Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 If you were a comic book superhero, what power(s) would you have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk Ceiling Durkheim Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Telepathy. All the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Lilith Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 my life would be a lot easier if i could shapeshift :| Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Callie Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I think it'd be pretty cool to alter space-time with my mind. I'm not sure what to call that though...relativistic psychokinesis? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Cairo Jim Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Originally Posted By: Excalibur I think it'd be pretty cool to alter space-time with my mind. I'm not sure what to call that though...relativistic psychokinesis? That sounds rather fancy. It sounds even fancier since I have no idea what this means. As for me I'd have to settle for a Dragon Ball sort of thing. I used to love that show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Mistb0rn Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hmm, tricky. I'd probably have to say flight/telekinesis and total recall. Â I would say pyrokinesis too, but while it looks flashy I can't really think of many practical uses for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Portals /w pressure & velocity retention. Â Infinite mobility, and offensive and defensive potential is limited only by the range. Incoming attacks? Just re-route space to the back of your attacker's head. Need to destroy something? That's where the fun begins. Â Assuming portal size is limited by range, even a few square nanometers subterranean point yields PSI tens of thousands of times that behind a bullet and temperatures high enough to meet more combustion points. Â 'Course, you could always just go for a more direct and messy brain-poking, but that's more the super villain route I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Erebus the Black Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 10 foot aura of silence and darkness at will. Never have trouble sleeping again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Rowen Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I wouldn't mind a line of sight teleportation like Nightcrawler has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Dikiyoba Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Flight, followed by the ability to change size. Â Dikiyoba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Student of Trinity Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I like the idea of a time stopping power, where I could just stop time for everybody else, for as long as I wanted. Unfortunately I don't think it really even makes sense. Do I stop time for the air? If I do, I can't hear anything. Or even move. And what about the air I need to breathe? Do I stop time for light? If I do, then I can't see anything. Even if I say that light can still propagate, do I let other people absorb and emit light? If I do, then time is not totally frozen for them, but if I don't, I can't see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall The Ratt Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 The ability to shoot any substance from my hand, and be immune to adverse side-effects of such substances (avoid burns when shooting flames). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Kelandon Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We never cry for love - we're superheroes We are back where we belong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Immunity to everyone else's superpowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyshakk Koan Skwish-E Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 The ability to change size , retaining proportionality and mass. So I could become a dense midget, a diaphonous giant, or anything in between. Â Oh, and super intelligence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Originally Posted By: Actaeon Immunity to everyone else's superpowers. except magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Originally Posted By: Earth Empires Originally Posted By: Actaeon Immunity to everyone else's superpowers. except magic. That's fine for direct application super powers, like telekinesis or mind control, but what if someone just drops a Boeing 747 on you? Even if the CAUSE was a super power, "large falling objects" are just gravity doing its thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I suppose I have to question whether this is in a world full of superheros, or if I'd be the only one. Also, I have to ask myself what I'd like most for my own benefit (teleportation) or would be most useful in the stereotypical crusade (divination). Â SOT: Surely you could solve the light issue by simply slowing time to an almost immeasurable speed. Sound, as well as the effects moving at what, for practical purposes, would be incredibly high speed, might be trickier. It's a lovely subversion of popular science fiction. Â EE: Does magic count as a super power? Or vice versa? I'm not sure. Also, congrats on your imminent milestone. Â Edit: Why would anyone drop a 747 on me? I wouldn't be a threat, just an annoyance. Anyway, if a superhero wanted to off me, they could just use a traditional weapon like anyone else (an approach which seems to have escaped Lord Voldemort). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dantius Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Batman's superpower: tons of money, mechanical genius, and a military-industrial complex under my control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk Ceiling Durkheim Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Quote: Anyway, if a superhero wanted to off me, they could just use a traditional weapon like anyone else (an approach which seems to have escaped Lord Voldemort). That was something that always bothered me in Harry Potter. That unforgivable curse that can kill with but a few words and a flick of a wand? I can use that too. It's called a "gun." As an adult without a criminal record, I can buy one at my local department store. This isn't to say that Avada Kedavra doesn't have its advantages: e.g. I don't think the TSA checks for wands. Nevertheless, I found it pretty silly that the big nasty second worst magic ever thing gave its user (if they had a substantial amount of training and hatred) the ability to kill another person at short range. Humans have been doing that for millennia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk nikki. Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I think being able to shapeshift would be pretty dandy. Failing that, the ability to freeze time; whenever I have the daydream about being able to stop time, science just gets along with making it work. I trust it to do so in reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Dikiyoba Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: FnordCola Nevertheless, I found it pretty silly that the big nasty second worst magic ever thing gave its user (if they had a substantial amount of training and hatred) the ability to kill another person at short range. Humans have been doing that for millennia. Yes, but generally we Muggles consider killing another human to be a pretty big crime, so it makes sense for it to be a big deal to wizards too. (Plus, Avada Kedavra is an instant kill if it hits. Surviving a gunshot is fairly common, and even a fatal gunshot may still leave the opponent able to retaliate, so an amateur gun user certainly doesn't have an advantage over a trained wizard.) Dikiyoba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Acky Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The power to be invisible while using my super strength to push a building over, racing across the structure at 500 miles an hour to get to my death lazer before my time-stop ability wears off, breathing underwater with my new set of gills, playing hop-scotch 50 thousand feet with each hop, and using my x-ray vision to look at all the pretty ladies inside said collapsed building. Â Backwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Sudanna Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Perfect telekinesis. Rearranging atoms to my liking? Invulnerability? Shapeshifting? Effective teleportation? Telekinesis is OP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Necris Omega Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Actaeon Edit: Why would anyone drop a 747 on me? I wouldn't be a threat, just an annoyance. Anyway, if a superhero wanted to off me, they could just use a traditional weapon like anyone else (an approach which seems to have escaped Lord Voldemort). Well assuming we're working with an open "lots of superpowers" world, as the very idea of being immune to all superpowers would suggest, there's probably going to be at least one Deadpool in the mix who'd do it just because he can. Plus, superpowers usually entail both superheroes and super villains. Why drop a 747 on the guy who's only power is being unaffected by laser beam eyes or whatever? Because why not? Because I'm evil? Because I don't like your accent? Because it would be ironic? Because I'm bored? Superpowers don't always go to the rational, after all, and when your one power is "no powers can touch me" it's like sounding the Superpower Troll dinner bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dantius Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Dikiyoba (Plus, Avada Kedavra is an instant kill if it hits. Surviving a gunshot is fairly common, and even a fatal gunshot may still leave the opponent able to retaliate, so an amateur gun user certainly doesn't have an advantage over a trained wizard.) No, not really. I'm fairly sure we've been over this before on SW. Being shot just about anywhere that a person with a gun would be aiming for (that is not spraying bullets into a crowd, which might be were you got the misconception about "injuries") with anything much bigger than a .22 (i.e. pretty much every handgun or rifle) pretty much instantly kills, and hollow-point bullets can kill from shock even if they don't hit vital organs. The idea that I can take a bullet to the shoulder and just grit my teeth and move on comes from Die Hard, not reality. Shoulders and legs, areas that most people think are "survivable", actually contain vital arteries, and you'd be dead in minutes from blood loss, so unless you were practically shot in the operating room, you'd be dead. Second, if someone with a minimum of competency with a gun actually wanted someone else dead (like, say a wizard), they'd bother to put in a few hours of practice with a rifle (which is the easiest gun to learn to use), and then they'd just blast them in the chest from fifty or a hundred meters, which is a simple shot that leaves no chance for "retaliation". So to conclude, gun >>> wand, at least as a weapon. Wands still win out for actually useful stuff, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Harry Potter has one of the weaker magic systems of any fantasy setting I know of (except perhaps Lord of the Rings). Dumbledore vs. a T-34? Up for grabs. Same vs. late stage Rand Al'Thor or Harry Dresden? My money's on the magic user. Â (That said, the defensive magic in HP is impressive, from horcruxes to Hogwarts to the commonplace nature of teleportation.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Dikiyoba Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Dantius No, not really. Oh, the odds of surviving aren't good, and you're probably looking at a long, long recovery time and permanent disability even if you do survive, but it does happen. With Avada Kedavara, that just doesn't happen (unless you are Harry Potter). There's no chance that you will be left for dead but survive to mess up the wizard's plans. Quote: Second, if someone with a minimum of competency with a gun actually wanted someone else dead (like, say a wizard), they'd bother to put in a few hours of practice with a rifle (which is the easiest gun to learn to use), and then they'd just blast them in the chest from fifty or a hundred meters, which is a simple shot that leaves no chance for "retaliation". Yes, but if the shooter is in a situation to get a clear shot, then the wizard is probably also able to get a clear shot. In that situation, the wizard has the better training, won't hesitate or mess up due to stress, and will probably win. Dikiyoba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk Ceiling Durkheim Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Quote: Yes, but generally we Muggles consider killing another human to be a pretty big crime, so it makes sense for it to be a big deal to wizards too. (Plus, Avada Kedavra is an instant kill if it hits. Surviving a gunshot is fairly common, and even a fatal gunshot may still leave the opponent able to retaliate, so an amateur gun user certainly doesn't have an advantage over a trained wizard.) If you compare a handgun to a wand, yes. If the English government had really wanted He Who Must Not Be Named dead, they could have sent an SAS squad with sniper rifles to shoot him down from a kilometer away (he wouldn't have stayed dead, but it took him over a decade to return to human form last time). That is to say: military-grade firearms have an overwhelming range advantage over offensive magic in Harry Potter. Also, as we constantly hear in debates over gun rights in the US: there's a big difference between killing someone, and having the ability to kill someone. Granted, England has substantially tougher firearm laws than the US, so it probably seems a bit less absurd to an English reader (or at least one who isn't very well-traveled). In either case, internal consistency isn't exactly Rowling's strong suit, and the way magic is governed, and muggles react to it, are good examples of that fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall A less presumptuous name. Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Sorry to derail the Hogwarts Express here, but Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I like the idea of a time stopping power, where I could just stop time for everybody else, for as long as I wanted. Unfortunately I don't think it really even makes sense. Do I stop time for the air? If I do, I can't hear anything. Or even move. And what about the air I need to breathe? Do I stop time for light? If I do, then I can't see anything. Even if I say that light can still propagate, do I let other people absorb and emit light? If I do, then time is not totally frozen for them, but if I don't, I can't see them. You have no idea how glad I am to see that I am not the only person on this planet to have wrestled with these issues. I still want to find a way to make it work, though. And the internet. I need the internet to work outside of time. Plus, would we be able to prove the Arrow Paradox and disprove the derivative (calculus meaning)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk nikki. Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Master1 You have no idea how glad I am to see that I am not the only person on this planet to have wrestled with these issues. I still want to find a way to make it work, though. And the internet. I need the internet to work outside of time. Plus, would we be able to prove the Arrow Paradox and disprove the derivative (calculus meaning)? All you really need to do is ask the magic postman. Or wait for pocket watches to start flying, and then wait for one to fly through your window. Man, that was a cool show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Alorael at Large Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Being rather unfamiliar with Harry Potter, I'm not clear on how well guns and wands stack up. Do wands leave some kind of arcane ballistics? Can you cast the spell without shouting it and kill quietly? It seems like there are reasonable reasons to ban a spell and not guns.  Of course, this is England, so guns are very tightly controlled too. And this is legal, so it doesn't have to make sense. Someone just pandered to some constituency and bam! No Avada Kedavra.  —Alorael, who is pretty sure he'd take teleportation. He could come up with all sorts of wiggle-word, legalese justification for wringing the most awesomeness out of his offer of 1 (one) power, but in a word, teleportation's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Cairo Jim Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 The way I see it is that whether it be wand or rifle, both of them are quite useless by themselves. They are both inanimate opbjects until someone uses them. It's that persons comptence, or lack thereof, is how the results end up being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast The Mystic Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Night Shift Being rather unfamiliar with Harry Potter, I'm not clear on how well guns and wands stack up. Do wands leave some kind of arcane ballistics? Can you cast the spell without shouting it and kill quietly? It seems like there are reasonable reasons to ban a spell and not guns. Yes, there are spells to see what magic a wand performed last. And since some spells can be performed silently, it may be possible to use a killing curse silently; however, you'd still have the green light the spell produces. As for my superpowers, I'd take telepathy along with the Legilimency ability from Harry Potter, with some clairvoyance and a little telekinesis thrown in for good measure. Oh wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 By combining the immediate lethality of Avada Kedavra and the range of modern technology, it would be quite simple to device a remote-spellcasting system. Some sort of rocket or missile, with a guidance system that would point the enclosed wand in the right direction, and add a speaker that would play the wand owner's voice. This would allow for removal of targets from a significant distance. Â Or maybe strap it onto an electonic swivel mount with a camera, and a remote operator could operate the wand as a turret, every push of a button would signal the speaker. Â Do we know the range of Avada Kedavra? Could one just simply use a scoped wand (something even as simple as taping the wand onto a rifle barrel would do). We can assume the spell is unaffected by windage and elevation. Is the spell instantaneous, or would we have to "lead" any moving targets? Â Seriously, if magicians and muggles worked together, they would be unstoppable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 They say you have to MEAN one of those curses. I don't think a speaker would do the job, and I think the range is more a factor of your ability to really perceive the target (as opposed to aim). Â I haven't read those books for years, though. I'm sure the rest of the Hogwarts Express can correct me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Sudanna Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Yeah, you have to make specific gestures and such, so no scopes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Andraste Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 According to J.K Rowling, Muggles would easily win an armed conflict with wizards (assuming they don't instantly teleport away I guess). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Indeed, if worse comes to worse we can always firebomb Hogwarts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Sudanna Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm pretty sure that it's not findable by Muggles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Actaeon Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Andraste According to J.K Rowling, Muggles would easily win an armed conflict with wizards (assuming they don't instantly teleport away I guess). Way to shut down our theorizing in a single back-to-the-source post. Do you spend all the times in between plotting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Ralph Bakshi's Wizards shows what happens when magic faces technology. In the end magic wins out over technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unflappable Drayk Ceiling Durkheim Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Quote: Is the spell instantaneous, or would we have to "lead" any moving targets? It travels quickly, but not instantly, and it's definitely possible to dodge. I don't think we've seen it fired from more than about 20-30 meters, and certainly not hit from past that distance. In modern terms, battles with wands most resemble battles with handguns. That said, I agree that the most powerful option (and interesting) by far would be a combination of magic and technology. Unfortunately, wizards are isolationist, eccentric, and unscientific to a degree I find frankly unrealistic. The whole business with the Department of Mysteries (and the seeming lack of anything resembling technological research or a means for generating new spells beyond the occasional visionary) is, to my mind, a pretty serious world building failure on Rowling's part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Student of Trinity Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Rowling's wizarding community seems to be really small. There are evidently very few wizards in the world. Just three schools, with at most a few hundred students each, are apparently enough to educate essentially all the school-age children of the magical population of all of Europe. Moreover the magical population is dispersed, with almost all wizards living in either isolation or in hiding among muggles. The village of Hogsmeade, small enough for an English village to boast but a single pub, is the only all-magical settlement in England. Â Rowling's wizards are also very poorly educated. They spend years in secondary school learning magic, with no time at all dedicated to literature, science, or even arithmetic. Apart from their spells, and a fair amount of essay-writing, they would seem to have roughly a kindergarten level of education. And there seems to be no such thing as a magical university. Though perhaps that's how Rowling will launch her sequel series! Â Whether that sort of society is really plausible, I don't know. There are some suggestions about magical history in the books that might possibly go some way to explaining how things got that way, though they're never brought out much. But whatever the case, the society Rowling portrays seems unlikely to be a powerhouse of research in any field, magical or otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotghroth Rhapsody waterplant Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I like the idea of a time stopping power, where I could just stop time for everybody else, for as long as I wanted. Unfortunately I don't think it really even makes sense. Do I stop time for the air? If I do, I can't hear anything. Or even move. And what about the air I need to breathe? Do I stop time for light? If I do, then I can't see anything. Even if I say that light can still propagate, do I let other people absorb and emit light? If I do, then time is not totally frozen for them, but if I don't, I can't see them. Would the planet stop revolving also? Wouldn't that create a whole series of other issues? The ability to grow a giant hand like in the Foo Fighters' Everlong video would be really useful for picking up large objects or cramming maximum M&M's in my mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Cairo Jim Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: waterplant Originally Posted By: Student of Trinity I like the idea of a time stopping power, where I could just stop time for everybody else, for as long as I wanted. Unfortunately I don't think it really even makes sense. Do I stop time for the air? If I do, I can't hear anything. Or even move. And what about the air I need to breathe? Do I stop time for light? If I do, then I can't see anything. Even if I say that light can still propagate, do I let other people absorb and emit light? If I do, then time is not totally frozen for them, but if I don't, I can't see them. Would the planet stop revolving also? Wouldn't that create a whole series of other issues? I don't think so. Since everything's suppose to be "frozen", anything that could cause a problem would also be frozen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Frozen Feet Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Immortality, rejuvenation, regeneration, and superhuman physical prowess that would necessarily accompany them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Student of Trinity Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Originally Posted By: waterplant Would the planet stop revolving also? Wouldn't that create a whole series of other issues? Hey, I didn't even think of that. If we suppose the whole planet is frozen, then it's okay. But if I'm not frozen, maybe I have to go flying off into space. Not good. The more I think about it, the more I realize that with stopping time for everyone except me, the biggest problem might well be the software challenge, of just figuring out exactly what was supposed to happen. Maybe I should instead just speed myself way, way up, so that everything else is practically frozen compared to me. But I don't want to get old prematurely, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall The Ratt Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Maybe you can just move and process information extremely fast? You wouldn't age excessively that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Harehunter Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 @ Thin Gypsy Thief  Telekinesis at the atomic level... Changing the density of air molecules around you... Drawing iron atoms directly from the soil and rearranging them into a steel sword... Thirsty? Absorb the moisture you need from the humid air around you... Wounded? Rearrange the molecules in your body to heal very quickly...  It would take a fairly warped mind to visualize these things to make them happen. I think I resemble that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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