Superman has faced a lot of strong DC foes throughout the history of the character, but two of the strongest he has ever faced are Mongul and Darkseid, who are both similar to one another in terms of their powers and abilities. Both of these beings control their own worlds and are incredibly powerful to the point that they could defeat the Man of Steel without help. But who between Mongul and Darkseid would win in a fight?
Darkseid is most likely going to defeat Mongul in a fight. While Mongul may be the more skilled combatant, Darkseid is just as strong and is a lot more powerful because of his control over the Omega Effect. Mongul will put up a good fist fight, but Darkseid will win out due to his incredible powers.
Mongul may be one of the strongest characters that Superman has ever faced, but he is still inferior to Darkseid, who has always been a thorn that the Man of Steel couldn’t remove. Darkseid, as a New God, is also one of the strongest beings in the DC universe, and that’s why he is superior to Mongul. That said, let’s look at this fight between tyrants in a more detailed way.
Strength
Mongul is an incredibly strong being that is able to exceed Superman’s strength. In fact, through his strength alone, he can pummel Superman until the Man of Steel faints. As such, Mongul has enough strength to take on and defeat Superman and any other superpowered being in the entire DC universe. Of course, his merciless approach as a fighter is what makes him an even more dangerous foe as he enters fights with the goal of bludgeoning his opponents to death.
Darkseid possesses New God physiology and is far stronger than most other New Gods in terms of his physique. He has incredible strength that is capable of exceeding Superman’s own strength, and that means that he can defeat the Man of Steel using his bare fists alone. In fact, in one of the incarnations of Darkseid, he was able to put up a good fight against Trigon using his bare fists, even though Superman could even affect the dimensional creature with his strength.
Both Mongul and Darkseid are incredibly strong beings that are able to exceed Superman’s own strength. Nevertheless, it is tough to tell who between them is physically stronger because they both have similar strength feats in the comics.
Mongul 0, Darkseid 0
Durability
Due to his incredible physique, Mongul’s durability is impressive enough that he is even more durable and invulnerable than Superman. He can withstand punches and attacks from Superman without showing too many signs of damage. Mongul, at one point, withstood a heat vision at the highest intensity. There was even a part in the comics where Mongul wasn’t even affected by Wonder Woman’s punch.
Darkseid’s New God physiology is so impressive that it also allows him to withstand almost any kind of attack imaginable. He was strong enough to take on attacks from the Anti-Monitor, a being that is universal in terms of its threat level. Darkseid was also able to withstand a combined assault from the members of the Justice League without showing any signs of damage. As such, he is an incredibly durable character that can withstand any kind of attack thrown at him.
This one is incredibly close because both Mongul and Darkseid have enough durability to withstand attacks from Superman and other superpowered beings. But the fact that Darkseid survived the destruction of an entire planet gives him a slight edge.
Mongul 0, Darkseid 1
Powers and Abilities
While Mongul often relies on his physical strength and fighting abilities, he is also capable of a lot of other things. He can project energy from his hands and eyes, as this concussive energy is strong enough to damage and affect Superman. Mongul can also release a disintegration beam from his chest. On top of that, he is capable of teleportation, telekinesis, and telepathy but at limited levels.
Due to the Omega Effect that he stole from the Old Gods, Darkseid is enveloped in a cosmic energy field that he can use in any kind of situation. He often uses this energy to blast Omega Beams, which are incredibly powerful beams that are so precise and so fast that they can hit and damage Superman. Darkseid is also capable of traveling between dimensions and uses his hands to create erosion blasts. And thanks to his Omega Effect powers, he has the ability to fly and levitate at will.
Mongul may have a lot of different powers and abilities, but they pale in comparison to what Darkseid can do with the Omega Effect. There is nothing that Mongul can do to contend with Darkseid’s incredibly powerful Omega Beams.
Mongul 0, Darkseid 2
Intelligence
Mongul is a great leader that rules his own planet, and that means that he has some sort of tactical intelligence to have been able to survive through countless battles against different opponents. He isn’t just some brawling brute that doesn’t know how to think, but his intelligence was never his strongest weapon. Nevertheless, he is a crafty leader that knows how to manipulate people and situations to his advantage.
Darkseid possesses a type of intelligence that is incredibly high to the point that he is right around a hundred steps ahead of human intelligence in terms of how his own intelligence has evolved. He is a master of tactics and manipulation due to the fact that he knows how to use all of the pieces he has in his hands. Darkseid also has cosmic awareness, which allows him to understand the inner workings of the universe while gaining knowledge that people without cosmic awareness are incapable of possessing.
When it comes to his intelligence, Darkseid is at a cosmic level because, as powerful as he is, he is a lot smarter. That means that, while Mongul was never a dumb brute, he just cannot surpass Darkseid’s intelligence or even come close to it.
Mongul 0, Darkseid 3
Fighting Skills
One of the areas where Mongul excels is close combat because, as the leader of Warworld, he has been involved in a lot of different wars that only allowed him to become stronger than he has ever been. In fact, Mongul’s proficiency in combat is so advanced that he could easily defeat Superman’s own advanced combat style. He is also a better hand-to-hand fighter than Wonder Woman, whose attacks couldn’t even faze him. This means that he is an incredibly potent combatant that not a lot of DC characters can match.
Despite the fact that he often uses his powers of manipulation and his Omega Beams more than his own physical body, Darkseid is an advanced combatant that has been able to fight toe-to-toe with some of the best combatants in the universe. This includes the likes of Superman and the Anti-Monitor. As such, he has the ability to engage in brawls or use his advanced fighting abilities to his advantage against any other fighter.
Even though Darkseid himself is a great fighter, there is a good chance that Mongul is the superior combatant between the two because Mongul lives and breathes combat and was able to make quick work of Superman himself.
Mongul 1, Darkseid 3
Mongul vs. Darkseid: Who Would Win In A Fight?
As you can see, the only area where Mongul can actually defeat Darkseid is in his fighting skills because he is the better fighter of the two. However, Darkseid not only matches Mongul in strength but is simply better than him when it comes to his durability, powers, and intelligence. Darkseid probably doesn’t have to rely on his other abilities against Mongul because he can simply use his Omega Beams to erase the tyrant. Nevertheless, this should be a great battle if the two were to go toe-to-toe in a fist fight.
