Who are the Top Telepaths?
Science Fiction and Fantasy stories are full of people with extraordinary abilities. One common powerset we see across all forms of media is people with telepathic abilities. Telepaths come in all shapes and sizes, from powerful mutants to cunning witches to southern belles. In the modern age of media, we’ve witnessed telepaths in space, alternate realities, and more!
We thought about all the different telepaths we could think of in modern media and put them on this list. Who is your favorite telepath? Did they make our list?
1. Jean Grey
When she comes into contact with the Phoenix force, Jean Grey becomes a cosmic-level threat to life as we know it. Even without the Phoenix Force, Jean is mighty and not to be trifled with. Though some of her film portrayals have had less than positive receptions, she is a deeply empathetic and caring person, despite her extraordinary power level in the comics. She tops our list for all of these reasons.
2. Emma Frost
At her core, Emma Frost, the so-called White Queen – is a survivor. Though she often does not get the credit she deserves due to her icy demeanor and rivalry with Jean Grey, she goes toe-to-toe with some of the most powerful characters in Marvel Comics and holds her own.
3. Deanna Troi
Deanna Troi is half-Betazoid, a race of humanoids heavily featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation, who have empathic and telepathic abilities. Thanks to this heritage, she can communicate telepathically with other races that have similar skills.
4. Matt Parkman
On Heroes, Matt Parkman’s powers emerge as he can hear other people’s thoughts when they are in crisis. Matt is a deeply empathetic person, and his new ability urges him to try and help and save those he thinks are in trouble.
5. Kelly Bailey
Misfits is an underrated show about young delinquents who end up getting powers while performing their community service. Kelly gets telepathy, and though it upsets her status quo, ultimately, her powers help her grow as a person.
6. The Stepford Cuckoos
The Frost Sisters are featured in both X-Men comics and the series The Gifted. They are skilled telepaths and rarely seen apart. They are clones of Emma Frost, who takes it upon herself to serve as their mentor.
7. Judge Anderson
Cassandra Anderson (aka Judge Anderson) can use her ability to read people’s minds and use psychic attacks to perform her duties as a Judge in the Judge Dredd universe.
8. Sookie Stackhouse
Thanks to her fairy lineage, Sookie Stackhouse can hear the thoughts of those around her. As a child it led to Sookie being ostracized, but as vampires reveal their existence in True Blood, her abilities become her greatest strength.
9. Quentin Quire
Quentin Quire (aka Kid Omega) is a rebel of sorts. He is a genius and one of the top students at the X-Men‘s Xavier Institute, though he begins to question Charles Xavier’s teaching early on.
10. Spock
Though in Star Trek: TOS he doesn’t use his abilities often, the Vulcan Mind Meld is a unique take on telepathic powers. Spock uses this power to connect with others, and it is frequently vital to the plot.
11. Saturn Girl
Imra (aka Saturn Girl) is from the 30th century. She has become known for her capacity to be selfless and offer herself as a sacrifice to help others around her. Even though her race is telepathic, she is a prodigy among them.
12. Piccolo
Stern and sometimes grumpy, Dragon Ball Z‘s Piccolo can use his psionic abilities to communicate telepathically with specific individuals.
13. Mantis
Though her abilities are tied to touch, Mantis can sense essential details about those around her, including what they desire. She can also use this ability in the reverse to influence the thoughts and feelings of those she touches.
14. Willow Rosenberg
In the later seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow can communicate with the scoobies telepathically. The team utilizes this ability to plan in different scenarios.
15. Legion
David Haller aka Legion is the son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. David has dissociative identity disorder, which he often has to balance and deal with to use his powers effectively. Which can have catastrophic consequences. Due to his powers, Legion is often portrayed as an antagonist in various X-Men storylines.
16. The Sensates
Netflix Original show Sens8 looked at telepathic powers from a fresh perspective, where those with telepathic abilities could both sense each other and experience what the other person was seeing and doing. It caused each of The Sensates to feel a deep connection to those in their cluster.
17. Psylocke
One of Psylocke’s coolest abilities is that she can use her telepathy to cloak herself from those around her. She also uses it to create her infamous “Psy-blade,” a weapon that can invade the minds of her enemies. She is often featured as one of the most powerful mutants on the X-Men roster.
18. Maxwell Lord
Wonder Woman 1984 introduced a lot of people to Maxwell Lord. In the comics, Lord is a powerful telepath who uses his telepathic abilities to control some of DC’s most powerful characters’ minds.
19. Cable
The genetic son of Jean Grey, Nathan Summers possesses powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities. The Deadpool 2 movie only touches on his physical and telekinetic powers, but we see a long history of his powerful telepathic abilities in the comics.
20. Carrie White
Though telepathy is one of her less prominent abilities, Carrie White (often referred to as just Carrie) still demonstrates the ability to enter the minds of others and shift their perception to her will.
21. Eleven
In Stranger Things, Eleven can see the memories of others by contacting them through the void. She has also displayed the ability to communicate telepathically, even sensing people at great distances when she needs to.
22. Charles Xavier
A powerful mutant, Charles Xavier developed his Cerebro chamber to enhance his abilities further. He can also use his powers to create telepathic illusions and transfer his mind/presence into others’ bodies if he is killed.
23. Martian Manhunter
J’onn J’onzz is one of the most powerful telepaths in the DC universe. He has displayed the ability to use his powers over long distances and has little trouble reading the minds of any human around him.
24. MewTwo
A fan favorite, MewTwo has displayed telepathic abilities in both the Pokemon cartoons and movies. Telepathy seems to be the primary way that MewTwo communicates with the humans around them.
25. Adam Warlock
Teased at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, Warlock has a lengthy and exciting history in the comics. Adam has used his telepathic abilities in a defensive capacity, and he was able to stop Mantis from reading him at one point in the comics.
RELATED ARTICLES:
1. REVIEW: The New Mutants – a crushing disappointment from Fox Studio’s X-Men series
2. X-Men Dawn of X: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3. Top 10 Undeniable X-Men TAS Stand Alone Episodes
