Superman has many great foes, including lots from different planets, bringing with them their unique super powers and abilities. It makes sense that people like Darkseid would be able to defeat him, but people often overlook the mere mortals that have been able to take him down in the past. So today we will be going over those mortals.
#10 Professor Ivo
Professor Ivo is one of DC Comics greatest minds. He is not very known, but he is mainly known for creating the android Amazo. Amazo has the ability to imitate the powers of the Justice League members and has proven to be a major problem for the league over the years. Amazo has been able to take down the whole Justice League, including Superman. Even though Ivo is not doing the dirty work here, he is still the genius that created something so capable of hurting Superman, which is why he is on this list.
#9 Muhammed Ali
At first glance, this does not seem like a fair fight. A boxer vs. an almighty alien with a multitude of powers including superstrength, but however before the fight Superman was drained of his powers so that it could be fair. And all of a sudden Ali did not seem like a longshot. After a couple rounds they were going hand and hand and Clark was able to hold his own without having his powers. Eventually though, Ali’s skills took over and he was able to knock Superman out, being one of the few mere mortals to take down Superman.
#8 Maxwell Lord
Maxwell Lord was not completely “mortal”,but he was able to take down Superman without any super strength or speed. During the end of the Infinite Crisis even, Maxwell Lord was shown to be a traitor to the Justice League. As part of his evil plan he used his limited abilities to mind control Superman causing him to be completely overpowered and at will to do anything Maxwell Lord wanted him to do. Wonder Woman was forced to kill Lord in order to free Superman from his mind control. Although Superman was never “taken down” this is still a defeat for him because his mind was completely taken control of.
#7 Green Arrow
Oliver Queen is yet to come up against the Man of Steel one on one, but has been part of many battles that have taken down Superman. In The Dark Knight Returns many people think this is a story of Batman taking down Superman, but if it was not for the Green Arrow and his kryptonite arrows, along with a shot that very few can make, then Batman would not have been able to defeat him. Green Arrow was also given a weapon from Martian Manhunter, that based on his description alone, is a weapon to kill gods. This gives Oliver what he needs to certainly be able to take down Superman if he has too.
#6 Alfred Pennyworth
Although Alfred is a lot tougher than he seems, it is still shocking to think he can take someone down like Superman, but he did just that in the Injustice comics. After Alfred took a pill that gave him superhuman abilities for a short time, he beat Superman to stop him from trying to kill Batman. Alfred did not just subdue Superman, but actually gave him a rather humiliating beating and not just that, but actually gave him a lecture after it. Alfred is not one of the most skilled combatants, but it is still comforting seeing him take down Superman here.
#5 Harley Quinn
In Harley’s Little Black Book, Harley is reminiscing about the time that she even knocked Superman out cold. But, suspiciously, the fight seems a lot like Superman's fight with Muhammed Ali. Even though this story is just for fun and not even canon it is still nice to think that someone like Harley Quinn can take down Superman. We still do not know if this fight even happened, but Harley seems to think so, so that is enough for us to put it on this list.
#4 Ra’s Al Ghul
Ra’s Al Ghul is known for using the Lazarus Pit to heal himself and prolong his life, but this does not give him any superhuman fighting abilities, so he is still considered a mere human. Ra’s is a great threat to many, especially Batman, because he is just as smart as him. Batman was one that would always think ahead and be prepared so he had contingency plans against all his fellow Justice League members in case any of them decided to fight against them. Ra’s found this out and found the plans and with them he was not just able to defeat The Flash or Wonder Woman, which on their own would be huge feats, but he was able to take down the whole Justice League. Superman was unable to do anything as he was affected by Red Kryptonite that Batman had engineered in case of needing to subdue his friend.
#3 Lex Luthor
Now with the mention of Superman there is one villain that will most likely come straight into everyone's mind. Lex Luthor. Now Lex Luthor and Superman have been enemies pretty much since the beginning and have gone up against each other many times. Being great enemies, Lex has done many terrible things to Superman and sometimes has even beat him. Due to all of their conflicts and Lex’s great mind he has been able to come up with great inventions capable of killing Superman and has been the closest to doing it, which is why he is his greatest enemy.
#2 Joker
Even though The Joker is best known for being Batman’s greatest nemesis, he has had many run ins with the Man of Steel, and even defeated him on many of these occasions. Probably the most famous of his victories over Superman, was in the injustice storyline, where The Joker was able to trick Superman into killing his beloved Lois Lane. When this happened it also set off a bomb in Metropolis, killing many people and causing everything that Superman worked so hard to protect to be destroyed by his own hand. This broke Superman so much that he straight up killed The Joker, which goes against every moral code Superman lives by. So although The Joker lost his life and Superman was still living, this is seen as a victory for Joker because he was able to completely break Superman.
#1 Batman
With the mention of Superman being here, there is one hero that will come to no shock to see on here, and that would be Batman. Superman and Batman have been good partners much throughout the comics, but have also had their fair share of fights and arguments. The most crucial one, in fact, comes from the movie Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Although Bruce Wayne did need to make some heavy duty armor and use kryptonite to subdue Superman, it was still a tough fight. Although in the end Batman was the victor, as Superman was at the mercy of him with a kryptonite spear pointed straight at his throat.
Who do you guys think the best "mortal" to defeat Superman was? What was your favorite storyline? Let me know!