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The DCU

  • The DCU's gods, both the classic ones and the New Gods. From the latter, the best-known example is Darkseid. Though writers tend to differ on whether they're truly gods, or merely Sufficiently Advanced Aliens, and Kirby's original intentions are unclear. Many of their strange powers are the result of advanced technology (what would a god need with a Mother Box?), but at the same time they also embody concepts (Darkseid=Tyranny, Forever People=Youth, Mr. Miracle=Freedom, Orion=War, etc.) and claim that human beings worship them through various rituals like turning on computers and marveling at the stars.
  • The Sandman (1989) introduces the Endless, a primordial group of seven beings older than any god, even Darkseid, and the anthropomorphic personifications of abstract concepts like dreams, death, and destruction. While they can be potentially weakened enough to be captured, testing their patience when your name isn't the Presence, Michael Demiurgos, or Lucifer Morningstar is a very bad idea.
  • In Captain Atom #54 to #57, Cap created and ruled his own universe. He turned out not to be very good at it, and had to destroy his universe after his own dark side took it over. Of course, it could all have been just a fever-dream he had after Shadowstorm blasted him.
  • If Doctor Fate is not a Physical God, he's the next best thing. The Helm of Nabu gives him the powers of, well, Nabu, who is himself a Physical God (it depends on the writer and era whether Nabu just grants his powers to the wearer of the helm, or if the wearer actually becomes Nabu when the helm is worn).
  • During the Power of Ion storyline Green Lantern Kyle Rayner took the powers that Parallax absorbed from the Central Power Battery, plus his own Lantern powers, the Oblivion's Energies and (possibly) The Ion Entity. That allowed him to be in more places at once, to better focus his creativity, to teletransport things, and bend reality to his will. His girlfriend Jade became surprised when Kyle told her, saying that his new abilities can be compared to those of God. His talk with the Spectre Hal Jordan even made clear that Kyle could alter the past and make the future go as he wanted, something that as Parallax he couldn't do at all. Rayner eventually relinquished his power to reignite the Central Power Battery and resurrect the Guardians of the Universe.
  • The Phantom Stranger is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe and doesn't seem to take orders from anyone other than God. He is portrayed as a consummate master of magic that can shrug off anything thrown at him by the likes of The Spectre on his good days. The only thing that prevents him from making the DC Universe too boring by solving everything is that he won't, or can't, interfere too much in the affairs of mortals.
  • Anyone wielding the power of Shazam!. Such an individual — in addition to possessing the standard Flying Brick powers of Super-Strength (strong enough to take on Superman and most of the Justice League of America at the same time), Super-Speed (fast enough to race The Flash), Flight (at Faster-Than-Light Travel speeds outside an atmosphere), and Nigh-Invulnerability — is also The Needless and The Ageless, has a Healing Factor for those rare occasions when they actually get injured, possess Super-Intelligence (complete with Photographic Memory and Omniglot skills), and are highly resistant (if not actually invulnerable) to Mind Manipulation and magic.
  • Superman:
    • One of Supergirls enemies, Blackstarr can bend cosmic forces at will.
    • Blackest Night revealed that Superman, and many seemingly dead characters who miraculously returned to life, were brought back by Nekron as part of a grand Gambit Roulette. Nekron, by the way, is a nigh-omnipotent who skirts this trope when he appears in the living world, and is regularly much more powerful in his own realm.
    • On the other hand, while Superboy-Prime has the same amazing powers, he doesn't have Superman's weaknesses outside of red sunlight, thus he's a much more dangerous threat. To the point where the Pantheon of DC's gods pulled up their stakes and left.
    • Superman Prime, the being Superman will eventually become as seen in DC One Million, plays this straight after spending thousands of years meditating inside the sun and having the last Green Lantern ring in the universe to keep his solar power at its maximum for all time. He also gets the powers of the rest of the Supermen from his dynasty in return for giving them a portion of his power to protect the Earth with. One notable ability he gained being Reality Warper.
  • Dr. Manhattan of Watchmen. He experiences time on a non linear way. He can become many people. He can watch neurons. Nothing can stop him.
    • Hell, it's even implied at the end of the comic that he leaves his planet to try his hand at creating one.
    • Also worth noting is his recollection of how he ended the Vietnam War. The movies shows it pretty well too but the basics are that he creates multiple copies of himself each about 100 feet tall that rip through the entire Vietcong and NVA. Apparently the Vietnamese were so terrified by him that they would only surrender to him in a scene that is a cross between platitude and worship.
    • DC Rebirth reveals that he created The New 52 universe of DC comics, and not The Flash and Pandora in Flashpoint like previously believed.
  • Wonder Woman often interacts with the Ancient Greek and Egyptian pantheons, and those gods from those groups that are still around are incredibly powerful with Reality Warping powers and the ability to manifest in multiple places at once. Unlike many examples however they can and have been killed, either by other gods murdering them or slowly by the loss of their worshipers though some like Ares and Aphrodite have figured out ways to bypass this weakness. Zeus on the other hand would fade quickly if he ever left his seat of power on Olympus.
    • Diana herself has powers of divine origin (Depending on the Writer she is either a child of Zeus or a clay statue brought to life and empowered by the gods) and has been compared to or even outright said to be a goddess. She is one of the most powerful beings in the DCU and has even held a position as a goddess twice.
    • Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark has strength at a Kryptonian level, flight, some electricity control and for a time before Flashpoint was showing signs of affecting the weather when upset as a side effect of her divine heritage.
    • Donna Troy, Cassie's predecessor, has the same powers as Diana and once held the position of Titan of the Moon.

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