Everyone knows the likes of DC comic book greats like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman, but there are also less mainstream superheroes who are downright odd. That's even going beyond the likes of Aquaman and the characters from The Suicide Squad. While DC comics have created some of the most iconic superheroes of all time, they have also made some of the weirdest.
With The Suicide Squad finally giving some of DC's not-so-finest a chance to shine, it is a good time to look at some of the strangest superheroes that have graced the pages over the years. From window-wielding vigilantes to inanimate objects, DC is home to plenty of strange heroes.
Color Kid
Color Kid is an alien who was granted the unique ability to change the electromagnetic properties of any object he wants. This sounds like a pretty amazing ability on paper, but what it boils down to is that he can change the color of whatever he chooses.
A clever person could definitely find uses for this power, whether it be for camouflage or mind games on enemies, but when there are other superheroes that can lift entire buildings or create objects from pure will, changing colors just doesn't quite measure up. In fact, Color Kid was actually denied hip in the Legion of Superheroes because they couldn't find any practical uses for his power.
Stone Boy
Like Color Kid, Stone Boy's powers seem great on paper, but fall a bit flat in the execution. As the name implies, Stone Boy has the ability to turn his body into solid stone at will. Unfortunately, while in his stone form he cannot move or fight, much like an actual stone.
Since using his powers essentially turn him into an inanimate object, Stone Boy was mostly used as a weapon by his teammates to drop on enemies or to distract them while the other heroes did the heavy lifting. He has since been given the ability to move in stone form, but for a while, Stone Boy was about as useful as a statue.
Leezle Pon
The Green Lantern Corps has been full of peculiar characters since its creation, from a squirrel to an entire planet, but the weirdest of them all has to be Leezle Pon. Leezle Pon is a sentient smallpox virus who has somehow become super intelligent and strong-willed enough to be granted a lantern ring.
The concept of a single celled organism becoming a galactic peace officer is already strange enough, but the fact that he is a literal disease complicates things even more. Pon is unable to attend meetings and can rarely work with others as he runs the risk of giving them smallpox. That's not to mention the fact that he is microscopic and his weakness is basic modern medicine.
The Defenestrator
Most DC characters have used some bizarre weapons over the years, from power rings to freeze rays to boomerangs, but a window somehow manages to be one of the strangest. Yet for some reason that is the weapon of choice for the mysterious Defenestrator.
A member of the superhero team Section 8, which was meant to be full of outlandish characters, Defenestrator was one of the weirdest. Little is revealed about him, and he seemingly has no powers outside of his habit of breaking windows over the heads of his enemies. He is killed very soon after his first appearance, but not before he has brought the pane to at least a few hapless foes.
Arm-Fall-Off Boy
Fans may recognize Arm-Fall-Off Boy's powers from Nathan Fillion's hilariously ineffective character T.D.K. in The Suicide Squad, but they might be surprised to learn that the movie actually boosted his power a few degrees. At their core, both characters have the ability to take their arms off to use as weapons.
Whereas T.D.K. could still control his limbs in the movie, Arm-Fall-Off Boy could not, and was limited to simply using them as blunt objects. While this could be useful for reaching things on high shelves, it isn't great for fighting crime. Arm-Fall-Off Boy even had an entire family of equally detachable heroes, sadly not referred to as "armed and dangerous."
Matter-Eater Lad
Matter-Eater Lad's powers are actually quite useful, but that does not make them any less bizarre. His abilities are pretty self-explanatory from the name, as he has evolved to be able to eat any type of matter in any form. This means he can devour solid rock, metal, or anything else he might fancy chowing down on.
Matter-Eater Lad has made limited appearances but has actually saved the entire universe on at least one occasion by eating the devastating Miracle Machine. He has the potential to be quite a powerful adversary but is just a little too strange to make the big time. Plus, his home planet is called Bismoll, which is fitting for an eating-themed superhero.
Brother Power the Geek
Where Stone Boy is a real person with the ability to turn into an inanimate object, Brother Power is somehow the exact opposite. Brother Power was a tailor shop mannequin who was brought to life and given superpowers by a bolt of lightning.
As if that wasn't already odd enough, Brother Power's adventures would only add to his bizarre legacy. ing up with a band of hippies after he was brought to life, Brother Power contended with biker gangs while trying to maintain his pacifist beliefs. He even ran for Congress, caught the ire of Ronald Reagan, and was launched into space before sacrificing himself to save a child.
Flex Mentallo
The Doom Patrol has seen no shortage of weird and just plain absurd characters, but Flex Mentallo almost takes the cake as the strangest. Flex Mentallo is a massively muscled superhero, but his powers surprisingly have nothing to do with super strength.
Instead, Flex can alter reality by flexing specific muscles in his body. There has been very little definition of what muscle triggers what effect when flexed, but Doom Patrol TV series, proving that there is a calling for his brand of super-powered body building.
Danny the Street
Another Doom Patrol character, Danny the Street almost makes Flex Mentallo seem normal in comparison. First and foremost, Danny the Street is in fact an actual street. Not a person, alien, robot, or mannequin but an actual paved, sentient street.
Danny is more of a presence than a true superhero, but they are bizarre enough and significant enough to still deserve recognition. Danny can insert themselves into any location they choose and become a part of the landscape. They can also interact with people through various displays along its road. As far as superheroes go, it doesn't get much more strange than a super-powered strip of asphalt.
Dog Welder
It is very difficult for any superhero to be weirder than the likes of a living mannequin or magic street, but somehow DC managed to pull it off with the Dog Welder. Another member of the dysfunctional Section 8 superhero team alongside the Defenestrator, Dog Welder lives up to his name by fighting crime via welding dogs to people's faces.
There is not much more to Dog Welder, as he never speaks or shows his face, but honestly, there is not much more that needs to be said. He is a superhero who welds dead dogs to people's faces, evidently just because he can. Like Defenestrator, Dog Welder was offed pretty quickly, but in an even stranger development was replaced by a second Dog Welder.