Superpower Generator

Superpowers in comics tend to fall into a few families. The classic Golden and Silver Age set is broad and simple: flight, super strength, invulnerability, speed, and heat vision. The X-Men era added -kinesis powers (pyrokinesis, telekinesis, cryokinesis) built from Greek roots, and modern shows like My Hero Academia and Heroes pushed toward narrow, specific abilities with visible drawbacks: rewind ten seconds, teleport only to places you have slept, grow stronger the more injured you are. Those constrained powers are usually the most interesting to write because the limit forces clever use.

When naming a power, the convention is either a Greek or Latin compound (aerokinesis, omnilingualism, technopathy) or a plain descriptive phrase (Sonic Scream, Living Shadow, Danger Sense). Both appear in this list. The long-form entries include the limitation in the name itself, which is a handy way to brainstorm: the restriction is often the seed of an entire character arc.

Use the list to roll a random power for a superhero OC, hand out abilities in a Masks, Mutants & Masterminds, or Sentinel Comics session, or grab a prompt for a short story. Rolling two powers and forcing them to coexist ('Living Shadow' plus 'Never Get Cold') is a quick way to get something that does not feel like a rerun.