The Official Superman's Abilities - Discussion Thread

Originally posted by Philosophía
facepalm

Walls of text still can't cover-up the gaps in your logic. Your stance is practically 'When it comes to a fictional setting I debate only what can be applied to the real-life setting, and call what bypasses the established real-life laws nonsensical". You then put another horrendous comparison.

I said it once, and I'll say it again. This is not the thread to discuss comic book physics and what you find it acceptable to debate about and what not. The third time, I'm going to report you, as this is not the path I want this thread to be going. It's not the other posters' fault that you couldn't backup your arguments, and now switch to this walls of the text blabbering about how Superman reacting at FTL is unacceptable. Stop.

He seems to not be applying logic itself, while at the same trying to make arguments concerning it. Quite ironic, really. Anyhow, like I said, this part of the discussion is done as it has no place here.

Translation .... wah, wah wah, my toys are out of the pram . I'm going to report you... for spilling my milk. Be a man !!! This is a thread about debating Superman's abilities. By definition, this is exactly what we are doing.

...?

Wait, what ? You do realize that 'Superman's abilities' was what was being discussed before you ran out of arguments and started calling this discussing nonsensical and gibberish, right ?

What the hell, man ?

Originally posted by Cartesian Doubt
However debating about nonsense in JUST as nonsensical. A debate by nature requires language which is governed by logical structure. If the subject matter doesn't have the same LOGICAL structure (AND once agin im not talking about physics, biology, chemistry etc, Im talking about analytics i.e. maths, tautologies etc), then you cannot infer logical assertions. Assertions like "Superman can react faster than light" can't be made because the subject itself is nonsensical.You might as well be debating the angles of a four sided triangle, or the shades of a "color" that is both black and white simultaneously. Its Pure gibberish.

And no, the translation would be: stop trolling the thread with off-topic discussions or the third time you're going to be told it's going to be from a moderator.

Originally posted by Philosophía
...?

Wait, what ? You do realize that 'Superman's abilities' was what was being discussed before you ran out of arguments and started calling this discussing nonsensical and gibberish, right ?

What the hell, man ?

And no, the translation would be: stop trolling the thread with off-topic discussions or the third time you're going to be told it's going to be from a moderator.

Rhetorical crap, and you know it.

So, other topics. Like I pointed out earlier, how he compares to Wonder Woman/Captain Marvel/Martian Manhunter etc. ? Another interesting one is about him holding back, or another one I saw Cartesian Doubt and some others discussing about how he processes solar energy.

Be more active, people. uhuh

so, what has been established with him holding back? is it him sub-consciously holding back? how long has he had mental barriers? how much is he holding back? basically, whats all the information we have on him holding back?

Originally posted by Philosophía
There's no denying he's FTL in combat speed aswell, since he has percieved and reacted at things moving at those speeds, aswell as performed actions which require him to move at those levels.

There's no actual shown limit to his strength, and he is generally as strong as the plot needs him to be. He has high-end feats like lifting the book with an infinte amount of pages or supporting Spectre when he was described as weighting as much as eternity. Then there are things like the Maggedon feat, or him containing a black hole in his hand.

I always thought the "infinite" force of this punch was mighty interesting.

Originally posted by Endless Mike
I'd like to bring up T-Vo. It's a rarely used power, but I was wondering if anyone has a complete list of the times it has been used and exactly what it did

Towards the bottom of the page (and the start of the next one) are all the T-vo examples that I know of.

http://www.killermovies.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=371890&pagenumber=85

He does some pretty cool stuff with it. It's even stated that Superman's will overcomes his enemies ability (basically giving him control over his opponents power set.)

Originally posted by Philosophía
Cartesian Doubt and some others discussing about how he processes solar energy.

A while back I had worked out that, given the amount of sunlight which falls to earth per square meter, and the surface area of Superman's skin (ie, of the average adult male), the math showed that Superman doesn't have anywhere near enough surface area to absorb the amount of energy he expends. Again, I don't recall the exact figures, but I remember, eg, that in order for him to withstand a 1-megaton blast, he'd have to be absorbing sunlight for 500 years.

Clearly, something else is at work.

The general theory is that sunlight acts as a trigger, igniting a more powerful energy source, like the way a sparkplug starts a car engine. ZPE could well be an appropriate candidate for the larger energy source.

(And not to backtrack, but as an explanation for how Superman flies, I like to relate it to his bioelectric aura. Ie, for invulnerability, it's a scalar field, repulsing from all directions; for flight it becomes a vectored field, repulsing in a given direction.)

Regarding T-Vo: I don't know that much about it, but it's always struck me as an afterthought, like someone said, "Hey, Superman is vulnerable in this area; let's close the gap with this new power."

Originally posted by Mindship
Yeah, this is something CD and I have discussed a few times in the past.

A while back I had worked out that, given the amount of sunlight which falls to earth per square meter, and the surface area of Superman's skin (ie, of the average adult male), the math showed that Superman doesn't have anywhere near enough surface area to absorb the amount of energy he expends. Again, I don't recall the exact figures, but I remember, eg, that in order for him to withstand a 1-megaton blast, he'd have to be absorbing sunlight for 500 years.

Clearly, something else is at work.

The general theory is that sunlight acts as a trigger, igniting a more powerful energy source, like the way a sparkplug starts a car engine. ZPE could well be an appropriate candidate for the larger energy source.

(And not to backtrack, but as an explanation for how Superman flies, I like to relate it to his bioelectric aura. Ie, for invulnerability, it's a scalar field, repulsing from all directions; for flight it becomes a vectored field, repulsing in a given direction.)

Regarding T-Vo: I don't know that much about it, but it's always struck me as an afterthought, like someone said, "Hey, Superman is vulnerable in this area; let's close the gap with this new power."

I've seen the scans of his digestive system converting mass into PURE energy, like a biological star. He uses the solar energy to photosynthesize organic molecules, that his digestive system then converts and stores in some magical way(without giving him any mass). Who cares that his body would basically have to convert a 100 tons a second, its a comic. His bio electrical aura is basically an electro-plasma field, similar to a star; but at room temps. Some way or another he has some kind of organ that refracts gravitons and space, like the universe expanding at the big bang.

I liked the whole gravity lens thing, but the lens would literally have to be the size of the sun to work. In then he would expend more energy than he would get off it.

Originally posted by Cartesian Doubt
I've seen the scans of his digestive system converting mass into PURE energy, like a biological star.

In any event: it had best be a total-conversion reaction going on in his supergut; and even then, this would work for a Byrnes Superman, not a more powerful version. Eg, if Supes eats a quarter-pounder, e=mc^2 means it would totally convert to about 10^16 joules, roughly the energy released by a 2.5 megaton blast...

...which means, to withstand the full energy of a 250 megaton nuke (let's say Supes is surrounding the bomb with his body to shield civilians), he had better consumed beforehand 100 quarter-pounders (ie, about 25 pounds of food).

I did the math quickly, but I think this is right.

Fun With Numbers 😮‍💨

Originally posted by Mindship
I wouldn't mind seeing those scans myself.

In any event: it had best be a total-conversion reaction going on in his supergut; and even then, this would work for a Byrnes Superman, not a more powerful version. Eg, if Supes eats a quarter-pounder, e=mc^2 means it would totally convert to about 10^16 joules, roughly the energy released by a 2.5 megaton blast...

...which means, to withstand the full energy of a 250 megaton nuke (let's say Supes is surrounding the bomb with his body to shield civilians), he had better consumed beforehand 100 quarter-pounders (ie, about 25 pounds of food).

I did the math quickly, but I think this is right.

Fun With Numbers 😮‍💨

He's not eating ingesting the food , he is synthesising it from the air, like a plant. If his solar cells are many times more efficient than Chloroplasts, there's no reason to suggest he couldn't synthesise several Kilograms of organic mass a second, Ingnoring the fact that the air pressure around his body would be pretty intense, for Kilo's of air have to diffuse into his body per second. If he then some how stores this energy in a purely potnetial form (maybe using a biological Super Conductor) within a year he's has more than enough energy to deflect the Asteroid that Killed the dionsaurs. Its not going to make him a planet mover, but Its still going to make him pretty God Like. Also he would be allow to Sundip, as the sun literally has trillions of tons of Carbon and oxygen inside it. He plunges into the Sun, and the extra solar energy allows him to photosynthesise at exponential rate.

Originally posted by Cartesian Doubt
No but Sound is , by definition.

Not really - can't we say it's some kind of latent psionic ability? Superman seems to have those.

Anyway, I'd say the "no force in the universe could resist that blow" would be hyperbole, however if that is PC Supes (as the art seems to indicate), then who knows....

Originally posted by Cartesian Doubt
He's not eating ingesting the food , he is synthesising it from the air, like a plant.

Also he would be allow to Sundip, as the sun literally has trillions of tons of Carbon and oxygen inside it. He plunges into the Sun, and the extra solar energy allows him to photosynthesise at exponential rate.

Originally posted by Mindship
Doesn't a plant synthesize it from the ground via its roots?

Common mistake to make, they get their organic molecules such as Carbon and Oxygen from the air, via diffusion thru the stomata.

Originally posted by emporerpants
so, what has been established with him holding back? is it him sub-consciously holding back? how long has he had mental barriers? how much is he holding back? basically, whats all the information we have on him holding back?

It's both conscious and subconscious. He constantly pulls his punches, to the point where he regulates his power on a subconscious level, and as he admited, the only time he hit a person as hard as he could with his powers was at the end against Doomsday.

How much he holds back ? Quite a lot. OWAW is the best example for this. Basically, even after training with Mongul, both of them could still barely handle an Imperiex Probe. Later, he goes on to fight against one 1 vs 1 and still barely wins, after using HV/Freeze Breath/Speedblitz combo. But, when he really cuts loose with Doomsday in space, basically devoiding himself of emotion and going into a 'war mentality' he literally wades through them until he gets to Imperiex.

Originally posted by Avlon
I always thought the "infinite" force of this punch was mighty interesting.

I'd rather keep that when people bring hyperboles to back their characters. 😄

Originally posted by Mindship

TG for the sundip...though this will only be good for a few more billion years before the sun swells into a red giant.

He won't be able to convert the enrgy any way, as it will be red Solar radiation. I presume that when he absorbs yellow sun radiation, his solar cells synthesise an idestructible protien, which provides the activation energy needed to convert the mass into energy. Red rays, crete an inhibitor than deactivates the protien (Notice that the protien is indestructible, so can't actually be natured by heat, pressure or PH). I presume this indestructiblke protien isn't actually a natural occuring molecule, but one that has been "man-made" using nano technology and genetic engineering.

Well it was said that red sunlight locks away his powers