I don’t know much about superheroes, but I figure Superman is the runaway leader in terms of strength. So, who else are some of the strongest superheroes? who rounds out the top 10 or 20? Hulk? Colossus? Beast?
From Marvel:
Hulk (She-Hulk?)
Thor (Thunderstrike? Beta Ray Bill?)
Colossus
Juggernaut
Namor
Wonder Man
Thing
Gladiator
Silver Surfer
Sentry
Ms. Marvel
Hyperion
Rogue?
These are just heroes. There’re plenty of villains with similar levels of strength.
You can add villains too if you want. I really meant comic book characters in general but I just typed heroes by default.
I’ve always thought that the Hulk was, by far, stronger than any other character in the Marvel universe. By a long shot. His strength is only limited by his anger. If you keep him going in a fight his strength will just continue to climb without ever hitting a ceiling.
Hulk is the strongest, so far as I remember. I believe the big three, muscle-wise, are Hulk > Thor > Juggernaut, though Sentry, a Silver Age Superman pastiche, may be stronger than all of them at his peak. I’m not sure.
Silver Surfer and Gladiator are at the next level, I think, then things get really fuzzy.
Then you can add
Apocalypse
Thanos
Ultron
Mephisto
Onslaught
Abomination
Absorbing Man
Galactus
Void?
etc.
I don’t know a thing about DC beyond its Big Seven
Galactus, as long as he’s recently fed. Hungry, the writers could probably have Aunt May bean him with a rolling pin.
Marvel Universe uses a “Strength Level” system. “Strength 1000” is the highest class, which means “unlimited.” Hulk, Thor, and eternals generally are the only ones in this class.
The DC universe uses a scale up to 100, which is virtually the same. Iirc, heroes in this class include Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman (in water.)
A lot of these things change so much from writer to writer to writer, plot to plot, year to year, etc. It’s the like space ships which move at the Speed of Plot.
I’m not a superhero or comic book fan by a longshot, so this may not be what you are looking for. But when I think of “strong and nothing else,” I think of two characters:
- The Tick
- Mr. Incredible (from The Incredibles)
From the DC side:
Superman
Wonder Woman
Martian Manhunter
Captain Marvel (“Shazam!”)
Cyborg
Power Girl
Troia
Aquaman
Steel
Hourman
Orion
Big Bertha
Supergirl
I guess you could count Green Lantern…he’s used the ring before to enhance his strength.
There are also comic level types who can basically give themselves super strength, but it’s not what they’re necessarily known for (Like The Specter). Strangely enough Plastic Man can also give himself some impressive strength by forming the right shape.
Villian Side:
Bizzaro
Black Adam
Doomsday
various White Martians
Mongul
Kalibak
Superboy Prime
Solomon Grundy
Giganta
and plenty of others.
Since it’s established canon that the Hulk has no upper limit to his strength, that means that Hulk really IS the strongest there is, although it would take a real mad on to reach the [power level of…say…Superboy Prime (although World War hulk made it clear that it can be done)
From when I was reading Marvel back in the 80s and 90s, the big hitters were Hulk, Thor, and Hercules (and, as has been pointed out, Hulk could probably pass the gods, if he got mad enough). At the next rung down, you had guys like the Thing, Colossus, and Wonder Man.
I can’t remember where Galactus would get put on that scale…as has been already noted, it probably depended on (a) how recently he’d eaten, and (b) the needs of the plot of that particular story.
I suppose that the Beyonder (ugh) could be mentioned, though, IIRC, he was fundamentally infinitely powerful, as he represented the entirety of an alternate reality, or some such rubbish. 
Then there’s the Impossible Man who theoretically could be as strong as anyone he observes or I guess, even imagines.
The “most powerful” characters in the Marvel universe don’t have their powers measured in strength. As mentioned, the Beyonder, the Impossible Man, and the Molecule Man could theoretically kill anyone, including the eternals, Galacticus, the Hulk, etc. using their powers, but without using “strength” to do it. These characters generally have powers that can reform matter at the sub-atomic level and/or on a galactic scale.
And then, there’s a whole group of “magic” characters, who have their strength measured on another scale, that may or may not be compatible with the other groups. For example, Dr. Strange can basically do anything with magic, in effect, being as powerful as the Beyonder.
And then, there’s the “psychic” characters who use telekinesis or mental powers that are just as powerful as anyone mentioned above. In fact, Charles Xavier routinely spanks the Juggernaut to such a point that the Juggernaut uses not one but two helmets to protect himself from psychic attacks.
But, if we limit this discussion to brute strength only, the Marvel classification is just as good as any. Basically, it’s just like the number of bench presses someone can do at the NFL combine.
I’m not sure Hourman, Steel, or Cyborg belong on that list - they’re strong, but not nearly as strong as the others (I’d probably put Aquaman as the lower limit of the top tier). Hourman’s definitely a lower tier - closer to Bane than to Superman. (Venom being a Miraclo derivative, and all.)
And I assume you mean Big Barda, not Big Bertha.
Others in the top tier, both heroes and villains:
Mon-El/Valor/M’onel - Daxamites have the same powerset as Kryptonians, only their weakness is lead, not Kryptonite.
Ultra Boy - has the same power set as Kryptonians and Daxamites, but can only use one at a time (and his ‘penetra-vision’ is stymied by copper, not lead). Doesn’t seem to be dependent on solar radiation, and is no more vulnerable to lead or Kryptonite than an ordinary human.
Every OTHER Kryptonian character - of which, currently, 4 major ones are alive, aside from those already mentioned - Zod, Ursa, Non, and Lor-Zod/Chris Kent.
Superboy is iffy - does he have Kryptonian strength, or is it just his tactile telekinesis? It used to be the latter, but more recently, he started developing actual Kryptonian powers. Functionally, though, it’s not much of a difference.
Lobo - the Main Man can throw down with Superman.
All 3 Marvels are pretty close to the same level (although, currently, only Freddy, formerly Captain Marvel, jr, or CM3, now Shazam, is still around).
Osiris - essentially the Freddy to Black Adam’s Billy.
Darkseid - though he rarely needs to use it.
Parasite - depending who he’s eaten, recently.
Some versions of the android Brainiac/Brainiac drones are at that level, as they have to deal with Superman.
I don’t know if he’s still in any continuity, but back in the Silver Age the strongest superhero in the DC universe was definitely Duplicate Boy. They used him sparingly, because he could obviously wipe anyone else off the map. What the heck can you do with such a character that has any possibility of dramatic tension?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duplicate_Boy
Answer: One story pitted him against Bouncing Boy (as a romantic rival). One of the few cases where both were appropriate – the most powerful vs. the least powerful.
As i understand it, there are other characters now who have powers that sound like descriptions of stock derivatives who are arguably more powerful (“His power is the ability to be greater than anyone else’s power”), which seems like cheating.
Meh…all wimps.
Try the Saint of Killers on for size. Note he killed God and the Devil and has, among other things, survived a nuclear strike dropped directly on him.
Captain Marvel fights Superman to a draw in Kingdom Come, but Cap’s powers are magical, so that might not be a true apples-to-apples comparison.
Missed edit window:
Perhaps Jesse Custer is more powerful though:
Val Armorr, the original Karate Kid, fought Superboy to a standstil in his first appearance. And remember, he had to develop his powers.