The_Judge_since_83

I know this is super old, but I just came across it and felt I may be able to shed some light on why Aquaman is so strong and so fast compared to other Atlanteans while only being half Atlantean himself. Being cross bred Aquaman potentially benefits from something called heterosis, also called hybrid vigor. Now it is only considered hybrid vigor if the offsprings traits are enhanced as a result of mixing the genetic contributions of its parents. This doesn't always work in linear ways that are easily predicted. While I wouldn't consider a liger's size to be a good thing for it, it is bigger than either of its parent species the Lion and tiger. This is because male lion genes (it is only a liger when the father is a lion and the mother is a tiger, otherwise it is a tigon, and yes they are different) are designed to encourage rapid growth in it's offspring so that they can grow rapidly to compete within a pride where multiple males may have fertilized the females of the pride. Female lions actually have genes to try and prevent their cubs from growing too rapidly and potentially overpowering other offspring in the pride, since Tigers are mostly solitary this isn't an issue and as such the females don't have a restrictive gene that hinders the male lions genes that push for the offspring to get big and powerful so liger's wind up being huge, larger than either species. So ultimately there may be something in human genes which unchains the genes which cause Atlanteans to be superhuman and allows someone like Aquaman to vastly surpass either genetic heritage from which he originates.

HEROES

30 Points: Superman

29 Points: Aquaman

28 Points: Captain America (Steve Rodgers)

27 Points: Thor Odinson

26 Points: Wonder Woman

25 Points: Batman

24 Points: Hal Jordan

23 Points: Cyclops

22 Points: Flash (Barry Allen)

21 Points: Iceman

20 Points: Nightwing

19 Points: Cyborg

18 Points: Shazam (Captain Marvel)

17 Points: Black Canary

16 Points: Starfire (Koriand'r)

15 Points: Beast

14 Points: Angel

13 Points: Cosmic Boy

12 Points: Ultra boy

11 Points: Mera

10 Points: Tyroc

9 Points: Tellus

8 Points: Timber Wolf

7 Points: Hawkman

6 Points: Vixen

5 Points: Martian Manhunter

4 Points: Wildfire

3 Points: Gates

2 Points: Green Arrow

1 Point: Zauriel

VILLAINS

30 Points: Lex Luthor

29 Points: Bane

28 Points: Sinestro

27 Points: Black Adam

26 Points: Black Manta

25 Points: Apocalypse

24 Points: Mr. Sinister

23 Points: Darkseid

22 Points: Killer Croc

21 Points: Juggernaut

@comicfan11: Thank you for the issue info, it was the last one of the story arc (I went ahead and picked it up because why not, I like Nightwing anyways). As always Comicfan11 you prove you know your Aquaman, even when it's just a couple lines in a Nightwing issue, always impressive.

While reading Aquaman's super powers section on his page here, I came across these two lines: His stamina is also far beyond anything human as well as the vast majority of most metahumans. In a Nightwing issue Aquaman's stamina was used as the ideal benchmark for powerful metahumans, which the League of Shadows tried to replicate (and failed). I would really like to read this issue, or issues as it may be so I was hoping somebody could point me in the right direction. Thank you.

I don't know if they've specified where Atlantis is in the New 52, and I don't think they've ever given a truly clear location as to where it resides, but according to this image from Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis issue 48 it looks to be about half way between the Americas and Europe on about the same Latitude as about New Hampshire or Maine as best as I can tell.

I would have to say this one's a draw, I neither think Aquaman could truly defeat Godzilla by himself (harm and even deter him sure but not defeat) and I don't believe Godzilla could take out a target as small and quick as Aquaman (well he could but I don't think he'll hit often enough to do so). Ultimately I think this fight would just go until one of them got bored and left, I don't see their being a death in this battle as each combatant is able to withstand attacks from each other or avoid them altogether, and each heals rapidly, hell I don't even see this fight leaving the water since that's where it starts and they're both at home there. I'd say if either of them were to be able to kill the other one it's going to be due to the other one making a mistake, in which case I'd say it's 50/50 on winner, or quitter as I see it more likely panning out.

I think the reason for Aquaman's trident having the two additional prongs is to make it a more effective slashing weapon. Look at the pics from the original post and 2 out of 3 of them you can see that each prong begins at about the same point that last one ends and each one (especially the extra two) have bladed outsides so that if he were to swing it side to side it would almost act as a single cutting edge, almost like a big spear head, instead of being just a stabbing weapon as a trident most normally is. This allows for some more versatility with the weapon. I don't have the image myself but I'm pretty sure you can see Aquaman using the trident in this fashion in a fight with the trench on the pier before Mera and him head off to Dr. Shin's for answers. That's just the way I've always seen his trident though and I hope it continues to be a permanent part of Aquaman's personal equipment.

I'm going with Aquaman for this one. I've seen a lot of posts saying that Ironman has greater combat speed but that simply isn't true, he can travel faster across land but he does not have super Reflexes like Aquaman. The environment also gives the win to Aquaman, it's an urban setting with lots of tall buildings and alley ways which means lots of ways to dip out of sight and ambush Tony when he has to come in close to investigate, also means there's cars to throw as well as debris from any missed shots. Aquaman fights strategically while Ironman depends on knowledge he's been able to gather to make the suit deal with his opponent. In a battle with with no previous knowledge of each other Ironman is much more likely to lose against an opponent like Aquaman who possesses superhuman strength, durability, and reflexes who has a tactical mind and is not unwilling to put Ironman down with a Trident through the chest. The biggest thing to take away from the Superman punch which everyone either uses as a reference for Aquaman's speed and strength, or those voting for Ironman point out doesn't count because it's a sucker punch, is that Aquaman is willing to make a sucker punch, he'll use his surroundings and the element of surprise to take out an opponent. Now I'm not saying that a single attack from Aquaman wins but with no Wonder Woman or other character to interfere he is free to press his attack and advantage, and Tony just can't take a consistent barrage of attacks from someone like Aquaman. Anyways I've gone on for longer than intended, I'm excited to see how this all plays out this week.

Well I'm going to take a physics approach on this, as it is the only way I can justify rating the vastly different types of power one has to consider when answering this question. For simplicity sake I'll keep my answers to the New 52 founding members. In physics power is basically defined as work over time. With that in mind right off the bat that puts Superman and Flash near the front of the list because of how fast they can each accomplish tasks, overcome obstacles, make change, and utilize their powers. Since Superman has displayed that he can basically bench press the planet Earth for 5 days straight with no sun, and, in my opinion, can get more done with his power set over a given amount of time even if he is a little slower than the Flash and does not need to rest, eat, or drink as often that makes:

#1: Superman

Which then immediately makes:

#2: Flash

Going beyond that we know that Cyborg doesn't sleep and both Wonder Woman and Aquaman possess Endurance far greater than a mere mortal. It appears to me that while Cyborg never sleeps he is often heading to Star labs for updates and other system checks as shown in a couple issues of Justice League, and in general is dependent on outside help for repairs, modifications and in general I haven't seen much from him (outside of boom tubing) that I find beats out what both Wonder Woman and Aquaman can do. So spot three goes to one of these two, and between the two of them they have some relatively similar power sets, super strength, durability, both trained well in tactics and combat, both wielding magical weapons, but the thing that allows Aquaman to do more over any amount of time which the two of them are compared in is his aquatic Telepathy. That's right, the power that made him a joke for so long is the one which makes him extremely powerful, while he deals with problems in one locations he can have sea life doing all sorts of things all over the globe. So"

#3: Aquaman

This of course ensures that the next spot is:

#4: Wonder Woman

Using the reasoning I gave above I would then have:

#5: Cyborg

Unfortunately for Green Lantern: Hal Jordan and Batman they are human, and regardless of how much GL can do with his ring it has to be recharged and he has to take breaks for the normal rest which he needs, as does Batman. Now Batman has trained himself to handle sleep deprivation like no human could probably ever really do, there is just no way he can get as much done in hours as Green lantern can do in seconds. The only reason Green Lantern doesn't make it higher on this list for me is that he still reacts at human speeds and as I explained needs to rest or recharge his ring relatively often when compared to the other heroes. Making:

#6: Green Lantern

and last and definitely not least because he is by far one of the greatest members of the league and a guy you really want on your side:

#7: Batman

I broke this down as much as I could, and hopefully others will agree.

@ancient_0f_days: Thumbs up from a Super Saiyan Goku, well now I know this is some legit protection from trolls, they just Kaiō-can't get away. Sorry, I couldn't help myself