Darkseid is among the most powerful of the New Gods. His main power, the Omega Beam, is a form of energy that he fires from his eyes as either a
concussive force or disintegrating energy, capable of transmuting or erasing living objects and organisms from existence as well as resurrecting them,
depending on the dark lord's will. These beams stem from a cosmic energy source called the "Omega Effect". Darkseid has pinpoint control and his
unerring aim allows the beam to travel in straight lines, bend, or curve around corners and can pass through matter and energy. He can teleport
himself or others through time and space.[20] Darkseid can also shoot energy blasts from his hands. His Omega Sanction traps the organism in a series
of alternate realities, each one worse than the previous. During the Final Crisis, Darkseid used his Omega Beams to grant power to Mary Marvel, with
her powers then being based on Anti-Life rather than magic.
Darkseid is a being whose strength and invulnerability can only be challenged by the likes of Superman, Doomsday, and Orion.[21][22] He can also move
with great speed, as he has been able to catch Superman off guard,[23] and he is known to be able to react in nanoseconds.[24] He also can increase
his physical size.[25] Darkseid has the powers of telepathy and telekinesis and can create psionic avatars. As Darkseid is a god he is also immortal,
having lived for several hundred thousand years.[26]
Despite his extraordinary physical power, Darkseid rarely engages himself personally in confrontations, as he prefers to use his superhuman intellect
and genius to manipulate or control others to his ends.[26] Darkseid has displayed his godly abilities by sensing the death of his son Orion[21] and
fluctuations of the energy of the "godwave".[24] Darkseid commands all the military and technological resources of Apokolips.
In Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, and Justice League: War Darkseid has also shown the powers of flight.[27]
In the television series Smallville, he is almost omnipotent and can bring forth and manipulate the darkness within a person's heart, allowing him to
turn any that are not "pure" to the path of evil.[28] He has also displayed the ability to take possession of other living beings (that have
darkness in their hearts) as well as shape-shifting.[28]
VS
Thanos is a mutant member of the race of superhumans known as the Titanian Eternals. The character possesses abilities common to the Eternals, but
amplified to a higher degree through a combination of his mutant Eternal heritage, bionic amplification, mysticism, and the entity Death.
Demonstrating enormous superhuman strength, stamina, and durability, Thanos can absorb and project vast quantities of cosmic energy and is capable of
telekinesis, telepathy and matter manipulation. Thanos is an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained in the art of war on Titan.
Thanos is a genius in virtually all known fields of advanced science and has created technology far exceeding contemporary Earth science. He often
employs a transportation chair capable of space flight, force field projection, teleportation, time travel and movement through alternate universes.
Thanos is also a master strategist and uses a space vessel called Sanctuary II as a base of operations.