The Powers And Abilities Of DC's Lobo Explained

When Lobo first appeared in 1983's Omega Men #3, few could have expected the long-term impact the bushy-haired anti-superhero would have among comic book enthusiasts. Created by Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen, Lobo has gone on to appear in hundreds of comics (including his own long-running series), animated TV shows/films, and even live-action (via TV's short-lived series "Krypton"). There was even a "Lobo" spin-off series in development, although that has since been canceled. 

Despite such popularity, Lobo isn't well known among casual audiences who don't know the difference between a Czarnian and a Kryptonian. With the new head of DC's cinematic universe James Gunn and "Aquaman" actor Jason Momoa teasing the appearance of the maniacal bounty hunter on the big screen, perhaps it's time to take a closer look at his extraordinary powers. Mighty, cunning, and packed with an unbelievable arsenal of powerful weapons, he's a formidable foe for anyone unfortunate enough to come across him.

Few beings in the galaxy can take on the Man of Steel, but Lobo ranks among them — depending on how the authors write him. 

Lobo started out as a relatively powerful being, but his powers have traditionally been either lessened or amplified depending on the storyline. Regardless, one of his greatest attributes is his super strength, which has allowed him to go toe-to-toe with Superman and other gifted heroes/villains in the past. Indeed, Lobo has battled Superman several times throughout his comics run, often drawing the ire of the blue Boy Scout due to his unpredictable nature. The outcomes typically favor Superman, depending on which comic book or TV show you read or watch, though it speaks volumes that Lobo can stand up to an all-powerful being like Kal-El and live to see another day. He's even been shown to be more powerful than all of the Lanterns combined.

According to Comic Vine, Lobo is strong enough to lift over 100 tons. He beat up Shazam, Green Lantern, and a bunch of Imps in the Fifth Dimension. Lobo even challenged the super-powered villain Darkseid in the "Injustice" comic book series and survived.

Perhaps Lobo's greatest attribute lies in his ability to regenerate at an amazing rate. In fact, the comics have established that a single remaining drop of blood is all it takes for the so-called "Main Man" to heal himself completely, which means the only way to destroy him is to completely vaporize his body — a tactic actually employed by the Man of Steel.

In the comic series "Injustice," Lobo is hired by Darkseid to kill Superman. The crazed bounty hunter heads to Earth and tosses a building at the Man of Steel to get his attention. Superman then grabs Lobo and flies him close to the sun, which is enough to make Lobo stand down. Few of his enemies possess Superman's strength and skill, but he can get away with losing a battle, so long as there's enough left over for his body to regenerate. 

This power was seen in live action on the series "Krypton," which had Lobo (played by Emmett J. Scanlan) passing through a force field by regenerating from a severed limb. It's all kinds of weird — but then again, so is Lobo.

Lobo is immortal. No, really. Even if Superman or Darkseid vanquished Lobo completely, he would return. How? According to the comics, heaven and hell banned Lobo from returning due to his reckless nature. A decree enforcing this rule states: "Under NO conditions is the individual known as Lobo to be collected. His file has been categorized as "Untouchable," pursuant to Clause 27-C, Paragraph 7: i-xiv of the Immortality Brief of 12 B.C. Thank you for your kind cooperation in this matter." The letter is signed "Derek" and CC'd to "All Level-1 Gods, Goddesses, Devils, and Death."

One could eradicate Lobo, but he would return time and time, as Lobo cannot grow old. In fact, according to lore, he can only die at the hands of another Czarnian. But, of course, that will not happen anytime soon, as Lobo killed off his people because he thought they were lame. So basically, this man cannot die. 

In other words, steer clear of the Main Man unless you're prepared to fight for a long, long time.  

Lobo also has a supernatural ability to fight for prolonged periods without rest. During his bloody battle with ole St. Nick himself, Santa Claus, in the famous (and morbidly absurd) "Paramilitary Christmas Special," Lobo takes a licking and keeps on ticking. In his first solo outing in the New 52 series, titled "Lobo Vol.1 – Targets," by Cullen Bunn, the Main Man takes on eight assassins with various abilities and wins; take that, John Wick.

Lobo can also withstand a pretty good beating from powerful foes, including Devastator — the moniker given to Batman when he turned himself into Doomsday — who spends a good deal of time bashing the riotous anti-superhero before tossing him into the sun. 

But despite his supercharged abilities, Lobo once fought and lost to Harley Quinn in relatively quick fashion during the "Injustice" comic series. Granted, Harley had just ingested a pill developed by Lex Luthor, giving her superpowers. Joker's right-hand gal then easily ripped off Lobo's head and claimed victory.

Unusually, Lobo's powers also consist of something called "Toon Force," an unnatural ability to manipulate the universe to a comical degree. If you've ever watched a cartoon and witnessed a character like Bug Bunny get beaten, shot, stabbed, poisoned, blown up, or dropped off a cliff only to return without a scratch, you've seen Toon Force. 

In that regard, Lobo has been punched into space by Superman, eradicated by Darkseid, and vaporized by the Justice League. Still, he manages to shake off his injuries and continue fighting. At one point, Lobo even took an entire city, crumpled it in his hands, and ate it. This moment was played for laughs, marking one of the many reasons Lobo is an unusual character with an unusual tone.

The only way to beat a character with Toon Force, according to a theory on Reddit, is to be funnier than them. The theory posits that a personality like Bug Bunny cannot die unless the result of his death evokes laughs. In 1957's "What's Opera, Doc?" Elmer Fudd seemingly kills Bugs, but the rascally rabbit survives because that's funnier than the alternative. In that same year's "Show Biz Bugs," Daffy Duck kills himself to get audience approval — and stays dead. So, to get around Lobo's insanely overpowered self, one needs to be funnier than him — which is, admittedly, hard to do. 

Lobo may come across as a dumb brute who often drinks himself into a stupor before picking fights with all the wrong people. Yet, there's plenty of reason to assume he possesses a sharp intellect on par with Batman. One of the best examples of Lobo using his brain to achieve his goals is when he murdered his entire race at 17, mostly out of boredom. Since Czarnians can regenerate at an alarming rate (and clone themselves if need be), Lobo developed a scorpion-like insect that negated their superpower. He unleashed the insects on his race and watched all five billion of them suffer for multiple days while he "got drunk an' played thrash-metal guitar." 

If that weren't enough, Lobo built a napalm bomb at the age of five, can speak 17,897 languages, is adept at physics, and can craft weapons capable of binding the likes of Deadman. So, while Lobo's name means "one who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it," he still packs enough smarts to function as more than a dumb, short-tempered, space-traveling brute. 

Is Lobo the most powerful force in all of comics? After all, he can't die, is all but invulnerable, possesses a sharp intellect, and is crazy enough to battle DC's most powerful characters. Well, there's more. Lobo also has super senses that combine to make him an extraordinary bounty hunter. He can track his prey from across the galaxy by scent, hear things others can't, and sense the weak spots in all his opponents. 

Of course, these senses vary from writer to writer, but Lobo is only as strong as the story requires. Occasionally he's not much stronger than an everyday man; other times, he boasts the strength of the gods, often to a comical degree. 

This is because Roger Slifer and Keith Giffen created Lobo as a one-off character, but ultimately continued to use him throughout the '80s. Then, with the help of Alan Grant and Simon Bisley, Lobo morphed into a parody of Wolverine, The Punisher, and other dark and gritty characters that became popular in the late '80s and early '90s. Lobo's powers are ludicrous, but that's the point: He represents the extreme comic book character. 

Should Lobo find that his body is too damaged to continue fighting, he can choose to leave it for a time. Then, once the corpse regenerates and heals itself, he can return. In addition to this extraordinary power, Lobo may also elect to possess someone else's body. This ability directly results from his soul's banishment from heaven and hell — if he dies, his spirit has nowhere to go and is therefore stuck floating around in temporal space.

In this state, Lobo cannot harm his physical enemies, but may attack and destroy other spirits. You can see why heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern consider Lobo a nuisance. His foes can't kill him, so they must keep fighting the Main Man until he grows bored enough to pursue another target. Or, until he takes a vow not to fight, as he did when he took on the mantle of Archbishop in the First Celestial Church of the Triple Fish-God. Unfortunately, that only happens once in a millennia.

Lobo is very effective as a fighter, but that doesn't deter the Main Man from wielding an assortment of wild goodies during his otherworldly smackdowns. While the famed bounty hunter enjoys using guns, lasers, frag grenades, and the like, his signature weapon remains a massive hook attached to an extremely long chain. The bastich utilizes this weapon throughout the comics, though its appearance changes depending on the artist. In the animated series "Young Justice," the hook springs from a gun-like device that Lobo holsters on his back, as seen in this clip, while other iterations depict the weapon as a literal hook on a chain that the villainous bounty hunter swings like a lasso. You can see the powerful tool in action in the "Injustice: Gods Among Us" video game.  

That's not all. The Main Man also boasts a rugged, double-barreled sawed-off shotgun so extreme it holds nuclear-charged slugs instead of regular shells. Lobo also packs a mixture of outlandish alien weaponry capable of inflicting maximum damage on his foes.   

No matter which iteration of Lobo appears, you can almost certainly bet the Main Man will have his trusty Spacehog in tow. The powerful Hell's Angels-styled motorcycle capably transports the bounty hunter across the galaxy, fires missiles, and stores some of his most potent weapons. The bike instantaneously goes from zero to 60 miles per hour and can reach a top speed of several million kays per minute — yes, that's extremely fast. In various mediums, including the animated "Superman" series and "LEGO DC Super-Villains," the bike is depicted with a skull mounted on the front. Other iterations feature an assortment of weaponry, including missiles, machine guns, and even a cigar holder. 

Fittingly, Lobo made his first comic book appearance on his bike when he was just a silly-looking purple-haired alien bounty hunter doing bounty hunter things. Since then, his trusty vehicle has accompanied him everywhere and often aids in the capture of his enemies and victims.  

Lobo is already powerful, but that didn't stop DC from gifting the Main Man with an even greater weapon: a Red Lantern Ring. In "Green Lantern Brightest Day," Hal Jordan and Co. endure a rough bout against a Red Lantern villain known as Atrocitus. Lobo appears, causes some destruction, fights a few people, and then promptly leaves. Later, readers learn that Atrocitus and Lobo are working together. As payment for his help, Atrocitus gifts Lobo a Red Lantern Ring, which makes him all the more mighty, right?

Consider that Lobo once used a Green Lantern Ring in the comic "Injustice 2" to increase the size of a certain appendage before using it to stab Atrocitus. Imagine what the Main Man could do with a ring powered by the red light of hate. Intriguingly, Lobo has yet to use the Red Ring, but keeps it on his person at all times. In fact, in the "Injustice" video game, the bit of jewelry is listed among his artifacts.