Enhanced hearing is the ability to perceive and interpret sound at a decibal level greater than the average human. Such a power is most commonly found amongst cyborgs and superheroes. The character of Jaime Sommers from the 1976 ABC action series The Bionic Woman possessed enhanced hearing by way of a cybernetic implant.
Auran possesses parabolic hearing.
In Marvel Comics, the masked crime-fighter Matt Murdock possesses heightened senses as well as a radar sense to compensate for being blind. Daredevil's sense of hearing enables him to detect an acoustic pressure change of one decibel at a pressure level of seven decibels (whereas the lowest threshold for average human hearing is twenty decibels). He can hear a person's heartbeat at a distance of over twenty feet, or people whispering on the other side of a standard soundproofed wall. Through practice, Daredevil is able to control his hearing acuity, mentally blocking out specific sounds like his own breathing and heartbeat, all ambient sounds to a normal human level of perception, or all sounds but a particular sound he is concentrating upon.
The Inhuman known as Auran possessed a very specialized sub-application of enhanced hearing. Through terrigenesis, Auran was granted the ability to select any word she wished, and whenever that word was spoken on Earth she was capable of hearing and knowing the location of where it was spoken.
Characters that possess enhanced hearing[]
| Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Douglas Patrick Reagon | Lightning Comics |
| Kyle Richmond | Marvel Universe |
Appearances[]
Television[]
- Adventures of Superman: The Haunted Lighthouse
- Bionic Woman: Bionic Beauty
- Bionic Woman: Jaime's Mother
- Jake 2.0: Pilot
Comics[]
- Adventures of Superman 517 - Superman's super-hearing detects trouble in Metropolis.
- Daredevil 22 - Daredevil uses enhanced hearing to eavesdrop on Karen Page.
- DC Comics Presents 52 - Superman detects the sound of Negative Woman's berserk rampage.
- Detective Comics 400 - Kirk Langstrom's hearing increases after becoming Man-Bat.