12 Animals With True Superpowers That Could Inspire Heroes

That some heroes have their names and powers directly inspired by animals, many already know. Batman, Spider-Man, Ant-Man and The Wasp are just a few that we can mention here, with names and looks that leave no doubt where their inspirations come from.

What many people may not know is that there are species of animals with defensive abilities that can be compared to true superpowers. They are abilities so incredible that they seem fiction and could easily have inspired the creation of some heroes known to us.

With that in mind, the awesome.club put on Nick Fury’s eye patch and summoned this list of animals to form our own supergroup. Take a look just below!

The bomber beetle produces inside its abdomen two chemical substances (hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone) that, when it feels threatened, it ejects to scare away enemies. It turns out that when these substances mix, they cause a chemical reaction that can reach 100ºC. This can be lethal to enemies but not to our hero, who has a protective shell. With such a hot blast, is he the Human Torch of the animal kingdom?

The peregrine falcon is a bird of prey, which prefers to live in mountainous regions or on the coast. It can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Here in South America, however, this bird is only seen when it is migrating. His “superpower” is quite simple to explain: he is considered the fastest animal in the world, being able to fly at more than 320 km/h. The super high speed immediately brings to mind the hero who always claims to be the fastest man in the world, the Flash.

The body of the common opossum or South American opossum, by feeding on snakes, produces a protein that makes it immune to the venom of pit vipers, rattlesnakes and other snakes. The Oswaldo Cruz Institute carried out research with samples of the animal’s blood and discovered the presence of this protein that inhibits the toxins present in snake venom. These researches can generate a new type of antivenom. Immunity against bites is very reminiscent of Blade, the vampire hunter from Marvel.

In addition to outstanding intelligence and amazing swimming skills, a researcher and physician discovered that dolphins have an enviable ability to regenerate. Even with massive injuries from shark bites, they don’t get infected, don’t cause pain and don’t leave marks. That’s why we can compare this ability with Wolverine’s, even though they don’t share the cuteness!

The clown mantis shrimp or boxer lobster has the superpower to throw surprisingly strong punches. Its punch speed can reach 80 km/h, so much so that the water around it boils. The boxer lobster punches the shell of crabs and can even break the reinforced glass of aquariums. A punch? This reminds us of Saitama, the hero of the anime One-Punch-Man, who is able to knock out his opponents with the same move, in one go.

In addition to being the only mammals with the actual ability to fly, bats have a sixth sense: biosonar or echolocation. This allows the bats to perceive what is in the environment by emitting ultrasounds that hit obstacles and return at a different frequency. So they know distances, shapes and speeds of whatever is in their path, including insects. Nothing to do with Batman this time. The one with a similar power is Daredevil, who is able to hear even a heartbeat from about 6m away!

This cuddly mammal has a body covered in tough scales that protects it from attack by rivals. To help with defense, he still curls up all over, looking like a ball. The eight species of pangolin are spread across Asia and Africa. His superpowers inspired the creation of a character in the Dota 2 game, Pangolier. But to stay on the superhero theme, one more X-Men joins this list: the Colossus. Their “skins” are so similar, aren’t they?

The archerfish’s superpower is both funny and surprising. This fish from Asia and Oceania can emit a jet of water up to 2 m away with such power that it knocks insects firmly attached to the vegetation. The archerfish’s shots are accurate and, when it knocks the insect down, it immediately becomes its food. His marksmanship could not be compared to that of other heroes, if not that of Hawkeye and his partner, Kate Bishop.

Birds are generally not poisonous. And birds of the pitohui genus aren’t either, or at least aren’t naturally poisonous. It turns out that somehow they feed on a beetle, absorb its toxins and store them in their body, making it poisonous. The natives of New Guinea even know, by the color of the feathers, the level of toxicity of this bird. A superpower very similar to the Rogue’s, which absorbs the powers and memories of whoever touches it.

Planarians are worms that have inhabited the Earth for 600 million years and are known to have an amazing regenerative capacity. They are able to reconstruct entire pieces of their body that may have been removed. But scientists have discovered that if someone cuts off a planarian’s head, another one is born in the place, even retaining its old memories. This superpower is the only one who has Doctor Who, who regenerates when he dies, keeping the memories.

Many people already know that octopuses, to defend themselves, can release a dark ink, which confuses predators. But another form of defense for these molluscs is camouflage. Octopuses can change their colors, texture, opacity and even reflectivity. And the mimic octopus goes further by combining color change with the flexibility to adopt the form of other, more dangerous animals, such as lionfish and sea snakes. Raise your hand who immediately remembered Mystique!

The forest frog lives in North America and is one of the few amphibians that can survive freezing. It does this by slowing down your metabolism and increasing the production of urea and sugars, which prevents all the water in your body from being frozen. During the winter, the forest frogs are frozen and without a heartbeat, and in the spring, they practically come back to life. The X-Men’s Iceman identifies with this Alaskan pet, for sure, doesn’t he?

After talking so much about strength, speed, poisons and survival, we were left with a little fear of what these little animals could do to us. For that reason, we hope that, if one day they form a supergroup, it will be a group of heroes and not villains. And you, would you like to have one of those superpowers from the Animal Kingdom?