Heroes and VillainsRanking comic book characters by their powers, strength, physical traits, affiliations, and other features, like how just goshdarn super they are.
Vote up the superheroes who felt the pain when they got powered down.
The worst part about being a superhero has to be the knowledge that you'll inevitably lose your powers at some point by hook or by crook. Whether their powers are provided by magic, science, or just a butt load of money, more often than not, heroes have to face the enemies with a total lack of abilities at some point or another.
When a superhero loses their abilities, it either makes them flail or figure out what it is that truly makes them heroic. Some heroes fold; others find a way to save the world. Every character included here has lost their mojo at least once (and one of them seems to lose their powers constantly) - but who felt the most pain when they were turned into puny humans?
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Jefferson Reed's Powers Are Constantly Diminishing In 'The Meteor Man'
In 1993's The Meteor Man, Jefferson Reed is a teacher living in a gang-riddled area of Washington, DC. When he's hit by a meteor one night, he acquires the powers of flight, super-strength, invulnerability, and all the good stuff, really. He takes on the guise of Meteor Man to take down the local gangs and drug dealers ruining his neighborhood.
Unfortunately, Reed's powers are constantly diminishing every time he uses them. His powers completely bottom out when he tries to fend off a gang called the Golden Lords. Reed never regains his abilities, but with the help of his neighbors, he's able to fend off the Golden Lords, and a small piece of the meteor heals his injuries.
One of the most horrifying things about the universe of the X-Men is the way scientists and politicians are constantly searching for ways to take away the powers of the mutant population without their consent. This grim desire is accomplished in The Last Stand.
In this film, scientists at Worthington Labs create a serum that tamps down the X-gene, thus "curing" mutants. When the shapeshifting Mystique is captured by the US government, it's not long before Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants show up to release her from the convoy where she's imprisoned. Unaware that the guards are armed with darts carrying the anti-mutant serum, she gets in the way of one that's aimed at Magneto. As soon as she's hit, the "cure" strips her of her abilities.
It's unclear if Mystique's powers ever return in this timeline, but then in the finale of the film, it's revealed that Magneto (who was also "cured") has already begun to sense the reemergence of his abilities. It's safe to say that Mystique's ability to shapeshift will return, as well.
Is The Mask a hero? He's definitely a green-faced creep who turns into a cartoon to impress sexy ladies, rob banks, and take over a nightclub, but somewhere along the way, he also manages to stop a villainous, mob-connected club owner, Dorian Tyrell.
Sadly, Ipkiss is but a single man, and Tyrell has an entire crew of thugs at his disposal. Tyrell's goons find Ipkiss, beat him up, and take the mask before handing it over to their boss. Ipkiss is able to get the mask and his powers back when nightclub singer Tina Carlyle tricks Tyrell into removing the mask so Ipkiss's dog Milo can grab it with his tiny little teeth.
After regaining his abilities, Ipkiss saves the day and stops Tyrell from blowing up the club and all of its attendees.
After he and his fiancee are slain by a gothed-out street gang, Eric Draven returns from the grave one year later. Not a zombie, not a ghost - he's an undead rocker with the powers of immortality bestowed upon him by a magical crow. With these abilities, he's able to track down the gang members and take them out one by one without taking on any damage.
Draven's immortality is ripped away from him when gang leader Top Dollar shoots his trusty crow. Things turn around for Draven when the crow escapes its shackles and starts clawing out the eyes of its captors. With his powers restored, Draven finishes his work and returns to the grave.
The loss of Bruce Banner's ability to transform is one of the most interesting mysteries in the MCU. When audiences catch up with Banner in Thor: Ragnarok, he's stuck in Hulk mode, unable to return to his reasonable human form. Thor is able to de-Hulk Banner with a recording of Natasha Romanoff, and the next time we see him in his big green guise is when he crash-lands through the ceiling of Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum.
After his fall from space, Banner is left in his human form throughout the events of Infinity War. When Thanos comes to Wakanda, Banner is tasked with fighting in Tony Stark's Hulkbuster armor.
When we catch up with Banner in Endgame (which takes place five years later), he's a complete combination of his normal nerdy self and the actual Hulk. It's pretty wild and it's not clear exactly how it comes to pass.
Aside from his massive intellect, Tony Stark's most powerful weapon is his slew of Iron Man suits. When he's going full Iron Man, Stark can do anything he sets his mind to: fly, shoot lasers, and even withstand heavy artillery. When the Mandarin attacks Stark at his home, the billionaire bad boy's mansion is destroyed and he's left with nothing but some powerless experimental armor.
Together with Pepper Potts, he manages to defeat the Mandarin before blowing up all of the remaining Iron Man tech, essentially leaving him powerless (except for his brilliant IQ and all of that sweet billionaire money). Stark is happy to live life without his Iron Man suit until the AI intelligence he creates, Ultron, goes absolutely crazy and starts committing genocide. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back and leads Stark to start rocking his defensive armor once again.
