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The iconic Man of Steel has had numerous copycats inspired by his image throughout comic history, including Invincible's Omni-Man. These characters are often described as "Superman-like" since they possess origins, costumes, and superpowers reminiscent of Superman's. What's not immediately clear, however, is whether characters like Omni-Man are stronger or weaker than the original.
There are a lot of factors that can give a character an advantage, either in a deadlift contest or in a fight. For example, Omni-Man has effortlessly murdered his universe's version of the Justice League. With their comic book and animated feats in mind, how does the warmongering Viltrumite stack against the peaceful Kryptonian?
10 Superman Is Physically Stronger
Omni-Man's greatest feat of strength was destroying his homeworld, Viltrum, by punching a hole through it. However, he was only able to achieve this with the help of two other Viltrumites. He's also done amazing things like deflecting a Texas-sized meteor away from Earth.
Unfortunately, Omni-Man's cosmic feats pale in comparison to Superman's, who's held a miniature black hole in his hand and carried the Earth's weight for five days in a row without tiring. In the Silver Age, Superman even towed several planets simultaneously. There is a question of "which Superman?" in play here but it's obvious that Krypton's Last Son is stronger than Omni-Man.
9 Omni-Man's A Smarter Fighter
Omni-Man has spent his entire life laying siege to planets across the cosmos. As a trusted military officer, he received training in hand-to-hand combat and military tactics. Additionally, Omni-Man's had 2,000 years to hone and perfect his fighting techniques.
Superman is often confident that he can win any battle through strength alone. He's used to dragging his opponents into close-range brawls where he can eventually overpower them. However, against a more skilled opponent he can run into trouble. With the help of super pills, Batman effortlessly defeated Superman in a one-on-one fist fight. Omni-Man's greater tactical prowess gives him a similar edge.
8 Superman Outpaces Omni-Man
Omni-Man is capable of traveling at light speed, and he was able to reach Earth's closest inhabited neighbor in just a week. However, when Omni-Man attempted to kill Cecil Stedman he wasn't able to close the several feet of distance between them before Cecil could teleport to safety.
Similarly, fans may remember when Jason Todd and his Outlaws retreated from Superman. The group teleported from Pluto to Earth, but Superman was already there waiting for them. Omni-Man's unimaginably fast but Superman's faster.
7 Omni-Man Fights To Kill
Superman's been victorious against many god-like villains throughout his superheroic career and has yet to kill a single one. His "no killing" policy applies to everyone, and as a result he avoids using his full strength in any fight.
On the flip side, Omni-Man has no issue with killing and has killed heroes and villains alike. Unlike Superman, he seizes every physical advantage he has to mercilessly defeat his enemies and will even blitz an opponent by surprise if the opportunity presents itself. Omni-Man's vicious tactics give him an edge in any fight.
6 Superman Has More Powers
Similar to Superman, Omni-Man possesses super strength, super speed and flight. He also has the ability to recover from life-threatening damage in weeks, improve his powers with training, and survive weeks in space on a single breath of air. However, Superman has better versions of all of these powers.
Superman can passively survive in the void of space, heal his injuries within minutes, and strengthen his whole arsenal of powers just by being in proximity to a yellow sun. Moreover, Superman can utilize an arsenal of powers such as heat vision, arctic breath, super senses and much more. Superman's vast array of powers, and his skill with them, make him nearly unstoppable.
5 Omni-Man Is Consistently Victorious
Omni-Man has only been defeated a few times. In fact, he's only received three credible defeats.
While he has more notable victories than Omni-Man, Superman's received just as many notable defeats. In the Injustice universe alone, Superman's been on the losing end against Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern Corps, Hawkman, Captain Atom, and Batman. Writers regularly use Superman's defeat as a way of demonstrating a new character's raw power. This trope's used far too often against Superman, and while heroes learn a lot from their losses, winning fights is better than losing them.
4 Neither Have An Exploitable Weakness
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All Viltrumites have a delicately balanced inner ear that is dangerously sensitive to specific sound frequencies, causing them excruciating pain. On the other hand, Superman's most notable weaknesses are his vulnerability to magic, red sun radiation and Kryptonite, which can immediately stop and even kill him under long enough exposure.
Even if Superman realized the weakness in Omni-Man's inner ear, via x-ray scan, he still wouldn't know the exact frequency he needed to incapacitate a Viltrumite. Likewise, Omni-Man has no easy way to exploit Superman's long list of weaknesses or vulnerabilities. While both Kryptonians and Viltrumites have weakness, they wouldn't win or lose this fight.
3 Superman Can Take Harder Hits
Omni-Man is no slouch in the durability department. He's been disemboweled and lived to see another day, even if he spent weeks recovering. Additionally, he can tank a planetary explosion and is nearly invulnerable, unless he's fighting one of the few Viltrumites on his level.
The supervillain, Doomsday, was able to match Superman's strength and bypass his physical resistance enough to kill him. However, even then Superman didn't exactly die. Instead, he was just in a coma-like state and regenerated back to full strength. Superman's shrugged off nukes, multiple supernovas to the face, being smashed between colliding planets and Darkseid's Omega Beams. which can disintegrate nearly anything. Superman's invulnerability outstrips Omni-Man's.
2 Omni-Man Never Suffered An Embarrassing Defeat
Despite the way he's bested gods, Superman's lost to beings far below his weight class. He's been defeated by the likes of humans, including Batman, Robin and even Batman's butler, Alfred. While some of these losses came from team efforts that exploited his vulnerabilities, inconsistent writing, or Clark's decision to not fight they are still embarrassing losses for the Man of Steel.
Omni-Man has only ever been taken down when "punching up" against more powerful opponents. Omni-Man's never suffered a defeat that made him look weak. When he's lost battles, its left fans in awe of the rare opponents who can really harm him. Since Superman has lost fights to seemingly weaker foes, this gives Omni-Man a narrative edge.
1 Superman Is Stronger Than Omni-Man
Viltrumites are some of the strongest beings in their universe, but as a species, they're not on the same level as Kryptonians. After all, it took three Viltrumites, including Omni-Man, to break a single planet. Superman sneezed an entire solar system into extinction.
And while Superman's not the most analytical fighter, he's demonstrated a lot of creativity with his powers. He used his x-ray vision to scan Manchester Black for any anatomical anomalies, then focused his heat vision to safely burn his telekinetic abilities out of his brain. Superman may not have Omni-Man's elite military training, discipline, or will to kill but he more than compensates for it with overwhelming strength, speed, and versatility.