DC Comics sports some of the strongest characters ever conceived of in comics, maybe even all of fiction. It’s hard to imagine characters who can outpace the Flash as he moves fast enough to perceive light moving between atoms, or outmuscle Superman who has been known to lift a book of infinite pages. And that’s not even mentioning the characters who can destroy and rebuild the entire universes as a hobby. Of course, with all that strength must come a counter balance. While DC has some of the strongest characters ever, it also sports some of the absolute weakest. For every mighty character with incredibly power and strength, there’s another whose powers are dubious at best or just outright weird and useless.
While the powerful characters in the DC Universe are the best known, the weakest ones definitely deserve their moment as well if for no other reason than to let readers question what exactly is going on with them. Here are 10 of DC’s weakest characters, ranked. Seriously, these characters are so underpowered or weird that they should never put on a costume.
10) Friendly Fire
Created by Garth Ennis and John McCrea, Friendly Fire first appeared in Hitman #18 in 1997. A large man wearing a red cowl who can generate energy blasts from his hands, Friendly Fire is a member of the “superhero” team Section 8, though calling them heroes is questionable. That said, as a team they at least give it their best but that doesn’t make any of the heroes particular great — especially Friendly Fire.
Friendly Fire has the ability to shoot concussive blasts of pure force from his hands that are able to tear through anyone they hit. On paper, that sounds like a very strong power, however, Friendly Fire earns his place on this list and his name due to his inability to hit whatever he aims at. In fact, throughout his short career as a superhero he only ever hit his own teammates or civilians, never a villain. In his final appearance he accidentally blasted his own head off, so needless to say he’d be more useful if he didn’t have any powers at all.
9) Brother Power the Geek
No, we are not making this up. His real name is Brother Power the Geek. Created by Joe Simon, Brother Power the Geek first appeared in the aptly titled Brother Power the Geek #1 in 1968. Brother Power was initially a mannequin in an abandoned tailor’s shop where a pair of hippies dressed him up in some wet, bloodied clothes to prevent them from shrinking. However, when the mannequin was struck by lightning months later, Brother Power is brought to life and given superpowers.
If you thought that origin was weird, we’re just getting started. In his initial two-issue run the living-mannequin would go on adventures like running for U.S. Congress and being launched into outer space by President Ronald Regan to prevent the sabotage of a rocket test, knowing his fellow hippies would be blamed. The 60s were wild. He would later gain more powers as a “puppet elemental” similar to Swamp Thing, letting him possess dolls and change his size, but at the end of the day he was a walking mannequin.
8) Arm-Fall-Off-Boy
I don’t think I need to explain Arm-Fall-Off-Boy’s deal. First appearing in Secret Origins #46 in 1989, Arm-Fall-Off-Boy can detach his arms and use them as weapons and that’s it. Originally from the 31st century, he was rejected by the Legion of Super-Heroes, and they’ll take anyone! They’re known for their wildly zany and underpowered or hyper-specific heroes. Heck, they let Stone Boy in, and his only power is turning to stone. Not like the Thing, no when Stone Boy does it he can’t move at all, and even he got in. That alone says why Arm-Fall-Off-Boy sits where he does.
Interestingly, while this is one of DC’s weirdest characters, we have seen his weirdness played up to be at least somewhat cool. A character based on Arm-Fall-Of-Boy — Cory Pitzner/The Detatchable Kid (TDK) appeared in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad as played by Nathan Fillion
7) Red Bee
First appearing in Hit Comics #1 from Quality Comics and eventually obtained by DC in 1956, Red Bee is a WWII era superhero who once even joined the Freedom Fighters, and shouldn’t be confused with the second Red Bee, his grandniece Jenna, who has an alien suit similar to Blue Beetle’s scarab. No, the original Red Bee fought Nazis and gang members using trained bees. Not magically enhanced or psychically linked, no, he trained normal bees to fight for him. The only advantage they had over normal bees is that his favorite bee, named Michael, at least was able to sting multiple times. He’s this high because he also carried a ray gun he called his “stinger gun.” But he’s a prime example of the fact that if you want weird and weak heroes, look to the past or future of the DC Universe.
6) Color Kid
First appearing in Adventure Comics #342 in 1966, Color Kid might be the most “colorful” entry on this list. Literally. Another of the Legion of Super-Heroes’ rejects, Color Kid has the ability to change the color of objects. This has no offensive capabilities beyond maybe being able to temporarily blind some people, maybe? If he’s fighting someone with a specific color weakness I guess that’s an auto win, so look out Green Lanterns. Needless to say, the Legion rejected his application, but did offer him a spot on the Legion of Substitute Heroes, which is all of the under-powered people the Legion trusts to take their place if anything happens. Arm-Fall-Off-Boy may not have made the cut for this, but I still stand by the fact that he’s more useful than Color Kid.
RELATED: 8 Biggest Threats to Superman (And One is Completely Unexpected)
5) Kite Man
Hell yeah! Kite man might be the lead in his own, rightfully deserved, tv show, but that doesn’t mean he’s strong. In fact, half the jokes in the show come from how he’s practically useless. Kite Man being lame is honestly a major part of the character’s charm so we give him plenty of points for that. Kite Man is the start of the “useless Batman villain” section of our list, where even Kite Man stands above the others in terms of usefulness. How? I mean, kites are sometimes good for transportation, or he could put explosives on them. I’m sure kites can be used for evil or good if he’s creative enough. If nothing else, it is at least an original gimmick even if it doesn’t make him particularly powerful.
4) Ten-Eyed Man
First appearing in Batman #226 from 1970, Ten-Eyed Man is the result of a horrible scientific surgery that is an affront to all that is holy and good, where he was blinded and had eyes implanted on each of his fingertips. He can see through each of them, and I don’t see how this can be anything but a hindrance. Yes, he could see behind him with them, but he also has to constantly hold a hand in front of himself in order to see where he’s going, and ten eyes is five times the visual stimulus a person is used to and definitely overwhelming. Not to mention how he can’t hold anything or make a fist without half blinding himself, and how sensitive these finger-eyes are. His most recent appearance has suggested he might be able to see in some supernatural way, but even still there are far too many downsides for this to be useful.
3) Condiment King
There’s a reason that Condiment King emerged as a joke villain in Batman: The Animated Series. There he wasn’t even a real villain, but a man hypnotized by the Joker. In the comics he doesn’t stand much better, with each of his appearances always ending in him being the butt of a joke. I suppose he could pose a threat to certain people with severe allergies to a condiment, but other than that he’s effectively useless. The worst he can do is up your dry-cleaning bill.
2) Penny Plunderer
Our final joke Batman villain in this list is none other than the Penny Plunderer. Originally a Golden Age villain, the Plunderer is a normal gangster who would commit penny related crimes. Needless to say, there’s only so much crime a guy who’s focused on the least valuable coin can commit. If he’s only a normal guy without anything holding him back, how is he so high on this list? Because this man is definitely cursed in some way. No matter what he does, Penny Plunderer is always foiled by a penny. Whether it be because he didn’t bring any change and can’t use the payphone to call his boys for their planned ambush, or being crushed to death by a comically oversized penny, he will always be stopped by the copper coin. Anyone whose archenemy is a coin that’s worth less than it costs to produce it is just sad.
1) Bizarro Flash
Without a doubt, Bizarro Flash is the weakest character in all of DC. Created by the Superman villain Bizarro in the classic All-Star Superman comic, Bizarro Flash is the total inverse of everything the Flash is. With the Flash being the fastest man alive, want to guess what Bizarro’s deal is? Yes, he’s the slowest thing to ever live, being a grown man whose top speed is a staggering two inches per hour. He is less than a threat to anyone else. Heck, he’s a threat to himself.
So there you have the top ten weakest characters to come out of a DC comic so far. Think you know some weaker characters who should have made the list? Comment down below!
The post 10 Weakest DC Characters, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.
