DARKSEID:
(Powers and Abilities)
Darkseid is among the most powerful New Gods, sometimes depicted with a variety of god-like abilities at his disposal. His main power, the Omega Effect, is a form of energy that he fires from his eyes as either concussive force or beams of disintegration, capable of transmuting or erasing most living objects and organisms from existence as well as to reform or resurrect them. Anything Darkseid disintegrates with the Omega Effect can be brought back at any time by him, and he often uses this as a form of punishment. Darkseid has pinpoint control over his Omega Beams, and his unerring aim allows them to travel in straight lines, bend, twist, or curve around corners, and can pass through matter and energy. The Omega Effect can also be used to teleport Darkseid or others through time and space. Darkseid can also project the Omega Effect as energy blasts from his hands. Another type of Omega Effect is the Omega Sanction, that traps the organism in a series of alternate realities, each worse than the previous one.
In addition, Darkseid possesses superhuman strength, stamina, and durability equivalent to the corresponding traits of Superman and Orion. He also, despite his great size, possesses great speed, agility, and reflexes as he has been able to startle Superman with his speed and it has been stated he can react in microseconds. He sometimes possesses the ability to increase his size. Darkseid possesses the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and has also shown the ability to create psionic avatars. He is even able to open boom tubes under his own power, and can travel through time, space, and even other dimensions with ease. Darkseid is also, being a god, virtually immortal. He has lived for several hundred thousand years at the very least. Like all New Gods, however, he is vulnerable to a substance called Radion.
Darkseid generally does not rely on physical combat, despite his great might and being a highly trained Apokoliptian warrior; he is a master schemer and strategist possessing a superhuman intellect. Darkseid has also shown some form of godly sense, capable of sensing the death of his son Orion and the fluctuations of the energy of the "Godwave". Darkseid commands all the vast military and technological resources of Apokolips.
APOCALYPSE:
(Powers and Abilities)
Apocalypse is portrayed as an immensely powerful mutant who was capable of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers and Cable at the same time. Even when severely weakened, Apocalypse was able to defeat an assembly of X-Men.
Apocalypse possesses several distinct superhuman powers, some of which are owed to his mutant genetics and others due to technological improvements he has made on himself. After living several centuries, he further augmented himself by Celestial technology, though it is unclear to what degree these enhancements granted him any additional powers beyond what he already possessed. His powers appear to change according to his need to rest his long-lived body and/or the creative team's desires.
Apocalypse was initially portrayed as a shape-shifter on a molecular level, who also had the ability to teleport himself and others over unknown distances. His power set has been greatly expanded since then, and he has displayed immense strength, near invulnerability, rapid regeneration, energy absorption, and projection. He is resistant to telepathy and psychic attack, and may have limited telepathic and telekinetic capabilities of his own.
Apocalypse has complete control over the molecular structure of his body — he can alter his form as it suits him; examples include allowing his body to become extremely malleable, changing his density, and even increasing his size and strength by taking on additional mass from an extra-dimensional source. Apocalypse can stretch or contort his limbs and body into a multitude of shapes and sizes, with elasticity and flexibility far beyond the natural human limits. He can open holes through his body to avoid attacks. He is able to form various weapons (e.g. blades, hammers, guns, or shields) with parts of his body, including wings or jets to enable flight. He is also able to adapt his body to apparently any disease or environment. On one occasion, he has shown the ability to phase his hand through another object/person. Through his shape-shifting ability, Apocalypse can give himself virtually any physical superhuman power and disguise himself in a vast variety of forms.
Thanks to his mutant power of immortality, Apocalypse is immune to aging. He does not need sustenance of any kind, and his body produces practically no fatigue toxins during physical activity, enabling him to exert himself at peak capacity indefinitely. Apparently, Apocalypse belongs to a sub-species of immortal mutants known as the Externals. He has been referred to as an External on several occasions; however, his longevity is believed by Selene as mostly due to technological means. However, Apocalypse was already many centuries old before his first encounter with the technology with which he would later integrate himself. To note, Selene herself needs to maintain her supply of life force that she drains from living victims, despite herself being an External.
Aside from his superhuman powers, Apocalypse is extraordinarily intelligent. His knowledge in various areas of science and technology including physics, engineering, and primarily genetics and biology, is far more advanced than conventional science; even Beast needed Apocalypse's expertise in biology to cure Xavier of a techno-organic virus. Apocalypse has knowledge of Celestial technology that he uses for his own applications, such as altering mutants or humans (he is able to directly interface with the various technologies he has at his disposal). Apocalypse is a skilled demagogue, able to turn former adversaries to his side. He is also a master strategist; Apocalypse revealed to his Skrull allies during the gathering of the Twelve that he had been precisely preparing his plans for centuries, using hundreds of generations of pawns and peons, both human and mutant, all to reach the specific end goal of evolving to a level of power beyond even the Celestials themselves.