Explaining Superman's Powers

Superman's power set has been a mystery to fans of comics. Despite being fictional, the foundation of his character exists within the realm of real life laws. Unlike magically based characters, the Man of Steel is an alien being who's abilities must fall under some reasonable and/or theoretical explanations. Now all this is merely speculation of course, and is subject to questioning, criticism, and revisions. In the following, I will attempt to explain what allows the Superman to do what he can do.

Kryptonians are indistinguishable in appearance to Humans. Despite this, they're evolution on the harsh conditions of the planet Krypton allowed them to develop certain biological differences to Humans. These Include:

1. Highly Sophisticated Cellular System
2. Denser Molecular Structure
3. Natural Bio-Electric Aura

My hypothesis is that Superman's powers, despite being so radically different and unique, are all merely different applications of these natural physiological functions Kryptonians posses.

Cellular System - Physical Limits of Solar Energy Absorbed

Similar to how plants have chloroplasts that metabolize solar energy, Kryptonians must have some unique organelles in their cells that absorb the energy and metabolizes it depending on the specific radiation absorbed. In essence, they posses their own photo-nucleic effect as a natural part of their biology. Under a Red Sun, the organelles seem to metabolize the solar radiation like empty carbs. Under these conditions, Kryptonians are effectively the same as Humans. Under a Yellow Sun, the conditions and combinations of Electromagnetic Waves are set so that these organelles can efficiently absorb and store the energy.

Based on the average surface area of a Kryptonian, and assuming their cells absorb the solar radiation 100% efficiently, a Kryptonian would be receiving around 2800 Watts of power. If we lowered the metabolizing efficiency even less, we can give a rough estimate to Kryptonians receiving 2000 Watts of power at any one time. This alone would already make Kryptonians incredibly powerful. In comparison, Humans at rest produce 100 watts of power. Based on the amount of power average Krpytonians store just at rest, they are presumably 20 times stronger than Humans, just by standing still. Given that Kryptonians can store the energy they absorb indefinitely, that means should they not use their energy, they can grow even stronger over time.

This explains how Superman has enhanced strength and speed. Though his feats have shown to be in a far greater threshold of power. As a result, it can be assumed the cellular organelles akin to chloroplasts are the result of some other factor.

Aside from strength and speed, Superman's longevity, stamina, and healing can also be reasoned to his cellular system. Simply put, under the solar conditions, the energy absorbed allows for Kryptonians' cells to rapidly increase in cellular division and even restoration. Simply due to their evolution, the natural cellular repair process of Kryptonians are at a higher level than Humans when they receive energy from the sun.

Some aspects of his Super Senses he possesses, specifically vision and smell, is most likely caused from an increase in production of receptors throughout the body caused from the massive energy absorbed. More receptors cause his sense of smell to grow. More cones and rods are created and muscle control is enhanced to improve eye function beyond that of eagles.

Powers Purely Under the Yellow Sun's Absorption

Bio-Electric Aura - Inertia Control & Unifying the Super Powers

The Bio-Electric Aura has been shown to be a surrounding field that covers all of Superman's body and anything he makes contact with. Aside from that, one single ability that can reason and explain all of Superman's recognized powers is the ability to manipulate, from atomic to kilometer length scales, the inertia of his own and any matter which he is in direct contact with. Speculation makes it reasonable to assume the aura is the only aspect of Kryptonians that can contributes to the true feats and powers. By that, the aura is the only aspect of a Kryptonian's biology that possesses the power to manipulate inertia/inertial mass of objects indefinitely.

While the Bio-Electric Aura always exists under any sun, it's ability to manipulate inertia is strengthened or weakened depending on the type of sun the Kryptonian lives under. As a result, depending on their environment, Kryptonians can alter the inertia around them just like a person can pull his muscles. Additionally, their control would be as involuntary as nerves and would react automatically in certain situations as well. Essentially, the Bio-Electric Aura's inertia manipulations allows it to increase, decrease, and/or maintain the object's amount of resistance to change in motion or rest. Such capabilities would allow Superman to make an immobile object movable, a mobile object immovable, or make an object easier to accelerate, decelerate, or rapidly change directions.

This ability is what amplifies ALL of Superman's abilities. Though it does not necessarily "increase" the power of all his natural abilities, but rather alters the conditions so that he "appears" to have such incredible power.

Solar Absorption

The effect of the Bio-Electric Aura and both it's involuntary and voluntary control of inertia and inertial mass

Physical Powers

The following powers will explain Superman's alteration of the inertia/inertial mass of macroscopic objects.

Super Senses

The following powers will explain Superman's alteration of the inertia/inertial mass of his own sensory organs as well his sensory organs' own natural superiority to humans.

Additional Powers

The remaining more "exotic" powers may also be explained under the unified "inertial control" theory.

Additional Notes

Kryptonions on Krypton

Krypton is known to have a much larger gravitational force than Earth. Most accepted values are attributed to Superman: Birthright's claims of Krypton having a gravitational force 30 times stronger than Earth's. Based on all known accounts and appearances though, people on Krypton move exactly the same as on Earth. Everything from walking speed to falling. It's one thing if they can resist the force of gravity due to evolution, but to be in free fall at the same speed as one would be on Earth is illogical.

By this observation, it can be viewed that Kryptonians are able to naturally stabilize themselves regardless of the force of gravity thanks to their Bio-Electric Aura controlling their mass. As said before, the Bio-Electric Aura is ALWAYS present on Kryptonians and it's control of inertia is merely amplified under the right conditions (e.g. Under a Yellow Sun). It's within reason to assume there's a involuntary minimum and maximum amount of gravitational stability they can perform under a red sun though. Despite this, Kryptonians should theoretically be able to maintain the same apparent speed on numerous planetary bodies of various gravitational forces such as the moon under any moon. It seems this is the bare minimum automatic control Kryptonians' Bio-Electric Aura provides

Kryptonian Clones

Clones of Kryptonians, both pure and hybrid, have subtle changes in their DNA. Bizarro is a purely Kryptonian by genetic standards, albeit with imperfections. His powers and physiology operates just as a normal Kryptonian would under a Yellow Sun, with minimal changes. He possess Freeze Vision and Heat Breath as opposed to Heat Vision and Freeze Breath. This can simply be a result of his Bio-Electric Aura working in reverse for what should've been his Heat Vision, as well as the same mechanics used in Superman's Heat Vision being applied to Bizarro's Heat Breath.

Hybrid clones like Kon-El are even more unique. He would still posses the solar absorbing organelles in his cells, as well as the Bio-Electric Aura, but the Human side of his DNA most likely limits the full use of his Aura's Inertial Control. Kon-El is explained to have Tactile Telekinesis, being able to simply move matter he touches. So, he would be able to reduce an object’s inertial momentum to make an object easier to accelerate, decelerate or change direction, but he couldn't actually control the physical size of the mass like a full Kryptonian could. Despite this "handicap", his powers should more or less be the same in effect as a full Kryptonians.

Potential Powers

The key source of Kryptonians powers lie in their Solar Radiation Absorbing Cells and Inertia Controlling Bio-Electric Aura.

• Under a Red Sun- The organelles in Kryptonians can not metabolize red solar radiation at all. Also, their Bio-Electric Aura only has enough inertial control to stabilize themselves under any force of gravity (up to the known force of gravity on Krypton).
• Under a Yellow Sun- The organelles in Kryptonians can metabolize the radiation, improving the physical limits of the body to incredible degrees. The Bio-Electric Aura also increases it's inertial control, limited only by physical contact, to develop more impressive powers.
• Under a Blue Sun- The same occurrence as a Kryptonian being under a Yellow Sun, but the overall effects nearly tripled in effectiveness
• Under a Quasar/Pulsar - The organelles can metabolize the radiation, and the Aura not only gains inertial control, but control of the space between the mass (the volume). This can result in new powers such as size alteration, shrinking and enlarging themselves and anything else they contact. This can also result in "relative" fully developed form of Telekinesis, by controlling the space and mass as they see fit.

Sources

I am impressed with the dedication you put into this! Kudos.

Personally, I am content with "He is Super".

@squalleon: Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing this up, and all the other sources I used basically helped the entire thing, aside from a few personal ideas I had

Wow what a post! I am highly entertained by theoretical posts like this even though I know the writers don't seem to give it this much though or are at least not willing to confirm or deny certain mysteries.

In any case the trouble with Superman is that being one of the first superheroes, he has had so many powers tacked on that it's difficult to unify certain ones or at least to do so well. It also doesn't help when writers don't look into them and do things like giving him human stats when he runs out of solar energy when we know as fact that kryptonian muscle should still be denser and more efficient anyway. Urksome little details that make most of us just give up and say "Whatever. He's super.".

Let's entertain the thread nonetheless. In this scenaro I wouldn't try to unify everything but rather separate it into components. Doesn't have to be many. E.g.

• A sensory component.
• A physiological component.
• And perhaps an esoteric/psionic/Idon'thaveagoodwordyet component.

Sensory

The problem with making his sensory powers completely physiological is that...well....it's a stretch. There are many things he does that falls outside "enhanced function" like hearing from a distant planet. The way I see it is that the way one perceives information doesn't really need to have anything to do with the way that information is acquired. Senses could be unified however if he had a sensory field that could interact or rather be disturbed by almost anything in the environment and his brain could organize that information much like how other senses work it could cover every sense he has. From vision in the entire spectrum to hearing and smell. It could also determine why he can parse information out such as choosing what to hear and focus or how far he wants to see and hear. Physiological senses don't allow for this. They are for the most part passive and always on. Something makes the eardrum vibrate and you hear, end of story. A sensory field allows for a lot of other tricks. The only trouble would be the nature of the field. It would need to be capable of being "disturbed" or "stimulated" by the many things Superman has been shown to perceive...which is well, almost anything. The Source works in this case.

Physiology

Physiology wise he does have biologically based abilities when he's charged. These are tough to unify with the esoteric factors so I also keep them separate. He heals rapidly, he doesn't tire physically when charged, he doesn't require sleep, he doesn't need to breathe etc. His solar absorption probably also starts here. I've long thought of Supes as a radiovore or spectrovore (lol don't have better words) in that he consumes energies at many if not any frequency non stop. Red sunlight is simply inert, or as you put it, like empty carbs while the other light sources offers varying levels and quality of nutrition. Kryptonite is just toxic food; as long as it's there he'll eat that too.

Esoteric

His bio-field, energy based abilities like heat-vision, flight and control over inertia could all come under here. Many of these powers have a strong diversity so I don't know how those can be put together themselves. The one unifying factor I'm personally most satisfied with is The Source itself. The only problem I've ever had with Supes sometimes has been his power output in certain feats. Sometimes I wonder if the sun could even provide that much energy particularly when he hasn't dipped. The Source relieves all of that. The Source is the source of all other metahuman or alien super powers and the powers of the old and new gods. In essence it's the primordial life energy DC comics. I like to keep it open as a headcanon possibility. Sunlight is still required in extremely high quantities for a kryptonian's ability to access certain kryptonian source abilities. Acquiring energy from the source could explain many weird things he can do in the context of the DC universe such as accelerate himself through a vacuum or even reaching relativistic speed as well as the inertia control you mentioned. Something that few other energy sources could give him the extra oomf for. The physiological factor (solar absorption) is there to provide access to the esoteric factor (source power) and differences in what he's absorbing (red/yellow/blue/quasar/kryptonite/etc) could result directly in differences in the variety or intensity of powers he has access to.

Whenever in doubt, look to the Source haha. I often find people try to explain his powers in terms of real world science but I find that pointless while it hasn't even been explained within the context of the DC universe itself. For me the pseudo-science of it all just needs to have good structure and meaty backing through world-building.

@psy4: I enjoy this theory, and it does have a lot of merit to it. Personally, I tried staying away from the Source at first since it seems more "mystical" than anything else, but during my research, I found it wasn't as mystical as I previously thought.Despite finding that out, the pseudo-science of it all seemed to basically just be as simple as saying "He is Super". Additionally, as you said, the Source is responsible for metahumans, but even meta human abilities have been explained under our scientific understanding.

Despite saying that, I would like to incorporate more of your theory and add it into my own. In fact, using the Source can add a bit of lore into it, unifying a lot of DC mythos together. Now a little disclaimer, I would be throwing out some theories that, while reasonable given the speculative evidence, are in no way official.

Beginning with The Source, it is the ultimate foundation of the Universal Expression of Energy. Upon the death of the New Gods, a ripple from the Source known as the Godwave emerged, spreading throughout the entire universe. The Godwave is responsible for creating the likes of the Speed Force, Quantum Field, The Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum. I also theorize it to be responsible for the Mystical Channels of The Red, The Green, The Black, etc.

Now as the Godwave rippled throughout the universe, it left a spark of Divine Energy along the planets it passed, resulting in the Pantheon of Gods. This first pass is what resulted in The Greek/Norse/Egyptian Gods of Earths, Rao/Flamebird/Nightwing of Krypton, H'ronmeer of Mars, and many more. As it hit the edge of the universe and the ripple bounced back, it made a second pass through several planets like Earth, undoubtedly Mars, and most likely Krypton. This second pass is clearly explained to have created the POTENTIAL for Superhumans on these planets.

The genetic potential for a future metagene was discovered in ancient human DNA by the White Martians. And their tampering resulted in only a fraction of the population from achieving superpowers. In fact, had it not been for their tampering, evolution would have eventually made all of mankind into a race of superhumans similar to the Daxamites and Kryptonians, now only a select few humans would be able to develop metahuman powers. So it can be considered that the Metagene itself is the substance by which the Godwave gave the potential for superpowers. In a similar manner, the Bio-Electric Aura of Kryptonianss I presumed would be the potential given by the Godwave to Kryptonians.

Given that the Metagene was scientifically calculated by the Dominators, the Bio-Electric Aura of the Kryptonians can also be be scrutinized in a scientific fashion. The Metagene is a "biological variant that often lays dormant until a moment of extraordinary physiological stress activated it, and upon activation it would use the source of the biostress as a catalyst for genetic change, resulting in metahuman abilities." I actually theorized that the Metagene as we see it is in it's infancy. Given how Martians, Kryptonians, Daxamites, etc. all share the exact same abilities, it's my belief that the Metagene would end up working the same way for all people (had the White Martians not intervened)

My theory is the Metagene would be able to functionally take in any external source and adapt their biology accordingly to match the external stimuli, allowing them to use it as a source of their own power. For a better understanding, imagine Ultimate Ben from the show Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. In the show, his power is the ability to adapt and have the power of any other alien species he chooses. In my theory, the perfected Metagene would allow humans to just look at anything, be it energy, matter, another alien species, and mimic their properties to use as their own power. Being in the presence of fire can allow them to harness fire control. Jumping in water will eventually give them gills. When interacting with another alien species, they would gain their powers as well.

Given this assumption, the fact still remains that the Metagene itself can be explained under some theoretical science. The explanation of how the Metagene itself possesses the potential to develop powers can be reasoned by the Source, but the actual mechanism of it can be explained with science. Likewise, Kryptonians and their Bio-Electric Aura that allows for Inertial Control must have come from the Source, but it's mechanism can be explained with science.

Oh yes of course I didn't mean that the scientific basis of it should be ignored. That's the most interesting part of it after all. I just meant to say that the Source and it's status as DC's primordial energy should be included as a part the pseudo-science as you've mentioned above when reconciling all these things. ;)

that's like some cheesy response a writer would give to a fan lol

I feel in worlds that people get Super-powers instead of cancer from gamma rays, that "hard water" makes you lightning fast, that gods wear underpants on the outside and aliens are have nothing better to do than invade earth every Wednesday, being "a super-man",seems fitting.

Superman is based all around of concepts that need suspension of disbelief. Its something like a rite of passage for a fan to look the other way and not care. The glasses, the powers,the goodness, the fact that an alien fell in Kansas and was adopted. Its all collectively saying "we will give you the most out-here, phantasmagorical story there is, but you have to play with its internal logic". If not, you end up questioning how everything works and you lose the point.

@squalleon: That is true, if any hero should just stay simple it's Superman.

But at the same time, it's fun to speculate, and discuss all his powers, and how each type of star affects him.

Of course, I don't deny that it can be fun and creative.

Good stuff

Good stuff you have got there. Superman's powers should be greatly enhanced under stars like quasars, pulsars. We have an idea of what powers Superman could get if exposed to the radiation from stars powerful than yellow suns. Just look at H'el. I hope writers would explore that idea down the road.

I always liked the explanation that there are 'ultra-solar rays' that come out of stars, and that Superman is powered by these, not visible light. These rays are almost impossible to produce or use for non-Kryptonians, at least without sophisticated technology. As far as the mechanics between the power source and the end product, there's really nothing that resembles science that could explain it, you can get into the churned-out string theories, but since that's just manipulating math you can explain basically any logically consistent outcome with them.

Superman blatantly defies conservation of energy in every observable way, so it's probably best to keep it vague - he's powered by the sun, and he's really strong, fast and extra-good at most everything.

Exactly what I was stating in my earlier post about the Source being the only thing that can fill the conservation of energy hole. I actually like this idea of a special component in stars as another alternative to that.

@jakai:

Good work. You really sumed up pretty much everything that as been theorized the most, inside and outside comics.

Problem is that it doesn't answer any real questions.

First of all. The power level. A kryptonian power level is simply too high to be explained as simply being solar energy absorption. Let's face it, there's simply not enough of it arriving on Earth to explain it. In one issue in Superman Unchained, Bruce Wayne tells Clark that he absorbs at any given moment, around 140 gigawatts of solar energy. Now, anyone that knows anything about astronomy and astrophysics, knows that isn't possible.

We also see a very interesting thing. Regardless of a kryptonian being underground or simply without any direct contact with sunlight, their power still works and recharges all the same. In the New 52, Superman bench pressed the entire mass of the Earth in a machine able to simulate it, for five days straight, without any sunlight. How could he, if he was in facility close to the center of the Earth. No sunlight there, that's for sure. In the crossover between Justice League and Suicide Squad in Rebirth, they had Zod in a underground prison, in a room emitting red solar energy. The moment the emitters went offline, they started to freak out because Zod was starting to gain his power back. Again with no sunlight available.

And then there's the inconsistencies. In the Godslayer arc, when Superman tries to save Lex Luthor, and their Boom Tube is hacked and sends them to a planet orbiting a red star, Superman immediately starts to lose his powers. So much so, that seconds after he arrives there, he could only fly for less than a minute and that was it, no more flying. But more recently, in the Justice League comic, while trying to stop this Tempus guy or whatever, the being he was trying to stop says he had started to flood the room with red solar energy, to which Superman then says that he might have prevented his powers from recharging but that he'd still keep fighting till the very end.

So, as you can see. A lot of inconsistencies. Mainly because DC doesn't create a unified theory for Superman. Each writer has the freedom to do what he wants and so no real explanation is actually valid seeing the writers themselves never come to terms. And also all of their theories suck. Mainly because none of them accounts for everything that Superman or any other kryptonian has in terms of power.

Now. It leaves the fans to come up with anything remotely resembling a good theory. And in this case I already said my piece in great detail more than once. So I won't be doing that again. Just focus on the main points.

POWER AND POWER LEVEL:

The solar absorption theory sucks. Mainly because it can be debunked quite easily. So if fans still want it to be about solar connection then another theory as to be created. One that fits all the bills.

A good way to explain a kryptonian power and still linked it the Sun, would be to say that kryptonians have exotic elements that make up their bodies atomic constitution. It could even be sayed or hinted that they seem to be non radioactive isotopes of kryptonite. Elements that existed naturally in Krypton's geological composition and thus in all kryptonian lifeforms. And that these elements in organic beings, it creates a form of Quantum Entanglement to the star closest to them. Meaning that it wouldn't be sunlight that fueled their powers but the star itself. That they were able to harness and process energy directly from that star, by means of a form of a biological Quantum Entanglement.

Now, this could be used in two ways. Once exposed to red solar energy, the connection would break and thus the body would be unable to recharge. Or, once the link is broken, then all the energy goes with it, and kryptonians are left powerless. One or the other, not both. And not how the writer decided.

As for how Superman would recharge his powers if he was outside our solar system. It could be either explain that the link worked regardless of distance, like with ‎Kimiyo Hoshi (in the pre-Flashpoint her powers were said to be connected to the star Vega, that was several light years away), or that kryptonian physiology harnessed the part of the Cosmic Radiation necessary to keep the powers active.

As for how Krypton came to possess such exotic element. You can use your imagination. Either it could be explained that the kryptonian deity Rao, was actually a member of a Galactus type of beings, and that they had all ascended to a high plane of existence, and that Rao, being the last one of his kind left to ascend, he chooses a planet where he infuses some of his energy on the planet itself. Or that some cosmic event like a hypernova blast, hit Krypton when it was still forming. Adding to its atomic composition the necessary energy and particles to create said exotic matter.

This basically covers all basis. Even the vulnerability to kryptonite.

Because as you might kow, things like the photonucleic effect are completely unreal. Also the basis for its explanation is also completely wrong. Ask any nuclear physicist. Atoms don't become more energetic as their subatomic parts (proton and electron) become further apart. It's actually the opposite. They become more energetic when they become closer to each other. Also the biological process you're describing isn't anywhere similar to plants. Because plants don't create energy. They store energy. And Superman body clearly creates energy because there's no way he could get the energy needed to fuel his power from sunlight. Bio-electric aura or no aura. That process simply defies the laws of conservation of energy. Placing Superman power process as unnatural and thus they might as well say that kryptonians get their powers because each star emits a different kind of magical energy.

POWERS:

A kryptonian power set is simply too complex to be delegated to multiple processes. So the best way give some sense to it, is to introduce what should be a natural thing in powered kryptonians.

When we look at the power set, no matter how powerful Superman brain is, it couldn't account for feats like, being able to single out a unique sound in the entire world and be able hear it. How many times have we seen Superman being able to hear a specific sound from basically across the globe. Such a thing should be impossible. It doesn't matter how sensible one's ears are.

The way he uses his "X-Ray" vision. First of all if it really were X-Rays then Superman would be mass murdering people simply by using said power, if it really was X-Rays. The other thing would be that Superman could not really use said energy to see through walls, seeing that X-Rays don't really bounce back from objects as optic radiation does.

Heat Vision. How is it that he's seens controlling such a power with such efficiency. He can make the beam as wide as a nuclear explosion, or as small as a laser pen. He can control its intensity to what can only be described as a nano-level of control. So. How can he know exactly how much energy he's releasing, and further more, how can he control how much energy he releases. It certainly isn't a biological trigger/process.

And the same goes for basically all of his powers. How does he determine how much he sees, how much energy he releases, how he even flies. Especially the flying power. We know it can't be gravity control and we know it can't be because his body generates its own gravitational field. Superman body simply doesn't posses the mass to have such a thing. And even if he did, if I was able to generate a gravitational field around myself that gravitational field would not allow me to fly, if anything it would increase my own gravity/weight. Because gravity is attracted to gravity. How is it that when he's sleeping next to Lois he doesn't simply kill her! His physical strength is on basically godlike level. So even if he could control his physical strength while he's awake, how can he control it when he's asleep. Or better yet, when he shakes someone's hand or types on his computer how can he so effectively control his level of strength.

But the answer here agains seems quite simple. To explain how all of his powers work. Psionic Energy Manipulation!

Because without the psionic element, all of Superman powers would need to have special triggers in the form of organs that gave him the necessary sensory input to use them as he does. Meaning that exposure to the yellow sun would have to create new organs. Specific organs for specific tasks. Which is of course ridiculous.

As you said so yourself. The energy Superman gets enhances his physical aspects. And thus all of them should be enhanced. Including his brain.

Now. Although things like perfect memory recall and thought processing speed, are both part of Superman abilities, it still doesn't seem we're looking at the entire picture. We've had cases where we saw Superman process in a matter of seconds what the most powerful supercomputer on the planet would take years to do. So a kryptonian brain is also enhanced. And thus the use of Psionic energy. And Psionic isn't psychic. Psychic referrers to specific ability, a psychic power like, telepathy or telekinesis. Psionic referrers to the energy the mind possesses. And we've seen other characters which powers are explained as being psionic in natre and that can do many things. Three simple examples being Martian Manhunter in DC Comics, Thanos and Monet in Marvel. Monet power is described as being of psionic nature but here's her powerset... Super-strength/speed/resistance/stamina, telepathy, telekinesis (which she uses to fly of course), and genius level intellect. Reminds you of someone?

So we could simply explain that kryptonian powers are a result of the physical and mental enhancement created by the energy their bodies possess, having a psionic element controlling that same energy. Of course with kryptonians because they are never showned training their minds or exploring what their brains can do, we could simply say that their powers are a result of using the psionic element at a very low level. Near subconscious. This in turn would explain why Superman can only do a certain amount of things like firing energy beams through his eyes and not for example his hands. Because he sees with his eyes then mental conditioning only enables him to release the energies he uses for heat and x-ray vision in a specific way, in this case his eyes. It also explains why he can only freeze things with his breath. And how he can control the energy he applies to anything, at such a level of control.

Powers like Heat and X-Ray visions could simply be explained as psionic mimicking of what he sees. Superman can see in the EM Spectrum from Microwaves to Gamma Radiation, but because his brain is never trained and thus uses what is natural to it, then his mind through psionic means, shapes the energy inside his body to mimic some of the energies he's able to see.

As for how he flies one can call it a form of tactile telekinesis or the enhanced used of one of his senses. Human beings and thus most likely kryptonians, possess not 5 senses, but 9. Our ability to feel heat or cold and its different levels is called thermoception. So the enhanced use of this sense could explain the freeze breath. We also got another sense that allows us to simply know where our body is in relation to what's around us. So a enhanced use of that sense, could also explain the ability to fly. Even our ability to feel disconfort or pain is also a sense.

So this is my interpretation and my theory of how Kryptonian powers should be explained.

@heavenlydarkdragon: Nice Theory!

I really like the idea of the Biological Quantum Entanglement, and as for how we can explain Kryptonians developed such an exotic ability, I would like to use the Godwave Theory I mentioned in my second post. Like how the Godwave gave Metagenes to humans to get superpowers, the Godwave could've given Kryptonians that exotic element to allow for Quantum Entanglement.

I did want to reiterate some points though.

You stated Superman clearly doesn't generate enough energy, which I completely agree with you. In my post, I estimated that he could at most receive around 2000 watts of energy from the sun while on Earth. However, I did mention if the Bio-Electric Aura was able to control inertia/inertial mass, he can increase the mass of the lightwaves he receives. How he does this would again relate to the Godwave Theory, but it's effects would allow him to increase the amount of energy he receives, as Energy is directly proportional to it's mass. So as I stated in the post above (located in the spoilers), by increasing the mass of the solar radiation he absorbs, he can also increase the amount of energy he absorbs. This was how I reasoned he managed to defy the Conservation of Energy. This can also explain how Batman claims Superman is receiving near 140 gigawatts of solar energy.

You claim that "all of Superman powers would need to have special triggers in the form of organs that gave him the necessary sensory input to use them as he does." if he did not have the psionic element. Though I reasoned the Bio-Electric Aura is the very "organ" that allows for such sensory input. Similar to how people can use muscle control to vary the strength of their punch, Superman can use his the Inertial Control that's present in his Bio-Electric Aura in varying degrees to result in wide scale and microscopic heat vision, as well as other powers. It would explain how he triggers when to make his strength weaker or not so that he doesn't crush anyone's hands in a handshake.

With his X-Ray Vision, I mentioned specifically how it was not normal X-Ray vision, and that it acts as a misnomer. How I explained it had it more as an esoteric energy reading than actual X-Rays being used.

Going back to your theory though, it does indeed have it's merits. The psionic energy manipulation is plausible, and there are some additional things to back up the claim. In the end of All Star Superman, Kal-El meets his father Jor-El in what I can only presume is the crossroads of life and death. There, Jor-El explains how Matter and Energy can not be created or destroyed. He adds that the same is true for Consciousness. In this sense, Consciousness exists in the same level as Matter and Energy. I would describe Consciousness as metaphysical, or as you say, psionic. Additionally, Kryptonians have been known to utilize the mental martial arts style known as Torquasm-Vo, which specifically allows for things like astral projection and mental domination.


Despite this, I would argue that his abilities seem to be physical in nature, as in that observable and intractable real life matter and energy are seemingly used. And the fact that Torquasm-Vo, a martial art style he's used, has been applied more towards abstract ideas like mental domination, astral projection, aura readings, and such, makes it seem like there's a lack of real world effects Kryptonians can create from psionic manipulation. At least, I would say this under a yellow sun. In the New 52, H'el was able to perform telekinesis, teleportation, telepathy, and such powerful astral projection that real people can see it. As a Kryptonian, he was exposed to Black Stars and Quasars which could've enhanced his natural senses to this degree.

I've liked a lot of what was discussed in this thread, and I'll be sure to look over my theory and revise it soon

@jakai:

Yes. At a first glance the bio-electric aura does seems to offer that hypothesis. But the problem lies that the bio-electric aura can't be described as a organ. Even we humans possess a bio-electric aura, in the real world. It's very weak and can only be read and even seen through special instruments. It's something natural because our bodies also generate energy through biological processes.

Also my point wasn't about kryptonian physiology not being able to process the necessary energy but more like given that they're humanoid in size plus the solar energy that arrives on Earth everyday for let's say square metter. Then even 2000 watts is a little bit of a stretch don't you think.

Once I did the rough math about how much energy would a kryptonian body need to possess to do things like move the Earth. And it came down to something around 1.4e+24 Joules at any given moment. So even 140 gigawatts doesn't come close to the necessary requirements.

That's the problem with sunlight or solar energy. It can be easily debunked. Unlike with The Flash and the Speed Force that simply can't be debunked, or the Lanterns and the Emotional Spectrum because again it can't be debunked. I mean, it can't even be explained less alone debunked.

Regarding the energy levels: all of the solar energy that the Earth receives in a day isn't enough to move it an inch. Superman can do a lot better than that.

Even assuming Superman absorbed all of the energy produced by the sun (equivalent to a nuke of about 4 quadrillion megatons every second, iirc) he still does many things that can't even be explained by that, such as warping space to fly FTL or (depending on the era) tug around galaxies and fly out of black holes.

And even if Superman's power source could be accounted for, he should instantly fry everything around him. There is a mechanical limit to how efficient a machine can be, and a tiny fraction of an almost perfectly efficient machine operating at Superman's levels would release heat and hard radiation that would make Nagasaki look like a firecracker.

I always saw his powers as 1 part evolution and genetic tampering,1 part demi God enhancement,and 1 part pure raw power.as in kryptonians evolved,because they had to,survival on krypton is like survival on the bottom of the ocean,both kryptonians and atlanteans are products of their environment,and as a result aquaman and golden age superman pretty much have the same power set.then they tinkered with their DNA to become gods,which is how they take what natural powers they already have and they skyrocket to unimaginable levels.i think their bodies take in solar energy,that triggers a process in their bodies that gives them their unending power,instead of just saying they absorb "this" much solar energy and that's where their powers come from,when there isn't enough to fuel them on that level.they create their own power,solar energy is the trigger.this could create a bio aura that works subconsciously like a nervous system,allowing them to have all the power,but also all the control needed to not kill everything.also it has to be atleast part psionic,cause their hearing and vision can't work under normal physics,it has to be some kind of remote viewing piggybacked on their natural golden age evolutionary powers.heat vision to me is a byproduct of the power that burns in them,it's just a raw release of that.

Now that would make a hybrid,mutated, genetically modified clone like kon-els powers work similar,but different.i think the difference isn't the golden age or the heat vision raw release powers,I think it's the bio aura that has been altered.as in instead of that subconscious nervous system automatic synergy between powers in his body,his has been separated.so Cadmus took what they saw,amd made it into a TK field which is the closest that could do with what they could figure out.so yeah he can do everything a kryptonian can do,but it's not automatic/subconscious,he has to think about it.

He becomes Omnipotent, with enough them under a pulsar or quaser. Nice