Wielder of the Power Cosmic
Currently, the Silver Surfer is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and the most powerful of the Heralds of Galactus. He was deemed to be an Alpha Plus by the Galadorian Spaceknight Ikon,[113] and potentially an universal-level threat by the Nova Corps.[114] Thanks to Galactus, he possesses the following abilities:
The Power Cosmic: The Silver Surfer possesses a fraction of the Power Cosmic, which is the core from which his abilities manifest from. This power was granted to him by Galactus, and amplified during the Annihilation event. The Power Cosmic is a source of ambient cosmic energy permeating the universe that makes possible the channeling and manipulation of energy.[14] Based on cumulative evidence from beings with similar magnitudes of power and his own feats, the Silver Surfer's maximum power output ranges from the casual planetoid/planet[115][116] and planet level,[79][117] to the level of a compact star,[35] and plausibly, by employing his vast channeling ability, to solar system level without overloading himself.[118] The Silver Surfer also has regularly faced opponents who are solar system level in power output, such as the Mighty Thor[119] and Beta Ray Bill.[74]
Energy Absorption and Manipulation: The absorption of electromagnetic energy is the base of the Surfer's life and power. The Silver Surfer has complete control of the four fundamental forces of the universe, reaching nearly any effect he desires. As a result, the Surfer can absorb, manipulate and discharge tremendous amounts of energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The Silver Surfer has claimed several times to hold enough power to easily shatter planets.[120][121][122] The Surfer's incredible powers also surpass Nova while he held the entirety of the Nova Force and Quasar, with sufficient force to casually destroy planets,[115][116] a large fraction of a structure whose size easily dwarfed Earth,[117] and, by utilizing his ability to channel vast amounts of cosmic energy, an entire solar system.[118] The Silver Surfer, upon merging his essence with a vessel, could manipulate, assimilate, and emit energy from another source just as easily as he does with the limitless Power Cosmic.[123] Currently, at maximum, his beams are capable of almost killing Ravenous,[115] equaling Thanos,[citation needed] and hurting Thor who was wearing Asgardian armor.[124]
Additional abilities include:
Erecting force fields, phasing through solid matter,[114] using the build-up of energy within himself to increase his strength,[40] creating stable black holes,[23] creating a compact star while extremely weakened,[35] creating solid energy often in the forms of a cocoon or barrier,[39][25] restabilizing and recharging a star,[77] accelerating the evolution of lifeforms on a planet-wide scale,[125] seeing the past by peeling back the layers of time, time travel,[126] trans-dimensional travel, bestowing limited cosmic powers to others, telepathically reading minds,[127] casting illusions,[128] temporarily animating the inanimate and sharing a portion of his power and consciousness with it,[129] and emphatically influencing human emotion and sensation.[114] The Surfer also possesses the ability to suppress or absorb the powers of other beings, making them temporarily or permanently unable to use them, as he did once with the Hulk.[130] He can heal living beings, even if they are near-death. He cannot, however, raise the dead.[114]
Matter Manipulation: The Silver Surfer can alter matter by rearranging molecules. He can also change the state of matter, such as making solids into gas.[131] Transmutation helps the Surfer escape traps and prisons, and can also be used to make an enemy's weapons inactive. He is able to bend his own molecular structure so as to transform himself to appear human.[129]
Superhuman Physical Abilities:
Superhuman Strength: The Surfer possesses enormous superhuman strength. Though the exact magnitude remains vague, the Surfer has often been shown to fight evenly with people who can lift far in excess of 100 tons. He can also channel the build-up of energy within himself to increase his strength to incalculable levels.[14][40] He managed to pulverize diamonds with no effort,[132] stopped a charging Rhino,[133] and when in a weak state he even managed to overcome and defeat the Abomination with little effort.[43] The Surfer also forcefully redirected a starship's path and launched it into the outer solar system, and it was stated that it would continue on its straight-line path for centuries.[134] He escaped from Quasar's construct,[135] broke out of a planet that Michael Korvac formed by using nearby asteroids,[136] physically subjugated a dwarf star thrown on him by an enhanced Deadpool and easily redirected it into outer space,[137] and using his speed and strength, the Surfer shattered through several Vibranium walls that exploded on contact to save Nova.[54] When he was extremely weakened, he still managed to pull the Galactus Incubator out of the young living planet Ego,[103] and then throw it a few light-years away,[104] and throw Stormbreaker out of a black hole.[102][35] The Surfer's potential strength was once said to rival the Hulk's limitless rage-enhanced strength.[138]
Invulnerability: The Silver Surfer's silvery "skin" was designed to easily withstand the rigors of deep-space travel, and thus far, it has proven to be virtually indestructible. Among things that include simple blunt force, like withstanding a punch from She-Hulk without flinching back when the She-Hulk's power level was still just class 75, and not far above class 100 as it is today.[139] The Silver Surfer can withstand even the most extreme conditions, like the crushing pressures of a black hole.[58][102][35] He is not bothered by the friction associated with atmospheric re-entry, and has withstood plunges into stars,[140][19][141] and supernovas unharmed.[37] He also routinely weathers the stresses associated with high-speed travel through space and hyperspace.
Soul Manipulation and Soul Resistance: By channeling his cosmic power, Silver Surfer can enter the Astral Plane, which he describes as the source of his power and where he was able to destroy the soul of an enemy. He is also immune to soul absorption, has withstood the Soul Stone,[142] has more than enough spare life force,[92] and not even the stealing tongue of the Wraith Queen mind managed to effect the Silver Surfer,[143] and most impressively he has resisted being absorbed by Mephisto.[144][145][53] Mephisto did manage to steal Silver Surfer’s soul once, but the Surfer managed to recover it.[28] The only time Silver Surfer's soul was completely taken away was by Thanos who owned the Infinity Gauntlet and used the Soul Stone. Although the Soul Stone failed to absorb Silver Surfer's soul,[142] although Thanos was later able to use the Soul Stone to remove the souls of the Silver Surfer and Drax the Destroyer after the stone was placed within the gauntlet.[146]
Godlike Stamina: The Surfer's highly enhanced musculature generates no fatigue toxins, body stress, or even sweat, granting him inexhaustible physical stamina, which allows him to fight other beings for prolonged periods of time before tiring, if he even gets tired.
Flight Speed: Prior to his upgrade, the Silver Surfer was one of the fastest beings in the universe, but he was greatly outmatched by the Runner of the Elders of the Universe. Currently, he is faster than Beta Ray Bill and Nova. The Silver Surfer can travel at speeds faster than light. He can enter Hyperspace when he exceeds the speed of light,[147][148][14] although he is also able to accelerate and achieve faster than light speeds without accessing hyperspace.[126][149][150][151][10] For example of his speed, Dracula's hurricane wasn't enough to knock him off balance or slow him down,[122] he has used his speed to easily destroy Warships,[152][153] he has searched the entire planet for Namor in less time than it took for Dr. Strange to finish a sentence,[154] traveled light years in just 1 second,[23] quickly traveled half a million light years,[155] left Earth and traversed half the galaxy in search of food for Galactus to consume in mere seconds,[156] in just moments, the Surfer flew out of a galaxy,[citation needed] and in a few minutes the Surfer traveled from Earth to halfway across the universe following a call echoing through creation.[157] The Surfer even analysed every planet in numerous galaxies in a matter of hours,[126] and traveled to multiple galaxies in a matter of hours.[126] His speed has been described as “distorting space-time, flying from one side of the universe to the other.”[117] Finally, his mind and body can be used at these speeds as well, making the Surfer extremely reactive and agile. The Silver Surfer has several times reacted in the space of a microsecond,[158][159] and even in the range of a nanosecond.[160]
Cosmic Self-Flight: Silver Surfer can fly without his Cosmic Surfboard, projecting cosmic energy through his hands in a manner similar to Iron Man's repulsors.[54]
Superhuman Agility: Silver Surfer has greater agility, balance, dexterity, flexibility, equilibrium and bodily coordination than that of an Olympic-level athlete. But Silver Surfer rarely shows this ability. While flying, he easily dodges bullets and anti-aircraft missiles from military planes,[161] dodges Kree blaster fire,[citation needed] dodged Cyborg Superman's laser beams at point-blank range,[162] and even managed to coordinate his body to avoid a barrage of laser beams coming from several spacecraft simultaneously.[citation needed]
Cosmic Awareness: His cosmic sense can allow him to comprehend rules of the universe others would find incomprehensible,[163] as well as being able to sense energy concentration anywhere in the universe, sense a human trapped in a falling capsule,[31] read the spark of electrons and surge of chemicals in people,[141] feel the culture of Earth being stolen,[164] and being able to sense that Mephisto was up to something.[citation needed] He can also determine the nature of new energy sources, locations, and determine the nature of an energy source and who the beings who created it were.[165] Silver surfer can sense pure consciousness,[166] and sensed Galactus rising 93 million miles away from the sun.[167] Silver Surfer was able to sense the weakness of Gladiator.[58] While in a state of powerlessness, he stated he could've sensed Johnny Storm's death from halfway across the universe.[168] Silver Surfer was able to sense the deaths of billions of beings being killed by Thanos.[169] His Cosmic Awareness can also see as far back as the previous universe as he saw Galactus' origin.[citation needed] He also managed to feel an imbalance in the Power Cosmic,[1] and the High Evolutionary with the Silver Surfer's Power Cosmic was surprised with how much cosmic awareness the Surfer had and how much knowledge he gained so quickly and was able to use the cosmic awareness to find and call out to Galactus' ship across the universe.[170]
Cosmic Senses: The Silver Surfer has certain cosmic-energy enhanced perceptions which enable him, through concentration, to become aware of the patterns of energy anywhere in the world.[171] These abilities allow him far-ranging vision (in space he can see people clearly over a light year away), the ability to see subatomic particles, superhuman hearing, the ability to detect fields, traces, and concentrations of pure forms of energy and discern their natures.[172] The Surfer learnt quite a lot of Earth culture due to his cosmic senses,[173] and he also found the greatest ice cream in the universe,[174] felt billions of beings on a planet,[80] and was able to detect new life forms and determine their abilities.[175] Currently the abilities of the Surfer surpass even those of Stardust.[citation needed]
Cosmic Sight: Silver Surfer's vision is improved, allowing him to see farther than a normal human. He can change vision between visible spectra,[176] infrared vision,[177] can see signatures / paths of psionic energy,[178] adjusts his vision to continuous brightness,[179] and can see all things up to the “nanoscopic scale”.[180] He can see through illusions,[181] as strong as the Stranger's,[182] a cosmic entity that is of the same class as Galactus.[183] He can see beyond sub-atomic levels.[140] He is able to detect and track Thanos' teleportation path, which is so advanced that the Surfer describes him as a rival to Galactus' level of technology,[140] he can perceive dimensional things that mortals cannot,[19] and can see what's in the universe even if it is billions of light-years away while keeping its clarity perfectly.[184]
Cosmic Vision: Can perceive time as one, watching the past, present, and future at once,[185] and can project this effect for others to see.[186]
Cosmic Hearing: Silver Surfer is capable of hearing sounds from a far greater distance than any human. Silver Surfer can know that the person he's talking to is a Skrull in the form of a human just from hearing their heartbeat,[citation needed] and can hear whispers from Earth while on the moon,[167] as well as being able to “hear heartbeats from a light year away”.[187]
Cosmic Self-Sustenance: The Silver Surfer does not need to eat or breathe since he absorbs life-maintaining cosmic energy directly through his skin.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Despite his invulnerability, Silver Surfer can be injured, but can heal and regenerate immediately using the Power Cosmic. He healed immediately after being eaten by eagles,(Silver Surfer does it intentionally to experience "life and death ..."),[188] fixed his severed hand,[189] restored his arm after being cut off,[190] upon the return of half of his cosmic essence, was instantly healed and at maximum power,[117] and healed from being cut up multiple times when the Cosmic Power was being restored to him.[179] He has managed to fully recover from complete atomic destruction during his battle with Uni-Lord.[191] He can exist without his body; and turn into air and/or snow and can reform himself.[192]
Healing: Like his regenerative healing factor, Silver Surfer is able to quickly heal others by concentrating Cosmic Power in their bodies, thus stimulating the healing processes. He managed to heal a bullet wound,[133] healed Carla from multiple bullet wounds,[141] healed Syrrh from a blaster wound,[193] and healed the massive blaster wound of a creatures.[citation needed] The Silver Surfer managed to heal a Watcher,[194] offered Alicia Masters, a blind woman, a one-touch view of the world, although not permanent,[161] temporarily modified the chemistry of a drug-addicted woman's body to remove drugs from her system,[195] and cured thousands of plagues at the molecular level.[175] Even if Silver Surfer cannot raise people from the dead, he can heal people who are on the verge of death.[144][43][196]
Immortality: Due to his ability to sustain himself, the Silver Surfer is virtually immortal. He is approximately 13.7 billion years old due to having traveled back in time to a previous incarnation of the universe and simply waiting out until the present caught up with him.[11]
Size Manipulation: Silver Surfer is able to use the Power Cosmic to manipulate his size. Silver Surfer managed to shrink to sub-atomic size and enter the Microverse,[197] and exit to return to normal size.[156] The Silver Surfer even managed to shrink to such a small size that, to him, atoms were the size of "planets ...then solar system" to escape a black hole.[58] Silver Surfer can change the size of other people and things, and was able to bring Metropolis and all its inhabitants back to their normal size.[198]
Intangibility: After reconstituting himself following his "death" battling Knull,[105] the Silver Surfer became intangible. While he is unable to interact with physical objects, he can still affect them with his Power Cosmic and can merge with other living creatures in a manner similar to a symbiote.[15]
Astral Projection: The Surfer can project his astral form outside of his physical body, when in astral form he can perceive and interact with other beings made of spirit, even causing them harm.[199] The Surfer claimed that he could not be harmed in the Astral Plane as it was the source of the Power Cosmic.[63] The Surfer and Mephisto battle in their astral forms.[200]
Possession: When Silver Surfer is in astral form he can possess people. He has managed to possess Alicia Masters and give her the power to fight Agatha Harkness (who was possessed by Mephisto).[201]
Telekinesis: Using his cosmic power, Silver Surfer can lift objects with his mind.[58] His telekinesis allows him to deconstruct weapons and objects,[202][203] to throw massive space debris at both Aegis and Tenebrous,[68] and surround and hold Millenius with nearby wreckage and send him to the core of a planet.[148]
Elemental Manipulation: Thanks to the Power Cosmic, Silver Surfer can manipulate the elements, these include:
Pyrokinesis: Generate heat, as well as create and manipulate fire.[46][125] Silver Surfer can raise the temperature of its flames to the point where it burns hotter than a Nova. [142]
Aerokinesis: Generate, control and manipulate air and gases. When Dr. Doom had the powers of Silver Surfer, he managed to create a cyclone with which he attacked Human Torch, and destroyed a certain area of a forest.[42]
Hydrokinesis: Generate, control and manipulate water.[204][130]
Cryokinesis: Generate, control and manipulate ice, snow, and cold temperatures. When Dr. Doom had the powers of Silver Surfer, he managed to freeze the Human Torch,[205] temporarily extinguishing its flame, and turning a tropical island into a frozen desert, with very low temperatures and covered in ice and snow "for 24 hours."[206]
Chlorokinesis: Generate, control and manipulate plants and vegetation.[204] When Dr. Doom had the powers of the Silver Surfer, he managed to control a tree from a distance to attack the Fantastic Four's ship.[42]
Photokinesis: Generate, control and manipulate light.[207] When Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood entered a universe where there was nothing real, and as soon as the darkness began to consume them, Silver Surfer managed to “burn brighter than 10 suns.”[190]
Chromatokinesis: Silver Surfer can also change the color of objects, people, etc. For example, in memory of his girlfriend Dawn Greenwood, Silver Surfer changed the color of the Power Cosmic to red with black dots.[11]
Gravitikinesis: Silver Surfer can make objects or people heavier or lighter, as well as making things fall apart.[204] His gravity manipulation can also negate gravitational disturbances and has a planetary range.