A lot of people think Superman is unbeatable—which, of course, he isn’t. Superman can be and has been beaten many times before. Even though he’s extremely physically durable, he’s been outright beaten to death, but that’s certainly not the most effective method of defeating him.

There are actually a number of more effective ways to overcome the Man of Steel without even touching him. Yes, you read that right, Superman can be defeated without the need for physical contact.

Various methods across numerous sources of fictional media are capable of bringing the Kryptonian hero down to his knees – or even killing him – which enemies can perform by using their minds or by using other non-physical means.

We aren’t saying that these methods will always work or that Superman couldn’t fight back against the enemies who might use them, we’re just saying that they can work if the conditions are right.

This article will list ten ways to defeat Superman without actually touching him…

Kryptonite

Let’s start with the most obvious examples of ways to defeat Superman without touching him – the most prominent of which is undoubtedly Kryptonite.

Kryptonite is a substance derived from the remains of Superman’s home planet of Krypton. It is green and generally rock-like in texture, but the radiation it gives off can be detrimental to the Man of Steel.

The extent to which it harms him tends to vary from writer to writer, however. In some cases, small amounts have completely incapacitated him while, in other cases, he has managed to continue fighting despite being completely surrounded by it.

Anybody who happens to wield the substance is capable of defeating the hero. Kryptonite Man is an obvious example, as he has the ability to emit the harmful radiation. Others who have used it against Superman include Lex Luthor and Batman.