Let me be the first to say that I have a muted disdain for these types of conversations. Anyone who takes comic books seriously should know by now that the strongest character in any given situation depends entirely on how the author is feeling in that particular moment, and good, quality storytelling—and, by extension, the outcome of superpowered confrontations—has never and will never hinge on who has the better fight moves.
But I’ll be damned if haplessly trying to subject superheroes to some abstract power gradation isn’t some of the most fun you can have, and with the final episode of season two of Invincible having finally made its mark (pun not intended), now is the perfect time to reflect on who the biggest players are in the battlefields dreamt up by Robert Kirkman.
With that, here’s the top ten strongest characters in Invincible, plus a bonus number one whose strength could single-handedly wipe out Viltrum if ever channeled properly.
10. Dupli-Kate
Shoring up the bottom of the list is Dupli-Kate, the Guardians of the Globe member who died during a confrontation with the Lizard League, but not really.
Despite all of her clones getting seemingly wiped out in episode five, the finale revealed that Kate was prepared for such an ordeal, and kept an extra clone hidden away in an unknown location so she’d be able to live on.
But despite this clever loophole for cheating death, Kate just doesn’t quite pack enough of a wallop to be considered a threat in the league that some of the other members of the list are, hence her spot on the bottom. But while she may not be knocking over buildings any time soon, her ability to stay alive is among the most elite there is, and for that, she deserves to be here.
9. Rex Splode
Up next is Rex Splode, who’s about as strong as Dupli-Kate in the aggregate, considering he has much more raw power than the multiplier at the cost of not having his own get-out-of-death-free card.
And while the best offense is a good defense, you simply can’t win the fight if you don’t defeat your opponent, and Rex’s more destructive offense abilities would generally make him more fit for that job than Kate’s would.
Plus, Rex’s defense is apparently nothing to sneeze at either, since he was stubborn enough to survive a gunshot directly to the head. And if there’s anything more dangerous than a guy who can make bombs out of pretty much anything, it’s a guy who can make bombs out of pretty much anything who also refuses to die.
8. Black Samson
Black Samson is where things start to get interesting, as almost everyone from here on out boasts the classic powerhouse skillset of enhanced strength and durability.
There’s something to be said about the wealth of combat experience that Samson brings to the table, but as far as the rest of the tricks the population of this list is packing, it’s functionally one of the weakest. If we’re throwing prep time into the equation, Samson might be able to go a bit higher, but experience is just too abstract for a list as restrictive as this. (Such is the nature of lists as a whole, really.)
7. Angstrom Levy
In terms of more rounded potential, Angstrom Levy is untouchable. His ability to access an infinite number of dimensions, each with its own resources, knowledge, and dangers, is the single most powerful tool if you’re thinking about the whole of possibility itself.
But this is a “strongest” list, and even though his portals have more than a few impressive combat applications alongside his impressive strength and stamina, he’s one of the weaker powerhouses on the list; he only got the upper hand over Mark because he was holding Debbie and Oliver hostage. In a fair fight, insofar as that’s possible in Invincible, Angstrom can only get so far on dimension-hopping alone.
6. Atom Eve
I said almost everyone was a powerhouse from here on out, remember?
Now, realistically, Eve should be clearing the summit of this list. Altering matter at the sub-atomic level is a god-like ability, and you comic-savvy Invincible fans already know that she’s not even close to wielding her full power yet.
For those reasons, Eve is relatively high up on this list, but since she seems to not even be taking full advantage of the fraction of her full power that she already has, it’s hard to justify putting her any higher for the moment.
5. Invincible/Mark Grayson
In the middle of the list is Mark Grayson, the guy who the entire show is named after.
With Mark, we’ve now entered a new powerhouse tier that, pound-for-pound, wipes the floor with just about everyone else. It’s one thing to be able to easily snap an arm, but it’s quite another to be capable of decapitating someone with a flick of your wrist.
That’s precisely what Mark is capable of doing, and he well and truly hates himself for it right now. A future Mark would have tangoed for the top spot pretty easily, but for now, he’s committed to holding back. In a world with plenty of others like him, that’s a major disadvantage.
4. The Immortal
It looks like the Immortal is taking a similar backseat to Mark for the moment, but whereas Mark is learning to hold back out of fear, the Immortal is removing himself from hero duty specifically because he knows rather than fears that he’ll end up doing something pretty destructive. (Although with Kate back in the picture, who’s to say?)
Indeed, the Immortal’s strength rivals that of the strongest Viltrumites, and his ability to resurrect himself means that even if someone does manage to beat him, he won’t stay down for long. (Sans decapitation, but even then, he has the chance to find his way back. He’s called the Immortal for a reason, y’all.)
3. Anissa
Even if the Immortal is capable of fighting a Viltrumite, they can hurt him a lot easier than he can hurt them. Enter Anissa, one of the latest players in the Invincible theater, and also one of the deadliest.
As a full-blooded Viltrumite warrior, Anissa’s power knows very few limits, having decimated Mark without breaking a sweat, and instead keeping a stone-cold killer resolve about it the whole way through. We may see later on just how truly nasty she can be, but Anissa still is undoubtedly one of Invincible‘s strongest characters at the moment.
2. Allen the Alien
I was tempted to put Allen below Anissa since there’s a good-to-fair chance that Anissa was holding back during the pair’s confrontation.
But even if she was holding back, it’s a bit telling that Allen didn’t even bleed a little bit upon receiving her first punch. Considering Allen’s own strike drew blood from her, it seems as though Allen has reached a level where his strength outclasses a Viltrumite, and that statement alone is more than enough to put him second-best.
1 – Omni-Man/Nolan Grayson
Nolan, however, isn’t just any Viltrumite, and while he appears mostly indisposed for the moment, it seems like only a matter of time before he takes the shackles off and reminds everyone that he’s one of the mightiest Viltrumites out there.
Indeed, Nolan’s performance in Viltrumite’s siege on the Thraxan homeworld is proof in the pudding just what he’s capable of, managing to defeat a myriad of elite Viltrumite warriors with a bit of help from Mark (and let’s face it, Mark was a liability in that fight half the time), and only succumbing because of a cheap hit from Lucan, who caught Nolan off guard after being presumed dead.
But, once he does away with his guilt over his Viltrum heritage and actions on Earth, Nolan is sure to re-establish himself as the single most powerful character in Invincible.
Honorary #1: Debbie Grayson
We all know it already, so it’s time to say it: Debbie Grayson is the true MPP (most powerful player) of Invincible.
Sure, she’s not going to be winning any battles with aliens any time soon, but this is a woman who, against all odds, has found a way to show up for her son, who’s going through some of the most unimaginable trauma out there, all while contending with inconceivably deep and lonely grief in her own right.
And now she’s raising Nolan’s other child he had with another woman (an alien woman, at that), all while continuing to press forward in a world full of peril that she and the people she loves most have no escape from. And still, she finds it in herself to smile.
That, folks, is undiluted strength.
(featured image: Prime Video)
