Powers and Abilities
Since exposure to an unusual radiation generated by a crashed meteor, Savage has been functionally immortal, remaining unaged for over fifty thousand years and possessing a degree of enhanced healing, although this ability is intermittently portrayed between allowing him to recover from any injuries sustained to just allowing him to survive anything that might kill him; he is even capable of getting drunk like any normal human. After discovering the meteor, the radiation surrounding the meteor not only gave Savage immortality, but slightly increased strength, stamina, and speed. Also the effects would change and alter Savage’s brain functioning into a unique state of development that instantly surpassed the Cro-Magnon stage. Because of this, Savage has a body that is mysteriously invulnerable to age, disease, and fatigue. Even though this form of immortality causes Savage to be invulnerable to internal damage of bodily functions, Savage is still vulnerable to external damage. Meaning that if stabbed, burned, or dismembered, Savage’s body would be incapable of healing from the damage. Yet Savage has developed a strong adaptation to the feeling of pain and endurance after taking such damage. His long life span has allowed him to gain a broad range of knowledge in a variety of fields, as well as granting him a great deal of influence over the world in general and the villain community in particular. Since a recent experience when he was trapped on an asteroid, Savage's immortality has been weakened, forcing him to cannibalize his own children and clones to try and replenish his energy.
Recent stories have revealed that Savage was suffering from cancer when he acquired his immortality. As a result, while the cancerous cells in his body naturally cannot kill him, they cause him intermittent pain throughout his life, Savage being unable to have them removed as they are considered to be as much a part of his body as his healthy tissue.
Vandal Savage is stated to be Cain, the first murderer himself, and as such he may be as old as the entire human race. He briefly wore the Mark of Cain, a metaphysical scarring with a cross pattern disfiguring his face, until he passed it to Renee Montoya. Though the mark can be suppressed by willpower and by the recognition of one's shortcomings and flaws, Vandal Savage never realized it, instead trying to force the mark on other people.
Read more about this topic: Vandal Savage
Famous quotes containing the words powers and/or abilities:
“Whenever any form of government shall become destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, & to institute new government, laying it’s foundation on such principles & organising it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety & happiness.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents. A person who has for untold centuries maintained the imposing position of spiritual head of four-fifths of the human race, and political head of the whole of it, must be granted the possession of executive abilities of the loftiest order.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)