THE 5 SMARTEST (UNENHANCED) HUMAN GENIUSES IN COMICS

It is generally believed that Reed Richards is the smartest guy in comics. Not sure I agree with that for a lot of reasons. Excluding, the Leader, Ultimate Reed Richards, and anyone else who has had any artificial boost to their brain power, who are the top 5 smartest characters?. What accomplishment(s) can you give to support your argument for your choice of the smartest man on your list?

Hank Pym, Radioactive Man, Black Panther, Reed Richards, Batman (Magneto could be in there as well)

Gambler says:

"Hank Pym, Radioactive Man, Black Panther, Reed Richards, Batman (Magneto could be in there as well)"

A couple non-Marvel/DC:

The Professor

Accomplishments: He started talking while he was still in the womb, was reading and solving math problems before he could walk, graduated magna cum laude with a bio-mechanics degree before his friends reached kindergarten and was a billionare by age ten. Took over the world and killed all heroes.

Henry Bendix

Accomplishments: Harder to specify. Ran the world while head of Stormwatch. (He only lost that because in addition to being very smart, he was insane and too full of himself.) He makes superheroes, fully sentient holographic copies of himself, and other junk.

On Marvel though, Don't see how Reed gets to be number one and Doom doesn't even get a mention. For DC, Luthor and Mr. T also get no love.

They make your top five? If you could only pick 5 people, Dr.Doom, Lex Luthor, and Mr.T make it in? I don't see that.

Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10.

Gambler says:

"They make your top five? If you could only pick 5 people, Dr.Doom, Lex Luthor, and Mr.T make it in? I don't see that."

I don't know if they do but they didn't even get brought up. For DC, Lex and Mr. T are smarter than Batman so if he makes the list, they do too. Likewise, Doom is portrayed as Reed's intellectual equal (I personally think he's a little smarter, but it's hard to do that when he's destined to lose simply because he's the villain) but he doesn't even rank as second on anyone's list?

fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?

Mr.Terrific!

3rd smartest man in DC!

Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?"

There are more that 10 people in Marvel smarter than Magneto.

Buckshot says:

"Gambler says:

"They make your top five? If you could only pick 5 people, Dr.Doom, Lex Luthor, and Mr.T make it in? I don't see that."

I don't know if they do but they didn't even get brought up. For DC, Lex and Mr. T are smarter than Batman so if he makes the list, they do too. Likewise, Doom is portrayed as Reed's intellectual equal (I personally think he's a little smarter, but it's hard to do that when he's destined to lose simply because he's the villain) but he doesn't even rank as second on anyone's list?"

I don't see Lex as being any smarter then Batman. And to be honest I didn't know enough about Mr.Terrific, I always thought his intelligence was enhanced. As far as Doom and Reed, Meh

fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?"

There are more that 10 people in Marvel smarter than Magneto."

Yeah I got that part. Who?

Gambler says:

"I don't see Lex as being any smarter then Batman. And to be honest I didn't know enough about Mr.Terrific, I always thought his intelligence was enhanced. As far as Doom and Reed, Meh"

Lex is smarter. That's more of a 'read all his comics and you'll see' than something I can list out, but he is. Even if he weren't though, and he was only as smart as Batman, he'd still need to be on the list if Batman is. Mr. T is not enhanced, he's just really good at learning things. And "meh" all you want, Doom should be on any list for intelligence that Reed is on.

Post Deleted.

with no particular order:

Dr. Doom, Rip Hunter, Ray Palmer, Mr. Terrific and Batman

there are others, but most of them had an intellect that was enchanced

Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?"

There are more that 10 people in Marvel smarter than Magneto."

Yeah I got that part. Who?"

Well, Reed, Doom, Pym, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Radioactive Man, Sinister, Beast, Apocalypse, High Evolutionary, Amadeus Cho, Kid Omega, Black Panther, Leader, probably several others.

Easy Buck, it will be okay. I'm sure someone will come along and put Doom on there list. The fact is ALOT of characters are going to be left off. And how do you measure intellect? Book smarts, strategy, street smarts? Its completely subjective and leaving characters off is bond to happen. If Reed's on the list, does Doom really need to be? Cant one just assume Doom is somewhere in there without wasting a slot? You have two people on your list, and then a little rant at the bottom. Who's your 5? not two and then mention 3 other people.

fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?"

There are more that 10 people in Marvel smarter than Magneto."

Yeah I got that part. Who?"

Well, Reed, Doom, Pym, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Radioactive Man, Sinister, Beast, Apocalypse, High Evolutionary, Amadeus Cho, Kid Omega, Black Panther, Leader, probably several others."

Nice, but did you miss the title of the thread? "5 smartest (un-enhanced)HUMAN Geniuses in Comics.

Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Magneto isn't even in Marvel's top 10."

What?"

There are more that 10 people in Marvel smarter than Magneto."

Yeah I got that part. Who?"

Well, Reed, Doom, Pym, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Radioactive Man, Sinister, Beast, Apocalypse, High Evolutionary, Amadeus Cho, Kid Omega, Black Panther, Leader, probably several others."

Nice, but did you miss the title of the thread? "5 smartest (un-enhanced)HUMAN Geniuses in Comics.

"

Magneto isn't human either in that case.

His intelligence is not enhanced by his powers. (thats how I took the thread)
Post Edited:2008-02-18 16:22:30

I'm curious, what's Magneto done that makes you put him on the list?

zero edge says:

"I'm curious, what's Magneto done that makes you put him on the list?"

His knowledge of genetic manipulation, engineering, cloning, and ability to create artificial intelligence.

I have to say that in my opinion I think some of the smartest people would be........ M, Sage (I'm not sure if she's "unenhanced" though..), Professor X, Black Panther, Reed Richards.... That's 5, but I think Magneto and Beast are geniuses too...
Post Edited:2008-02-18 16:51:51

Gambler says:

"Easy Buck, it will be okay. I'm sure someone will come along and put Doom on there list. The fact is **ALOT** of characters are going to be left off. And how do you measure intellect? Book smarts, strategy, street smarts? Its completely subjective and leaving characters off is bond to happen. If Reed's on the list, does Doom really need to be? Cant one just assume Doom is somewhere in there without wasting a slot? You have two people on your list, and then a little rant at the bottom. Who's your **5**? not two and then mention 3 other people."

I know people will be overlooked, but I'm bringing up the ones I know and someone else can talk about the characters they know. I also know that "how you measure intelligence" is an issue (it always comes up) but the people I mentioned fit the same rough type of intelligence as everyone already talked about so if they're getting left off, that's not the reason. If you really want to look at it though, Doom is the same kind of smart as Reed and in addition to that he's very knowledgeable when it comes to magic. He's also very good at manipulating people. He's smarter in more ways than Reed if you count his magic. Mr. T also knows a lot about many different fields (biology, medicine, engineering, physics, linguistics, chemistry, psychology, politics, law, etc, etc). If you were actually talking about different kinds of smarts though, I'd expect to see some people like Cap, Deathstroke, Nick Fury, Kingpin, etc for examples of strategic intelligence and I-Don't-Know-Who for street smarts. The absence of those kinds of thinkers from your list tells me that you know what kind of intelligence this thread is about. The closest you get to that is BP and Batman, but both of those guys are also technically smart as well. And if you're making a list of the top 5, it's not "wasting a slot" if someone actually belongs there. Do you want us to then just assume Reed is somewhere near the top and not actually mention him? I haven't listed 5 because I'm not claiming I know the five smartest people in all of comics. I'm bringing up characters that I think should be there and I thought maybe there'd be some sort of discussion where we could look at the names presented and come up with a pretty decent list instead of everyone just posting 5 people and then nothing being done with it (which is what usually happens in this kind of thread). Too much to ask I guess.

Gambler says:

"fesak says:

"Well, Reed, Doom, Pym, Iron Man, Bruce Banner, Radioactive Man, Sinister, Beast, Apocalypse, High Evolutionary, Amadeus Cho, Kid Omega, Black Panther, Leader, probably several others."

Nice, but did you miss the title of the thread? "5 smartest (un-enhanced)HUMAN Geniuses in Comics.

"

Reed, Doom, Pym, Iron Man, Bruce, Radioactive Man, Beast, Cho, BP don't have "any artificial boost to their brain power". That's 9. I wasn't sure about Sinister, Apoc, HE and Kid Omega, but if one of those was born with their smarts that's 10. Whether they beat out Magneto is something you can take up with fesak.

Thanks Buck, but since I had Reed and Pym, and Radioactive Man on my list, I'm pretty sure I already know they didn't have enhanced intelligence.

Yes I left Doom off, but I also left off Dr Conners, Dr.Ock, Norman Osbourn, Peter Parker, the Riddler, Moira McTaggert, and a hand full of other people. Are we now counting knowledge of magic as intelligence? Then Dr.Strange, Dr. Fate, Agatha Harkness, Wanda Maximoff, and Zatanna should be on the list.

I put BP and Batman on the list to represent something other then book smarts. It wasn't meant to be the definitive list of all lists. I put Reed on instead of Doom, oh well. I also left off Ray Palmer, and John Irons, oops.
Post Edited:2008-02-18 17:11:00

Jaadu says:

"I have to say that in my opinion I think some of the smartest people would be........ M, Sage (I'm not sure if she's "unenhanced" though..), Professor X, Black Panther, Reed Richards.... That's 5, but I think Magneto and Beast are geniuses too...
Post Edited:2008-02-18 16:51:51"

Sage isn't that smart according to marvel, she only has 3/7 on intelligence in the handbooks.

For OVERALL intelligence, I'd say:

Doctor Strange - Master of the Mystic Arts (magic, physical, and psychic) + unparalleled neurosurgeon + groovy fashion sense

Batman - World's greatest detective + technical expertise + strategist + physical IQ and ninja crap + master manipulator / psychologist + financial and philanthropic genius

Doctor Sivana - Mad inventor with serious game + techno-mage + master manipulator+ financial genius + holds his own against pesky god-powered Marvels, who as nemeses don't have a handy weakness to kryptonite or magic + master of advanced alien science

Doctor Dooom - Can do everything Reed Richards can + rules country with iron fist (and no poverty or rebellion) + accomplshed sorcerer and demonoligist + master of alien psychic technique of "body-switching" + armorer on par with Stark who with no powers can battle damnnable family of cosmic-powered freaks

Moondragon - no powers, but mastered scientific, spritual, psionic, and physical training of Shao Lom monastery on moon of Titan as an orphan girl sufficient to battle the Dragon of the Moon + so disgustingly perfect was candidate for Celestial Madonna + even without the Dragon, Mindgem, or any mutation, could mentally hold her own against any other psychic and kick most people's butts to boot

1. reed

2. lex

3. mr.terrific

4. hank pym/iron man

5. batman

What about Reed Richards, Tony Stark, and the Beast

Bah. With just the development of their natural mental capabilities (martial, spiritual, scientific, psychological, psychic, etc.), my 5 could stand against most any alien, mutant, cosmic ray enhanced, what-have-you. That's crazy-smart, man. Craaazzy-smart.

Some that people haven't mentioned: The Mandarin, T.O Morrow, Prof. Ivo, Kang the Conqueror, Mad Thinker.

Reed Richards

Doctor Doom

Black Panther

Hank Pym

Spider-Man in his own right.

I have a question

wasn't reed richards's intellect amplified when he got his powers? I know he was smart, but if he did(I'm not sure)

doesn't it mean that his intellect was enchanced?

Nighthunter says:

"I have a question wasn't reed richards's intellect amplified when he got his powers? I know he was smart, but if he did(I'm not sure) doesn't it mean that his intellect was enchanced?"

It's up for debate.

I'm curious why everyone is putting Tony Stark above Magneto?

Post Deleted.

Magneto's no slouch in the mental department, but minus his mutation, I don't see him being a fit foe for say, Doom. Pym; smart guy, but again ranked against the accomplshments of Doom... what has he done aside from Pym particles and losing control of an artificial intelligence he kinda created on accident? Doom would never put up with that Ultron nonsense. Ivo and Mad Thinker are good candidates, though my chief criticism would be they don't have a lot of range. I don't think Richards' IQ was enhanced by the cosmic ray thing.

1.Reed Richards

2.Victor Von Doom,T'Challa

3.Tony Stak

4.Hank Pym

5.Bruce Banner

Doctor Brimstone says:

"Magneto's no slouch in the mental department, but minus his mutation, I don't see him being a fit foe for say, Doom. Pym; smart guy, but again ranked against the accomplshments of Doom... what has he done aside from Pym particles and losing control of an artificial intelligence he kinda created on accident? Doom would never put up with that Ultron nonsense. Ivo and Mad Thinker are good candidates, though my chief criticism would be they don't have a lot of range. I don't think Richards' IQ was enhanced by the cosmic ray thing. "

He created Asteroid M (engineering) created an entire island of genetically manipulated people (Savage Land) helped build Cerebro (cant remeber if that was just in the movies)

Post Edited:2008-02-18 22:38:03

1.Reed Richards

2.Victor Von Doom

3.Tony Stak

4.Hank Pym

5.Bruce Banner

Joker: He's a chemical genius. For him it is a cinch to create any desired chemical out of common house cleaner. Being as clever as he is, the Joker creates theatrically elaborate schemes. The Joker has many other things that make him smart. Watching the first six minutes of the Dark Knight I was amazed because of the way they managed to capture his genius.

Batman: The Batman is insanely clever, if you read the older comics from the fifties and such he is able to solve crimes with his obscure knowledge of random things and even in issues where other characters are more likely to know the answer to a riddle the Batman is always the won to out riddle even the Riddler.

Oracle: Come on it's Oracle the once brave Batgirl crippled by the Joker and forced to use her skills to help solve crimes behind a computer monitor.

Ra's Al Ghul: He's very smart. Bruce Wayne's identity wasn't even safe in this villains presence.

MrsJ: Oh come on you had to see that coming. =P I'm the greatest and that pretty much sums it up.

Drizzt says:

"1.Reed Richards 2.Victor Von Doom 3.Tony Stak 4.Hank Pym 5.Bruce Banner "

that's basically what I said lol.Except for I but T'challa on the same level as Doom.

Yeah I don't give BP that much credit. He's smart and all but not on that level.

maybe we should do it in categories like:

the 5 smartest geniouses in science

in magik

on stree lever

etc

because sometimes a person is better in an area but not as smart as another guy

i like amadeus cho cause you can see his mind working and the things he has done inorder to come to his desired conclusion... its not like reed who you know is smart cause he invented this or that...

Buckshot says:

"Gambler says:

"They make your top five? If you could only pick 5 people, Dr.Doom, Lex Luthor, and Mr.T make it in? I don't see that."

I don't know if they do but they didn't even get brought up. For DC, Lex and Mr. T are smarter than Batman so if he makes the list, they do too. Likewise, Doom is portrayed as Reed's intellectual equal (I personally think he's a little smarter, but it's hard to do that when he's destined to lose simply because he's the villain) but he doesn't even rank as second on anyone's list?"

Doom ruled the universe at least once, and the Earth at least twice. I always thought Doom was a lot smarter than Reed Richards because in addition to being a rival of Reed in all the sciences, Doom is an expert in a field that Reed has no knowledge of. MAGIC.

Doom also created the first time machine and outsmarted Mephisto himself while freeing his mother's soul from Hell. No one has matched the achievements of Doom. I don't think.

Gambler says:

"No one has matched Doom's achievements? "

I said I think so.

No one has matched Doom's achievements?

Just realized its not just marvel people. lol So my list changes.

1.Reed Richards

2.Victor Von Doom

3.Lex Luthor

4.Bruce Wayne

5.Tony Stark

Gambler says:

"No one has matched Doom's achievements? "

On Xbox Live?