A hero is not what powers he has, but who he is as a person.
An easy way to test this is to point out a hero that seems like a joke, Aquaman being a classic, and then see who treats it as a joke versus who finds it terrifying. Because they are both revealing their own creativity in how they'd use it with their reaction.
Whenever Batman gets someone else's powers, he becomes 1000% scarier.
Meanwhile, Batman also notes that Plastic Man may be the most dangerous mutant on Earth, he just doesn't realize it because he's a goof-ball. Also, Booster Gold has literal future tech, but isn't actually that great, and is kind of a bumbling egomaniac.
An easy way to test this is to point out a hero that seems like a joke, Aquaman being a classic, and then see who treats it as a joke versus who finds it terrifying. Because they are both revealing their own creativity in how they'd use it with their reaction.
There’s room for a story where an evil Aquaman learns how to command bacteria and viruses.
It was a stretch, but he was able to induce a STROKE in someone by doing this.
Fucking hell, brain eating amoebas under his control would be a gruesome interrogation technique.
Whenever Batman gets someone else's powers, he becomes 1000% scarier.
Meanwhile, Batman also notes that Plastic Man may be the most dangerous mutant on Earth, he just doesn't realize it because he's a goof-ball. Also, Booster Gold has literal future tech, but isn't actually that great, and is kind of a bumbling egomaniac.
Frank Miller, of all people, was one of the only people who truly GOT how deadly Plastic Man could really be.
The one good line in All-Star Batman and Robin:
"If he wanted to, he could kill us all."
Not to mention that one Elseworlds story where Batman got a Green Lantern ring...