Powers and Abilities
Power Girl exhibits all of the classic Kryptonian powers of Superman: super strength; flight; super speed; invulnerability; x-ray, telescopic, microscopic and heat vision; freeze breath; and super-hearing as the biological cousin of Superman.
Over the years various writers have given Power Girl's Kryptonian power differing levels, reflecting the lower powers of the Earth-Two Superman Kal-L. For example, Power Girl can fly through space, but has to breathe, so before she leaves a planet, she must take a deep breath and hold it for several hours until she needs a new oxygen source. Power Girl needs to sleep or she will experience disorientation due to fatigue. However, as recently shown in "Brightest Day", she now draws her superpowers from yellow sunlight, just like Superman. The reason for this change has not yet been explained.
Since she is from an alternate universe (pre-Crisis Earth Two), Kryptonite has no effect on her (see 'Conflicts' below), but she is still vulnerable to magic. As Karen Starr, she is an accomplished business woman and is regarded by Mr. Terrific as a first rate scientist.
Although Power Girl is from an alternate universe, her biology is similar to Superman's. As one of a handful of characters who survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Power Girl's abilities have fluctuated since 1986. For some time, Power Girl believed she was an Atlantean. At one point, Power Girl possessed telekinesis; at another she was vulnerable to attacks by certain natural elements (for example, wooden weapons). After sustaining severe injuries from a magic attack Power Girl retained only a degree of super strength, speed and durability. However, she later recovered her ability to fly, and writers have gradually restored her superpowers.
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