Martian Manhunter - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

The Martian Manhunter possesses a wide variety of superhuman powers— including telepathy, shape-shifting, projecting energy, x-ray vision, phasing, invisibility, flight, and super strength— but his abilities have been shown inconsistently throughout the years.

In the current DC continuity, many of his powers are similar to those of Superman, including superhuman strength close to that of Superman, flight, invulnerability, vortex breath, and "Martian Vision" (a term designating both the ability to see through solid objects and the ability to project beams of energy from his eyes). Superman once said of the Manhunter, "He is the most powerful being on the face of the Earth".

During the 1990s, it was stated that the source of his flight and "Martian vision" is a limited form of telekinesis (he had occasionally demonstrated more traditional uses of telekinesis to levitate and animate objects during his Detective Comics and House of Mystery appearances). His "Martian Vision" energy beams have sometimes been shown to knock foes backwards. On most occasions, however, these energy beams are depicted as heating objects rather than delivering a concussive impact.

The Martian Manhunter possesses the power of shapeshifting, which he employs for various effects (adopting human or monstrous appearance, elongating his limbs, growing to immense size, altering the chemical composition of his body, etc.). His default form during JLA meetings and in public is a "human-friendly" version of his actual birth shape.

J'onn can become intangible, passing harmlessly through solid objects. He can also render himself invisible. He lost the ability to use his other powers while invisible during the Silver Age.

J'onn can become invisible to the naked eye. Until he was stripped of the use of his other powers while invisible J'onn was virtually unknown to the world except as John Jones, detective. He did his heroing while invisible as an unknown "angel" helping those in need.In "The Unmasking of J'onn J'onzz" from Detective Comics #273 where B'rett, a yellow-skinned Martian criminal, lands on Earth he reveals J'onzz's existence to Earth-1's public by using a Martian weapon to take away J'onn's ability to use his powers while he is invisible. Once visible to fight B'rett, J'onn is quickly outed as a Martian hero.

He is a powerful telepath, capable of both perceiving the thoughts of others and of projecting his own thoughts. He often acts as a "switchboard" between minds in order to coordinate the Justice League's actions. The extent of his telepathic abilities is great; several times he has connected his mind to the entire population of Earth.

In the Alex Ross series Justice, J'onn's "telepathy" is described in terms provocatively similar to the concept of grokking from Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. In an internal monologue, the Manhunter says: "Since the first moment I chose this form and set foot on this world, I experienced it in ways no other human could. The humans call it telepathy. But that is only what it is like. There is no human word for how we Martians coexist with others.. We don't read minds. We share in other beings' thoughts."

J'onn is also capable of absorbing energy projectiles such as beams and other energy waves.

He has demonstrated regenerative abilities, once able to regenerate his entire body from only his severed head, but with great strain (due to the loss of mass, he found it necessary to incorporate new matter from the Martian sand). Early appearances of the character show him as able to breathe underwater; he displayed this power when he encountered Zauriel in the sea of San Francisco in JLA #6. The Manhunter has sometimes been said to possess nine senses, but these additional senses are poorly defined and generally ignored by most writers.

Aside from his superhuman powers, the Manhunter is also a skilled and very capable detective. As Batman mentions in his file, "in many ways, Martian Manhunter is like an amalgam of Superman and the Dark Knight himself."

J'onn J'onzz has also demonstrated the ability of generating and manipulating heat or energy beams, waves and blasts, and even absorbing extra mass from the earth to greatly increase his size.