Steppenwolf vs. Thanos: Who Would Win in a Fight?

Thanos has been featured in a lot of our comparisons over the years because he is a very popular character and some that can often be compared to a variety of other characters. This is why we are going to compare Thanos to another character again. In this comparison, we are going to compare the Mad Titan from Marvel’s fictional universe with a similar character from DC’s fictional universe, Steppenwolf. Who would win in a fight? Well, keep reading to find out.

Thanos would defeat Steppenwolf with relative ease, that much is clear. Thanos is more powerful than Steppenwolf and he beats him in all categories, save for weapons use. But, despite being a weapons master, Steppenwolf couldn’t really do much against the Mad Titan in this aspect as Thanos would find a way to win.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Thanos and DC Comics’ Steppenwolf in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Thanos would ultimately defeat DC Comics’ Steppenwolf in a fight.

Strength

The beings of Apokolips, Steppenwolf included, call themselves gods and live outside of normal time and space, even outside of the normal 52 universes. These new gods evolved into beings of genetic stability and evolution due to the absorption of powers from other gods and the use of Source as one of the ultimate foundations for the Universal Expression of Energy, as well as their superior perfection technology. The people of Apokolips, despite their resemblance, are immortal, stronger, faster and smarter than Homo sapiens.

Thanos possesses superhuman strength whose limits are not known for sure. Death has increased his strength beyond its original limits, allowing him to rival or exceed the power of the physically stronger Eternals. Thanos is one of the strongest beings in the universe and is capable of lifting over 100 tons effortlessly. Thanos’ strength is so great that he has destroyed entire planets, planetoids and satellites with base hits.

He has been shown to be able to fight both Thor and The Thing at the same time for an extended period. His strength reserves are so great that with just a series of blows he has been able to defeat beings like the Silver Surfer, even bringing him to the brink of death. Thanos can augment his strength with cosmic energy when needed.

We cannot really deny that Steppenwolf is powerful, but in a comparative context, he doesn’t really match up to Thanos in any way. This is why Thanos wins this point easily.

Points: Steppenwolf 0, Thanos 1

Durability

Sometimes called “enhanced durability”, superhuman durability is a term used to describe the ability of some characters to withstand unnaturally high levels of physical harm. It differs from invulnerability because they can still sustain damage from a sufficient source. Some characters may only withstand sharp attacks, blunt attacks or are vulnerable to energy. Being from Apokolips, Steppenwolf definitely has superhuman durability and is a character who is not easily defeated.

On top of that, Steppenwolf wears a protective armor that helps him in his defense, and is also immortal in face of the majority of his opponents, which gives him an additional boost in powers and abilities.

Before his “death”, Thanos possessed an impressive degree of resistance to physical damage, even when compared to other Eternals. After his resurrection, Death increased his ability to resist injury to a much greater degree and is nearly invulnerable. He has withstood point-blank attacks capable of destroying small stars or solar systems without any damage.

He has withstood blows and attacks from beings as powerful as the Silver Surfer, Thor and survived safely. His incredible stamina has shown that he can survive attacks from universal-level entities such as Odin and Galactus.

Although it seems that Steppenwolf might be on par with Thanos here, it would only be temporary, as Thanos would definitely be able to break through Steppenwolf’s defenses, whereas Steppenwolf wouldn’t be able to break Thanos’.

Points: Steppenwolf 0, Thanos 2

Speed

Steppenwolf is not a speedster, but he has superhuman reflexes, which allow him to physically react quicker than humanly possible. This is good in a defensive sense. He also has the super-leaping ability, which is the ability of some characters to leap great distances from a standing position. Those who possess this power are able to leap distances far in excess of normal human capability.

Despite his enormous muscular mass, Thanos is capable of running and moving at speeds superior to the finest human athletes. However, he can be intercepted with various strategies at the hands of skilled speedsters from the Marvel Universe.

Since neither of them is a proper speedster – although they are quite fast – we couldn’t really pick the winner in this category, which is why we have decided to split the points between the two in this category.

Points: Steppenwolf 1, Thanos 3

Energy Manipulation & Projection

As far as it is known, Steppenwold foesn’t have any energy manipulation skills, at least in the current comic book canon. But, on the other hand, Steppenwolf is a master of arms, much better than Thanos in this aspect. Among other things, he knows how to manipulate the lasso in which he traps his opponents and which has the ability to ignite. His favorite weapon is the Lightning Axe. He is also a fine swordsman and a formidable hand-to-hand fighter.

Thanos has shown great versatility in the use of his energy projection abilities. He has shown the ability to project energy as a devastating force, gamma radiation blasts, infrared heat rays, and disruptor beams, as well as form force shields. The exact extent of the energy projection abilities are unknown, but a single eye-blast has been able to render the thing unconscious and knocking over the likes of Thor. It has been speculated that the nature of Thanos’s cosmic energy pool may be quasi-mystical in nature.

As we have stated, Steppenwolf cannot do much against Thanos in this category because, as it seems, he doesn’t have any energy-manipulation skills and Thanos would simply defeat him in this category with ease.

Points: Steppenwolf 1, Thanos 4

Intelligence

He is an experienced warlord, was the leader of the armed forces of Apokolips, and often took personal command of the canine cavalry – female warriors riding dogs of monstrous dimensions. It is known that Steppenwolf is a brilliant tactician and a truly masterful warrior, but his actual intelligence is not known. He is a good leader, so he probably isn’t stupid, but he doesn’t seem to be the smartest DC Comics villain.

Perhaps Thanos’ most dangerous ability is his mind. With the Intellect from him, Thanos dedicates himself to enhancing his own powers and the annihilation of all life. Thanos is a genius in virtually every known field of advanced science and has created technology far above current Earth Science. His intellect surpasses the greatest minds on Earth, Reed Richards and Dr. Doom. His intelligence even allowed him to create genetic duplicates of himself, as well as merge them with beings like Galactus.

Thanos definitely wins this one. While Steppenwolf is s brilliant tactician, he doesn’t seem to match Thanos’ superhuman intelligence. Thanos is all that and also is considered to be one of the smartest and most experienced characters in Marvel’s universe, which is why he wins the final point as well.

Points: Steppenwolf 1, Thanos 5

Steppenwolf vs. Thanos: Who wins?

Thanos definitely wins this one, that was obvious from the very start. Namely, Steppenwolf might be a powerful character, but he is a lower-ranking villain in the cosmic world of DC Comics. Namely, he is a lot weaker than Darkseid, which – in turn – means that he is weaker than Thanos as well, since Thanos is only slightly weaker than Darkseid. This was also reflected in the points analysis.

As we have seen, Thanos beats Steppenwolf in every category. Thanos is undoubtedly stronger than Steppenwolf, and although he wouldn’t beat him to a pulp with ease, he would certainly defeat him after some time, as he is simply stronger than him. Steppenwolf has solid defensive capabilities, but his physical power is comparatively weak. This is why Thanos’ extraordinary strength would eventually overpower Steppenwolf’s solid defense.

The same also applies to durability. Sure, Steppenwolf’s defenses are strong, but Thanos would ultimately penetrate them. Be it through sheer brute force or some of his energy manipulation skills – something that Steppenwolf doesn’t even possess in the traditional sense – Thanos would ultimately breach through and defeat Steppenwolf. On the other hand, we’re not sure that Steppenwolf could do the same.

Sure, Steppenwolf is a brilliant weapons user, but Thanos has experience in that field and would definitely be able to defend himself against Steppenwolf’s weapons. Sadly for him, his weapons mastery wouldn’t help Steppenwolf against Thanos; the Mad Titan is simply too strong. Not to mention the fact that he could absolutely outwit him without much trouble, despite Steppenwolf’s tactical genius.

Ultimately, Thanos is the clear winner here. Even without the Infinity Gauntlet, which would have given Thanos an unfair advantage, Thanos could defeat Steppenwolf in a direct confrontation. The difference between the two is simply too big and the Mad Titan would capitalize on all of his strengths to defeat his opponent and take this victory. Steppenwolf might have the odd chance in a weapons fight, but Thanos’ overall skills are too great for him to allow himself to be defeated like that.