City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Superman and Co*'s Ragdoll Effect.

80sBaby

By 80sBaby,
Posted on: 2011-11-20 13:08 in Comic and Hero-Villain Culture

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fanservice View Post
Why do people assume it's hard for Superman to pull his punches or handle people?

Do you do everything at full strength? Well neither does Superman. He just happens to have a higher threshold if he's ACTUALLY trying but his 'normal' range is pretty much the same as ours.

If I was picking something it's natural for me to do it with the minimum amount of force, not the maximum. This is why I don't end up throwing things about with wilful abandon, regardless of weight or size. Every living organism has evolved to do things with the minimum amount of effort because this is the best way to survive.

This is how I do it for Kumi, my super strong hero. Their involuntary reactions are the same strength as a regular humans, but the potential for stronger things is there. She didn't even KNOW she had superstrength until events conspired to give her the chance to actually try that hard.
This is pretty much my take on it as well. i'm nowhere near superhuman and i can pretty easily force most household doors open with a little exertion.* Kryptonians have human equivalent strength when their bodies aren't being supercharged by solar energy, although it obviously also enhances other capabilities beyond raw strength and durability. The weightlifter example is also a good one.

*That one night i got dropped off home after drinking and couldn't get my keys to work was a bit embarrassing. i got annoyed and just pushed the door open. i fixed the frame the next morning, but still... embarrassing. It's a good thing i know how to build and repair stuff. It's also why i generally don't drink a lot. My solutions to problems become a bit too linear.

Dr. Todt's theme.
i make stuff...

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kitsune9tails View Post
In one of the old genre magazines (Fangoria or an SF-based one) there was an excellent article that postulated that Superman's powers were psionic, and that his weakness to Kryptonite was psychosomatic.

Strength/Invulnerability/Flight/Breath = Telekinesis
Senses = Clairvoyance

In any case, it's pretty obvious that it's not muscles made out of cellulose that allow you to punch through a bank vault.
That reminds me of the hero turned villain in Irredeemable. Basically the Superman analog powers are explained as a sort of manipulation of the world around him. His "flying" is basically squeezing himself between space and his invulnerability is him subconsciously increasing his own density will decreasing what is hitting him. The decrease in density also explains why the huge things he lifts don't collapse on themselves. Also, his heat vision is him speeding up the molecules in his ling of sight.