Words describing comic books characters that shouldn't be taken too seriously
I mean, really there are quite a few exagerations with some words used to describe some characters or their powers.
I think they shouldn´t be taken in a literal way or as an absolute, it is just comics any way:
Examples:
Superman is not really "invulnerable". But to certain extent, the word describes that is not an easy task to hurt superman,
Adamantium, is not really "indestructible", since nothing is really indestructible, it is just a word to describe that it is not something that can be done easily. Remember, the titanic was "unsinkable",.
Sentry doesn't have the "power of a thousand exploding suns", the guy shouldn't be able to fart without destroying galaxies. Besides he could not handle the hulk, then is just a phrase to describe that the guy is indeed powerful but a real exageration.
Some other examples:
Juggernaut, "unstoppable momentum" is not really "unstoppable". I know is comics, but momentum is just a combination of mass x speed. Even if the source of his high momentum is mystical, anybody who gets a superior momentum could stop him (using a the right combination of speed and mass or strength), and also his momentum could be easily turned against him, thus stopping him.
Hulk "infinite" strength if his anger reach "infinite" levels. There is not such a thing as "infinite anger", anger grows to a certain point, then it dissipates, vanishes, turns into frustation, deception, fear, etc... e.g. WWH, shouldn´t be regarded as the powerful version of the Hulk, having Banner´s mind, should put a lower limit to the anger he can get, vs mindless Hulk, which like an animal, must be capable of reach higher levels of rage or anger, however, even animals show that at some point their rage just dissapears or turn into other thing, most of the time fear or frustation.
Batman cannot beat anybody with prep time all the time. ¨Prep time is overrated.
Wolverine´s adamantium is bonded to his bones, and as such there should be space to bullets, swords, knifes, etc. to decapitate him or penetrate his heart between bones, ribs, etc, just as all other animals with bones in the world, we have these spaces between bones filled with muscle, etc, or just empty to allow movement.
Healing Factor, well there have been quite a few exagerations about wolverines and others´ healing factors and regenerative powers.
Also, I have read many exagerations about spider.sense, precognition, being 1 second ahead in the timeline, magneto´s magnetism, using full brain capacity, etc.
We all have our favorite characters, but I think that sometimes the love for some of them makes us believe than they are more than they really are, even for comic books standards.
unstoppable, invincible, omnipotent, infinite - those types of hyperbolic redundancies shouldn't be used whatsoever, unless one is referring to something which actually fits such a 'title'. imo.
Qualitative absolutes, it seems, were the norm in the olden days when comic stories and characters were more fanciful, ie, there was less scientific thought given to what was being written. Comics back then were basically for kids, and absolutes made things easier to grasp.
Overall, I agree: these sorts of absolutes should be avoided, especially the ones that don't even make any sense, eg, "nearly infinite." Personally, I'd like to see a stricter adherence to science, ie, make comics more like science fiction than fantasy. This is why I often try to translate feats (lifting 100 tons; surviving a nuke) into real numbers. It's quite the eye-opener.
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to the OP did you had a special matchup that made you do this or was it just an overall idea?
EDIT: Agreed Invincible & Omnipotent are extremly misused
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Last edited by Parmaniac on Aug 9th, 2009 at 02:42 PM
Well, basically every thread that involves the Hulk, Juggernaut, Batman with prep time or Wolverine. I like them all, but c'mon, fanboys tend to take to literally or take it to the extreme what is said about their favorite characters, and forget, ignore, minimize selectively what is said about others.
Actually, I haven't seen many people overrate Batman's prep. On the other hand, there are quite a few people who, if they see Thanos/Reed/Doom and the word 'prep' mentioned, they think them capable of beating cosmic-entities and anything below is pretty much cannon fodder.
"Batman's prep is overrated" is in line with "Superman sucks and is too powerfull" in terms of overused nonsense.
Other than that, the list is pretty good.
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this happens in almost every thread involving those characters, no matter the amount of prep time that is specified. and the funnier part about that is, generally speaking, the best answers people come up with are things like, "reed pwns. you gave him prep."
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Last edited by Galan007 on Aug 9th, 2009 at 05:41 PM
batman has gotten the popular vote numerous times with the word "prep" next to his name or in the op also, not saying it's wrong but it's a double standard.
the thing with doom and preparation is his primary stratagem is to absorb energy from whomever. he attempted/succeed to absorb the power of: silver surfer, galactus, beyonder, onslaught, magus' cosmic containment units, etc
the guy always goes for it, he can't help himself.
I don't think that "Batman´s prep is overrated", I think in general "prep time is overrated" just gave him as an example, but I have heard and read really exagerated things about Reed Richards and Dr. Doom's prep that usually are beyond what is said about batman's prep.
About Superman, I see a lot of contradiction. Haters claim that "Superman sucks, he's too powerful, not interesting" however in every vs thread against Marvel characters Supes loses. Yes the same characters that are "flawed" and " have a limited set of powers" to make them more "interesting" and "relatable" beat the godly and overpowered Superman all the time, even Wolverine.
Also, in my opinion Superman is now very interesting. A hero with moral and ethics who only tries to help and do the right thing all the time. He was the archetype of comic book's superbeings, who was followed and imitated to certain degree by the characters created afterwards (ethics, being a good guy all the time).
I see why after decades of these perfect and flawless comic book character, Marvel flawed' heroes where necessary and so successful. However, The novelty of flawed heroes by Marvel became the rule, and at this point we are so flooded in these ant-hero characters, ambiguous morals, that the old good Man of Steel, is one of the few exceptions of characters with a defined position about good and wrong, which makes him shine and stand out among the rest. Comic book industry needs a Superman, really.
Just like reality, we can't see things white and black all the time there are certainly many shades of grey all around us, but there are certain things that we all know just are right, others wrong, and it is nice to see someone that tries to stay in the "Right" side all the time, which should be harder than being grey or uncompromised all the time.
meh, doom's 'go to' with prep in more recent times has consistently involved his arcane/magical knowledge - and prep involving magic is always a force to be reckoned with. so i can see the argument there.
but with reed, it seems like reasons, and/or feats, are rarely given in regard to what he can do in a given amount of time. like i said before, many people will just give him the auto-win if there is any prep time whatsoever involved [however miniscule it may be] - and never specify any 'solid' reason(s) why they feel he'd win.
not saying the same thing doesn't also happen with batman; i personally just see it more with reed.
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