10 Underpowered Characters Who Shouldn't Have Beaten Major Comics Villains

Everyone loves to root for the underdog - it's a fact that's been proven time and time again. And no format loves an underdog more than comics, where endless stories revolve around characters taking on people whose powers significantly outweigh their own.

And this is never done better than with the biggest, most powerful characters around. Seeing astronomically overblown figures like Galactus and Darkseid taken down by heroes with weak or non-existent abilities may feel jarring, but it's also shamelessly engaging - as anyone who has seen Lockjaw or Squirrel Girl take out Thanos can confirm.

While sometimes these scenarios are less a case of an underpowered hero managing a clever plan and more a case of some super questionable plot contrivance, they always have their own benefit: Having a nice comedy moment that reminds us not to take every comic too seriously.

In a series of comics that show even the most surreal of underdog stories is always interesting, here's solid evidence that some zombies, Galileo and a mugger have one thing in common: Beating up the universe's most powerful beings.

In a move that divides comic fans between loving and hating her, Squirrel Girl has historically had a gimmick of defeating all-powerful villains off-page - a gimmick that began with her defeat of Thanos in the Great Lakes Avengers Christmas Special, wherein she takes a couple panels off being with the team to somehow smack down one of Marvel's most insanely powerful major villains.

It's totally played for comedy, as Squirrel Girl's powers - while not as weak as her name may suggest - are nowhere near the amount Thanos is supposed to have, let alone enough to let her take him down with the kind of effort it takes some people to eat a grilled cheese sandwich.

On a practical level, this is exactly what makes her defeat of Thanos so good - purposefully playing with the idea that the Mad Titan in unbeatable.

While it has produced endless rage-fodder for some fans, Squirrel Girl beating Thanos is a peak moment of the Christmas Special, if only for showing some lighthearted comedy.