Lobo (DC Comics) - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Lobo possesses extraordinary strength of undefined limits. His strength, much like his other powers, varies greatly depending upon different artistic interpretations of various comic book writers. In some instances, he is depicted as being barely stronger than a human while, in others, he demonstrates physical strength on a similar level to Superman. Lobo also possesses superhuman durability, which varies greatly as well. Lobo is depicted, in some situations, as being injured by conventional bullets while, in other situations, he has the physical resiliency to stand toe to toe with Superman, survive unprotected in deep space, and withstand powerful explosive blasts without sustaining injury. He has displayed particular susceptibility to gaseous chemicals. In one instance, Lobo was declared immortal because after he died and went to hell, he proved too much for the demons of hell and when he was sent to heaven instead; Lobo wreaked so much havoc that he was permanently banished from the afterlife.

In all comic books, Lobo is portrayed as a ruthless bounty hunter. He only has one rule, once he takes a contract out on someone; he finishes it no matter what. Even if it means risking his own life.

If Lobo sustains injury, his accelerated healing factor enables him to regenerate damaged or destroyed tissue with superhuman speed and efficiency, and little apparent pain. Lobo also is functionally immortal. He is immune to the effects of aging and disease and he has been banned from entering either Heaven or Hell. As such, even though he can sustain sufficient injury to be out of commission for quite some time, he will apparently heal from any injury, given sufficient time. For instance, Lobo can regenerate out of a pool of his own blood, apparently recycling the cells. At one time, Lobo could grow a copy of himself, possessing all of his skills and powers, out of every drop of his blood that was spilled. This power was removed by Vril Dox, during Lobo's time with L.E.G.I.O.N., but Lobo has apparently regained it, as seen during the series Young Justice, in which Lobo who was de-aged by Klarion the Witch Boy, is slaughtered while on a mission to Apokolips. His blood reforms into thousands of Lobo clones who wage war on the planet and then proceed to murder each other until only one Lobo (the current one) is left. One of his other clones Slo-Bo survived, but later began to fall apart until being dealt with by Darkseid. In 52, he again regenerates from a pool of blood but no clones are created so he no longer appears to retain this ability.

Lobo possesses an amazingly developed sense of smell, which allows him to track objects between solar systems, as well as a separate tracking ability enabling him to track an individual across galactic distances.

Lobo is a formidable combatant with expertise in multiple forms of armed and unarmed combat. His favorite weapon is a large titanium alloy chain he keeps wrapped around his right wrist with a large gutting hook connected at the end, which he typically uses in hand to hand combat. At times, he also uses high-grade explosives and advanced firearms.

Despite his violent and loutish nature, Lobo seems to have a genius-level intellect in matters of destruction and violence. He can create complex virulent agents and the necessary antidotes to them such as the one he released on Czarnia during his formative years on a science project, resulting in the deaths of the entire population in the span of one week. His vehicle often accompanying him, some sort of space-faring motorcycle (the "Space Hog"), is of his own design and it is capable of extended and speedy travel throughout space despite its size. Further, it protects those in its immediate vicinity from the hazards of space and somehow permits the ability to breathe and speak. He was also able to scavenge parts from a destroyed time hopper and attach them to his own bike, producing a working time machine. Another feat is that Lobo is fluent in many alien languages (according to Lobo, 17,897 to be exact) and extremely knowledgeable in the locations and cultures of worlds without use of some external mechanism.

It is not fully known the extent to which his powers are common for his race or unique to him. In the miniseries The Last Czarnian and elsewhere, it is stated that the cloning and healing abilities are traits possessed by all Czarnians, as is the apparent ability to survive in the vacuum of space.