Before 2017, there wasn’t much significance handed out to female superheroes, and they were generally lumped together with male superheroes in team-up movies. However, enormously strong female characters have lived on in comic books for decades, and they are being given their due popularity now.
With films like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel making female superheroes mainstream names, there is no doubt the coming decades will see many more solo female-led films. DC has generally been ahead of Marvel in introducing powerful female superheroes and villains, and that’s why it’s worth noting the strongest female characters in the DC Universe.
Updated on June 29th, 2022 by Amanda Bruce: There are a lot of different versions of strength when it comes to comic book characters. Both heroes and villains can have a variety of super powers, but they can also exhibit incredible bravery and fortitude of the mind. As more female characters are being added to DC’s live action slate, like Zatanna, Batgirl, and Black Canary getting their own projects for HBO Max, TV and movie audiences get to see the multi-faceted female characters present in DC Comics on screen.
The DCEU version of this comic book villain might not have been loved by fans, but she’s inspired by one of the most powerful women in DC comic books. Cheetah has a long history of going up against Wonder Woman, one of the most powerful heroes.
Cheetah doesn’t just have super strength and speed. She’s also incredibly intelligent and in some comic book storylines, has the ability to communicate with and control big cats like her namesake. She’s able to take on some of the most powerful figures in comics and live to tell the tale.
For a while in the comics, Alice is Batwoman’s primary villain. The same is true of CW’s live action Batwoman series. Alice is a complicated woman who turns to villainy in the comics because she’s manipulated, but in the CW series, as a path toward revenge.
In both cases, Alice doesn’t typically have super powers. She is, however, incredibly skilled thanks to her training to become a fighter. Alice picks up new skills quickly, and she has no trouble using a variety of weapons. Beyond that, however, Alice’s strength comes from her being emotionally tormented during her formative years, but finding a way to deal with all of the pain and trauma of her past to push forward. She can be incredibly manipulative herself, but she also eventually becomes a hero.
Vixen comes from a long line of women who are able to access the spirits of animals to help guide them. Multiple heroines have used the name, and the characters have appeared in both live action and in animation, most famously in the CW’s Arrowverse.
Mari is a woman who has a strong moral compass, a desire to see justice served, and a firm connection to tradition. She stands up for her convictions and commits to helping anyone who might need her. While that’s true of most heroes in general, Mari also understands that not every hero in the Arrowverse needs to be in the same place. If a city has a hero, she goes where she’s needed and allows them their space. She understands that someone else living the vigilante life might have a better understanding of their own city. It takes a strong hero to step back from the fight as much as it does to enter the fight.
There’s a reason Catwoman is one of the most often adapted women in Batman mythology. It’s not just her complicated relationship with Bruce Wayne, but also her ability to keep up with super powered heroes and villains even when she’s not written as a meta-human, and her own strength of character.
Catwoman lives life on her own terms, but she still has a strong moral compass. Despite often being a villain scaling buildings and opening uncrackable safes, she has her own code. Sometimes, she’s a Robin Hood figure, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. There are a lot of lines she won’t cross, which is why she’ll often team up with Batman instead of working against him – to save those she knows can’t save themselves.
One of the longest running female heroes in DC Comics is Black Canary. A mantle passed down from mother to daughter, the Black Canary sometimes uses a device to “scream” at her opponents. Other times, the heroine is a meta-human who uses her natural canary cry to fight.
Every version of the Black Canary has led a difficult life. One version of the character grows up on the street before training with a martial artist and learning to use her skills to help people. Another version of the character has to work through addiction to become the person she’s meant to be. The Black Canary often becomes a team leader and rallies other heroes to do the right thing.
Her characterization has always been so much more than to be tied to her romance with Superman. Lois has always been a fierce and independent DC character who will never let up. Her outspokenness and never-say-die attitude have made Lois a force to be reckoned with.
Even when Lois has been threatened by beings of otherworldly powers, she’s refused to be intimidated and stuck to her guns by returning to her investigative abilities time and again. That’s more bravery and strength than most since Lois doesn’t have the advantage of special powers.
If there’s one person who can give any metahuman living nightmares it would have to be Amanda Waller. Her DC storylines have always been of the utmost quality, which she bolsters by bringing her powerful presence, that can dissect any person before her.
Waller is one of the handfuls of people who’s never been intimidated by Batman’s threats and has actually been the one to put him on the backfoot. Her total control in all of her activities has made her the boss of beings more powerful than her on paper, but Waller doesn’t display even a hint of apprehension.
Batgirl has always been on wish lists for any Batman media, mainly because her characterization allows her to fit in any role. She’s been a badass superhero in her own right while remaining a threat from behind-the-scenes whenever a story has given her the Oracle role.
She’s got all of Batman’s abilities on the field and has shown to have carved her own efficiency where mind games and strategies are concerned. So much so, that Batman has been shown to rely on her skills in order to complete his detective duties.
While other DC media has shown a relatively topsy-turvy presentation of Harley, the DCEU version has portrayed the character at her most powerful, where her mental wellbeing is concerned. This Harley has retained all her funny qualities and been able to channel her emotions to the betterment of others, even if that might be unintentional.
Birds of Prey showed how she was capable of standing tall after she fell to her lowest point, bringing in a new level of leadership quality and the ability to think fast on her feet. She’s so far faced both mystical and underworld threats, coming out on top each time.
Stories featuring the Al-Ghul family have always been ahead of their time, Talia’s involvement being the most complex for Batman. Her strength comes from her ability to manipulate anyone she wants, to the point where Talia can string around multiple people to fit her own needs.
She’s perhaps the only person that Batman has lowered his defenses for, being a villain for whom he’s harbored genuine feelings. If Talia wanted, she could bring peace on Earth considering how incredible her powers of persuasion. While she remains bad for the most part, she could bring the world to its knees if that was her plan.
Rather than being a “witch,” Zatanna really is a magician. This gives her the ability to cast various illusions and mask her true powers without revealing their true depth. Zatanna is one of the most powerful sorceresses, having genetic powers instead of acquiring them. She can cast spells and can use her magic for larger purposes, such as defeating enemies like Parademons, or for menial tasks without speaking.
Her powers are such that, by not using them, they end up increasing in strength. She’s also able to use divination and foresight. It’s not known how far her powers can go, with seemingly endless potential, such as resurrecting Metropolis and even manipulating time and space.
Fans can tell that a character is pretty powerful when all she needs to do is plant a kiss on someone to instantly poison them. Poison Ivy’s body itself can produce toxins in a variety of forms, with their deadly potential based on how much pain she wants to inflict.
Her own immunity reaches super levels as she’s been shown to be one of the few characters who can withstand Joker’s fear venom. Perhaps the greatest trick in her arsenal is her ability to control the minds of men to do her bidding, and this even extends to men with extreme mental fortitude like Batman. Then again, the power to control plant life to do what she wants them to is pretty unparalleled in itself.
It would be curtains for most people if they were ever trapped in a tsunami. For DC’s hero Mera, though, a tsunami is like jumping into a pool. She’s not only completely resistant to all water-based attacks, but Mera’s powers are also amplified with them.
She can easily breathe underwater and has super speed in this realm. Her speed is so ferocious, she can use it to annihilate submarines or other kinds of weaponry underwater. The ability of Hydrokinesis comes naturally to her, and, with manipulation of water, she can effectively create mini-tsunamis of her own. Her super durability means it would take powerful beings like Superman to beat her in a fight.
All you need to know is that Barda is a New God, and it’s pretty obvious how powerful she is. She comes from the same race as Darkseid (who’s generally the most powerful DC character you can find) and has genetic abilities that rival Superman’s.
Her godly powers easily give the super strength that allows her to lift hundreds of tons with a simple gesture. She can put up with the best of them in a fight thanks to her warrior-like training, and the armor she wears—forged in Apokolips—makes it near-impossible for her opponents to attack her. She’s also naturally resistant to most toxins produced.
She has the usual powers one would expect from a super being – super strength, durability, speed. However, what makes Hawkgirl truly unique is the ability to be magic-resistant. This power cannot be understated, as it allows Hawkgirl to be a cut above most of the rest.
She was able to use her mace (which is made of Nth metal) to nullify attacks from someone as insanely powerful as Doctor Fate. It also means that every other magic attack against her can be countered by Hawkgirl, making her a figure for all magic-based characters to fear. There’s also the fact that she can swiftly fly, and use her super-strength to make her mace more powerful.
Raven, daughter of a demonic entity, makes full use of her wide array of powers, which include other-worldly abilities like astral projection, fear inducement, and dark energy. She can extract herself from her physical body and use her soul to travel great distances and render herself incorporeal.
Raven can also absorb wounds on others, effectively healing them and herself. Using her soul form, she can take control of a person’s mind and cast them into darkness. Along with fear inducement, Raven can also induce pain in her opponents, which means she doesn’t even need to be in contact with them.
Popularly known as the kid cousin of Superman, Supergirl has all the powers of her older relative, and this makes her a devastating force to reckon with. With the powers of a yellow sun, she can possess super-strength—around the same levels as Superman—as well as tremendous speed and stamina. While not as fast as the Flash, her speed is still instantaneous and can take out most opponents.
She’s still susceptible to Kryptonite, though, but can use her smart mind to evade its harmful effects on her. She does this by making use of her freeze breath, heat vision, among many other powers that allow her to cause damage from a considerable distance.
People who underestimate Starfire due to her very innocent nature make a huge mistake, as she’s supposed to be the most powerful of the Teen Titans. Her physiology is such that not only does radiation prove useless as an attack against her, but she’s able to absorb it on a constant basis. This means she can have access to unbridled levels of energy.
She can fly at super speeds and can cross galaxies in mere seconds. Add to that, her super levels of strength, and Starfire is pretty much powerful in any setting. When under fits of rage, Starfire releases enormous levels of energy that can level several cities. She can’t be weakened by the methods of lack of food, rest, or water, as her energy production negates the need for these resources.
An even more powerful version of Supergirl, Power Girl has all the powers mentioned for her counterpart, except these are magnified and perfected. Her greatest asset is the fact that she’s from an alternate universe, meaning that the weakness of Kryptonite doesn’t work on her.
This means she doesn’t even have a particular weakness—other than maybe magic—and can take out her enemies without fear of retaliation. Whenever she’s locked horns with Supergirl, Power Girl has been the one to emerge victoriously. In some iterations, Power Girl even has the power of telekinesis, something neither Supergirl or Superman possess.
Without a doubt, Wonder Woman is the greatest DC female superhero ever created. Her legacy is such that she stands on even footing as far as cultural impact is considered. When considering her powers, she still bests all other female superheroes; not because of physical abilities, but because of her sheer will and determination. Wonder Woman knows no defeat, and she’ll keep on fighting until the end, and even against more powerful enemies like Darkseid.
Her lasso of truth enables her to bind her enemies indefinitely and influence them to reveal their secrets. Her physical powers are on par with Superman, and she’s defeated him several times as well. Her melee abilities are impossible to top, and her warrior status means she knows all manners of combat.
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Author: Saim Cheeda
