Would you want to fly like an eagle, have the strength of twenty men, or run faster than the speed of sound? We asked the public to tell us the superpower they would want
Superheroes are of course confined to the pages of comic books and the silver screen. Put were super abilities a reality, what would Britons most want? We asked the public to tell us, in their own words, what one superpower they would most like to have, with the answers categorised by our AI-powered topic-model.
Invisibility tops the list of coveted superpowers, with 19% of Britons saying they would want to become impossible to see with the naked eye.
A close second is the ability to fly, with 15% of Britons saying they would want to be able to soar through the skies (we did not clarify whether they wanted to don a cape).
In joint third are teleportation and time travel (both 7%), with ‘healing powers’ rounding out the top five on 6%.
In terms of different superpower choices within society, women are more likely to say they would pick invisibility than men – the only superpower for which there is a noticeable gender difference. One in five women (22%) choose invisibility, making it the stand-out favourite, compared to 15% of men, for whom it is effectively tied with flight, on 16%.
Among different age groups, invisibility is also noticeably more popular among Britons between the ages of 25 and 64 (21-22%), compared to 14% among the over-65s and 12% among 18-24 year olds.
Young Britons prove more likely to favour the ability to teleport, with 16% saying so, a figure which drops with each age group to 3% of the over-65s.
Looking at some of the specific answers Britons wrote in, some were clear that they wanted to pick a superpower that would help others…
- High intelligence. This would give me the power to solve every problem in the world
- To heal everyone of disease
- Eat my way through anything, chomp through walls to rescue people
- I would help the police solve mysteries
…while others listed a ‘superpower’ that essentially constitutes a mundane personal life improvement…
- Being as fit as I was at 20
- Being able to see without glasses
- The power to sleep well
- Eating without putting on weight
…and others named things that are genuine superpowers, but seemingly with a goal of using them for day-to-day reasons…
- Teleportation, one to save on travel costs and two can be used to make money for delivery services
- I’d choose invisibility so I could avoid people I dislike
- To get housework done like Mary Poppins
- Magical pockets. Reach in, there's always exactly what I need right at that moment. Could be bus money, could be a Viking shield, I don't know why I need it, but my magic pocket does
…and it wasn’t ENTIRELY clear that some people weren’t intended to get up to no good with their superpowers…
- Invisibility so I could watch lots of people and see what they are getting up to
- Ability to make people's heads explode
- People have to do what you tell them to
What superpower would you pick? What do you think about superhero movies, movies in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
