Overanalying Fights in Comics/Animations

I had this idea after reading the FrankenCastle thread, and watching Crisis on Two Earths.

Most people don't like it when Badass Normals are put into fights against beings that grossly outclass them. For some reason, the only genre that fans let get away with this is fantasy, though it isn't always the case. Yes, it is true that Batman would never be able to beat Superman, due to him being only peak human, and Superman being invulnerable and all that. One punch from Superman would cripple if not outright kill Batman.

But why is it that powered heroes are allowed to survive punches from vastly strong villains, with almost no ill effects? Especially when most of them aren't invulnerable, able to regenerate at will, and everything in between?

For example, when Batman summons several heroes to the watchtower in Crisis on Two Earths, Black Lightning is attacked by Superwoman. It wasn'ta glancing blow either.....that punch that she gave him made the entire room vibrate. And he gets up from it.

As far as I know, Black Lightning's ability to resist damage isn't any greater than Batman's. Black Lightning can be shot and killed, or beaten to a pulp just like any non-invulnerable hero. But as I said, he shrugged off the blow as if he had resistance on par with Superman's. But I have seen many people cry foul when Batman was able to get up after Superwoman broke one of his ribs, and then knocked her out with Anestheic Gas Pellets.

Does having any sort of superpower, even if they don't involve an ability to withstand fantastic degrees of damage instantly render someone immune to being killed from a blow by someone with vast strength? We've seen it a lot, and I've never understood it.

To reference the other thread of Punisher being killed by Daken for biting of more than he could chew......wouldn't the same thing have happened to someone else, even if they had powers? The only things that I could see useful in a fight against someone like Daken would be to possess an equal or greater level or regeneration, be superstrong and/or invulnerable. You can possess all the firepower you want, and I know the best defense is a strong offense and all.....but what do you do to someone that can instantly regenerate from anything you throw at them?

No, Punisher didn't have much of a chance due to Daken's powers......but how many heroes who aren't heavy hitters would have anyway? (IIRC, Daken is as resistant to telepathic attacks as his father Wolverine)

To kind of flip flop it a bit as well, when people say that Batman shouldn't beat anyone with powers, I agree.....to a point. No, Batman can't outfight someone who is invulnerable, but there are many powered villains who are not. Yes, Dr. Light could manipulate light in various ways, but it didn't do him any good once Batman got close. If you aren't invulnerable, you WILL be knocked out by someone who broke a punching bag once just because he couldn't concentrate one night. Not to mention the fact that he knows exactly where to hit you, and how hard. Shang Chi, Iron Fist, and other martial artists are examples as well.

I believe Storm did something similar as well to a villain who had a wide array of powers, but no resistance to damage.

I'm looking forward to discussing this.

I don't know why some people get bent out of shape over it. Pretty much every hero adventure story has the good guy overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.

Don't know about nowadays, but Marvel's always been pretty consistent in the past about people without actual invuln/resistance getting hurt by things that should hurt them.

Obviously, power armor is for old people and pussies.

The first time the Punisher went up against Wolverine, he was basically fighting to survive in the jungle.

The Punisher verses the Sentry involved Frank running for his life and finally giving Sentry a bigger threat to go after.

In The Outsiders Black Lighting's daughter Thunder got her lungs badly messed up when a super villian turned the air in them to water chemically burning them or something like that. In anycase when she was in the hospital recovering the doctor suggested she survived and would heal due to her being a meta and suggested that all meta have a baseline ability to both take and heal damage well above that of normal humans. I got the issue from the library so I can't look up the exact quote but apparently in DC anyway they just flately consider anyone who is a metahuman to be well above human norm in terms of their ability to take and recover from damage.

If you consider some of the power supers wield, they have some sort of above-average basic human functions.

Going with the explanation that superhumans tend to be above average in addition their powers, there was an X-Men story years ago where either Sinister or the High Evolutionary did something to strip mutants of their powers. As a result I think Beast discovered that they all actually increased base physical stats in addition to their mutant powers. And when they lost their powers, they all felt a little weaker too.

Or y'know, Rule of Cool and all that. For -some-, it's more entertaining to see a name character get punched and fly back into a wall and shatter the wall, then it is to a character get punched and simply double over and collapse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightphall To be honest, there isn't anything (other than being lost in time) stopping Batman from creating the Batman Beyond suit or some equivalent to help him even the playing field between far superior foes. I know it is capable of taking blows from Superman. Fans would wail though, since they already feel that Batman is too much like Iron Man, in the way that he has a gadget for everything. But come on....when you find yourself against powered enemies more often than normal for a non-powered hero, you kinda do need a gadget for everything.

I read an explanation before, don't remember if it was legit or fanboy, that among other reasons, Bruce doesn't want to get dependent on powersuits and the problems they have. But another thing is that Batman's main schtick is being essentially being a ninja, and he's better at that on his own. Really, when he's forced into a fight out in the open, especially with JLA level opponents, he's out of his ideal "Stalker" element.

good luck D.B.B.

Speaking of....I believe I saw this on TV Tropes, but I forget the name of the trope, to be honest.

Even if a character's only power is the ability to shoot fire from their hands, they can still survive blows from superhumanly strong foes. Does anyone happen to remember what exactly that trope is called?

And a bit back on topic, I remember that anime characters are allowed to bend the rules, and sometimes outright break them. Through intense martial arts training, characters are allowed to leap vast distances, mimic being superhumanly strong, become bulletproof, project energy, et al. Having the blood of a different species or alien race tends to be a bonus, but even anime humans can become as strong as most heavy hitting comic characters through their training methods.