Written by With Supergirl now in theaters, the DC Universe’s newest hero has the spotlight. Kara Zor-El’s story is also a reminder that she is only one branch of a very crowded superhero family tree. James Gunn’s Superman reintroduced the Man of Steel and laid the foundation for the rebooted DCU. Now, his grief-stricken, drunkard cousin and her scene-stealing super dog are set to expand this universe across the galaxy.
Across 80-plus years of comics, the House of El includes the superhero’s offspring, his adopted children, and alternate-universe doubles, many of them powerful enough to level planets. Here’s a ranked list of how these family members stack up when measured on their raw power, control, versatility, and their track record on comic books and on the big screen.
10. Krypto the Super Dog
Krypto with Kara Zor-El in Supergirl | Credits: DC Studios/Warner Bros.
Under a yellow sun, Krypto possesses the full power of a Kryptonian. Like Superman and Supergirl, this animal has flight, super strength, heat vision, and near-invulnerability. That makes him pound-for-pound one of the strongest animals in fiction. DCU fans first got a taste of him in James Gunn’s Superman, where he hurls around the Man of Steel and earns the title of a naughty dog.
In Supergirl, Krypto plays a more crucial role. When he is poisoned by the villain Krem, his survival becomes the emotional engine driving Kara’s interstellar journey, one that begins as a revenge quest alongside the young Ruthye, but gradually reveals itself to be about something deeper. While he is all-powerful like his masters, he sits at the bottom of this list due to his inability to control or strategize his power. He is loyal and devastating, but he just can’t do everything that the human minds higher up in this list can.
9. Jor-El
Bradley Cooper as Jor-El in Superman | Credits: DC Studios/Warner Bros.
Superman’s father is, first and foremost, the greatest scientific mind Krypton ever produced. In the comics canon, he is the man who predicted his planet’s death and saved his son. On Krypton, with no yellow sun, he’s roughly as strong as any human, though far from helpless. He has shown real combat ability and tactical foresight in the comics.
His brilliant mind alone puts him above Krypto in this list, but the character didn’t get a lot of time in the comics or on the screen to rank any higher on this list. Interestingly, he resurfaced in the comics as the cosmic figure Mister Oz, with the dangerous power of glimpsing into possible futures.
8. Zor-El
David Krumholtz as Zor-El in Supergirl | Credits: DC Studios/Warner Bros.
Kara’s father is, like his brother Jor-El, a brilliant Kryptonian scientist. However, he ranks above Jor-El because he actually fought as a powerhouse in the comics. In the comics’ New Krypton era, Zor-El survived his world’s end and lived under a yellow sun. He wielded the complete powers of a Kryptonian in open combat.
David Krumholtz plays a version of this character in Supergirl. The movie leans into a darker reimagining of Krypton’s destruction, highlighting the tragedy of Kara’s family and her father’s place in it.
7. Superboy (Conner Kent)
Conner Kent, aka Superboy, in the comics | Credits: DC Comics
A hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, Conner started out with only a fraction of Clark’s power. He had no flight at first and weaker heat vision, but grew into a genuine heavyweight. When he gains full powers, he comes off as arrogant and cocky, but he is eventually put on track by Superman.
His true power is tactile telekinesis. It gives him a personal force field and lets him disassemble anything he touches. He fights New Gods, keeps up with speedsters like Impulse, and Kryptonite doesn’t even affect him. It is here that the list crosses into full-time superhero territory.
6. Tomorrow Man (Jon Kent)
Jon Kent in the comics | Credits: DC Studios/Warner Bros.
According to Batman, Superman and Lois Lane’s son has the potential to become the most powerful hero in the universe. Beyond the standard Kryptonian package, Jon can fire bolts of electricity from his body. He can also perceive light spectrums that even his father can’t see. His feats outscale Conner’s easily.
A single thunderclap from him has cancelled out a tsunami. He has torn through massive robots and even landed a blow on the villain Ultraman. He hasn’t yet reached Clark’s level of mastery. But his future promise places Tomorrow Man above his brother Superboy.
5. Red Son (Osul-Ra)
Osul-Ra, aka Red Son, in the comics | Credits: DC Comics
Osul-Ra, aka Red Son, is one of the super-twins adopted by Superman and Lois Lane. Superman rescued him and his sister from Warworld. Red Son has yellow-sun abilities and energy projection, but it is another staggering upgrade that make him more powerful than Superman’s biological children. He has the Fire of Olgrun, a fragment of the mightiest of the Old Gods.
That power can create and destroy worlds, which makes him more powerful than Highfather and Darkseid. He defeated Darkseid’s torturer, Desaad, and even resurrected himself. His powers are cosmic rather than planetary, making him more powerful than the previous entities.
4. Starchild (Otho-Ra)
Otho-Ra, aka Starchild, in the comics | Credits: DC Comics
Red Son’s super-twin, Starchild, is as powerful as him, maybe even more. Like her brother, she is also a Phaelosian with Kryptonian-level might. She channels her blue energy into weapons, and she also inherited a piece of Olgrun’s power like Red Son.
However, her power boost gives her ability as a reaper whose touch can heal or kill in an instant, gods included. Darkseid himself fears her death incarnate version called Black Racer. A being who can end gods with a touch, she clearly edges out her brother in this list.
3. Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)
Kara is above the two god-powered Phaelosians because we decided to reward realized power over the twins’ borrowed Olgrun energy. Moreover, their power is volatile and difficult to control, while Kara has more control over her powers. Unlike her character in the Supergirl movie, comicbook Kara’s power is total, stable, and battle-proven.
In the comics, she has destroyed small moons, used her sheer flight speed to threaten space-time, and broke Conner Kent’s jaw once with a single punch. She is trained by the Amazonians and fights at Wonder Woman’s level, making her a reliable powerhouse in the Superman family.
2. Power Girl (Karen Starr)
Karen Starr, aka Power Girl, in the comics | Credits: DC Comics
Power Girl has to rank above Supergirl, as she is quite literally more powerful than Kara. As Kara’s Earth-2 counterpart, Karen shares identical powerset with our Supergirl but has spent far longer time soaking up the yellow-sun radiation.
In the comics, she lifted a large starship, punched Wonder Woman from Washington DC to Canada, and made Darkseid bleed. She also has the power to tear open portals between dimensions. She’s also beaten Supergirl in combat more than once. By that metric, she is clearly above Kara but below Superman himself.
1. Superman (Clark Kent)
At the top, where else, stands the Man of Steel himself. Every other superhero in this list is measured against Superman. He has decades of mastery over his peak Kryptonian power in the comics, making him more powerful. In James Gunn’s Superman, we saw what he could do only after three years of realizing his power.
He is the anchor being of the DC multiverse, even destroying an entire multiverse at one point in the comics. It makes him effectively immune to being erased from existence. No one in his family can match up to his power. Superman isn’t just the strongest member of his house, he’s one of the most powerful beings in all of fiction.
RankingSuperman family member1Superman2Power Girl 3Supergirl4Starchild5Red Son6Jon Kent7Conner Kent8Zor-El9Jor-El10Krypto the Super Dog
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