Superpowers People Would Actually Choose

Flight

Ask a kid what power they want and nine times out of ten it's this — the dream of clearing traffic, skyline sunsets at eye level, no TSA line ever again. It tops most polls because it's pure joy with almost no downside: you're not reading anyone's diary or accidentally crushing a doorknob. The only knock is practicality — most days you'd just be commuting, albeit spectacularly.

Popularity: 9.5/10Everyday Practicality: 9/10Risk Level: 3/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJRFlight

Invisibility

Everyone's second-favorite fantasy, right after flight, and for pettier reasons than they'll admit: skipping lines, eavesdropping, sneaking into movies, disappearing from awkward conversations. It ranks high for pure daily-life utility but gets docked hard on the desirability scale because the honest use cases skew creepy fast — the power reveals more about people's temptations than their heroics.

Popularity: 9/10Everyday Practicality: 8.5/10Risk Level: 4/10Raw Power Level: 5/10

added by IJRinvisibility

Teleportation

No more commutes, no more layovers, no more 'sorry I'm late' — just think of Paris and you're standing under the Eiffel Tower with jet lag conspicuously absent. It's the thinking person's superpower, beloved for solving the single most annoying problem in modern life: distance. It loses a few points only because the mental image of reappearing inside a wall haunts everyone who's thought it through.

Popularity: 9/10Everyday Practicality: 9.5/10Risk Level: 3/10Raw Power Level: 7/10

added by IJRTeleportation

Telepathy / Mind Reading

The power everyone claims to want until they actually picture hearing their partner's real thoughts during an argument — then it becomes the cautionary tale of the list. It wins fans as the ultimate lie detector and negotiation cheat code, but the crowd consistently ranks it as more of a curse than a gift once they imagine the noise of everyone's unfiltered opinions of them. Great for spies and therapists, terrible for anyone who's ever wondered what their friends really think.

Popularity: 8/10Everyday Practicality: 8/10Risk Level: 5/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJR

Time Travel

The fantasy of fixing one text message, one exam, one funeral you missed — time travel is the power people want for regret, not adventure. It ranks lower than you'd expect because everyone's seen enough movies to know it ends in paradoxes, dead grandfathers, or somehow making things worse. Still, the sheer ambition of 'undo the mistake' keeps it firmly in the top tier of desirability, risk be damned.

Popularity: 8.5/10Everyday Practicality: 7/10Risk Level: 9/10Raw Power Level: 10/10

added by IJRtime travel

Healing Factor / Regeneration

Stub your toe, get shot, fall off a roof — doesn't matter, you're fine by dinner, and that quiet peace of mind is why this power punches above its flashiness. It's the superpower doctors, parents, and daredevils secretly want most, prized for its total absence of downside since nobody's ever complained about being hard to kill. It ranks just under the showier powers only because scars heal but bank accounts and heartbreaks don't.

Popularity: 7/10Everyday Practicality: 8/10Risk Level: 2/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJR

Super Strength

The classic — the power that lets you flip a car, open every stubborn jar lid in existence, and win any argument about who's carrying the couch upstairs. It's beloved because it's simple, tangible, and instantly useful without a manual, though it never quite cracks the very top because raw muscle solves fewer modern problems than a good Wi-Fi signal. Still, there's something deeply satisfying about a power that needs no cleverness to enjoy.

Popularity: 7.5/10Everyday Practicality: 6/10Risk Level: 4/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJR

Super Speed

Laundry done in a blink, marathons finished before breakfast, dodging every red light of your life — super speed is the errand-runner's dream power. It ranks solidly mid-list because it's endlessly practical but rarely awe-inspiring on its own; nobody tells campfire stories about the time they folded towels really fast. Still, the fantasy of infinite free time by simply doing everything faster keeps it firmly beloved.

Popularity: 7/10Everyday Practicality: 7.5/10Risk Level: 4/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJRSuper Speed

Immortality

Live forever, sounds great, until the crowd remembers you'd watch every person you love grow old and die while you stay frozen at whatever age you started. It ranks surprisingly low for something so powerful because immortality without invulnerability or healing is just an eternity of vulnerability, and immortality with them raises the uncomfortable question of what, exactly, you're supposed to do with 10,000 years. The appeal is real, but so is the existential dread — this is the superpower people want in theory and fear in practice.

Popularity: 6.5/10Everyday Practicality: 5/10Risk Level: 6/10Raw Power Level: 9/10

added by IJRImmortality

Shapeshifting

Become anyone, sneak anywhere, finally know what it's like to be six inches taller or a housecat for an afternoon — shapeshifting wins points purely for versatility and mischief potential. It sits comfortably mid-pack because it's endlessly fun in hypotheticals but a little unnerving in practice, since impersonating your boss to call in sick raises real ethical (and legal) questions the crowd isn't ready to unpack.

Popularity: 6.5/10Everyday Practicality: 7/10Risk Level: 5/10Raw Power Level: 7/10

added by IJRShapeshifting

Super Intelligence

Instantly master any language, ace any exam, out-negotiate anyone in the room — super intelligence is the quiet powerhouse of the list, beloved by anyone who's ever blanked during a job interview. It ranks high for real-world usefulness since brains solve more daily problems than brawn ever could, but it loses some romantic appeal because it doesn't photograph well; nobody draws a comic panel of someone just thinking really hard.

Popularity: 6.5/10Everyday Practicality: 8/10Risk Level: 2/10Raw Power Level: 6/10

added by IJR

Telekinesis

Move objects with your mind and suddenly you never have to get off the couch again — grab the remote, close the fridge, rearrange furniture from bed. It's a crowd favorite for its sheer laziness-enabling charm, ranking well for the fantasy of effortless control over your environment, docked only slightly because the moment someone imagines using it in a fight, it starts sounding suspiciously like just really good telekinetic strength.

Popularity: 6/10Everyday Practicality: 7.5/10Risk Level: 4/10Raw Power Level: 7/10

added by IJRTelekinesis

Precognition (Seeing the Future)

Know the lottery numbers, dodge the car accident, see the breakup coming before the first date even happens — precognition is desired for its promise of avoiding pain, which is exactly why it ranks lower than expected. The crowd consistently flags the same fear: knowing tragedy is coming and being unable to stop it might be worse than not knowing at all, making this a power people want in theory and dread in the fine print.

Popularity: 6/10Everyday Practicality: 7/10Risk Level: 5/10Raw Power Level: 7/10

added by IJR

Mind Control

The most efficient power on the list for getting your way — make the barista upgrade your order, make your boss approve the raise, make anyone agree with anything — and also the most obviously terrifying, which is exactly why it ranks near the bottom. Crowds rate it as darkly effective but morally radioactive, the superpower people admit they'd want and immediately feel guilty for wanting.

Popularity: 6/10Everyday Practicality: 6/10Risk Level: 8/10Raw Power Level: 8/10

added by IJRMind Control

Invulnerability

Nothing hurts you — not bullets, not falls, not that one specific ex — and the sheer stress relief of that fact makes invulnerability a quiet fan favorite. It ranks respectably high because it eliminates fear itself, though it never quite tops the list since being unhurtable doesn't actually make your life more interesting, just safer.

Popularity: 6/10Everyday Practicality: 7/10Risk Level: 2/10Raw Power Level: 7/10

added by IJR

Weather Control

Summon sunshine for the wedding, snow for Christmas, rain to finally end the drought — weather control is beloved in theory but bafflingly niche in daily use, which is why it settles into the lower-middle of the ranking. It's the superpower people fantasize about for vacations and grudges alike, imagining a perfectly timed thunderstorm for an enemy's outdoor party, but most admit they'd forget they even had it most days.

Popularity: 5.5/10Everyday Practicality: 5/10Risk Level: 6/10Raw Power Level: 8/10

added by IJR

X-ray Vision

Famous mostly for the wrong reasons, X-ray vision ranks near the bottom because the honest crowd consensus is that its most obvious use is deeply invasive, and its actual practical use — finding your keys inside a bag — is underwhelming by comparison. It's the superpower that sounds cool until you say out loud what you'd actually do with it.

Popularity: 5/10Everyday Practicality: 6/10Risk Level: 3/10Raw Power Level: 4/10

added by IJRx-ray vision

Astral Projection

Leave your body, drift through walls, spy on the world while your physical self naps on the couch — astral projection ranks lowest on the list simply because most people don't fully understand what it's for. It's the connoisseur's superpower, fascinating in concept and beloved by a niche crowd, but too abstract and too vulnerable-feeling (what happens to your body while you're gone?) to crack the mainstream top tier.

Popularity: 4/10Everyday Practicality: 5/10Risk Level: 4/10Raw Power Level: 5/10

added by IJRAstral Projection