Maxwell Lord - Powers

Powers

Maxwell Lord later in life was confirmed as a metahuman with the ability to telepathically influence peoples' minds. The extent of his abilities range from simple suggestion to outright commandeering of another's mind as seen with his complete possession of Superman where he was able to make the Man of Steel perform acts far outside of the range of his normal sensibilities. Lord's power is not of the "zombie" mind control variety, but rather the kind where the people affected go about their daily lives and are unaware of his influence. He also has the ability to influence more than one mind at a time and, at one point, had many people under his control. While the subject's will does factor in on how difficult it is to initially possess and maintain his control, so far no one has been able to avoid his influence for long. Lord's power not only affects the actions and predispositions of the victim, but also their perceptions of the world around them, such as in "Generation Lost" where even though Lord's rap sheet is displayed in front of someone, they would see something else, like a list of random people named Maxwell Lord in the world. It is not at this time known how his power works after the fact, such as whether it works like a post-hypnotic suggestion or if he maintains some continuous, secondary hold on all his "possessions", but in "Generation Lost" #10 (2010) just as Batman, his butler, Alfred, and Power Girl were starting to become aware that something was wrong with their memories and perceptions (and of Lord's existence) and were about to start an investigation, the possession took hold again and they forgot everything they were talking about. Seeing as how, generally, the rule of thumb is that once someone becomes aware of being controlled, that control is usually broken, this should show just how powerful Lord actually is. The main drawback to using his power is that the bigger the "push", as he calls his possessions, the more strain and toll it takes on his body. The most common reaction to a big "push" is a nosebleed with other secondary effects including a rapid elevation of body temperature, weakness and possible unconsciousness (apparently, once the "push" has taken hold, he still holds possession even while unconscious). Also, with a big enough "push", there is the possibility of a fatal hemorrhage. In Brightest Day #1 (after being resurrected), he is seen in hiding, preparing for his "Biggest push yet" - a long-lasting alteration of the memories of everyone on Earth so that they think he never existed - and has equipped the room with bio-monitors, a large tub of ice to cool his body down and a transfusion machine stocked with his own blood to replace what he would lose from such a venture. This worldwide "push" was successful and, as a consequence, caused him to hemorrhage with blood flying out of his nose and ears and then pass out in the tub of ice showing just how powerful he is and the kind of toll it takes on his body. Lastly, it is not known if such strains on his body will have any lasting, long-term effects, but as of now he has learned to safeguard his body against such damage at least in the short term with such medical preparation. Like several others resurrected and featured in "Brightest Day", his powers are shown to be somehow tainted by the Black Lantern (in Justice League: Generation Lost #4, Lord attempts to use his power on a scientist but not only does it kill the man but his corpse becomes a Black Lantern). Lord suffers a black nosebleed as he moans about this happening again. This aspect has yet to resurface and since having his life fully restored by the White Lantern, it is possible it never will.