# How many superhumans would you need to conquer the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 7, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709 "2026-06-07T02:53:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/1 "2026-06-07T02:53:36Z")
How many of these superhumans would be needed to forcefully conquer the US as soon as possible in 2026? The superhumans have super strength (10 tons), durability (it takes a 20mm armor piercing projectile to seriously injure or kill them), speed (Mach 1), reflexes (millisecond reaction time), flight (Mach 1) and stamina (only need to sleep once a week). They have as much knowledge about the US as an average citizen, have perfect cooperation, have no qualms about using violence to complete their mission and their force is evenly split between starting in Los Angeles and New York City. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/2 "2026-06-07T03:08:54Z")
Eleven. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/3 "2026-06-07T03:17:50Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > The superhumans have super strength (10 tons), durability (it takes a 20mm armor piercing projectile to seriously injure or kill them), speed (Mach 1), reflexes (millisecond reaction time), flight (Mach 1) and stamina (only need to sleep once a week A lot. The US military is quite capable of destroying a large number of things with these characteristics. I’m saying thousands at least. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/4 "2026-06-07T04:44:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Eleven. Sorry, that won’t work, because they can’t evenly split their forces between LA and NYC. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/5 "2026-06-07T05:23:21Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The US military is quite capable of destroying a large number of things with these characteristics. They can down a supersonic man-sized object with millisecond reaction time? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/6 "2026-06-07T05:37:09Z")
If they’re identifiable and there’s some sort of normal battle, I agree that it would be thousands. The power level is pretty minor as far as superhumans goes. However, consider a situation where they don’t announce themselves, but travel discretely to various power centers and only commence attack when they’re all in place. A superhuman that nobody can tell from a regular person can walk within like 100 yards of the White House or Capitol or whatever. Killing a majority of the nationally elected officials in the US wouldn’t be hard at all. At that point I think it depends if that’s a victory or if you have a national insurgency against the attackers. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/7 "2026-06-07T06:02:18Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > How many of these superhumans would be needed to forcefully conquer the US as soon as possible in 2026? One not particularly superhuman apparently has conquered the US with bugger all resistance as one half of the US is seemingly happy to be conquered provided the other half get their heads kicked in during the process. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/8 "2026-06-07T06:09:11Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Killing a majority of the nationally elected officials in the US wouldn’t be hard at all. Wasn’t that the logic in Iran? Killing a bunch of people doesn’t conquer you a country. Even if you get their replacements to surrender (and there will always be replacements), why would 300 million people decide to go along with it? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/9 "2026-06-07T06:21:52Z")
It would depend on their politics and their willingness to do what it takes to get the vote. Dictatorship is much easier to accomplish when it is handed to you on a silver platter. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/10 "2026-06-07T06:41:14Z")
I’d vote for Superman if he ran for president (and, as a foundling of indeterminate parentage as of his 21st birthday, he counts as a “natural born citizen”, so he’s eligible). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/11 "2026-06-07T11:22:22Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > They can down a supersonic man-sized object with millisecond reaction time? That has to get within punching distance to inflict any damage, absolutely. Millisecond reaction time is not “dodge a bullet” reaction time. Add in superman laser beam eyes and we might be in trouble, but when they have to stop and punch someone’s brain in, the thousands of weapons in the US military with greater than 20mm caliber (or equivalent) will win out. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/12 "2026-06-07T12:08:10Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > That has to get within punching distance to inflict any damage, absolutely. Millisecond reaction time is not “dodge a bullet” reaction time. And it’s certainly not “outrun the blast wave of a very large bomb” reaction time. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/13 "2026-06-07T12:14:26Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > > [@Cmyers1980](#): > > > > The superhumans have super strength (10 tons), durability (it takes a 20mm armor piercing projectile to seriously injure or kill them), speed (Mach 1), reflexes (millisecond reaction time), flight (Mach 1) and stamina (only need to sleep once a week > > A lot. The US military is quite capable of destroying a large number of things with these characteristics. Yep, that definition of “superhuman” is pretty close to an attack jet. How many of those would you need to completely conquer the US? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/14 "2026-06-07T12:29:18Z")
To **take** ground is _easy_. To **hold it** is all but _impossible_. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/15 "2026-06-07T12:36:06Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > definition of “superhuman” is pretty close to an attack jet. Not even that. An attack jet doesn’t have to land and punch you in the face to kill you ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/16 "2026-06-07T12:47:25Z")
Perhaps a few hundred if they are ruthless enough. They could open their attack in the major towns and cities, running at full speed through the streets and killing everyone as they pass, running through buildings and collapsing them and so on. If the military tries to hit them it just completes the destruction. It likely wouldn’t take them long to kill so many people and destroy so much infrastructure that the nation collapses. The military soon loses most of its combat power, most of the survivors starve, and the superhumans can rule over the ruins with the remaining population lacking much in the way to resist. _Not_ settling for cosplaying Fallout and ruling over the wreckage would be a lot harder. > [@griffin1977](#): > > That has to get within punching distance to inflict any damage, absolutely. No need for punching, they can just run into people and splatter them, or run by them and kill them with the sonic boom, or toss out a rock as they go by. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/17 "2026-06-07T12:57:23Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > No need for punching, they can just run into people and splatter them I don’t think the physics work there. I’m pretty sure hitting a humvee at mach 1 will do more damage than being hit by a 20mm round. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/18 "2026-06-07T13:29:57Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I don’t think the physics work there. I’m pretty sure hitting a humvee at mach 1 will do more damage than being hit by a 20mm round Yeah, as defined, these guys aren’t Superman or Viltrumites. They’re fast, tough and strong, but not insanely so. Even at Mach 1, it would take a lot of time to run around a city killing every person they meet. And while tough, they can still be injured, and those injuries would accumulate at a rate proportional to how quickly they’re out there killing people. It would be a nasty fight, with losses being disproportionately on the normal human side, but to win they’d probably need several hundreds of thousands of them. And then there’s the problem of how to hold on to the country, as others have said. How long would it take for them to birth and raise replacement superhumans to replace those they lost in the conquest? Normal humans would always outnumber them, and we can build new weapons a lot faster than they can breed new kids. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/19 "2026-06-07T13:36:57Z")
A better use for these guys would’t be as “superhumans” trying to conquer the US, but as _supersoldiers_ trying to conquer the US. They’re fast, tough and ruthless. And they’re strong. Kit them out with some guns and missiles of their own, and then we might have a problem. They can carry heavier armor and weapons than any human soldier, and more ammo to boot. The armor would be more effective as they’re already tough, so even headshots or hits in the leg which would cripple or kill a human would have little effect. When they run out of bullets, they can retreat and resupply almost at will. Each one would probably be the battlefield equivalent of a platoon or company of elite human soldiers. Now that could spread some pain. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709/20 "2026-06-07T13:38:56Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I don’t think the physics work there. I’m pretty sure hitting a humvee at mach 1 will do more damage than being hit by a 20mm round. They are tough enough to not be destroyed by their own speed. They aren’t ripped apart by the air, and their legs aren’t shattered by pounding the ground fast enough to move them at Mach 1. A 20mm AP round would also hit a _lot_ harder, being higher velocity and applying force in a much more concentrated way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-superhumans-would-you-need-to-conquer-the-us/1030709.md?page=2)