In his earliest appearances, the Phantom Stranger would prove supernatural events to be hoaxes perpetrated by criminals. He would directly confront the villains, and displayed no supernatural abilities apart from his uncanny ability to appear where and when he is needed and to disappear just as mysteriously, with nobody ever seeing him coming or going. In later stories, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified superhuman powers to defeat them. For example, he was able to control a smoke-based sedative with a gesture, claiming that smoke itself is his ally.