One thing that comic book heroes and villains have that real-life people do not are superpowers. Given the choice, many people would take any superpower, even the bad ones. Depending on the power, a hero or villain could be unstoppable. Many powers are incredibly useful, while others are lackluster, extremely situational, or even dangerous.
The Marvel Comics universe is filled with characters of all shapes and sizes possessing all levels of power. Some can destroy entire cities with one breath, while others can command legions of squirrels. The unfortunate truth that many Marvel characters have to accept is that some superpowers are just worse than others.
10 Producing Destructive Sonic Waves With A Whisper
Like mutants, Inhumans start out as regular humans but develop their powers later in life. The mutant gene activates when mutants become teenagers, while Inhumans' powers activate when they inhale Terrigen Mist. Black Bolt developed one of the most destructive superpowers of all time, making him one of the most powerful Inhumans.
Despite having an incredibly powerful ability, Black Bolt's sonic scream is dangerous. With a simple whisper, Black Bolt is capable of leveling entire cities. His ability to manipulate energy and create these sonic waves is powerful, but the risk to himself and others is too great.
9 Using Hindsight To Analyze Past Mistakes
Carlton LaFroyge possessed no definitive superpowers, but he was extremely skilled in computer engineering and research. Carlton was once a superhero called Hindsight Lad who joined the New Warriors. Carlton examined old data and footage of the team's past encounters with villains and determined where things went wrong.
In short, Carlton used the incredible power of hindsight to analyze past events to ensure the same mistakes weren't made in the future. This power can be extremely useful for analyzing enemy tactics, but it can also be useless if future events diverge too heavily from the past data that was analyzed.
8 Creating Mostly Harmless "Fireworks"
Jubilee has been a prominent member of the X-Men since her first appearance in Uncanny X-Men #244, but her star rose with the success of the 90s X-Men animated series. Despite standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Cyclops and Storm, Jubilee possesses some underwhelming powers.
Character popularity isn't all about having the strongest power, and Jubilee has proven that, as her ability to produce small sparks of light and energy has rarely been useful. Her "fireworks" have intensified on occasion, making Jubilee even more powerful, but compared to other mutations, creating fireworks is literally all flash.
7 Commanding Legions Of Squirrels
Squirrel Girl was first introduced in Marvel Super-Heroes #8 in 1991, but she's grown in popularity in the 21st century after starring in her own solo series, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. She obtained that nickname after defeating powerful villains like Whiplash, Kraven, and even Doctor Doom.
Her power level has become a bit of a meme in pop culture. She possesses many superpowers like enhanced agility and accelerated healing, but her most famous is the power to communicate with and command squirrels. A legion of angry squirrels can be quite deadly, but as far as superpowers go, commanding squirrels is silly and rarely useful.
6 Stretching & Manipulating Six Feet Of Extra Skin
Angelo Espinosa, a.k.a. Skin, possesses one of the strangest, perhaps grossest, powers in Marvel Comics. Skin's bones and muscles are not affected by his mutation, but his skin is. Skin has approximately six extra feet of skin on his body that he can manipulate in various ways. At first glance, his powers are extremely similar to Mr. Fantastic's.
However, Reed Richards can stretch every element of his body, bones and muscles included, making him far more powerful and durable. Skin can stretch and expand his skin, but he's still as vulnerable as a normal human.
5 Changing Skin Patterns And Markings For Camouflage
Christine Cord first appeared in New X-Men #126, originally possessing the power to manipulate patterns and markings on her skin in various ways. She was nicknamed "Tattoo" as her skin often featured changing patterns that resembled ink.
Tattoo's power can be useful during stealth missions since she can manipulate her skin to resemble many forms of camouflage making it a useful power. but very situational. Regardless, the fairly mundane ability to change patterns on the skin is far from an omega-level mutation. A spy or hunter may find this power helpful, but the average person would have little practical use for it.
4 Producing Seemingly Useless Gold Balls
After the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Cyclops recruited a new generation of mutants. One of the new mutants was Fabio Medina, who was nicknamed Goldballs for his unusual mutant power to generate an infinite number of gold spheres. The spheres weren't overly destructive or useful, making Fabio one of the weakest mutants ever.
However, during the events of House of X and Powers of X, after the mutants established Krakoa as a haven, Professor X discovered that Fabio's spheres, combined with the powers of four other mutants, could be used to replicate immortality. Unfortunately, without those other mutants, Fabio's power is essentially useless.
3 One-Time-Use Self-Detonation
Bailey Hoskins was not called "the worst X-Man ever" because he possessed one of the best superpowers of all time. Quite the opposite. Bailey first appeared and starred in the X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever miniseries. He earned this title thanks to his incredibly dangerous mutation that allows him to detonate his own body.
Much like the "Self-Destruct" attack in Pokémon, Bailey's self-detonation is a one-time use, considering that the power is lethal to him. This power would not be considered one of the worst if the person who caused the detonation was unaffected, but that's unfortunately not the case.
2 Generating Unlimited Pennies
J. Pennington Pennypacker was attending a camp when he and the other campers were given superpowers. Each person's power was different, and Pennypacker drew the short straw. Ironically, Pennypacker possessed the strange ability to generate an infinite number of pennies. At times, he could use these pennies as harmful projectiles.
Pennypacker became a hero known as the Almighty Dollar. He only appeared in one issue of Marvel's NFL Superpro and was meant to be a joke. The power is absolutely ridiculous, but given enough time, the Almighty Dollar could conjure up quite the fortune.
1 Detecting Which Way Is North
Reed Richards is arguably the smartest man in the Marvel Comics universe, so thankfully he was available when the Jackal unleashed an army of bedbugs during "Spider-Island." When someone was bitten by one of these bugs, they developed spider-powers like Spider-Man. Fortunately, those with existing powers, like mutants or Inhumans, were immune.
Reed's brilliant solution was to give the entire population of Manhattan superpowers, just not very good ones. After the events of "Spider-Island," every resident of Manhattan now possesses the amazing ability to detect which way is north. Reed called it "compass power."