Originally posted by cdtmi think it would take a case by case analysis. does the character have other feats of comparable power to what he is claiming he can do? is the claim a clear atempt embelish the narration and give a larger than life feel to the story? Is it reasonable to assume under the circumstances in which the action is taking place that the blow is indeed enough to knock the moon out of orbit if it doesnt do that and doesnt cause massive collateral damage? It is somewhat subjective though, I would agree.
In other words, statements without feats are usually written off as hyperbole.Although, what happens if, say, the yellow power battery is claimed as being capable of destroying the Milky Way? Obviously, it won't actually destroy the Milky Way. Should we assume it would have, or write such comments off as hyperbole?
Just by way of example. I can probably think of other examples of characters making a claim as fact, that's never going to realistically happen.. (Another example is Supermans punches on the moon threatening to knock it out of it's orbit. As it didn't, does this mean we write it off as a hyperbolic statement?)