One thing that has always set DC apart from its marvelous competition is that it embraced legacy to a greater extent. DC always had more young heroes and eventually, the oldest heroes started to have their own children. Younger heroes have grown up in front of readers’ eyes and taken on the mantles of their parents, some of whom have retired and others who have stayed around and continued fighting the good fight.
As in all things, not all fathers are created equal. Some legacy characters have fathers who are among the most powerful beings in the DC Multiverse. Others have fathers whose strengths go in different directions but are no less strong for it. Regardless, they’ve raised some of the most potent beings ever.
8 Jonathan Kent Taught Superman To Be The Hero He Is
Strength isn’t just about being the best fighter and Jonathan Kent is the perfect example of that. A simple Kansas farmer, he and his wife Martha discovered baby Kal-El and raised him as their own. Jonathan worked hard on the farm alongside his wife every day, instilling a love of hard work into their adopted son. Jonathan was the salt of the Earth and he taught young Clark to value the truth and always help those who needed it whenever he could.
Jonathan Kent’s strength was on the inside, and he imparted that to Clark. Sure, Superman is powerful, but it’s the lesson he learned from his father that truly makes him great. Jonathan showed Clark how he should look at the world and taught him what being good truly meant. Jonathan’s quiet strength and wisdom changed the world through his son Clark.
7 Thomas Wayne Was A Hero For Gotham Before His Son Ever Became Batman
Batman faces down the most dangerous threats in Gotham City, but his heroism wasn’t formed in a vacuum. Thomas Wayne may not have been a superhero outside the Flashpoint universe, but he was still a hero for Gotham. As a doctor, he helped everyone he could and used the Wayne fortune to help lift people out of poverty as much as possible. In a city of extreme corruption and vice, Thomas Wayne was a bastion of goodness.
The strength it took to stay clean and do everything he could to fight against the encroaching rot of the city was amazing. He set an example for his son that would transform him into Gotham’s greatest protector. The Flashpoint Thomas Wayne is a strong hero, his world’s more brutal equivalent to Bruce.
6 Jade And Obsidian’s Father Is The First Green Lantern Alan Scott, A Legend
Jade and Obsidian have had a long road through the superheroic community. The twins were given up for adoption and sent to separate families, eventually coming back together. They’d learn the truth of their parentage: that their father was the Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott, and join up with Infinity Inc., the team for the children of the Justice Society.
Scott is a legend in the superhero community. He was the second most powerful member of the Justice Society after the Spectre and one of the longest-serving members of the team, the Starheart which powered him transforming him into an ageless energy-based being. He’s still one of the most powerful heroes on the Earth, with the kind of amazing experience that few heroes can match.
5 Rick Tyler Took His Father’s Place As Hourman
The Justice Society has boasted some of the most powerful heroes of all time. One of the founding members of the group was chemist Rex Tyler, who created the drug Miraclo, which gave him super strength and durability for an hour. Joining the team as Hourman, he’d become a clutch member of the team. Unfortunately, Miraclo was highly addictive, and he’d struggled with it for years.
His son Rick would eventually take over as Hourman, following in his father’s footprints as both a hero and an addict. Eventually, Rex was able to make a non-addictive formulation of Miraclo and the two Tylers were able to beat their addictions and stay superheroes, with Rick upholding the family’s name on the Justice Society and marrying Jessie Quick, while Rex died and was eventually resurrected through temporal machinations put into place by the Hourman of the 853rd century.
4 Darkseid’s Father Yuga Khan Was The Previous God Of Evil
Jack Kirby’s New Gods saga was always a story about family. Darkseid and the Highfather’s war was fought by their children but the enmity of the New Gods didn’t begin in that generation. Darkseid was not the first God of Evil or ruler of Apokolips. That was his father Yuga Khan. Once known as Zonuz, he adopted the name and was the only being in the multiverse his son Darkseid feared.
Darkseid was able to depose Khan and the latter was trapped in the Promethean Galaxy for eons. Eventually reawakening, the massive god was a powerful force, eclipsing his son and challenging his power over Apokolips. Darkseid’s father was more powerful than he was, which is saying something.
3 Mister Miracle’s Father Is The Most Powerful God Of New Genesis Izaya The Highfather
Mister Miracle was traded to Apokolips by his father Izaya the Highfather as part of a peace deal between the dark world and New Genesis. Left in the Armaghetto under the not-so-tender ministrations of Granny Goodness, he learned to escape every trap ever and became one of the bravest gods in the DC Multiverse. Escaping Apokolips with his lover Big Barda, he made it to New Genesis where he rejoined his father.
The Highfather is the most powerful being on the planet of New Genesis. Able to tap into the Source, he is the spiritual opposite of Darkseid and though he rarely leaves New Genesis, he has the power to be a potent combatant and one of the most powerful beings in the Multiverse.
2 Orion Is The Son Of Darkseid
Orion got the better end of the peace deal than Mister Miracle. He was traded to New Genesis and was raised in the light of the New Gods. Becoming one of the most powerful soldiers on the planet, he was a major factor in the wars against the forces of his father Darkseid. While he never became the nicest person in the universe, in many ways still his father’s son, he’s become a great hero and is feared by all evil beings.
Darkseid is one of the deadliest villains in the universe and Orion gets his great power from him. Prophesied to destroy his father, Orion is superlatively powerful but in some ways, Darkseid is still his superior
1 Jon Kent Is The Son Of Superman
Jon Kent stepped into the shoes of his father and has been impressive. Raised by the Man of Steel and Lois Lane, Jon Kent was always destined to become a great hero but has surprised everyone with how great he truly is. He learned different lessons from each of his parents, but one thing they taught him was the same: to always fight for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.
Superman is the greatest hero on the planet Earth, the shining example for everyone who came after him. He passed on his Kryptonian powers to his son but also so much more. He taught him the same lessons he learned from Jonathan Kent and then some. Between what he learned from Superman and Lois Lane, Jon Kent has the potential to be one of the greatest heroes ever.
Read Next
About The Author
