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Balanced Superpowers or simple powers thread

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we've had the Warcraft III skills on real life thread before, now this.

i've always thought having balanced and more realistic superpowers or other simpler powers that are not too overpowered. as better than mr. ol' superman not giving a damn about how strong enemies are because he's superior. Unless they have Kryptonite, which makes him a sissy wuss.


they are balanced so they don't need to have material or other weaknesses because the possessors are still normal people. Vulnerable.

think of any balanced superpowers,powers, or simple powers.
i've thought of:

1. Phasing through solid materials but unable to breathe there. Unable to phase on liquid because it makes it feel like solid. So you're able to walk on it.

2. Able to teleport anywhere you can see, and only above it. thus limiting the ability to teleport on the other side of the world in one jump or teleporting behind something big.

3. able to lift 1-3 tons. but your flesh is still normal, thus cuts and bruises can be present when hurt.

4. superspeed? you can run very fast. But might be hard to slow down if you go too fast or if you trip, you could look like the guy from GTA IV bailing out of a superfast NRG-900. Thus spreading your guts and gibs everywhere. Might be a useless power. just imagine the scenario XD

5. able to read anyone's mind at a range of 5 feet from your head. and only see and hear what the target thinks presently. So on Midterm examinations, if he/she is not saying the answer on his/her head right now, you're pretty much on your own trying to answer your exam.

tell me what kind of ideas you have!
 
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964715-wtf_pics_super_hero_gross_super.jpg

...

oh mah lawdy stop trying to place superpowers within reasonable bounds already. they are not. no really, by definition they aren't.

let them be fucking super awesome and leave it at that
 

Dr Super Good

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Batman's superpower is money and Iron Man's is technology.
Umm... You are aware Tony Stark is not poor? Infact he is quite the opposite... Maybe he is not as rich as Bruce but he is more than rich enough. Do you think the Iron Man suit is free?

Personally I don't think it's fair to compare super heroes, they're form different "universes" after all.
That did not stop Thanos fighting Darkseid, although they were villans.
 
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Bruce Wayne vs Tony Stark. No suits, no explosions.

Stark would get hid head ripped off. Go away dsg.

This is exactly why I am going to be your wife, GT

As for a balanced superpower of my own, I think eternal life would be balanced as it does not guarantee your health.

Or like maybe you could have indestructible skin, but the power comes with diabetes, so you can't inject your insulin. Ohhh nooo! How will The Dynamic Diabetic get out of this conundrum??
 
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This is exactly why I am going to be your wife, GT

As for a balanced superpower of my own, I think eternal life would be balanced as it does not guarantee your health.

Or like maybe you could have indestructible skin, but the power comes with diabetes, so you can't inject your insulin. Ohhh nooo! How will The Dynamic Diabetic get out of this conundrum??

Eternal life as a rotten pile of goo sounds awesome.
 

Dr Super Good

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Bruce Wayne vs Tony Stark. No suits, no explosions.

Stark would get hid head ripped off. Go away dsg.
No, he would just electrocute Bruce using the powersupply that keeps him alive... The typical brain vs brawn result. It is not like Tony is totally helpless without his suit, he does his own share of training.

Why does Batman even exist? Surely Superman could do all that stuff, seeing how Superman is one of the most rigged super heroes to ever be created?

There is really no such thing as ballenced super powers, since the very definiton of a super power makes it unbalenced. X-men is a good example, where there were 100s of people with varying strengths of super power. Most had powers which were not even worth mentioning and would probably be stronger as normal humans. Then there were two who had some of the most rigged super powers to ever exist.
Magento -> power to control everything metal, comes with free flight capabilities
Professor X (cannot spell his full name) -> ability to read, manipulate and destroy nearby unshielded minds (and with a machine, all unshielded minds in the world)
99% of the other mutants need not have bothered, seeing how uterly rigged those two are compared to them, even if they had cool powers such as super regeneration, weather control, telekinetic powers or even the ability to drain powers from others.
 
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Tony Stark is a fairly incompetent fighter without his power armor, and you seem to neglect that Batman has the best power of all - the power of plot device.

Also, EMPs are a thing.

As for Batman VS Superman, Batman beats Superman. You think Superman is one of the most rigged super heroes ever created? Batman's Power of Plot Device is way way WAY more powerful.
 

Dr Super Good

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Also, EMPs are a thing.
I think Tony devised methods to cope with that.

Batman has the best power of all - the power of plot device.
I used to agree, but the recent movies had that power removed from him.

Batman's Power of Plot Device is way way WAY more powerful.
We will have to wait and see how the new Superman movie turns out.

Super powers could probably be classed into different strength levels. Ones like the ability to manipluate metal, mind control, invincibility are all on the strong level. Others like super strength, the ability to fly, laser vision areall on the weak level. The strength of a super hero could then be approximated by incorperating all super powers he has.
 
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hmm, the recent movies maintained the stupidly OP Plot Device power, but stripped Batman of his intelligence, imo

especially at the ending of the last movie, where batman was like 'i better take this bomb away from gotham and have a scene where i sacrifice myself in the explosion to save everybody'. then suddenly alfred is in france and sees bruce sipping tea with cat woman and although he didn't show it i know alfred was thinking 'he should really really really be dead. why isn't he dead.'

and when i watched this through the perspective of a video camera in an american cinema, there was an outburst of that annoying 'woooo' combined with applause which makes me want to never partake in any group activity with a group of americans.
 

Dr Super Good

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especially at the ending of the last movie, where batman was like 'i better take this bomb away from gotham and have a scene where i sacrifice myself in the explosion to save everybody'. then suddenly alfred is in france and sees bruce sipping tea with cat woman and although he didn't show it i know alfred was thinking 'he should really really really be dead. why isn't he dead.'
Predictable? There are dozens of games and movies which follow that sort of ending. I still think the 1989 Batman was about the best, with its awesome music, awesome joker and epic Bat action. It also was not responsible for various real life psycotic incodents that resulted in death which is something the lattest film series cannot boast.

Batman still relies heavilly on his tech to do anything. His "Utility Belt" is world famous. Yes his melee fighting is good, but he is no martial artist (there are better). Without his technology he probably could not even call himself a super hero. As such, being super smart or having super technology is considered a super power.

Examples to back this up.
Lex Luthor -> Super intelligence (11th level or something?) -> super villian
Tony Starke (Iron Man) -> Super intelligence -> super hero
Bruce Wayne -> Super intelligence -> super hero
The Manderin -> Super Technology (his alien rings) -> super villian
 
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Superpowers can't be small, because they already break the laws of physics.

Thats a nieve statement. Im sorry to quote Thor, but here you go:

"Your ancestors called it magic, but you call it science. I come from a land where they are one and the same."

So pherhaps your perception of "superpowers" is limited since your perception of science is limited. The proof of this claim is 100% truth. Can you explain all the scientific phenomenon in the world, or the universe for that matter? Actually, do you know the universe is everything there is? Pherhaps the "superpowers" we dream of could actually exist, we just don't fully understand it yet. Just keep an open mind.
 
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i love it when people think they have a super deep understanding of science because they are familiar with the concept of uncertainty. it's like, congratulations, you just passed the bar for an average conscious being. superhuman powers, aka superpowers, is by definition powers beyond mankind. balance on the other hand is a state of parity where all forces cancel each other out by equal opposing forces.

if you weigh a superhuman and an average human, the scales aren't horizontally suspended. a balanced superpower is as negative positive, like a fattening diet or an exhilarant sleeping pill.

and you wanna bring the power of plot devices into this mess?



Can you explain all the scientific phenomenon in the world, or the universe for that matter?
yes, because a scientific phenomena is by definition a phenomena that can be explained through science.

Pherhaps the "superpowers" we dream of could actually exist, we just don't fully understand it yet. Just keep an open mind.
for the record "keep an open mind" has really become hippie for "smoke a joint and think about how cool shit is if they somehow possibly existed in some form or way but screw all the underlying details because fuck it that wouldn't be awesome."

keeping an open mind doesn't resolve you of any burden of actually making sense in debate.
 
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Beside the power of being the goddam Batman and plot device manipulation, there's nothing really super about Batman. Super cool, maybe.

Batman have nothing super. Everything about him is at peak human capability while Stark's intelligence reach superhuman level. Beside taking this from the source (which described Batman as being a genius and Stark as above genius) So, Stark could be a superhero while Batman still a hero in technical terms.

In many stories, Batman occasionally have to get help from other above geniuses in many fields of science. In the same situation, Stark is always the one in the lab with other super-geniuses when it comes to lab work. (often with the Beast, Hank Pym, Mr. Fantastic and Bruce Banners)

That one time when the Universe tell Hank Pym he's the scientist supreme, he also stated that Mr. Fantastic is the Explorer supreme and Stark the Inventor supreme.
tl;dr

Basically, I geek out and explain why Stark is smarter than Batman in canon sense.

---------------

Also, with all the money and stuff, why does he go around dodging bullets when he could stop the bullet by wearing something a little tougher than a spandex and a cape ? In a world where superheroes burp acid and sneeze lasers out of their ears, why would he want to be all secretive anyway ?
 
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There's nothing super about Stark, either, in a literal sense. You could say that Stark's cybernetic heart is 'super', but it's no more super than Batman's mastery at martial arts as well as being a master escape artist.

As previously stated, take Batman and Stark without their suits and Batman would have the upper hand. Batman also has an army of children he picks up off the street, so Stark has to watch out for that.
 
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Recently, Stark's suit is now integrated into him in a biological sense. It could be considered a part of him in a way ?

Also, comparing 2 guys at their weakest to determine who is a better fighter is a rather strange way of deciding that. If we do that, Superman is obviously going to be weaker than Batman... even without the plot device dictating Batman wins.

At their strongest, Batman is... well, a guy in a cape with gadgets while Ironman is encased in a suit of armour with lasers, rockets and he can fly. (Also, his helmet cover his face, not half a mask while keeping your identity a secret.)

-------------------------------

Who the hell does Batman even trying to protect anyway ? Alfred ? He's in the freaking Justice League, half of his friends are indestructible aliens and Gods.

edit: If we're comparing 2 guys for the best hand-to-hand fighter, wouldn't it be more relating to pair Batman with Captain America ?
 

Dr Super Good

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(Also, his helmet cover his face, not half a mask while keeping your identity a secret.)
Does Iron Man have a secret identiy? I know he does not in the Marvel Cinimatic Universe.

wouldn't it be more relating to pair Batman with Captain America
Except Captain America is not a normal human. The process he underwent boosted his physical capabilities well beyond that of normal humans. His reflexes, stamina, durability and strength all greatly exceed that of Batman. Even if Batman does have superiour martial arts skills, Captain America could effortlessly block him even without his shield.
 
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Does Iron Man have a secret identiy? I know he does not in the Marvel Cinimatic Universe.

He used to and went through a shit tons of trouble doing it. (Like wiping the short-term memory off of the entire globe with some kind of satellite) I'm not sure when did his identity go public tho.

Also, I read somewhere that Captain America's capabilities are also peak human level, which would put him on the same level as Batman. I guess while the writer of Batman like portraying him ninja-like, Captain America is portrayed as the perfect human being.

------

EDIT: I checked out both DC and Marvel's wikia page, not sure how much you can trust these things but they seem pretty legit.
http://marvel.wikia.com/Captain_America_(Steven_Rogers)#Powers_and_Abilities
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Batman_(Bruce_Wayne)#Powers_and_Abilities

And Captain America seems like just a perfect fighter and Batman seems more like the perfect human being with his intelligence and scientific proficiency. So, it's kind of interesting with the way they're portrayed in the comics.
 
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Captain America is sort of like Bane in that they were both experimented on with Super Soldier serums (from what I've seen, I could be way way WAY wrong in terms of the comic books :p)

Except, of course, Captain America isn't a dick like Bane :p

I personally prefer the Marvel Avengers over the DC Justice League as Justice League is primarily everyone's an alien and Batman feels left out. But I will always like Batman. And Flash. Flash really needs his own animated series imo, but that would most likely be a flop. I just want to see more of the villains Flash faces off with, they're mostly retarded.
 

Dr Super Good

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Captain America has been the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States' war effort.
Batman is not physically perfect and relies heavilly on his bat costume (a type of body armor) for his durability.

as Justice League is primarily everyone's an alien and Batman feels left out
Umm...
The green lantern that hangs around usually is human (although he does use alien power).
Flash is human as far as I am aware (although he was given super power in unlikly ways).
Wonder Woman might not be totally human, but certainly is not an alien (she is from Earth?).

Considering they are the main iconic heroes (who are even getting their own film), I do not say "Batman feels left out" because of the number of aliens. He feels left out because he is the only member without anything that can be considered a "super power", he is just a guy is a suit.
 
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The problem with each of the Justice League not having their own movies is the fact that their origin stories are super boring.

Flash accidentally drank some weird chemical solutions (or was struck by a lightning)
Wonder Woman is... well, an amazon warrior.
Green Lantern's story was a bit more interesting but still not as much.
Martian Manhunter came from Mars to warn Earth about an impending invasion (which is actually interesting)

Then there're Superman and Batman. It's like most of them just nonchalantly become a superhero then decide to do good.

While Marvel's Avengers, well. They have drives, motivations. A lot of them become a superhero because they want to accomplish something, some even worked hard for their powers.

Marvel takes points in Superheroes' origins.

---------------

I still have no idea who is Batman trying to protect by not going public with his identity. I know the friends he hang out with (the Justice League) can take on his entire rogue gallery alone.
 
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I'm inclined to agree with you there, especially in the DC Universe when the majority of the hero's powers are either Alien or Batman. I don't mind the Avengers so much, they had a pretty decent animated series (what I thought was decent, at least. And by decent I mean it passed the time.).
 
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