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Aside from the obvious like high end prisons and security and power dampening fields at secure locations, what special defenses do you have the elite and powerful use in your game worlds against some of the more esoteric powers?
Do world leaders and executives wear tinfoil hats or armadillos on their heads? Are scratchoff tickets made of lead?

Government and big businesses make extensive use of licenced/trusted Precogs and telepaths to protect their interests, not to mention expensive superscience "power detectors" (still rare but the richest corporations and most governments have them in strategic places).

In the end, the measures and countermeasures generally cancel each other out.

Wouldn't the lead have to be in the stuff you scratch off to reveal whatever's printed under. Also, a thin piece of paper with some ink in it wouldn't even show up in an X-ray image in IRL(at least not in the way enabling you to see what's printed on it).

I've yet to introduce my own HU-universe, so I yet tell you what's in mine...

in my world the super powers are new
and even if they weren't I wouldn't allow power dampeners with a "just cuz they do" reasoning.

My Prison;
HERMAN
Super Powered Prison
Prisoners are strapped to tables, fed intraveniously, waste removed by tubes, permantly ko'ed or sedated, restrained with titanium.
Special circumstances for special people
Guards are given orders to shoot to kill

If they can work themselves around that then fine. People don't believe psychics and mutants as a whole, much much less magic. So if they can work around these parameters like going astral before injection the injections not working etc then they can probably get themselves out
however if they can't pierce the skin for injection then again tubes down the throat.

there are holes of course but it's a new world. It would be like hippocrates trying to diagnose AIDs. The pwoers that be KNOW they are out there and know that flame guy can thro fire but not why how or that he can do other stuff so they contain the situation as best they can. Diagnosis: Super Freaks, and that's about it

lots and lots of magical wards

Not a lot. Unles someone is cluey, I have very little liklihood of any 'special' defences in places.

Of corse all the best villains are 'cluey' to one extent or another.

Essentially, information on superpowers is divided into: Common knowledge, Special Knowledge and esoterica.

Common Knowledge: X-ray can't see through lead. Fire doesn't burn Nomex. No amount of human strenght can shatter concrete etc.

Special Knowledge: Intangible characters are vulnerable to gas. electrically charged walls will keep an intangible character out. Teleporters only move around 5 or so miles maximum. telepathy requires line of sight.

Esoterica: Captain Alpha's eyebeams are in fcat microwave emmissions which can be deflected by a light layer of tin. Doc Quantum's energy constructs dissipate in contact with high frequency sound waves. Master Kong's Invulnerablility is dependant on his consumption of Gloqua leaf.

Villains are graded by which category of information they have (Their preparedness and resources are a different matter)

So a group of Kidnappers line thier holding cells with lead to confuse the hero they know has X-ray vision. The supervillain Choker, uses thick smoke to prevent his foe 'mind master' from gaining an accurate bead on him. Julius Darke, Arch foe of The liberator, has secretly been buying the commercial rights to a key ingredient of Liberator's super formula. soon he won't be able to have it manufactured.

As for prisons. I have 3 metahuman prisons in the USA, one in Canada and one in Mexico. In the US, the facility is always maximum security, with a small marine unit posted on site. Prisoners are rated dependent on their power level (there is a government system of power recognition) and appropriate measures are taken. Power dampeners are issued with as much range as possible (no power dampeners are portable at this time), but some have inborn powers, some are immune and some have powers that just don't dissapear. In Northern California, there is the 'fire ward'. a series of fire proof rooms and corridoors, laced with sprinklers and freon/halon vents. In addition, each wears a collar that detects abnormal temperatures, and delivers a shock when a fire type power is activated. In other cells, prisoners are issued with metal gauntlets to slow down energy expulsions.

A lot of this means that metahuman containment is expensive. this allows the occasional breakout to be plausable. also while containment is adequate, prisoners are much more able to break out during transporting to trial and sentencing.

Batts

Hiring Super Bodyguards. obviously everyone can't but the wealthy can, and should

For a base or prison elements from the MoS base, or GI are a great starting point. The above mentioned specific knowledge is also great for specific characters. Here are a few other defenses that have popped up in my game, or games I have played in.

Wards, Sanctum, Sanctuary. All great if the facility owner has a mystical bent.

If you play, or have access to PF or Rifts then things like Guardian Stones, Chasers, along with Golems, Zombies, Mummies Rune Statues, Entities, Shadow Beasts, and Elementals can be used as minions left to defend an area. An oddity that might be interesting is the various magic trees in PF.

For building construction, things like reinforced choke points, internal airlocks, and armed turrets are all good ideas. Internal defensible locations where your robot, demon, merc or other troops can rally is a great help. By using a choke point a small number of defenders can hold their own longer. Airlocks slow attackers down, and can be used to deliver poison, or just stun gas.

Odd defenses that work well are, a sprayer of binding agent that works like a Carpet of Adhesion, Electrified doors, Solid Air Shields that pop up over breached doors, Faraday Cages to contain energy, or even localized EMP pulses.

I have mutant ran "free city" called Mount Joy, that actually provides a lot of technology that hinders super villian attempts at crime. Its called the Trust Foundation. Mutants helping humans catch the bad guys abusing their super abilities. Actually the whole city's main income is making products that cater to "supes". Total customization for "special" needs. ie oversized vehicals for the bricks, furniture for globulous masses, and many other products. They also provide work for mutants, and education as well. Hopefully I'll have my manuscript done soon for a rifter submission.

i generally run that the government, and many big businesses use supers to police supers,
with the most common being "Sniffers" - Psychics or Mutant Animals with Presence Sense (which I allow to detect superhumans) and See Aura (to identify specific people once one is detected...)