From Bloodshot to X-O Manowar: 10 best Valiant Comics superheroes

Bloodshot, Bleeding Monk, and X-O Manowar (Images via Valiant Entertainment)
Bloodshot, Bleeding Monk, and X-O Manowar (Images via Valiant Entertainment)

When Valiant Comics relaunched in 2012, it offered comic book fans a gritty, down-to-earth alternative to the two big publishers, DC and Marvel. With its rough-around-the-edges artwork and characters, as well as new storylines, Valiant breathed fresh life into comic books.

Valiant Comics' pantheon of heroes are dual threats in their stories. They're physically fit while also having frontal lobe capacity.

However, despite their fitness in terms of brain and brawn, they are far from perfect. Their flaws make them intriguing while their merits make them larger than life. Here, we take a look at some of Valiant's strongest characters.


Livewire and 9 other powerful characters you will encounter in the Valiant Comics

1) Bloodshot

Vin Diesel took on the live-action role of Bloodshot (Image via Valiant Comics)
Vin Diesel took on the live-action role of Bloodshot (Image via Valiant Comics)

Bloodshot, also known as Ray Garrison, is a perfect soldier. Created by a militaristic organization known as Project Rising Spirit, Ray had a system of nanites injected into him.

This granted him regenerative abilities and the capacity to for encyclopedic knowledge of battle tactics. Bloodshot is easily one of Valiant's most popular characters. The character of Bloodshot also starred in a movie, with Vin Diesel in the titular role.


2) Ninjak

Joe Quesada's creation (Image via Valiant Comics)
Joe Quesada's creation (Image via Valiant Comics)

The former Marvel Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada, co-created this popular martial artist in the '90s. This all-star character is more than just a well-trained fighter. He has superior intellect compared to most others, which is useful given that he is a secret agent for MI-6, England's version of the CIA.

He is resourceful, and has gone toe-to-toe against other formidable characters like X-O Manowar. Ninjak's popularity was highest during the '90s, but his fame hasn't dwindled much. Comicbook.com even produced a web series titled Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe, that is worth watching for any comic book fan.


3) The Bleeding Monk

A wound caused perpetual bleeding in his chest (Image via Valiant Comics)
A wound caused perpetual bleeding in his chest (Image via Valiant Comics)

If there's one monk you don't want to run into in a dark alley, it's one that is continuously bleeding. The Bleeding Monk is one of the most powerful psionic users in the Valiant Universe. Kyros has precognitive abilities that let him see the future, making him one of the most powerful characters in Valiant comics.

That's not all. He can also communicate mentally at great distances and sense others with psionic abilities, even if those abilities are latent.


4) The Eternal Warrior

Gilad Anni-Padda (Image via Valiant Comics)
Gilad Anni-Padda (Image via Valiant Comics)

Gilad Anni-Padda is one of four Anni-Padda siblings who was granted powers and abilities by an ancient artifact called the Boon. The Boon gave Gilad immortality and he swore to protect every generation of Geomancers, a line of mystics who talk with the Earth. Being alive for a millennia has forced him to make some difficult decisions.

He's had to go against what his allies were doing in order to maintain his duty to act as the "Earth's Fist and Steel." He is capable of feeling the full spectrum of emotions, but those never play a role in his decision-making process. He comes off as calm and even apathetic to some.


5) Timewalker

Ivar Anni-Padda (Image via Valiant Comics)
Ivar Anni-Padda (Image via Valiant Comics)

There are a couple of characters that use the mantle of Timewalker, but this point focuses on Ivar. Ivar Anni-Padda's powers are straight forward compared to the rest of Valiant. He can travel through time. Beyond that, he is simply a human being.

However, he is more disciplined than the rest of the world because he made the moral decision not to mess with history during his travels: A principle that most average humans would have a hard time following.


6) Livewire

Amanda McKee (Image via Valiant Comics)
Amanda McKee (Image via Valiant Comics)

In a world where technology is ever-advancing and interconnected, somebody that can control said technology would be considered a god. Think of Avengers: Age of Ultron where Ultron was able to escape via the internet and tried hacking the world's nuclear arsenal. Now imagine that power in the hands of a human being.

Amanda McKee can plug into any device and control it simply with her mind. Any machine or micro-circuitry is at her disposal. This grants her access to impenetrable places and devices. She has even interfaced with the X-O Manowar armor.


7) Peter Stanchek

Peter Stanchek (Image via Valiant Comics)
Peter Stanchek (Image via Valiant Comics)

Between Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, comic books fans have seen the power that telepaths and telekinetics can wield. However, they've only had a glimpse of how devastating that power can be, unless they've read a comic with Peter Stanchek.

Valiant comics have their own types of mutants, and they're called Harbingers. Peter Stanchek is an Omega-level Harbinger, fully capable of harnessing the complete power of his mind. He can read minds, move things with his mind, and activate the powers of other Harbingers. Currently, he is the leader of a team known as "Harbinger Renegades."


8) Divinity

A being with limitless power (Image via Valiant Comics)
A being with limitless power (Image via Valiant Comics)

Abram Adams is a god in the truest sense of the word.

After gaining reality-shaping powers from a cosmic entity, Adams returned to Earth and changed reality completely. Divinity changed the world into a Soviet-era police state in a Valiant-wide crossover event. The only saving grace the world had was Ninjak, who remembered how things were before.


9) Shadowman

Jack Boniface is on the mystical side of things for the Valiant Universe. Capable of traveling between the mortal realm and limbo (known as Deadside), Shadowman defends New Orleans with his voodoo-inspired powers. He has the best of intentions, but sometimes those intentions go awry and things don't unfold as planned.

Jack inherited his powers from his father, just as his father inherited the powers from his father, Jack's grandfather. If you like Doctor Strange, this is Doctor Strange with a twist and an edge.


10) X-O Manowar

Former Roman citizen (Image via Valiant Comics)
Former Roman citizen (Image via Valiant Comics)

Comic book legends Jim Shooter and Bob Layton created this staple character for Valiant Comics. Aric was a slave during the times of Ancient Rome until he was abducted by an alien race called the Vine, who weren't much better than the Romans.

Aric discovered a suit of armor that was light years ahead of any technology he was accustomed to. He used this Manowar armor to escape the Vine and return to Earth. Unfortunately, the Earth he returned to was one he didn't recognize as it was in the 21st century.

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Edited by Upasya Bhowal
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