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With so many different writers and stories, it's impossible to avoid having a wide spectrum of showings, both way too low and way too high for specific characters. So would it be a good idea to give more characters "excuses" to have highly variable showings? Examples of characters with excuses already are the Hulk (his power varies with his anger), Gladiator (his power varies with his confidence) and Galactus (his power varies with his hunger).

Should more characters have a condition like this?

Not really. It just makes things worse in the end.

It doesn't work for all of them. The examples you gave are some of the prime examples of those that DO work, but someone like, say, Spider-Man, doesn't have some sort of inhibitor or method of upgrading himself. What should be done, in my opinion, but it never would, is that they should finally sit down and discuss a true measurement of power that isn't as flimsy as the "Class 100" type. If you do a little organization, it can go a long way, and if all of the writers are given limits, then they can be more cohesive. Of course, like I said, that would never happen. That's like asking them to sit down and rewrite all of their old stories to make things a definitive continuity. We'll just have to put up with the "I can lift 2 lbs one day and 2 tons the next" levels.

Originally posted by Endless Mike
With so many different writers and stories, it's impossible to avoid having a wide spectrum of showings, both way too low and way too high for specific characters. So would it be a good idea to give more characters "excuses" to have highly variable showings? Examples of characters with excuses already are the Hulk (his power varies with his anger), Gladiator (his power varies with his confidence) and Galactus (his power varies with his hunger).

Should more characters have a condition like this?

For some characters, such as the ones you mention, the variable power level is built into the character's origin...

However, for the most part, I believe that writers should carefully research the characters they're working with to remain consistent...

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Sasquatch is a perfect example...he has a number of very good showings as well as some job-outs...and I believe it all comes down to the writer(s) not doing their homework, or ignoring the character's known feats...