Mister Mxyzptlk - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Mr. Mxyzptlk has access to Fifth Dimensional technology that appears to be magical to Third Dimensional beings. His abilities are limited only by his willpower (he could, for example, make Superman morbidly obese by snapping his fingers). His only apparent weakness is that whenever he speaks his name backwards, he is shunted back to the Fifth Dimension, and all effects of his "magic" vanish, making everything as it was before he appeared. Although Mxyzptlk's gullible nature often makes it easy for Superman or other individuals to trick him into saying his name backwards, it is only a temporary deterrent; after ninety days, he can again visit Earth at will.

Though easily the most powerful of Superman's recurring enemies, Mxyzptlk is simply a fun-loving prankster who prefers to use his power for childish antics and light-hearted harassment rather than intentional malicious evil, as he would get bored very quickly by doing so; thus he is more of an annoyance to the Man of Steel than a true threat.

Paradoxically, Mxyzptlk (at least in his pre-Crisis persona) is actually somewhat protective of Superman because, in his opinion, Superman's generally serious demeanor makes him an exceptionally entertaining target for pranks. For example, in DC Comics Presents #34 (June 1981), Mxyzptlk, prompted by his endless search for distraction, teams up with Captain Marvel's archenemy Mister Mind to double-team their foes, not realizing that Mind, unlike himself, is a ruthless murderer. When Mind threatens their enemies with death, Mxyzptlk, who until that point was mostly indifferent to Mind's intent on world conquest, emphatically declares, "Superman lives, or I want out!" When Mind, deeming Mxyzptlk no longer necessary to his scheme, threatens the imp, Mxyzptlk voluntarily says his name backwards, shunting himself back to the Fifth Dimension and undoing everything he had done to help Mind thus far.

Though the exact limits of Mr. Mxyzptlk's powers are unknown, his power apparently dwarfs that of even third-dimension cosmic beings. During Grant Morrison's Justice League run, the higher-dimensional nature of Mxyzptlk's fellow genies was played to its logical conclusion of possessing power 'two degrees of infinity' higher than any normal beings; Qwsp refers to himself as encompassing both time and hypertime in addition to our spatial dimensions, and another djinn named Lkz overcame and imprisoned the hostless Spectre without apparent trouble. Later, during the Emperor Joker storyline, this is expanded upon: the Joker, possessing the same powers, is able to unweave the very fabric and laws of the cosmos, and render the less powerful than normal Hal Jordan Spectre into a deranged puppet, Mxyzptlk explaining that he has the power to do what the Joker is doing to the world but never uses it because he would run the risk of destroying reality from the strain he would be subjecting it to and thus leave himself with nothing to do the next day. In the Day of Vengeance miniseries, the Spectre easily overpowered Jakeem Thunder and his 5th dimension genie, Thunderbolt. However, the Thunderbolt is limited by its masters ability to verbally frame a wish. Also as seen in the an issue of Adventures of Superman during the Ruin story line, Mr. Mxyzptlk's was weakened because of the Spectre's attempt to destroy magic, so much so that he could not remember how to say his name backwards to go back to the 5th Dimension.

Also, Annataz Arataz was able to prevent Mxyzptlk from using his powers while Superboy-Prime's prisoner, preventing the imp from escaping (Prime himself being immune to all magic). Though Zatanna of the normal DC Universe was shown to have been equal to Zor, the Rogue Time Tailor during Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory (Zor being an entity capable of bending space and time with magic). The 5th and 6th dimension beings' power levels have not yet been fully explained.

A point as to the nature of Mr. Mxyzptlk has been raised in Batman #680. Batman asks his 5th Dimension counterpart, Bat-Mite, if he is really an imp from the 5th Dimension or just a figment of his imagination. Bat-Mite responds that the two are one and the same: the 5th Dimension is imagination.