Being given a nickname like the Man of Steel should be taken seriously in Superman's case. The man is virtually invulnerable to any attack, and dishes out worse than he gets thanks to his super strength, speed and reflexes. Superman's power set is vast and diverse, including heat vision and freeze breath.
But even Superman has weaknesses, some of which make little or no sense. Given his incredible range of powers, one would think that he would be an unstoppable force of nature. Honestly, he kind of is. Still, Superman has some odd weaknesses that he probably shouldn't have.
10 Suffocation
Superman has depicted as one of the most powerful beings in DC Comics, taking on almost any villain that stumbles into his path. And some of them have given him a run for his money over the years. But there have been times when villains have at least slowed him down by cutting off his air supply.
While Superman is immune to the effects of flying through space, he also can't breath in space. That usually doesn't cause too many problems as he can hold his breath for a long time. That being said, there have been times where a villain has come close to either suffocating or even drowning him. That shouldn't be possible.
9 Viruses
Due to the nature of his power and absorbing the radiation of Earth's Yellow Sun, Superman has an incredible immune system. Unless something is really wrong, the Man of Steel isn't calling in sick to The Daily Planet with a cold.
That being said, alien viruses have laid Superman low on rare occasions. Some of them came out of the blue while others were engineered to take out the Man of Steel. Either way, it's always strange to see Superman sick, especially when Kryptonite has not played a factor.
8 Other Kryptonians
It's rare that Superman comes up against an opponent who matches his power levels. Most of his enemies are usually super smart with a lot of resources like Lex Luthor, but he also has foes who are extremely powerful and dominant, like Darkseid.
Evil Kryptonians like General Zod always provide an interesting challenge for him. They match him in powers, but outstrip him in training. As such, Superman often loses to them in one on one confrontations. It's always weird to see him get beaten up.
7 Alcohol
This one does not come up very often as Superman rarely drinks, but when it does, it's not exactly a pretty sight. The Man of Steel has not be known to hold his liquor all that well. Superman or not, he can get drunk.
This actually makes little or no sense. His superpowered physiology should remain wholly unaffected by alcohol, yet there are times that has not been the case. Even though there has been extenuating circumstances, it still doesn't add up.
6 Mind Control
Attacking Superman physically is a fool's errand for the vast majority of his opponents. As previously stated, it takes someone very powerful to actually provide a challenge to him in hand to hand combat of any kind.
But what seems to work more often is mind control. Mental and telepathic attacks have been used in a variety of ways, but many of them probably shouldn't have worked. Superman's enhanced abilities should, in theory, protect him from being mentally manipulated on some level.
5 Simulated Red Sun Radiation
Krypton orbited a dying Red Sun, the radiation from which essentially stripped the residents of the planet of any enhanced powers. When a Kryptonian lands on a planet like Earth that orbits a Yellow Sun, its radiation unleashes their abilities.
While it makes sense that Red Sun radiation incapacitates Superman, it's odd that simulated Red Sun radiation has the same effect. While it might replicate the radiation, it's not the real thing and should not harm Superman at all.
4 Electricity
When someone like Batman tries taking on Superman, their options for defeating him are minimal at best. Things get even more difficult when they don't have access to any form of Kryptonite at all.
An old standby has often been intense electric blasts. It might not completely defeat him, but electricity has certainly been known to incapacitate Superman. Why it works is a completely different story. Superman's body should be able to handle electrical blasts without taking any damage, possibly even just absorbing it.
3 Different Kinds Of Kryptonite
Busting out the Kryptonite has been the go to move for anyone trying to defeat Superman. Both Lex Luthor and Batman keep supplies on hand, but their motivations for doing so could not be more different.
The weird thing about Kryptonite is that it comes in different colors, and each color has a completely different effect on Superman. Presumably, this is because each kind emits a different kind of radiation. While that makes basically no sense at all, fans have come to accept the storytelling device over the years.
2 Magic
This one has proven to be a bit of a head scratcher. It's well known that Kryptonite is Superman's main weakness. This fact is so pervasive in pop culture that people who have never read a Superman comic or seen a Superman movie are even aware of it.
What's less well known is that magic is his second most potent weakness. Any hero or villain who is powered by or uses magic immediately has an advantage over Superman. His extreme vulnerability to magic has never added up. Magic might change the rules to an extent but Superman's weakness to it breaks some rules, too.
1 His Own Issues
Kryptonite. Magic. Electricity. Mind control. All of these things impact Superman and his abilities in different ways. While some of his weaknesses and vulnerabilities might not make a lot of sense, it's his own internal issues are often his biggest weak spot.
Like anyone else, Superman has good days and bad days. His confidence takes a hit and he doesn't always rebound well. Additionally, Superman often holds back his true power because he's worried about hurting someone. Unfortunately, these human-like aspects of his personality frequently gets exploited by his enemies.