Is there anything more needlessly complicated in comic books than superhero family trees? If you thought keeping up with general continuity was a challenge, we dare you to try and unweave the complicated web that is the Summers familial tree. Between alternate realities, ever-growing numbers, editorial mandates, and near-constant death and rebirth, keeping track of superhero relations can sometimes feel like a full-time job. For example, can you tell us how many members there are in the Flash Family? Mhmm.
These are the strongest superhero families of all time, as voted on by comic book fans on Ranker.
9. The Howletts
Who’s In The Family? You don’t live as long as Logan, AKA Wolverine, without ending up with a family of some kind. Born in the late 1800s, Logan has had a few significant others over the years and has birthed some children along the way. The most prominent of these offspring are Daken and Laura Kinney, AKA X-23. Laura is technically a clone of Logan, but we’re including her here regardless. This crew has some anger issues, but you probably already knew that.
What Are Their Powers? You know the drill. They have claws. They can heal from almost anything. They get mad. They will end you. Bing, bang, boom.
Do They Fight Together? Daken and Wolverine have a complex relationship with mixed feelings for one another, but they have been known to team up from time to time. They’ve also been known to try and slay one another, so… yeah. Laura and Logan are both prominent X-Men members, so they definitely fight together on a regular basis.
8. The Darkholmes
Who’s In The Family? Like the vast majority of mutants in Marvel Comics, Raven Darkholme’s familial history is complex and hard to explain. Keeping things as simple as they can be, Mystique is the mother of two prominent X-Men: Nightcrawler and Rogue. She is Nightcrawler’s birth mother and is the foster mother of Rogue. There’s more to her story, but this distillation gives you the most important details.
What Are Their Powers? Mystique is a metamorphic shapeshifter who can change her appearance at will. Nightcrawler is a teleporter. Rogue can absorb the powers of others and seemingly has permanently absorbed the powers of Wonder Man, giving her super-strength and flight.
Do They Fight Together? Hmm… yes? Mystique is more of a villain than her clearly heroic offspring, but she’s more of an antihero nowadays than an out-and-out baddie. And all mutants are on the same side after the events of House of X and Powers of X. So, yes! They fight together!
7. The Waynes
Who’s In The Family? At first glance, this is merely a father-and-son duo with Bruce and Damian Wayne – the offspring Batman didn’t even know existed for years. But then you remember Dick Grayson is essentially Bruce’s adopted son, and Batwoman, Kate Kane, is Bruce’s cousin. Jason Todd and Tim Drake are a bit more complicated when it comes to their familial ties, but the Bat-Family roster runs deep. Imagine if we included others like Signal, Batgirl, Batwing, and Orphan.
What Are Their Powers? This group doesn’t really have any traditional superpowers. They’re all expert fighters and generally are extremely intelligent, but Bruce’s fortune does a lot of the heavy lifting to make them superheroes. Of course, after the events of “Joker War,” Bruce’s fortune is mostly gone, bringing the Bats back down to their street-level roots.
Do They Fight Together? Yeah! Batman and Robin, baby! The Bat-Family always has each other’s backs. Although things have been a bit icy between Bruce and his son after Damian was locking away villains and throwing away the key when he was leading the Teen Titans. Just your average preteen stuff going on with the young Wayne.
6. The Maximoffs
Who’s In The Family? Unraveling this family tree is no easy task. Originally the children of the Scarlet Witch and Vision (but not really, as they were created by Wanda using energy from Mephisto), Tommy Shepherd and Billy Kaplan are the reincarnated children of Wanda Maximoff. It doesn’t make all that much sense, really. Also, Magneto used to be thought of as Wanda’s father, but this isn’t actually the case anymore. At least we know Pietro Maximoff definitely qualifies as Wanda’s actual, flesh-and-blood family.
What Are Their Powers? Wanda’s got Chaos Magic powers, and Pietro can run really, really fast. Billy takes after Wanda (he’s also a magic-user), while Tommy takes after his uncle (meaning, he’s also quite quick). WandaVision does a good job of laying this out pretty well. If you’d like to include Vision and Magneto, one is a superpowered synthezoid, and the other is only one of the strongest mutants on the planet.
Do They Fight Together? The entire family doesn’t really do much fighting together. Wanda and Pietro spent time together as members of the Avengers, but they’re both off kind of doing their own things now. Billy and Tommy also spent time fighting together as members of the Young Avengers, but that group isn’t really together anymore, and Billy is out there living the married life with his husband, Teddy Altman.
5. The Flash Family
Who’s In The Family? Much like the Bat-Family, the extended Flash Family lineup consists of numerous non-related members. So, let’s focus on the Allens, yeah? We’ve got Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Don Allen, Dawn Allen, and his nephew Wally West. Bringing in Wally also gives us his kids, Iris and Jai West. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t include the New 52 Wally West, as well. And we know Don and Dawn Allen are technically villains, but they’re Barry’s kids, so we have to include them here.
What Are Their Powers? They’re fast! Like, extraordinarily fast. Like… we-can-travel-in-time fast.
Do They Fight Together? Of course they do. They’re the freaking Flash Family. They’re even more tightly knit than the Bat-Family.
4. The House of El
Who’s In The Family? The House of El is home to some of the most popular heroes in the pages of DC Comics. Who doesn’t love Superman? Throw Supergirl and Jon Kent into the mix, and you’ve got a lovable group of heroes. And Krypto the Superdog? Don’t even get us started. Sure, Jor-El is a problematic dude, at least since DC Rebirth kicked off, but we don’t need to talk about him!
What Are Their Powers? Well, what powers don’t they have? Super speed. Super strength. Super vision. Flight. Heat vision. X-ray vision. Near-invulnerability. Super-breath. The super-family can have pretty much any power the creative team wants them to have, as long as Kryptonite and magic remain as weaknesses.
Do They Fight Together? Without question! The House of El is one of the most tightly woven family units in all of comics history. And they’re always down for a solid group hug.
3. The Richardses
Who’s In The Family? We’ve got Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, and Johnny Storm making up the ranks of Marvel’s First Family. And you know what? We’re gonna throw in Ben Grimm for good measure as he’s essentially the family’s wild uncle at this point. He’s chosen family.
What Are Their Powers? Reed is super stretchy and super smart. Sue can turn invisible and make force fields. Franklin is one of the most powerful beings in all of Marvel Comics. Valeria might be smarter than her father. Johnny can fly around and light himself on fire. Ben Grimm is really strong and made of rocks.
Do They Fight Together? The family that fights together stays together. Isn’t that how the classic saying goes? While certain Marvel groups are always bickering and changing rosters constantly – hello Avengers and X-Men – the Fantastic Four are, generally speaking, always looking after one another. They put the Multiverse back together after Secret Wars, for goodness sake… even though Johnny and Ben got left behind for that endeavor.
2. The Asgardian Royal Family
Who’s In The Family? Thor’s family is a who’s who of powerful Asgardians that, if they banded together, could probably take over the entirety of the Marvel Universe if they really wanted to. There is Thor, Odin, Frigga, Loki, Baldur, Tyr, Cul, and Angela. If that crew is coming at you in a fight, you should just wrap it all up and go home. It’s not worth it. Check The War of the Realms for evidence of what happens when you think you’re clever enough to take them on.
What Are Their Powers? Each Asgardian is extremely strong and is an expert fighter, though they each have different specialties. Thor is the God of Thunder and wields Mjolnir to great effect. Odin has the Odinforce, and that makes him pretty much unbeatable in a fair fistfight. Loki is a trickster of the highest form. Angela is one of the fiercest warriors in all of Marvel Comics. They love their fighting, and they love their revels.
Do They Fight Together? When Loki isn’t too busy stabbing everyone in the back, they do fight together. But Loki is generally stabbing everyone in the back, so this is rarer than the family would probably like it to be. Never change, Loki.
1. The Summerses
Who’s In The Family? You wanna get complicated? Let’s do this. To start, we have Cyclops (Scott Summers) and Jean Grey, who are technically married but have both perished and come back to life, so their relationship is not easily defined. Scott’s brothers, Havok and Vulcan, are also two pretty powerful mutants, and his half-brother, Adam-X, is no slouch, either. Then we have Cable, Scott and Jean’s son. Not to mention all of their extended/alternate-reality family members like Rachel Summers, Nate Grey, and Hope Summers. It’s complex and confusing, but the Summers family is pretty expansive.
What Are Their Powers? Oh, jeez. Cyclops shoots concussive blasts from his eyes. Jean is a powerful telepath. Havok shoots out ambient energy as destructive blasts. Vulcan has energy manipulation powers and can fly. Cable has all kinds of powers but also generally carries a huge gun with him wherever he goes. Rachel basically has the same powers as Jean, and Hope can control the superpowers of others. This is not a family you want to mess with.
Do They Fight Together? Of course! The X-Men always end up sticking together, despite whatever hardship and/or betrayal they’re going through at the time. Things haven’t always been easy for the Summers family, but with the advent of the mutant nation of Krakoa, they’re pretty much all together in solidarity, at least for the moment.