What are some good powers for superheroes?

There's plenty of good powers out there, but which ones would suit your superheroes depends greatly on the narrative. Powers should either mirror or in certain cases contrast the character of the hero.

Straightforward hero types should have straightforward hero powers:

Flight, super strength, invulnerability, energy beams etc.

Heroes with more usual methods should have more unusual powers:

shape shifting, telepathy, intangibility, summoning ghosts, etc.

You should consider what you want your hero to be doing. Heroes with telepathic powers can make great leaders and do all sorts of interesting things, but they'd be of little immediate use in stopping runaway trains or saving people who fall from high places where the more traditional ones work better.

Here are some good requirements:

- Not too powerful

- With a variety of applications

- Fitting to a central theme

- Original

Possibly one of the greatest power sets ever is Spider-Man's. None of his powers individually make him exceptionally powerful, but they still allow him to do all the heroic things. He is agile more than he is strong and resilient, which means he's a capable fighter, but he can still be knocked out for dramatic purposes.

This finds a very good balance in powers that make your hero capable, but not too overpowered as to lose the sense of drama.