His costume and demeanour made him seem like a joke, but Captain Incredible was a powerhouse robot from the future who had more power — and powers — than Superman. If not for a fatal flaw in his programming, the boxer-sporting buffoon would have been a fine partner to Superman.
History
Captain Incredible appeared in Metropolis suddenly, and not only saved Superman from death-by-Kryptonite, but captured Lex Luthor using powers that Superman did not possess. And every emergency that Superman responded to; the Captain responded faster until Superman — and the Daily Planet — began to question if the Man of Steel was washed-up.
Soon, Captain Incredible's attitude changed and he tried to kill Superman, using enough raw power that Superman felt his blows and fled through the Time Barrier to where Captain Incredible came from — the future. In the Metropolis of 2637, he found Dr. Dane Gnorr who explained that he had built the Incredible Robot to help his idol, Superman, but that breaking the Time Barrier must have reversed his programming, so that instead of helping Superman, he was trying to kill him.
Superman tricked the homicidal robot into following him into the future, where the trip through the Time Barrier restored his program. Despite being a machine, Captain Incredible seemed capable of feeling genuine remorse for his actions and looked forward to being disassembled, but Superman suggested that he remain in 2637. And with some reprogramming from Dr Gnorr, Captain Incredible became the Super Crime Fighter of 27th Century Metropolis.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Superhuman Strength: His punches can overcome Superman's invulnerability.
- Invulnerability: Captain Incredible is composed of a hardened endoskeleton covered in indestructible plastic skin. He mockingly accused Superman of getting his fists from a marshmallow factory.
- Superhuman Speed: His speed of thought, motion and reflexes are faster than Superman.
- Flight: Captain Incredible can out-fly Superman; and has the power to break the Time Barrier.
- Heat Vision
- Super Hearing
- Paralysis Vision: His eyes are equipped with a ray that paralyses human beings within his sight. It is unknown if Incredible can paralyse Superman.
- Atomic Breath: Captain Incredible can exhale some form of atomic force that disintegrates most matter, with the exception of Superman and his costume.
Weaknesses
- Incredible's programming is vulnerable to the shock of traveling through the Time Barrier.
Notes
- This version of Captain Incredible, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022–2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
Related
- 1 Appearances of Captain Incredible (Earth-One)
- 1 Images featuring Captain Incredible (Earth-One)
- Quotations by or about Captain Incredible (Earth-One)
- Character Gallery: Captain Incredible (Earth-One)
Footnotes