20 Superheroes Who Cause More Property Damage Than They Prevent
When Saving the World Gets Expensive
Superheroes are usually judged by the disasters they stop, not the repair bills they leave behind. Unfortunately, when your powers involve smashing through walls, throwing cars, leveling buildings, or fighting aliens above major cities, collateral damage tends to become part of the job. Some heroes are careful about protecting civilians and infrastructure, while others seem to treat the surrounding neighborhood as expendable. Here are 20 superheroes whose victories probably keep construction crews extremely busy.
1. Hulk
Few superheroes can turn an ordinary street into a demolition site as quickly as Hulk. His fights regularly involve shattered pavement, crushed vehicles, collapsed buildings, and whatever else happens to be within throwing distance. Bruce Banner may want to protect people, but Hulk isn't exactly thinking about municipal repair budgets once he gets angry.
2. Superman
Superman has enough strength to move mountains, which becomes a problem when someone powerful enough to challenge him shows up. Battles involving enemies like General Zod and Doomsday have devastated city blocks, highways, and major structures. He usually saves far more lives than he endangers, but Metropolis must have an enormous superhero-related construction fund.
3. Thor
Giving someone control over thunder and lightning was never going to result in subtle fights. Thor can smash through buildings, send enemies flying across huge distances, and create shock waves powerful enough to tear apart the surrounding area. When gods start fighting in downtown locations, nearby windows don't stand much of a chance.
4. Iron Man
Tony Stark often fights with missiles, repulsor blasts, and armored suits capable of punching through concrete. That's fantastic when Earth needs defending, but less impressive if you happen to own the office building behind his target. Even relatively small Iron Man battles can leave vehicles wrecked and structures full of holes.
5. The Thing
Ben Grimm's rocky body makes him one of Marvel's best heroes to have around during a major crisis, but it also means that when he gets knocked through a wall, the wall generally loses. His clashes with equally powerful opponents frequently involve smashed streets, damaged buildings, and enough rubble to make New York's sanitation department shake their fists.
6. Scarlet Witch
Wanda Maximoff doesn't need to punch a building to cause enormous destruction. Her reality-altering abilities and powerful energy attacks can affect entire environments when things get out of control. That's particularly frightening because the damage surrounding her can escalate far beyond the immediate fight.
7. Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman's incredible strength means ordinary buildings aren't designed to survive her battles. She can hurl enemies through walls, tear apart vehicles, and trade blows with opponents capable of flattening entire city blocks. Diana usually shows restraint, but restraint only goes so far when you're fighting someone with comparable powers.
8. Aquaman
Arthur Curry's fights aren't always limited to the ocean, and that's when things can get especially messy. His strength allows him to smash through heavy structures, while conflicts involving Atlantean forces can send water and enormous sea creatures into populated areas. Waterfront property probably gets considerably harder to insure whenever Atlantis is nearby.
9. Human Torch
Johnny Storm's powers come with an obvious property-damage issue: he's constantly surrounded by fire. Although he has strong control over his flames, battles can still involve explosions, scorched structures, and burning debris. Flying through a city while throwing fireballs simply isn't the safest possible approach to urban preservation.
10. Colossus
Once Colossus turns his body into organic steel, finesse becomes somewhat less important. He can charge through walls, throw extremely heavy objects, and survive impacts that would destroy concrete walls. When he's battling another powerhouse, the surrounding architecture often becomes part of the fight whether anyone wants it to or not.
Pikawil from Laval, Canada on Wikimedia
11. Storm
Weather manipulation sounds elegant until you remember what severe weather actually does to cities. Storm can summon lightning, fierce winds, heavy rain, and other conditions capable of damaging buildings or knocking over anything that isn't secured. She normally possesses tremendous control, but major battles can still leave the landscape looking noticeably different afterward.
12. Shazam
Billy Batson has the powers of mythological figures but sometimes retains the instincts of someone who's still relatively young. With super strength, lightning, and high-speed flight available to him, even one mistake can become extremely expensive. Fighting another superpowered opponent around buildings practically guarantees someone is going through a wall eventually.
Charles Clarence Beck on Wikimedia
13. She-Hulk
Jennifer Walters is far more controlled than her infamous cousin, but she's still strong enough to cause serious damage without much effort. Tossing massive objects and trading punches with supervillains can quickly turn sidewalks and nearby structures into collateral damage. Fortunately, considering she's also an attorney, she probably understands exactly how messy those insurance claims could become.
14. Blue Beetle
Jaime Reyes has an alien suit capable of producing an impressive assortment of weapons. Unfortunately for the surrounding neighborhood, many of those weapons are designed for combat rather than careful preservation of storefronts.
15. Nova
Once superheroes start operating at Nova's power level, a normal street becomes a surprisingly fragile environment. His energy projection, immense speed, and strength allow him to battle threats that ordinary heroes couldn't touch. Bringing that kind of cosmic combat into a populated area, though, can easily result in shattered structures long before the villain goes down.
16. Invincible
Mark Grayson wants to save people, but his battles often demonstrate just how destructive superhuman strength can become. Buildings crumble, roads break apart, and opponents regularly get launched through structures during his fights. His durability also means he's capable of continuing battles well after the surrounding area has been destroyed.
17. Sentry
Robert Reynolds possesses enough raw power that almost any serious confrontation involving him can become catastrophic. His strength, speed, and energy abilities place him among Marvel's most powerful figures, while his unstable nature makes the potential consequences even worse. If Sentry loses control, property damage quickly becomes one of the smaller concerns.
18. Captain Marvel
Carol Danvers can absorb energy, fire powerful blasts, and fly through incredibly durable objects without slowing down much. Those abilities make her invaluable against alien invasions and cosmic threats, but they're not especially friendly to nearby infrastructure. A fight involving Captain Marvel can move across miles before anyone has time to calculate how many buildings were damaged along the way.
19. Black Bolt
Black Bolt has one of the worst possible powers for anyone hoping to keep property intact. His voice can release destructive energy on an enormous scale, meaning even a whisper can cause serious devastation. He spends much of his life remaining silent exactly for that reason.
The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek on Wikimedia
20. Booster Gold
Booster Gold isn't nearly as overwhelmingly powerful as several heroes on this list, but chaos seems remarkably good at finding him. His force fields, energy blasts, and futuristic technology allow him to handle major threats, although his showboating personality can make situations messier than necessary.
