Do some heroes rely on their powers too much?

This came from reading JLA: Act of God. I'd heard bad things about it, but had never read it myself, so I did so last night.

And then saw the storyline in the "Idiot Ball" section of TV Tropes.


Still, it made me wonder in comics, movies, and animation.....do you think heroes rely on their powers too much?

I myself would say yes, depending on the character. For example, a hero gets powers through a science experiment or some other origin, and usually decides it's enough. Regardless of the origin, most heroes stop working out (if they used to) after receiving powers, or don't train to use their powers in unique situations. The X-Men are an exception, which I will explain below.

I can think of some examples in which characters lost their powers, but it did not seem to affect them in the slightest. Storm is one of my favorites......after she lost her powers, not only did she keep leading the X-Men, but she was also able to beat opponents who still had their powers, just through martial arts training.

The X-Men have gotten used to losing their powers so many times (mutant power nullifying collars, M-Day, et al) that just about all of them decided to undertake martial arts. And each one of them is very good at it.

Going away from comics, Iori Yagami lost his violet flames, and you'd think it'd take away his will to fight. He more or less went "So?" and still participated, with techniques that make his fingernails seem like blades.

Now I can think of several characters who used their powers above anything else, and when they lost them, they weren't able to fight crime without them. I won't list them as there are so many, but Spider-Man is an example. Maybe he'd never consider that his powers might be dampened or lost in the past, but of many powered characters who would benefit from martial arts training, I would place Spider-Man at the top of the list. (I am aware that he did take some lessons from Shang Chi in the ultimate universe.)

Thoughts?

Depends on your view of "too much," I suppose. I mean, for most superheroes the "super" is the whole point. Without their powers they wouldn't have taken the job in the first place, right? And there's a whole class of heroes who are only able to function, much less operate as superheroes, because of their powers. If he couldn't breathe underwater, Aquaman wouldn't last long as king of Atlantis...

On the other hand, there's Araña/Spider-Girl, who, at around the time she changed her name, lost her powers, was too stubborn to quit, and discovered that there was arguably greater satisfaction in just punching evil in the middle of its face anyway. I have a character with a similar sort of schtick, although the Torch of Victory (as her name suggests) used to be a Fire Blaster, so the transition to Puncher of Villains was perhaps more radical for her.

(I find Torchy confuses other players. They read her bio, which notes that she lost her powers but declined to pack it in, and ask how I did that, as if the fabled powerset respec might have come along while they weren't looking. Then I have to explain that no, there never was a Fire Blast version, the idea is that she was just an obscure sidekick before she lost her powers and came into her own as a Natural MA/WP Scrapper. That's about when the "whatever" and the sidling out of the room comes, but I don't care, I'm having fun with the concept, anyway.

Another exception that I just thought of: the powered heroes who happen to be geniuses.

Besides losing powers, going up against a foe for whom one's powers don't work is an equivalent situation and just about all supers face that on a regular basis.

I don't know if they do or not, but I doubt a book called Peter Parker's Day at Planet Fitness would sell very well. Heck Pete would probably get thrown out of Planet Fitness for being too fit.

Likewise, who wants to read a story where Superman spends a day in the library researching magic in order to defeat a spell casting foe? Unless it was the Sunnydale High School library - that's a story I'd love to read!

Superman's the most obvious example of this. He's so used to being invulnerable, he almost never bothers to dodge a blow. He just stands there and takes it in the chest. That causes problems when it turns out to be something that can hurt him. You'd think he'd learn.

Well the X-Men all get trained by Cyclopes and Wolverine and it's pretty mandatory for all Avengers who don't have fighting skills usually get trained by Captain America.

What do you mean? rely too much on?

Do they use them more than they would irl? no
Is it a bad thing depends on the writer and character...

With a bad writer they will write that the solution to the problem will always be some application of their power

with a good writer they will come up with ways to take advantage of this natural over reliance... for example... Superman never dodges because he doesn't need to... You could have a villain that creates a bullet that is made of kryptonite lined with a small amount of led that will wear off when shot. Superman wouldn't dodge it and thus be injured. Then you could play off that...

I absolutely hated depowered Storm. Having a powerless Storm own Cyclops who was supposed to be the X-men's top strategist was bad enough, but she went on a tear and seemed to do better without her powers. There was one issue where she took out a horde of demons armed with a knife. After reading that I was done with the character.

Claremont did a similar thing with a depowered Rogue. A powerless Rogue gets into a throw down with a cheap Whirlwind clone and wins. How did she win, you might ask. By stating "I'm an X-men, we do the impossible." and then then punching the character out while she was trapped in a whirlwind. Claremont.... that guy...

Note: only read the OP so far.

I think I seen spiderman loose his powers and still survive. Not sure if it was a cartoon episode of some of the many shows or a comic issue, but I think I seen it. Actually, the more I think about it the more I think i seen him lost his ability to climb walls a LOT.

There is also his web, that can count as one of his powers and he seems to run out of constantly.

Depowered hero comming on top despite his loss of power seems to be a very popular trope that I think every single popular hero has gone through at least once.

Most super heroes are in good enough physical shape to be able to go about an adventure without their powers. After getting out of a bind, though, I can see how many may pick to retire if they didn't get their powers by the end of the episode. Few heroes are interesting once their powers are lost.

THAT being said: if tomorow I somohow aquired the power of flight, you can bet even in a situation of stealth I may hide under a desk and hover. No way I'd just touch the floor if I dont have to!

(Bear in mind, what I put here is from my own personal experiences)

Not only do I think some heroes rely on them too much, but they rely on them to the point of stupidity. The founding members of the Justice League (Batman excluded for obvious reasons) for example are easy examples of this. A lot of times when the hero finds him or herself in a situation without access to their powers they just sit there not knowing what to do and someone else either has to give them a proverbial kick in the *** or getting their powers back for them. DC does love to play up the "with a few exceptions, unless you have powers, you can't be a superhero."

I haven't seen marvel do it to that extent though. All their heroes have a very real weakness to offset their powers and the heroes are heroes because they want to, not because they can. The powers add flair and depth to the hero, but aren't the defining aspect of the character itself.

I'd say Iron Man relies on having the suit too much.