7 Best New Power-Ups Introduced in DC K.O.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Most combatants in the DC K.O. tournament relegate themselves to using power-ups from their pasts and futures, like Kingdom Come Wonder Woman or Warrior Guy Gardner. Still, some heroes and villains decide to get more creative with their picks. These are the strongest and most thematically engaging power-ups introduced in the legendary DC K.O. event.

7) Horus’ Avatar Hawkman

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

As a reincarnated pharaoh, Hawkman’s origin is deeply rooted in Egyptian mythology. However, in his match against Aquaman, the winged hero fully transitions into godhood when he’s visited by the Egyptian God of the Sky and War: Horus. The Egyptian God offers Hawkman the chance to become his avatar, which he gladly accepts. As the avatar of Horus, Hawkman receives a godly boost in strength and speed that allows him to catch Aquaman by surprise in the second round. Unfortunately, even with literal divine intervention, Hawkman is no match for Aquaman’s blood-bending hydrokinesis, and he’s eliminated from the tournament.

6) Magician Harley Quinn

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

The matchup between Zatanna and Harley Quinn at first seemed unfair because one is a god-like sorceress while the other is a powerless clown. Harley knows this, so in the third round the anti-hero decides to even the playing field. Instead of choosing from her own roster of potential forms, Harley steals from Zatanna’s selection. Harley obtains magical powers so that she can match Zatanna’s abilities. In this form, Harley can create energy constructs like chains, hands, and guns. However, Harley lacks Zatanna’s raw power and experience, so once the sorceress unlocked her full potential, she kills the magically enhanced anti-hero. Harley knew she could never win, but she still fought to her utmost so that Zatanna could learn that she couldn’t hold back in this deadly tournament.

5) Speed Force Jay Garrick

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

Like all the top speedsters in DC Comics, Jay Garrick, the original Flash, draws his power from the Speed Force, which is a cosmic energy field from which all motion originates. In the second round against Guy Gardner, Jay became the Speed Force incarnate. As a being comprised of pure Speed Force energy, he was invisible and omnipresent. He could strike Guy from any direction with lightning bolts. He can also sense the distress of Wally West across time and space, further motivating him to win. In this incarnation, Jay emerges victorious in the second round after he atomizes Guy. Although Jay ultimately loses in the third round, his Speed Force form is the strongest version of the Golden Age hero ever shown.

4) Etrigan Lex Luthor

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

Lex Luthor prides himself on being a man of science, but to defeat the demon Etrigan, he had to take drastic measures. For the final round, Lex and Etrigan battle in the pits of Hell. In a surprising twist, Lex uses runes carved into his skin to recite a hellish incantation to defeat Etrigan. With the incantation, Lex separates Etrigan from his human host, Jason Blood. Lex then takes Etrigan’s power for himself, becoming the demon’s new host. The demonic Lex then slits the powerless Jason’s throat before destroying Etrigan. Lex Luthor has always relied on his scientific innovations to win fights, so to see him fully embrace magic is a huge shock. It also shows how Lex will do anything to win, even risk his own soul.

3) Amalgam Captain Atom

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

In his fight against Superman, Captain Atom takes his most powerful form ever. For the final round, Captain Atom selects not one, but all his forms and combines them into a singular ultimate power-up. This amalgamated version of Captain Atom unites every version of the character ever depicted in DC Comics, lending him incredible powers. In this form, Captain Atom can mold fragments of his own history into weapons. The story ingeniously presents this power as Captain Atom literally grabbing onto comic panels and throwing them at Superman. Captain Atom sacrifices his past for the chance to win the DC K.O. tournament and write his own future. Unfortunately, in the end, it wasn’t enough. His adversary after all was Superman.

2) Captain Atom Superman

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

When it seemed that the amalgamated Captain Atom had emerged victorious in the third round, Superman instead revealed his all-new form that uses his opponent’s own power against him. By inserting himself into Captain Atom’s origin story, Superman became imbued with the all-powerful Quantum Field and transformed himself into a being of pure energy. With his newfound ability to control all forms of energy, the Man of Steel drains Captain Atom of all his power before tearing apart the hero’s containment suit, killing him. Superman thus becomes the winner. Superman’s Captain Atom form is arguably one of the strongest versions of the Man of Tomorrow ever conceived because it merges the power sets of two of DC Comics’ strongest heroes.

1) Titanic Cyborg

Image Courtesy of DC Comics

In the epic final round between Cyborg and Swamp Thing, the mechanical superhero dons his most powerful suit that emphasizes the character’s history and greatest strength. The Titanic suit wields the powers of every Titan: Starfire’s starbolts, Beast Boy’s claws, Raven’s magic, Nightwing’s escrima sticks, and Arsenal’s arrows. With the powers of his teammates at his disposal, Cyborg overpowers an army of Swamp Things – with help from Swamp Thing himself. Satisfied that Cyborg found his inner strength, Swamp Thing lets the Titan win. Although the Titanic suit isn’t the strongest form introduced in DC K.O., it’s the most thematically powerful because it encapsulates how Cyborg draws his strength from the support of his friends and from the fact that they are his found family.

What do you think? Leave a Comment below and join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!