkward teenager whose powers manifest in a number of ways. She has the ability to turn herself invisible, which comes in handy when you are trying to negotiate the social landmines of high school.

Another power Violet has is the ability to create force fields. She can project these around herself in the form of a bubble or dome, but can also send them to other objects... like her brother if he is annoying her. She can manipulate objects this way in a manner similar to telekinesis, but the power is limited and can be broken if enough strain is placed on her.

5 ELEVEN

Jane Ives, who is best known simply as "Eleven" is one of the main characters on the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. From infancy, Jane was raised in the Hawkins National Laboratory where her unique and impressive powers were put to the test. In the first season, it was revealed that her unique form of telepathy and telekinesis allowed her to effectively spy on the Soviets in a sort of pocket dimension.

During one of these experiments, she made contact with a frightening creature and ended up tearing a hole in reality. This bridged a gap between the real world and the "Upside-down," a parallel universe full of dangerous and frightening creatures dubbed the Demogorgon. She has shown an ability to kill large groups of people using only her mind and is an immensely powerful character in the series.

4 VALERIA RICHARDS

valeria-richards

Valeria Richards is the second child of Reed Richards and Susan Storm of the Fantastic Four. Seeing as her parents are two of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, it should come as no surprise to learn Valeria has a few characteristics that make her a bit different from other children.

Valeria has a genius-level intellect like her father and energy force projection powers like her mother. Thanks to time travel, she hasn't always appeared as a child and her power-set has changed. She was, at one time, Marvel Girl and possessed superhuman strength, invulnerability, invisibility, force field generation, energy blasts and the ability to travel through time. She has also shown limited telekinetic and telepathic abilities.

3 JACK-JACK

jack-jack-header

Jack-Jack is the infant son of Bob and Helen Parr who manifested superpowers at the end of the first Incredibles movie. Not only did Jack-Jack show he had some powers, he has more than anyone truly knows. His power-set is long, which is impressive seeing as he has only ever been in two movies at this point.

Jack-Jack can morph his body into a devilish form, fire-form, metallic-form, rubber-form and others. He can phase through solid matter, alter his size and molecular density, is incredibly strong and durable, can cling to any surface, duplicate himself into an unknown number of copies, teleport, cross into another dimension, fire lasers from his eyes, move objects with his mind, generate electricity and he can levitate. He won the jackpot in superhuman abilities.

2 ANTHONY FREMONT

Anthony Freemont

Anthony Fremont appeared in the episodes "It's a Good Life" and "It's Still a Good Life" on The Twilight Zone. On the surface, Anthony appears to be a normal little boy, but he is disturbingly powerful. In the small town of Peaksville, Ohio, he controls every one and every thing. He has the ability to teleport people into a pocket dimension he called "The Cornfield" where they would exist in a void of nothingness. He did this to people who upset him.

As time progressed, his behavior worsened and he ended up taking complete control of the small town he purposefully isolated from the rest of the world. Anthony's other abilities revolve around his powerful mind allowing him to read other people's minds. He also has powerful telekinetic abilities and can transmute objects on a whim.

1 FRANKLIN RICHARDS

Marvel's franklin richards

Franklin Richards is the oldest child of Reed Richards and Susan Storm. He is an Omega-Level mutant who possesses the ability to warp reality in any manner he sees fit. This has enabled him to do pretty much anything he wanted, which is why his father worked to limit his powers when he was young. Time travel has allowed Franklin to be shown as both a child and an adult, but the focus here is on the kid version.

Franklin can literally do anything. He can create life, alter the fundamental forces of reality or create an entire universe if he feels like it. At one point, he made Galactus his own personal herald. He is immortal and arguably the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe, which is saying something.