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Superman is an undisputed icon. He’s DC’s greatest hero and one of the first costumed superheroes in existence. For years, Superman has been fighting the good fight, both on his own and with other heroes. He’s faced down the worst the Multiverse can throw at him and always comes back for more. When most people think of Superman, they think of the most powerful hero winning the biggest fights, but he does have failures.
Some of these failures are greater than others. Superman is a great hero but even he is fallible, and there have been some losses that hurt him more than most.
10 Every Time He Can’t Save Someone, It’s A Massive Failure To Superman
Superman’s whole schtick is saving the day. He lives to help others, flitting across the world to save lives in every disaster he can get to in time. However, as fast as Superman is, he can’t be everywhere at once and people do die on his watch. The worst part about that is that his super senses let him hear every time he can’t save someone.
To Superman, not being able to save a life is one of the worst things he can imagine. Superman was taught to do everything he could to save the people with less power than him and every time he fails at that, it’s a knife through his heart.
9 He’s Never Been Able To Get Through To Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor and Superman have been fighting for years. While it’s accurate to call them worst enemies, they each perceive the other differently. Lex Luthor hates Superman and wants to destroy him. Superman doesn’t hate Lex at all and wishes that he would use his intellect to help the world. Many times over the years, Superman has tried to get through to Lex and every time, Lex has chosen violence.
Superman understands that if Lex gave up his hatred, they could work together and make the world a better place. The fact that he can never make Lex see reason is something that wears at Superman every time one of Lex’s schemes hurts an innocent person.
8 Superman Blames Mongul’s Various Rampages Through The Stars On Himself
Over the years, there have been more than one Mongul but they all have one thing in common: an unquenchable thirst for violence and destruction. Using Warworld, the Monguls have traveled the cosmos, enslaving and destroying everything in their path. Superman has battled them many times but has never actually stopped them.
Superman and the Authority have gotten serious about trying to take down Warworld, all because of Superman’s sorrow over not getting serious about it in the past. Every time he thought Mongul was beaten, the alien conqueror always came back and wreaked more havoc.
7 He Was Never Able To Undo Brainiac’s Shrinking Of Kandor
Brainiac is an apex cosmic predator, traveling the stars in a quest to learn everything. His way of doing it is genocidal, though, as he steals a city from a planet before destroying the entire solar system by detonating its primary star. Superman has stopped him many times but Brainiac owns a win over Superman that always gnawed at the Man of Steel.
Brainiac attacked Kandor and shrank the Kryptonian city. Eventually, Superman was able to save the city from the alien but never was able to restore it to full size. Brainiac has always lorded that over Superman and it’s a failure that Superman was never able to rectify.
6 He Blames Himself For Everything That Happened To Jon In The Multiverse
Superman and Lois’ son, Jon, has been through a lot of changes since his debut. The biggest is being lost in the Multiverse for years after leaving Earth with his mother and grandfather Jor-El. When he reappeared, he was a teenager, having aged since the last time his father and mother saw him. While the situation wasn’t completely Superman’s fault, he still blames himself for it.
Superman is all about responsibility, so any time he doesn’t foresee an eventuality and it hurts someone he loves, he blames himself. Jon was tormented for years on Earth-3 and Superman blames himself for not being there to save his son from Ultraman.
5 He Was Unable To Save His Father In Multiple Continuities
Superman is an amazing role model and the main reason for that is Ma and Pa Kent. Superman loves his parents more than just about anything but over the years, DC has gone back and forth on whether they were alive in the present in their various continuity changes. Sometimes, they’re dead before he becomes Superman, and other times, they aren’t.
When they aren’t, sometimes writers have Pa Kent having a heart attack and Superman hearing it but being unable to stop it. It’s always heartbreaking for the Man of Steel, as he has to choose not to save the man who raised him.
4 He Was Unable To Prevent A Bomb Going Off In The Daily Planet Offices During Final Crisis
Final Crisis was sold as the day evil won and the story did its best to live up to that tag line. At one point, the Legion of Doom, led by the sentient embodiment of the Anti-Life Equation Libra, enacted various attacks against the heroes. One of them hit Superman where he worked, as a bomb was planted in the Daily Planet offices.
Lois was gravely injured in the blast and Superman was unable to save her. He stayed by her side in the hospital as the world fell apart around him, until he was given a chance to save her by going on a quest with the Monitors. He may have saved her but his failure to keep her from injury is one of his worst.
3 His Failure Of Leadership Leading Up To Infinite Crisis Caused A Lot Of Problems
Infinite Crisis was the sequel to Crisis On Infinite Earths and the lead-up to the story saw the greatest heroes of the DC Universe failing at every turn. Wonder Woman killed Maxwell Lord to stop a mind-controlled Superman, Batman created a satellite system that gained sentience and set out to destroy the superheroes, and Superman basically abandoned everyone, not guiding them as he once did.
Superman is looked up to by all of the heroes of the Earth, so when he doesn’t lead, they often flail around. Superman’s failure to lead the heroes allowed Alexander Luthor’s plans to get much farther than they should have.
2 Rogol Zaar’s Destruction Of Kandor Devastated Superman
Brian Michael Bendis’ Superman run had its ups and downs. Kicked off by Man Of Steel, Superman battled new villain Rogol Zaar and Zaar dominated the Man of Steel every time they fought. He was able to break into the Fortress of Solitude and did something to Superman that devastated him in a way few other things have.
Zaar destroyed the bottle city of Kandor, trying to finish the job he started when he destroyed Krypton in the past. Superman’s inability to restore the city to full size was bad enough, but not being able to protect it was a bigger failure even than that.
1 Superman’s Death Led To Cyborg Superman’s Destruction Of Coast City
The Death Of Superman is a classic. Superman battled Doomsday to save Metropolis and both of them died. It was a monumental moment, and while Superman died with no regrets, he would come to perceive his death as one of his greatest failures. It led to Hank Henshaw becoming the Cyborg Superman, fooling everyone, and then destroying Coast City.
Had Superman survived, millions of lives would have been saved. He was powerless to stop the Cyborg Superman because of how long it took him to regain his full powers, something that only happened because of his death.
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