The members of The Umbrella Academy have different powers, but Viktor’s (Elliot Page) are especially powerful and potentially deadly. Based on the comic book series of the same name by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy arrived at Netflix at a time when dark superheroes were at their peak. After three seasons full of twists, turns, shocking reveals, and cliffhanger endings, The Umbrella Academy ended with its fourth season, which had many questions to answer after the many mysteries left by the previous seasons, especially regarding the powers of the Hargreeves.

The Umbrella Academy follows the title team, formed by seven superpowered children adopted and trained by eccentric billionaire scientist Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore). Each member has a unique superpower, and though they used to go on missions together, they eventually parted ways. The Hargreeves teamed up again to stop the apocalypse and have since continued working together to save the world, which has been at risk twice thanks to one member’s powers: Viktor’s. Viktor is one of the most powerful members of the Umbrella Academy, and his powers are as fascinating as they are dangerous.

Viktor Manipulates Sound In The Umbrella Academy

Viktor Hargreeves Has A Very Unique Power

Reginald Hargreeves never bothered to give his adopted children names, instead giving them numbers and referring to them by their assigned numbers. It’s still unclear if Reginald had a specific way of numbering his children or did it randomly, but Viktor was the team’s Number 7. It has been theorized that the Hargreeves were numbered by how powerful they are but backwards – meaning that Number 1 (Luther, played by Tom Hopper) was the weakest, and Number 7, Viktor, was the most powerful – and it makes sense when looking at what Viktor’s powers can do.

Viktor’s superpower is sound manipulation, which he converts into energy and physical force.

Throughout most of his life, Viktor believed he had no superpowers, but these were unleashed in The Umbrella Academy season 1, provoking the apocalypse. Viktor’s superpower is sound manipulation, which he converts into energy and physical force. This power gives Viktor enhanced hearing, which allows him to hear even the faintest of sounds and sounds at great distances and harness them with devastating effects (as he did when he used the sound of his own heartbeat to break free from the soundproof chamber in season 1).

This use of his power causes his irises to turn white and his skin to take a very pale color.

Viktor can harness sound, convert it into energy, and project it as ripples of force or bright white energy coming out of his body. In The Umbrella Academy season 1, Viktor used his violin to channel this energy and be more precise in his attacks. This use of his power causes his irises to turn white and his skin to take a very pale color, hence why in season 1 he became known as “The White Violin”.

Viktor’s power can also create force fields to shield himself and others, and the manipulation of soundwaves allows him to move and control objects similarly to telekinesis, which also gives him the ability to lift and propel himself through the air. Viktor is also able to manipulate the weather to an extent, and his powers are strongly linked to his emotions – so if he’s going through emotional turmoil, his powers gain force and can even get out of his control.

Viktor Learned How To Control His Power Better In The Umbrella Academy Season 3

Viktor Hargreeves Needed To Control His Powers

Viktor’s powers got out of control in The Umbrella Academy season 1 as he wasn’t properly trained, and it happened again in season 2 when he reconnected with them after dealing with amnesia. At the end of The Umbrella Academy season 2, Viktor transferred his powers to Harlan, who struggled with them for the rest of his life. In season 3, Harlan successfully transferred his powers to Viktor, and the latter finally learned how to control his powers.

In season 3, Viktor was finally able to activate his powers with conscious effort.

Before that, and especially in season 1, Viktor was controlled by his powers rather than the other way around (as seen in his transformation at the end of season 1), but in season 3, he was finally able to activate his powers with conscious effort. As the most powerful member of the original Umbrella Academy team, Viktor needed to learn to control his powers, more so as he was the trigger of the apocalypse on two different occasions.

Why Sir Reginald Repressed Viktor’s Powers During Childhood

Reginald Was Especially Controlling With Viktor

Reginald went to extremes with some of his children to train them and “help” them control their powers.

Reginald Hargreeves might be one of the most powerful, wealthiest, and most intelligent men, but he wasn’t a good father. All the members of the Umbrella Academy had a lot of unresolved trauma, in large part thanks to Reginald and his terrible parenting skills. Reginald went to extremes with some of his children to train them and “help” them control their powers, as he did with Klaus (Robert Sheehan) by locking him inside a mausoleum for hours. Unfortunately, Viktor wasn’t the exception, and what Reginald did to him was unforgivable.

Reginald discovered that Viktor possessed great power but that his emotions played a key role in them. Even though he did what he could to train him to control his powers, Reginald decided Viktor’s power was too great and destructive, and left him out of the team. Even worse, Reginald kept Viktor medicated throughout most of his life to cover and suppress his emotions and powers. If that wasn’t enough, Reginald made Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman) rumor Viktor into believing he was ordinary.

Of course, this ended up doing a lot more harm than good to Viktor, who felt left out for years (and his siblings didn’t help with that) and not special. Suppressing Viktor’s powers only made their release a lot stronger and deadlier, triggering the apocalypse in The Umbrella Academy season 1 and another one in season 2, though luckily, the latter was prevented.

How Viktor’s Live-Action Powers Compare To The Umbrella Academy Comics

Viktor’s Powers Aren’t The Exact Same In The Comics

When Vanya learned the truth, her powers drove her insane, turned her into the White Violin, and destroyed the world.

Viktor in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy is very different from his comic book version. Very much like Reginald did to Viktor in the TV series, in the comics Reginald made Vanya believe she was ordinary so he could keep her powers in check. However, when Vanya learned the truth, her powers drove her insane, turned her into the White Violin, and destroyed the world. In the “Dallas” storyline, this event left Vanya partially amnesic and using a wheelchair, and in “Hotel Oblivion”, she underwent physical therapy and led a new team.

In the comic books, Vanya identifies as a woman, using she/her pronouns.

In the comics, Vanya channeled her powers through music, and could create destructive waves by playing one single note on her violin. Vanya’s powers in the comics are as destructive and deadly as in the Netflix show, but the way she channels and uses them is different. Viktor is a more fleshed-out character in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, and he has a different fate than his comic book counterpart.