this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
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Which superpower do you think is the most practical, versatile, and useful?

Which do you think is the least practical and most useless?

What would be a good drawback to your superpower of choice?

edit: as in superman, batman, etc. powers, not nation state powers

all 34 comments
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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 5 points 16 hours ago

Top 3 most useful:

  • Telekinesis. At extremely high levels it also allows for pyro-, cryo-, and electrokinesis as you become able to effect atoms.
  • Telepathy. You can read thoughts and emotions, communicate silently, trick people, or even puppet then around or brainwash them.
  • Teleportation. You can safely go anywhere instantly.
  • Also: matter to energy or other reality warping stuff. OP as hell and hopefully won't cause a nuclear blast or turn the sky into lead.

Worst powers:

  • Summon (something useless or random). You can summon useless objects (like a broken wristwatch) or just random / inappropriate things (a can opener when what you really need is $50.
  • Speak with snails (or something equally useless).
  • Realistic Photosynthesis. You are green and even if you're naked in full sunlight you lack the surface area to survive on it. Also you have diabetes because your body is not designed to handle all the sugars you're producing.

Drawbacks: honestly crack open the rules for GURPS. Here's some honorable mentions.

  • Unscalable. The power has only one one power setting, on or off.
  • Always on. You can never stop using it.
  • Uncontrollable. You have no control over when it activates or how.
  • Shy. You can only use it when nobody's looking.
  • Growing insanity: The more you use it, the worse your grip on reality becomes.
  • Restricted. You can only use it in specific circumstances, ranging on a scale of from "only at night" to "only from 5 feet away" to "only when mortally injured."
[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Which superpower do you think is the most practical, versatile, and useful?

The ability to fly. You could clean your gutters, inspect your roof, get from one floor of a tall building to another.

Which do you think is the least practical and most useless?

Many offense ones, such as throwing fire, freezing things or shooting lasers out of your eyes. Never minding the potential of killing by standers outside of combat there is no day to day.

What would be a good drawback to your superpower of choice?

Hopefully you would never sleep fly….

[–] Reziarfg@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago

If you could shoot lasers from your eyes I'm sure there'd be a way to monetize it into your day-to-day

[–] makeshiftreaper@lemmy.world 8 points 20 hours ago

I've always liked this old Cracked video which argues that Zach Morris' Time Out is low stakes enough to not create a superhero world but just kinda makes everything work for you

In a world without other superheroes? Rogue's powers from X-Men are probably the worst. You can never have physical contact with other people for the rest of your life and there's no other powers to steal. Lose/lose

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Mind control is basically every power. Because if people believe something to be true, it is. Wanna fly, make the population think you just did. Invisible, same.

Downside is, you know the FACTUAL truth.

Worst superpower? I donno, farting every time you blink.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 8 points 23 hours ago (3 children)

Mind control is basically every power. Because if people believe something to be true, it is. Wanna fly, make the population think you just did. Invisible, same.

Until someone asks you to fly so as to save lil timmy or something. Eventually, they're going to figure that out. Can't keep faking all the existence of all the lil' timmies you "rescued".

Worst superpower? I donno, farting every time you blink.

Explosive snot. Rocket powered flatulence. Meidas Touch*.

*I mean think about it. You can't live off gold. everythign you touch turns to gold, so no food for you. Also. No sex for you... cuz, like... yeah. on the plus side, all the plus side, you could have a gawdy collection of statues of all the people you don't like.

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 6 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Mind control: Little Timmy never existed

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

Then they go through their photos at home, or even just see the video of Timmy’s last moment.

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 3 points 19 hours ago

Mind control: they ignore Timmy in every photo.

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

They'll just think they are going crazy.

[–] dbx12@programming.dev 2 points 21 hours ago

And suddenly we have a new super villain.

[–] phonics@lemmy.world 3 points 22 hours ago

Until someone asks you to fly so as to save lil timmy or something. Eventually, they're going to figure that out. Can't keep faking all the existence of all the lil' timmies you "rescued".

Tell that to governments about climate change

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 1 points 19 hours ago

Sorry Timmy, bad timing, we were being attacked by a giant space monster again

[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 1 points 22 hours ago

Gonna go ahead and disagree with you there: That super power sounds hilarious.

[–] supamanc@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago
[–] FartsWithAnAccent@fedia.io 8 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

Best: Godmode.

Worst: Your body processes food into lava. You uncontrollably shit lava, but the superpower does not include lava resistance.

[–] SaneMartigan@aussie.zone 1 points 9 hours ago

Good ol omnipotence.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

Might want to edit the post and clarify.

I assumed you were like x-ray vision or super hearing or flight or gravity control, etc.

Apparently others were thinking nation states, apparently, if I can’t have chronomancy, it’ll have to be gravity control.

[–] onslaught545@lemmy.zip 3 points 19 hours ago

Best would be the ability to change probability. With that power, you could change the probability of having any super power you want to 100%.

[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago
  1. Perhaps Japan?
  2. I feel like the US is getting really close to this honor, but I would still name a different one. Not sure which.
  3. Germany being all anti-nuclear-powerplant without (in my opinion) good reason.
[–] skvlp@feddit.nl 8 points 1 day ago

Best superpower: having a batcave - if you work in the fertiliser industry

Worst superpower: having a batcave - if you don’t work in the fertiliser industry

[–] otter@lemmy.ca 3 points 19 hours ago

This question might be better for one of these communities:

[–] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 3 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Best is invulnerability.

Worst is mind reading, if you can't turn it off. Or Squirrel Girl being able to talk with squirrels only.

Most practical is telekinesis.

[–] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 1 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

Imagine being invulnerable and not being able to receive a jab for your illness.

[–] Diddlydee@feddit.uk 1 points 12 hours ago

You wouldn't have the illness, being invulnerable.

[–] Deestan@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (1 children)

Best: Rehape reality as I wish at any time. Drawback is I can no longer complain about stuff.

Worst: spontaneous inexistence

[–] pennomi@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

There are far worse things than not existing

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago

How about Spontaneous existence?

[–] daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 day ago

My bets are on invisible Soviet Union or maybe superspeed USA.

[–] UncleArthur@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

I think I'd have to opt for Cold War Russia.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works -3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

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