Is Colossus the strongest X-Men character? His powers, explained

There’s a lot of nuance to the question “which X-Men character is the strongest?” Colossus is an evergreen favorite in the category, but does he deserve the distinction? Nobody’s saying that he isn’t strong – he could absolutely beat up, for example, your dad. Putting aside his already impressive physique, the Russian mutant born Piotr Rasputin possesses the unique ability to instantly transform his body into organic steel. In addition to making him 11 inches taller and 100% more vulnerable to refrigerator magnets, this also boosts his strength considerably. Marvel’s helpful chart on the subject scores Colossus at a six out of seven on the strength scale – not bad, but with room for improvement. Previous feats of strength include punching a dinosaur to death and lifting weights “in the 50 to 100 ton range.”

Then, in the 2010s, Colossus kicked things up a notch when he became the agent of Cytorrak, the mystical entity that sticks disc sleds on people’s heads and turns them into the Juggernaut. With the addition of nebulous crimson magic to the proceedings, Piotr became as close to an unstoppable force as you can fit in a short-pants sleeveless onesie. He got another taste of cosmic-level power when he became a member of the Phoenix Five during the events of Avengers vs X-Men, housing 20% of the Phoenix Force in his body. The good times couldn’t last, and he lost his Omega-level glow up during a tiff with his sister.

Despite all his strength, Colossus also comes with a fair number of weaknesses. Sure, he can take about as much physical punishment as anyone can dish out, and exist seemingly indefinitely without food, water, or air as long as he remains in his armored form. But comic book strength is a game of rock, paper, scissors, if your boy gets within spitting distance of Antarctic Vibranium – a special, rare, Savage Land-specific variation on a traditionally Wakandan classic, also known as “anti-metal” – his body will panic, turning back into malleable flesh and intestines. He’s had his clock cleaned by characters with psychic abilities, magic abilities, and the Sebastian Shaw school of powers that take a person’s punches and turn them 180 degrees. Additionally, back in the ‘80s, writer Chris Claremont put Colossus through a proverbial wringer, superheating his body before rapidly cooling it to absolute zero, paralyzing him entirely.

Basically, Colossus might not be the strongest character, but he probably never got picked last for dodgeball in the Danger Room.