just how powerful are certain characters?

alot of characters have been discribed as "nigh-omnipotent" in marvel and dc comics so i am curious just how powerful are certain characters really? like the god that gave Juggernaut his powers really how powerful is he, or of Galactus? how would all these beings compare in a chain of how is more powerful than who?

Strong as they need to be.

so thet are strong as the wruter wants the to be?

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Strong as they need to be.

This is pretty much true. Most characters' strength really depends on what needs to be done for the story to progress.

Yep, story needs (/writer differences & preferences). Power/strength tiers are determined by history/logic (that is, a street-level superhuman (like Spiderman) may have varying or inconsistent specific-feats/limits, but everyone would agree it would be stupid for them to suddenly display the ability to lift 100+ tons).

@lightsout: yes well is there a place where i can see the various power tiers?

@rondoudou: Off hand I don't know a specific page, but these are the Wikis I use for info:

http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page

If a character has super-strength, they usually will say something like "max 50 tons" or "100+" etc etc (marvel is better about this, as they made it an "official" system) Although past 100 it's variable ( though most people I could think of who are 100+ are FAR past (like Superman tier). There may be a page on either of those wikis that organize it better, but I can't search for it now. If I find it later I can post the link though.

@rondoudou: The only thing I'd say is that ,you'd have to gauge their strength and power from feats in comics.

@rondoudou said:

alot of characters have been discribed as "nigh-omnipotent" in marvel and dc comics so i am curious just how powerful are certain characters really? like the god that gave Juggernaut his powers really how powerful is he, or of Galactus? how would all these beings compare in a chain of how is more powerful than who?

Abstract and cosmic characters are endlessly debatable. Writers and editors keep it ambiguous on purpose.

@Malonius: .but still what of Catyorak the god that powers Juggernaut so what power level could he be estimated to be in?

@rondoudou: Characters that powerful are personifications of some abstract idea or cosmic function. Cyttorak is omnipotent in his own dimension, the Crimson Cosmos, from what I understand. He's the personification of the abstract idea of "unstoppable", which would be an aspect of total Omnipotence. Only other Cosmic or Abstract beings should be able to affect him. He would be in the top tier of powerful beings.

I agree that the situation is a part of power, as well as the evolution of a character. Just look at Superman. In the golden age he was as strong as a locomotive, but in the silver age he was pretty much the strongest guy in the universe. Then later he was shown barely surviving a nuclear blast, and now in the DCnU, he can bench press the weight of earth (I believe it's 5.972 sextillion tons) for five days straight. Not to mention how Silver-Age Supes can make up powers for basically every scenario ever.

And then this happened...

@AmazingGamer91: wait so what did exactly superman do with is rainbow lasers?

@rondoudou: His power set/overall strength has fluctuated over the years, so it shows that some characters really are as powerful as they say they are, and that they can become more/less powerful depending on a certain situation in comics