Empowered by a jewel he took from a meteorite (first said to be radioactive, later revised to be composed of microscopic technology called "tektites"), Klarn the Immortal Man possesses a reincarnation ability; if he dies, he soon materializes in a new body elsewhere on Earth, appearing from nowhere without having to be literally born again (as is usually the case with traditional reincarnation). His different bodies vary in age, physicality, and apparent nationality, but the basic personality remains the same. Although Immortal Man retains his learned skills and knowledge from previous lives, he sometimes has trouble remembering things at first, and the problem worsens if he does not have his amulet. The amulet seems to stabilize his power and knowledge (later comics say it does this by maintaining a "tektite field"). Due to his many lives across thousands of years, the Immortal Man is an excellent tactician, skilled in various forms of combat and survival, and is knowledgeable in many fields of study.