Who holds back the Most? (SPOILERS DAMMIT)

1. Superman
2. Green Lantern
3. Martian Manhunter

These are three of the most powerful characters in DC and you didn't see them at their potential because each show would have likely been over in 4 minutes (credits included).

We pretty much heard it

Spoiler

from Superman in Destroyer. I got way too excited over that quote and what resulted after (Darkseid's thrasing still could have been a bit longer though)

. It doesn't make me forget how they used to let him get *****-slapped in Season 1, but it was a near concession. He was shown to be the most powerful and the team leader, but he was nowhere near the asskicker he could have easily been. We all know the roll call on his powers. Superman could have practically taken out every episode by himself.

Stewart is wielding what's commonly referred to as "the most powerful weapon on the planet", yet how many times were his constructs broken? Or some force over-powered his the energy from his ring? This hits a little harder because we saw that ring could really do some damage early on In Blackest Night.

It's easy to forget how much of a badass J'onn is, given his usual stoic demeanor. This guy is an intangible, super-strong, damn-near invulnerable, shape-shifting telepath/psychic. Diana touched on this in To Another Shore.

Spoiler

When he showed up in Destroyer, it caught me off-guard. It wasn't just the fact that he was there, but that J'onn was kicking some serious booty.

I gave consideration to Flash and Wonder Woman, but I can recall a few eps off the top of my head where their power limits were touched upon to a deent level (Divided We Fall, The Great Brain Robbery, Paradise Lost, The Balance). Even so, you could still make a very good case for Flash.

Before comments arise regarding "They have to make the show last 22 minutes", "That was done to build dramatic effect" and the like, I'm sure we're all aware of that. This is just a simple hypothetical on what the characters could have been if caution was thrown to the wind. Let's not go all 'Superman Returns Board' and flame each other over it.

 

I figured it was the entire roster, but I thought to think about the original members first since most of them are at the top of the power line anyway.

I thought they did a good job at showing AMAZO's power. He pretty much got the better of the original roster in Tabula Rasa and only left on his own accord after deciding there was no purpose in staying.

He really cut loose in The Return:

• He moved an entire planet to another dimension, making it appear that he destroyed it.
  
• That scene where he was approaching Earth was ridiculous. He took out that entire League squadron in space. Superman, Green Lantern, Captain Atom, Dr. Light, Orion, plenty others and a slew of Javelins were out there and he barely stopped to look at their costumes.
  
• He made short work of Supergirl and Red Tornado without even breaking a sweat.
  
• Then he matched the Atom's power by being able to follow him on a microscopic level.

At the end, Dr. Fate had to just talk him out of it. Although it would have been interesting to AMAZO go up against a bunch of pissed off Lanterns at the end. The only thing resembling defeat he had was against Grundy in Wake the Dead. Grundy was feeding off his power, so he thought it better to leave and not give him that advantage. That's really a stalemate.

 

He didn't tap out his power level because it wasn't needed. Naturally, there was more that he could have done (wielding the powers he 'gathered' from the other characters and probably killing several of them). In The Return, I just took it as he wasn't interested in destroying the League, they were just in the way. His endgame was getting to Lex. I didn't view that as him holding back because he was still able to impose his will/do as he wished. It would have been overkill. I think the more notable examples of holding back are when a character is getting it handed to him and is capable of avoiding so rather easily (i.e., Superman in War World).

I wished they would have scripted it so the League had to actually take him down, not reason with him. There was certainly an opportunity to do more (maybe a two-parter). There they could have pushed the limits on a few power levels, League members included.

I take it AMAZO is at the top of your list.

 

All fair points. There's an inordinate amount that can be done with Flash and Darkseid is literally a god. Of course, they've screwed with Darkseid's power levels in the books so much, I wouldn't know where to draw the comparison.

Maybe Etrigan deserves some mention. I only have a cursory knowledge of his comic presence though.

 

A Demon from the Pit, Etrigan wields powerful blasts of Hellfire, tremendous strength, speed and agility, and is nearly Imortal, with Holy powers being his biggest weakness.
And my top 3:

Martian Manhunter(You've already said why)

Captian Marvel: Everthing can do except heat vison, and a few tricks of his own.

Metamorpho: Able to turn into almost anything, as long as it contains the elements of the human body.(Carbon, Nitrogen, Iron, ect.)

 

Well, Cap didn't want a rumble, but Supes didn't give him much of a choice - and came off looking like a dumbass for not listening to Cap's voice of reason. Considering that Superman probably holds back more than anyone else, it still boggles my mind that he could cause such large scale property damage fight Captain Marvel - who's only real crime was being naive - and yet he hardly ever gave it anywhere nearly as bad to his villains.

 

That's why one of the things I wanted to see before it ended but now never will see is Cap and Supes burying the hatchet.

 

I would of also would of liked to seen that.

 

It would have been a beautiful thing to see.

 

Also would have been cool, but I still would have liked seeing Superman and Captain Marvel overcoming the communication barrier.

 

In this day and age, good luck finding one.