They say good things come in small packages and these Tiny Titans & Terrors prove the smallest heroes & villains sometimes make the biggest difference! Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will take Marvel's big screen stars on a subatomic adventure in February, but that's just the tip of the tiny iceberg! We're here to comb comics to find out who are the best diminutive daredevils of them all!
Every entry on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths contributes to the cumulative win/loss rankings. You can find updates at the bottom of every new featured fight for characters involved -- but Rank & File is our chance to compare 1,000+ characters by highlighting the ten best of specific categories in order of overall rank! Become a Top 10 supporter on Patreon and you could pick the next Top 10 topic!
#1 Wasp (Marvel)Real Name: [Janet Van Dyne]
First Appearance: [Tales to Astonish #44 (June, 1963)]
Recent Opponents: [Absorbing Man & Titania, MODOK, Kang]
Featured Fight: [Kingsize versus Wasp]
As a founding member of The Avengers, Janet Van Dyne has left a gigantic impression on the Marvel Universe, occasionally using her Pym Particles to reach mammoth scale, but most typically flying high(ish) as the insect-sized Wasp.
Her agile wings and bio-electric stinger take full advantage of her small size, allowing her evade attack, and sneak up on unsuspecting foes. It isn't always easy being so small, sometimes succumbing to a wild swat, but there are very few individuals as experienced with shrinking as the former Avengers team leader. She's toppled tons of towering opponents, and her miniaturized adventures may only be rivaled by the inventor of the Pym Particle process...
Her agile wings and bio-electric stinger take full advantage of her small size, allowing her evade attack, and sneak up on unsuspecting foes. It isn't always easy being so small, sometimes succumbing to a wild swat, but there are very few individuals as experienced with shrinking as the former Avengers team leader. She's toppled tons of towering opponents, and her miniaturized adventures may only be rivaled by the inventor of the Pym Particle process...
#2 Giant-Man (Marvel)Real Name: [Henry "Hank" Pym]
First Appearance: [Tales to Astonish #27 (January, 1962)]
Recent Opponents: [Freedom Force, Ronan, Zombies, Exiles]
Fight Spotlight: [Freedom Force versus Avengers]
Before his recent demise at the hands of Ultron, Hank Pym was going by "Giant-Man", but don't let the name fool you. The original Ant-Man juggled identities and sizes for decades -- always ready to use his patented Pym Particle technologies to shrink down to miniscule size and catch the bad guys by surprise!
Pym was a founding Avenger, but his sci-fi adventures predate team affiliation, and never depended solely on other heroes. Not when he can don his Ant-Man helmet to rally an army of obedient soldier ants! He was once himself trapped at ant-size, but it was his exposure to gases and transformation into Yellowjacket that led to his greatest infamy, altering his personality, and leading him to abandon size-changing heroics for an extended time after violent impulses were directed at his wife.
#3 Atom (DC)Real Name: [Ray Palmer]
First Appearance: [Showcase #34 (October, 1961)]
Recent Opponents: [Killer Moth, Superman, Deathstroke]
Featured Fight: [Atom & Atom versus Killer Moth]
The first shrinking superstar of the Silver Age may just be one of the best! Ray Palmer goes one-better than insect-sized rivals, using his technology developed from a white dwarf star fragment to shift size and density on an atomic level!
The Atom is always just a call away, able to literally ride electrons through the phoneline to arrive at any destination in the blink of an eye! Upon arrival he can deliver a knock-out blow, retaining his proportionate strength focused into a miniaturized form -- or slip stealthily into the ear of any receiver! These skills made him a natural addition to the earliest line-up of the Justice League, and whether perched upon Hawkman's shoulder, or living a sword swinging life with the shrunken Kartathans, The Atom remains one of the premier tiny titans of the DC Universe!
The Atom is always just a call away, able to literally ride electrons through the phoneline to arrive at any destination in the blink of an eye! Upon arrival he can deliver a knock-out blow, retaining his proportionate strength focused into a miniaturized form -- or slip stealthily into the ear of any receiver! These skills made him a natural addition to the earliest line-up of the Justice League, and whether perched upon Hawkman's shoulder, or living a sword swinging life with the shrunken Kartathans, The Atom remains one of the premier tiny titans of the DC Universe!
#4 Destroyer (Marvel)Real Name: [Roger Aubrey]
First Appearance: [All Winners Comics #8 (April, 1943)]
Recent Opponents: [Baroness Blood]
Featured Fight: [Invaders versus Baroness Blood]
The Destroyer may be an unfamiliar face, but as a World War II era Timely Comics cover star, he battled the axis of evil behind enemy lines. Various identities are associated with The Destroyer, but modern Marvel canon would have it that Roger Aubrey inherited the mantle from Brian Falsworth, fighting into the present-day thanks to receiving a derivative of the super-soldier serum that created Captain America, and slowed his aging.
Somewhere within this tangled history Aubrey was captured and experimented on by Nazi scientists, who shrunk him to 12 inches tall. In his miniaturized form he became Dyna-Mite: one of The Crusaders returned to England in an elaborate plot to assassinate the King. Thanks to the intervention of The Invaders, the Nazis were thwarted, and Dyna-Mite continued to fight on the frontlines of Europe, and beyond, retaining the ability to shrink when the element of surprise is required.
Somewhere within this tangled history Aubrey was captured and experimented on by Nazi scientists, who shrunk him to 12 inches tall. In his miniaturized form he became Dyna-Mite: one of The Crusaders returned to England in an elaborate plot to assassinate the King. Thanks to the intervention of The Invaders, the Nazis were thwarted, and Dyna-Mite continued to fight on the frontlines of Europe, and beyond, retaining the ability to shrink when the element of surprise is required.
#5 Maul (DC)Real Name: [Jeremy Stone]
First Appearance: [WildC.A.T.s #1 (August, 1992)]
Recent Opponents: [Annihilus & Defile]
Featured Fight: [Annihilus & Defile versus Fantastic Four]
Like some of the other shrinking heroes on this list; Maul is probably best known for his ability to increase in size. This byproduct of alien Titanthrope physiology sees Jeremy Stone become a hulking purple-skinned member of the WildCATs, sacrificing intelligence for increased size, strength, and invulnerability, while also growing large horns from his back.
Though Maul typically favours size and super-strength in the fight against deadly Daemonites, the inverse of his powers is also true, allowing him to gain great genius while shrinking to a diminutive stature. He has occasionally used this to escape some tricky situations in a moment of brilliance.
Though Maul typically favours size and super-strength in the fight against deadly Daemonites, the inverse of his powers is also true, allowing him to gain great genius while shrinking to a diminutive stature. He has occasionally used this to escape some tricky situations in a moment of brilliance.
#6 Green Lantern (DC)Real Name: [Bzzd]
First Appearance: [Green Lantern Corps #12 (July, 2007)]
Recent Opponents: [Sinestro Corps]
Featured Fight: [Green Lantern Corps versus Sinestro Corps]
Have you ever been bothered by a fly that you just couldn't swat? Bzzd may naturally be one of the smallest heroes on this list -- but it's his indomitable willpower and tenacity that earned the Apatonian a power ring from the Green Lantern Corps!
Bzzd is indeed almost identical to an Earth housefly, but when his power ring is depleted, he can always rely on a natural stinger to administer a powerful venom. A useful tool as he patrols Space Sector 2261, and battles the yellow spectrum of the Sinestro Corps, which he helped defeat during the Sinestro Corps War and their attack on Earth. A good reminder that this fly guy is no joke!
Bzzd is indeed almost identical to an Earth housefly, but when his power ring is depleted, he can always rely on a natural stinger to administer a powerful venom. A useful tool as he patrols Space Sector 2261, and battles the yellow spectrum of the Sinestro Corps, which he helped defeat during the Sinestro Corps War and their attack on Earth. A good reminder that this fly guy is no joke!
#7 Green Lantern (DC)Real Name: [Leezle Pon]
First Appearance: [Green Lantern #188 (May, 1985)]
Recent Opponents: [Sinestro Corps]
Featured Fight: [Green Lantern Corps versus Sinestro Corps]
Size is no barrier to entry for the Green Lantern Corps, and as small as Bzzd might be -- the intelligent virus Leezle Pon is operating on an entirely different scale! This self-aware smallpox is fighting on the side of good, receiving Green Lantern jurisdiction over Sector 119, where he fought against his viral arch-nemesis: Despotellis!
Leezle Pon was another of the Green Lanterns fighting on the front line of the Sinestro Corps War, where he purged fellow lantern, Guy Gardner, of infection by the yellow lantern virus Despotellis, exacting vengeance for his fallen comrades of Sector 119. Working with medically trained Soranik Natu; Leezle Pon is one disease you want to catch -- no evil will escape his microscopic sight!
Leezle Pon was another of the Green Lanterns fighting on the front line of the Sinestro Corps War, where he purged fellow lantern, Guy Gardner, of infection by the yellow lantern virus Despotellis, exacting vengeance for his fallen comrades of Sector 119. Working with medically trained Soranik Natu; Leezle Pon is one disease you want to catch -- no evil will escape his microscopic sight!
#8 Atom (DC)Real Name: [Ryan Choi]
First Appearance: [DCU: Brave New World #1 (August, 2006)]
Recent Opponents: [Killer Moth]
Featured Fight: [Atom & Atom versus Killer Moth]
You can't keep a good shrinking scientist down, but when Ray Palmer vacated his position at Ivy University, nuclear physicist Ryan Choi emigrated from Hong Kong to assume the position. This transfer wasn't strictly academic, granting Choi ownership of the dwarf star size-changing belt that allowed Ray Palmer - and now he - to become the miniscule Atom!
The All-New Atom wasted no time exploring the unseen wonders of the world, adventuring through his predecessor's old stomping grounds in search of amazing new discoveries. His scientific pursuits took him to the subatomic domain, and eventually other universes as he searched for his missing mentor. It turned out he'd never actually exchanged letters with Palmer, but the Atoms never the less became fast friends, fighting side by side against the likes of Killer Moth!
The All-New Atom wasted no time exploring the unseen wonders of the world, adventuring through his predecessor's old stomping grounds in search of amazing new discoveries. His scientific pursuits took him to the subatomic domain, and eventually other universes as he searched for his missing mentor. It turned out he'd never actually exchanged letters with Palmer, but the Atoms never the less became fast friends, fighting side by side against the likes of Killer Moth!
#9 Beast Boy (DC)Real Name: [Garfield Logan]
First Appearance: [Doom Patrol #99 (November, 1965)]
Recent Opponents: [Marvel Family]
Featured Fight: [Marvel Family versus Earth-One]
Although not strictly known for shrinking powers; Beast Boy's ability to transform into any known animal allows him to shrink down to the size of a bird, mouse, or tiny insect! The only catch to his incredibly diverse metamorphosis is the telltale sign of a completely green version of his chosen creature. This is owed to the strange transfer of abilities that came when he was cured of a rare childhood illness using a serum extracted from a green monkey.
Beast Boy might be just as well known for assuming the shape of larger animals, but a more literal tiny titan he couldn't be, as one of the most identifiable members of the Teen Titans, and a former member of the venerable Doom Patrol.
Beast Boy might be just as well known for assuming the shape of larger animals, but a more literal tiny titan he couldn't be, as one of the most identifiable members of the Teen Titans, and a former member of the venerable Doom Patrol.
#10 Ant-Man (Marvel)Real Name: [Scott Lang]
First Appearance: [Avengers #181 (March, 1979)]
Recent Opponents: [Absorbing Man & Titania]
Featured Fight: [Absorbing Man & Titania versus Ant-Man & Wasp]
Like other tiny heroes on this list, Scott Lang received the mighty mantle of Ant-Man by inheriting the Pym Particle technology of inventor Hank Pym -- but before he was given the scientist's blessing, he acquired the helmet by stealing it! It was the act of a desperate father to a seriously ill child, who had reformed as a thief, and ultimately used the technology to thwart a villainous scheme before intending to turn himself in.
Rewarded for his altruism, Scott Lang became as great an Ant-Man as his predecessor, synonymous with small-scale adventures, and summoning armies of ants to his aide as a member of the Avengers and Fantastic Four. His frequent use of Pym Particles even infused his once sickly daughter with the incredible power to change her size, becoming the heroine Stature, and later Stinger. Father & daughter will appear in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which has made the second Ant-Man one of the best known heroes on this list.
Rewarded for his altruism, Scott Lang became as great an Ant-Man as his predecessor, synonymous with small-scale adventures, and summoning armies of ants to his aide as a member of the Avengers and Fantastic Four. His frequent use of Pym Particles even infused his once sickly daughter with the incredible power to change her size, becoming the heroine Stature, and later Stinger. Father & daughter will appear in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, which has made the second Ant-Man one of the best known heroes on this list.
Bringing Up The Rear:
Plastic Man, Mister Mind, Bug, Doll Man, Stinger, Shrinking Violet, Despotellis, Redwing, Doctor Nemesis, Swamp Thing
Remember: The Rank & File Top 10 is determined by recorded win/loss rankings
at the time of publication. There are many more shrinking heroes and villains from the pantheon of comic book characters. Which miniature marvel was overlooked? Share your Top 10 Tiny Titans & Terrors in the comments below, and become a Patreon subscriber to choose the next Rank & File Top 10!
