Michael Holt aka Mr. Terrific is the 3rd smartest man alive. Mr. Terrific embodies his Golden Age predecessor's slogan of "Fair Play", and is currently the leader of his own team, the Terrifics.
I brought this up before an another thread a few months ago. The consensus seemed to be that the first two are never mentioned in the comics, but most people think Lex is one of the top two. I personally don't think so.
There have also been allusions that Bruce Wayne may be up near the top. Not necessarily #1 or #2, but up there pretty high.
I just wonder what the term "smartest" means in DCU context. Do they really mean "intelligence" as in reasoning ability, or do they mean "smart" as in knowledge? There really is a vast difference between the two.
Oh, sure, throw the whole thing off and bring wisdom into it!
If any of the super heroes were "wise" then I think not a one of them would put on a costume and do what they do. Very little wisdom is exhibited among super heroes/villains.
Intelligence is a bit to subjective to rank like that. In Checkmate, when Mr T was promoted from White King's Bishop to White King, the only person smart enough to advise him was the Thinker, but he's an AI.
i'd say that intelligence and immortality are directly linked...
you can't be immortal and not have read every book on the planet lol, i bet they have some seriously deep thoughts when they're not plotting evil schemes
If you're a pianist you will learn a new tune on the piano a lot quicker than I would, because I don't play. That's not a sign of intelligence, just experience with the instrument. The same is true of any skill, someone with related experience will pick it up quicker than someone who doesn't. Ra's and Vandal are able to take that to a new level because they have time on their side.
But does that diminish the fact that there intelligent? I don't believe it matters HOW you gain your intelligence, the thread is who is the smartest man, not who is the smartest only using this method to gain knowledge. Batman is rich and can offered lots of books and tools to hon his mind, does that diminish his intelligence?
*you want to play chess against someone who played against Julius Ceaser? he's been playing games of skill and intelligence since before there was writing Mac, he's out of your league."
Joe Dawson talking to Duncon Macleod about a chess match between him and Methos
It could be a simple matter of IQ, or something along those lines.
Gambler says:
"But does that diminish the fact that there intelligent? I don't believe it matters HOW you gain your intelligence, the thread is who is the smartest man, not who is the smartest only using this method to gain knowledge. Batman is rich and can offered lots of books and tools to hon his mind, does that diminish his intelligence?"
Batman is very Intelligent, he is the "World's Greatest Detective", he is not however the 1st or 2nd smartest man in in the DCU. He lacks the inventivness, or raw intellectual power that say, the Mad Scientists who took out Black Adam have. Batman doesn't invent the gadgets in his utility belt or in the Batcave, he pays others to do that, he simply applies the gadget to fight crime. Batman is probably one the most Intuitive men in the DCU.
I note that the title is 'Smartest Man in the DCU', what happens if say, Talia Head is smarter than Lex?
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