Character vs Powerset
Theres characters that dont have great powerful/strength in their powerset but is a better character or there are some who are not really a good character but have great power/strength in their powerset.
One or the other please...not allowed to pick the middle ground like a character with both.
Which one to you prefer and why?
A better chracter, makes for a better story (typically). Person with all the power you are left wonder "well, why the **** didn't he do that" so lots of CIS/PIS if you just have a guy with alot of power with nothing what so ever interesting about him.
Then again there are some readers who just want the chracter do something rediculous... tahts fun but you can't run a story on it...
Anyway I pick Deadpool, Batman, Cable, Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider-Man Cool characters.
People with alot of power but not enough chracter imo, Sentry, Mxy (seriously what is his point, just an excuse to have crazy shit happen), Beyonder, Takion.
Its idiotic to like a character because of its powerset. It's the concept, design and fictional personality that make a character good or bad. Most of the the best characters in comics have no superpowers or are low level superhumans. To give extreme examples of this I pick the casts of V for vendetta and watchmen, with the obvious exception of manhattan; batman's rogue gallery; the phantom, etc. All still within the bounds of the masked heroe and superheroe genre. Outside of that, I have to say that most good quality comics outside the superheroe genre have better developed characters than their costume wearing counterparts.
The Phantom was pretty good, I read a lot as a kid. No superpowers, (just peak human in some categories, very good h2h, excellent shot and resourceful) but some great stories. He would run into the occational demon or some supernatural thing but they would feel more special since his world is not crammed full of mutants, gods and sorcerers.
Originally posted by 753
Its idiotic to like a character because of its powerset. It's the concept, design and fictional personality that make a character good or bad. Most of the the best characters in comics have no superpowers or are low level superhumans. To give extreme examples of this I pick the casts of V for vendetta and watchmen, with the obvious exception of manhattan; batman's rogue gallery; the phantom, etc. All still within the bounds of the masked heroe and superheroe genre. Outside of that, I have to say that most good quality comics outside the superheroe genre have better developed characters than their costume wearing counterparts.
Sort of true, but sometimes you see a character with a really creative or interesting powerset that just makes you fascinated to read about it.
Originally posted by Endless Mike
Sort of true, but sometimes you see a character with a really creative or interesting powerset that just makes you fascinated to read about it.
Yes sometimes, powers are a part of character design after all.
But if the character only has cool powers to carry him, it won't get him far, while a human schmuck like spider jerusalem can be fascinating.
Some examples of characters I was atracted to because of their powers were chamber from gen x, photon from the avengers and abyss from age of apocalypse.
But, more importantly, stronger characters are not, in anyway, better characters.