I never understood this concept. I'm a big Superman fan, but Supes being "limitless" as many claim all over the internet, and from his Death Battle with "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," has got the whole internet in a frenzy thinking Superman can beat anyone, but in reality, this is never shown and I'm going to debunk this.

First, let's start with why people think he's limitless.

Some of his "limitless" feats:

Given, these feats are extremely impressive and perhaps limitless, but he is not limitless himself.

The only instance of Supes being limitless is with Superman Prime 1,000,000.

Which means, Superman has the potential to become limitless, but then again, everybody does. Especially big powerhouses like him!

All the above feats can be assumed he can perform limitless feats given he is in the presence of a yellow sun, and given enough time. Because he can't perform limitless feats instantly. If he were truly limitless, he would NEVER be worn down in battle, never need to sundip, etc. In some ways his body actually limits him; such as being peaked at small planet shattering punches because he cannot continue to exert energy upon full arm extension. Unlike accelerating to infinity where he can keep thrusting his whole body forward, his arm is attached at his shoulder so that is the limit of the force he can exert without moving the rest of his body.

So really, it comes down to this. He can perform limitless feats given, he is in the presence of a yellow sun, and given enough time because he can't perform those feats instantly.

Superman is an amazing character, who can perform outrageous feats, but he can't perform those limitless feats without time or the yellow sun. Just remember, Superman has many powers, but "being limitless" is not one of them.

Not trying to sound forced, but any input on what I can improve upon this blog would be appreciated :)

I am a Superman and I firmly believe most of these people who believe Superman is this unbeatable god with unlimited power have never read more than a few pages of a Superman comic in their lives (Unless it was silver age in which case that era was stupid for all the DC characters, remember this was the era that brought us rainbow Batman, and invisible jets.)

Well...he certainly has THE POTENTIAL to be limitless or approach it much better than he does now but, like the Hulk, you'll RARELY see him use it.

He has to be beatable to grow. Failure is learning so you can't become limitless without first understanding your limitations.

Wow this has been up 2 and a half hours without the Superman haters jumping in telling all of us who have actually read Superman comics that they know more than us from that one time they saw the movie.

lift infinite pages not mean infinite strength,if superman was infinite strength,he not need shazam help him,read scan,please, over the internet,too many fanboys like exaggerated feats

of course,this book would be very heavy,but can not be quantified as well

Escape the black hole so superman has infinite power?lol,no,thor done it,SS done it,even bill done it,they are not infinite power,just prove superman speed maybe faster than light in the post-crisis

let me tell you what feats is extreme crazys:

http://www.comicvine.com/superman/4005-1807/forums/pc-superman-even-can-survival-big-bang-1456568/#22

PC superman even can survival big bang

at least,there has three PC Kryptonians can take a universe buster,and PC superman faster than infinity,strength enough lift entire universe weight(our universe weight can be quantified,around 10^60K)

but even PC superman,he not infinite powerful,only TOAA is infinite powerful

@powerwoman: I've only stated that to appeal to the fans. If I lowballed in any way, I thought I would get flamed over it. Besides, it only further proves my point. As for the black hole, I just stated that because it's implied he can increase his speed to infinite. Not in an instant though.

PC Supes is pretty much discounted. Maybe back then, he would be limitless, but to be honest, I like balanced Supes better. He becomes a much better character that way.

this was supposed to say Superman fan, I was not claiming to be Kryptonian

@joshmightbe: I totally get what you're saying. Now Death Battle has got everyone on the internet thinking Superman is OMG SO POWAHFUL NOBODY CAN BEAT HIM. Death Battle just destroyed both Superman's and...You know who's... character and what makes them so great.

Sorry for the mini rant, but I'm really getting sick of ignorant fanboys.

@limpoyzloan: I still haven't seen the Death Battle, and honestly I don't see how this would be any more proof of either characters fighting ability than a standard battle thread on here. Its made by fans speculating and has been given far more importance than it actually deserves.

@limpoyzloan: black hole feats just can prove superman faster than light,just all,not infinite,and this black hole just Artificial black hole,not real black hole

what is the crazys feats?

read my thread

http://www.comicvine.com/superman/4005-1807/forums/pc-superman-even-can-survival-big-bang-1456568/#22

that can give you a idea,how powerful was superman,PC superman

@joshmightbe: you can google"goku vs superman"death battle

I'm a big superman fans,but I hate exaggerated superman feats,like superman not take all 50X supernova,but most superman fans like use this feats

@powerwoman: I've been intentionally avoiding watching it

@joshmightbe: Death battle goku vs superman is good video,also I belibe superman>>>>>>>>>>goku

but yes,we need avoiding"goku vs superman",I‘m understand

@powerwoman: The second I heard it was getting made I just knew people were going to get stupid about it regardless of who won.

@joshmightbe: The problem is ,superman fans or guku fans both exaggerate superman/goku every feats,that why going to get stupid

@powerwoman: Tho they're still not as bad as the over zealous Batman fan boys that think he could destroy the universe with 20 minutes of prep time.

@joshmightbe: OMG!!!!!

@powerwoman: Don't get me wrong, I like Batman but some of his fans are insane

@joshmightbe: Lol..

well,I found a comics..Superman flies at light speed and faster by muscle alone, at trick that requires infinite physical strength, read Elliot Maggins’ two Superwoman Stories, starting with DCCP (DC Annual #2).

I dont want to exaggerate superman feats,but...this feats..PC superman is infinite physical strength...just some crazy..

honestly....it just comes down to who is writing it, that's pretty much it.

You don't have to avoid it, you just have to avoid the comments :P Thats what I usually do with videos now haha

@w0nd: goku vs superman video was great video,i like it though

@powerwoman: I agree, although I'm a fan of both and I thought Goku should have won. The animation was well done, the video looked really professional, the analysis... not so much. I could see flaws on both sides. Besides, I think they should've counted striking power, combat speed, and fighting durability. Plus Superman has never shown to go FTL in an instant.

But I'm not gonna turn this into a battle thread. Just wanted to clear the air on this whole "limitless" business.

@limpoyzloan: yes,but PC superman was really crazy,you can read my thread,I'm not like exaggerate feats,but PC superman just tooooo powerful..

He's potentially limitless if that's what you're insinuating.

@powerwoman: He was retconned for a reason. He was a broken character, and was way too OP. Why do you think he needed to be retconned?

@limpoyzloan: PC superman and PC supergirl just tooooooo overpowered,he's strength enough lift entire universe weight,he's speed enough faster than infinity itself,he's has true invulnerability,nothing can hurt him,even big bang,that DC retconned for a reason

@powerwoman: My point exactly. I like balanced Supes better anyway.

@limpoyzloan: Yep,even DC not change PC superman power level,they are use some street charaters to match Superman or beat him,if bro you read Pre-crisis comics,you would be angry,because here has too many street charater and DC wrire tried to play down the PC superman power level,The most obvious is that DC change Superman's invulnerability,back the superman Classic ago,he was true invulnerability,nothing can hurt him,No matter how powerful you are, you can not hurt him，even other PC Kryptonian cant hurt him(cant hurt each other,of course)

thank you for doing this. Superman comics would be very boring if supes had limitless power

@eternal19: is would be has a lot of street character to fight with supers

Bump.

Death Battle Superman is OMNIPOTENT.
He lifted both infinity and eternity. :D

I've honestly never understood the point of feats like that.

Do writers think people think it's interesting? Do people think that that is interesting?

Superman lifting things is the least interesting thing Superman could do in comics. I'm glad N52 Supes has been kept out of that realm of "story telling" and the MAN part has been stressed.

Υeah,out of this realm.....

@squalleon: Are you going to tell me about Lobdell's Superman? Because Scott, whether you like it or not, is not a N52 Superman writer.

He is a N52 writer all right. A bad one but a writer nonetheless.

@squalleon: Lobdell's is a Post-Crisis Superman writer. N52 Superman writers = Greg Pak, Andy Diggle, Peter Tomasi, GLY, Shoule--artists, unfortunately, like Daniels and Romita too.

Basically, if you wrote a Superman comic prior to the N52, you're a PC Superman writer. Geoff Johns, Scott Lobdell, Grant Morrison*, George Perez and Dan Jurgens = PC Superman writers.

I asterisk Morrison because he's both, technically.

Lobdell hasn't done a PC Superman comic.

Also the distinction you try to make just to make sure only good stories come out of N52 is silly :P

@squalleon: Are you saying Morrison's Action wasn't good? =P

Plus, Diggle and Daniels's run wasn't any good, and I thought Shoule was "meh."

I don't think you can make that conclusion out of my statement. I only said you keep the good writers and you said Morrison is "both". o yes, his run is good, the only actually good one imo.

I wouldn't count the three parter of Diggle and Daniel as a run. Also Snyder hasn't done a PC comic before and yet you remove him. And please don't say he is writing PC Superman because I am gonna immediately stop this convo.

@squalleon: I only said Morrison counts as both because N52 Supermsn was his idea. I will take Lobdell, begrudgingly, but I would like to argue that Lobdell's writing style was very 1990s and PC Superman.

I mean, DC was trying to write PC Superman in the Superman books by using Perez, Jurgens and then Lobdell for 25+ issues.

I also don't count Snyder because he was writing PC Superman, not N52 Superman. Plus, I consider all Scott Snyder books a part of the Snyder-verse, not really N52.

Lobdell didn't write neither 90s nor PC Superman. He was writing his own jerk mode Superman. Misinterpreting Morrison's version with his lack of talent when it comes to characterization.

I think Perez and Jurgens had it bad, because if I remember correctly DC didn't allow them any creative freedom and they couldn't do anything because Morrison was building the world, so they had to result in villain of the month tactics and storytelling that won't affect anything or introduce classic characters. That being said, I am not a fan of Jurgens or Perez so I don't think they would do much better either.

It depends, are you willing to "listen"? Because if you're coming into this with post-SAR (ScrewAttack Results) then all I write you'll immediately dismiss.

So let's put that open mind to the test.

First of all in ScrewAttack they never used the words "Superman has limitles power", they said "Superman has limitless potential." and that my friend makes all the difference.

And it's completely accurate. Superman has seemingly limitless potential, but beyond that his feats speak for themselves.

If you look at everything Superman did, and continues to do, take into account everything... Then you'll realize why ScrewAttack made this fight look even less challenging than the first one.

In fact, ScrewAttack held back. Yes, most people seem to not have notice this, but think about it. Your own example has been purposely left out since the first fight. Gold Superman-Prime feats are never taken into account. If they were then both fights would've ended in less than 5 seconds.

But they focused more on Superman second highest level of power. And that was during Silver Age, when he had near limitless power.

But again, it was a fight that depicted both Goku and Superman at their best. And ScrewAttack didn't do it for Superman but did it for Goku. And the bottom line is this. If its a battle where both characters are at their best, then Goku will always lose. Besides the Saiyans, beyond ridiculous, power ups that come out of thin air are overstretching it at best.

Let's face it. Any person that knows both characters, they know Superman will always be better and more powerful. And anyone that can't see this, is simply in denial. And I don't care about denials, either people are ready to accept the truth and go on with their lives, or they can go take a hike for all I care.

Fight is over. Period.

Question: If Superman draws his power from stars and stars have a finite amount of energy doesnt that mean that alone mean Superman's power is finite?

@gold_kitsune:

Not necessarily.

Just think about Superman power levels, and then do a little research on how much solar energy is contained in all the light that arrives on Earth every second.

By doing the math, you'll notice that if Superman was actually only a solar battery, then not only he couldn't do 1/1000 of what he does normally, but it would also take him decades to recharge.

And that then begs the question, do you prefer to believe Superman body simply defies the laws of physics and produces more energy than it absorbes. Or doesn't it make more sense to not think of him as a solar battery, but instead a solar reactor. In which his body takes in sunlight, uses it has a catalyst to fuel another process altogether that produces the energy required for him to have that level of power?

I also don't count Snyder because he was writing PC Superman, not N52 Superman. Plus, I consider all Scott Snyder books a part of the Snyder-verse, not really N52.

lol

The guy was writing Nu 52, nothing more and nothing else.

He was never writing a Post-Crisis version of the character in spirit -- considering he wrote issues 8 and 9 -- nor was he writing within continuity of Post-Crisis.

Man why do people keep saying he has limitless power? Did they not watch the whole video? All they said was he has limitless POTENTIAL. That's a big difference. Meaning he can always be stronger over time but his power will always be finite in that moment. In other words you can't beat him at his "best" because his best can always be better. Beating him on his "average" power levels is a different story.