7mo ago

You get to choose one super power you see on fictional media, What do you choose ?

129 comments

Hammerspace.
Be able to pull out whatever I happen to need at the time from out of nowhere.
- ...........do you ever need an RKO?

Legit, in the real world, wolverine's healing factor is the most useful. Other stuff is about tricks. His kind of healing means no cancer, no Alzheimer's, no strokes, no heart attacks, nada. A long, healthy life free of disease of almost any kind.
The only drawback is the semi-immortality. A long life watching others die would suck hard. It's already bad enough with a regular life span.
- I should re-watch Logan
  
  I can't wait for Deadpool and Wolverine, from the previews this Wolverine is in a similar headspace as Logan Wolverine.

The ability to stop time and still interact with the world. Do you know how many books I have on my TBR?
- Ok, but you still can age? so imagine being much older than your peers, they'll think you're sick ...lol
  
  Hey......TommmmmmHOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU???
  What?
  You were 25 about 30 minutes ago.......now you look 92. What the fuck.....
  Oh, yeah. That. I was just, ya know......jackin it.
  Jesus Tom!!! How hard did you nut???!!!!
- Wouldn't you still age if you're operating outside of stopped time? People are going to think that you're suddenly aging rapidly.
  
  Please don’t poke holes into my fantasy.
  
  I wouldn't care. I'd walk out into the world to go see stuff and maybe change some things. I wouldn't stay still or build a life with those powers.
  Otherwise, you could look at Howard families by Heinlein for the solution. Which is also to move before people notice, but staying put for periods of time at a time.
- Time stop can also be used for bad things like r**e and murder
  
  I mean, it can? Feel like most super powers can be used for bad things. That's where all of the good guys get bad guys to fight.

God's omnipotence, from the Bible.
And if that's not ok, then Avatar bending powers.
- You couldn't find a more contradictory mythos if you tried, lol.
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnipotence_paradox
- God is omnipotent? Well.....that explains why Mary was still a virgin.

From Star Trek TNG, I would pick Q's power

shapeshifting
depending on how realistic you want to keep it the benefits go from "pretty nice" to "god amongst men" level:
backpain? just fix your back
toothache? grow new teeth
don't feel like going to the hairdresser? shift into a different hairstyle
gender problems? forget HRT you can make hormones science doesn't even know about
aging is no more (if you want)
donate all the blood you want! hell you can donate your heart if you find a doctor that doesn't ask questions
mental fog getting you down? just fuckin change your brain. "is it still me after?" don't know don't care now go revolutionize physics Einstein
grow a tail
the possibilities are endless
- With gender dysmorphia wouldn't it be better just to morph your whole body to align with your gender identity instead of just the hormonesp p
  
  yea probably, i said that cos it funny :3
- What if you shift into an inanimate object? Do you just no longer exist? Can you change back?
  
  The way it always works in media, no. They retain their consciousness and ability. I suppose they COULD do that if they chose, though it would basically just be killing themself.
- Or just wish to be a Q.
  
  Just a bunch of weird spinning snakes in a light with fog? No thanks

Dr Manhattan's power, floppin dong and all

I'd take Wolverine's healing powers. I have a few chronic injuries that I wrestle with, and it would be amazing to be free of pain. I'd also be able to be reckless again like I was when I sustained said injuries. It would also be pretty cool to smoke cigars, inhaling them the whole time, eat 10 pounds of bacon each week, and other generally deadly behaviors that could be quite enjoyable.
- The older people are, the more they will appreciate that.
- Probably, like Deadpool, your injuries would keep regenerating back to their current state.
  
  If that happens to me, I'm coming for you, for cursing me!

Teleporpation including the clothes I’m wearing, whatever I’m bringing, and whoever I’m holding. No more dealing with traffic and parking, can travel anywhere in the world in an instant, can get into concerts/shows without tickets, and lots of other useful conveniences.
- So, Jumper.

id choose super speed,
the kind where you also change your perception of time and everything just seems to slow down compared to you.
as long as i can change that speed, and am not stuck percieving everything at a crawl.

I want a Save and Load feature for myself in regards to reality.
- You should see the Vat of Acid Rick and Morty episode if you haven't already.
- Quick save, from the web serial "The perfect run"

Nightcrawler teleportation. Could solve so many problems in this world caused by those who see themselves as untouchable....

Just make the the founding member of the Q Continuum. I'll fuck off and leave humans alone.
- Honestly this is a pretty good one. It’s basically the “any technology of sufficient complexity is indistinguishable from magic” answer. The Q Continuum were a weird mix of magic/super powers, and even demonstrated the ability to gift those abilities to others at will.
- It was just one line but I loved when someone told Q that he was a trickster god to a planet from how much he messed with them in the past.
  The implications of that. Ok, without the Marvel movies I highly doubt even 10% of the human race knows what Loki is about. Q was the trickster god for an entire planet. Billions of people knew the legend of Q. He must have been doing stuff to them for thousands of years all across their society. Take the most well known people in history there is still a big possibility that most people hadn't heard of them a century or so ago.
  Q was bigger to them than Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, the Emperors of China, the Monarch of the UK, Plato, and Santa combined to this species.

Either Mind Control, like Killgrave’s in Jessica Jones, or if I can cheat a little, Legion’s powers in Legion on FX. He sort of has multiple but they can all basically be chalked up to “mind powers” if we’re being loose with it.
For the record I’m not saying I want to be like Killgrave, he’s a disgusting small monster, but… his abilities are insane. Hard to resist something like that.
As for Legion’s, I mean I’d effectively be a god. Hard to pass that up, tho maybe not if it comes bundled with the schizophrenia.
- I thought Killgrave was extra disturbing because you know that's exactly how someone with that power would become.
  
  Imagine how hard it would be to resist wording things in the Imperative just... Accidentally.
  You get frustrated, yell "Shut up!" at someone in passing, and that person is now mute unless you realize your mistake and undo it.
- Mind Control, like Killgrave’s in Jessica Jones
  That's #1 for me.
  #2 is the Infinity Gauntlet.

The power gauntlet from avengers. Altering the very fabric of reality ? Heck yeah, sign me in. Here we go for my big tiddy goth catgirls harem fantasy, enjoy the ride. (Pun very much intended)
- Perfectly balanced, as all things should be
- I would appreciate an invite
  
  It will be here in a snap
  
  Are you willing to be one of the big tiddie goth catgirls? I ask fully aware that a LOT of people would say yes.

The immortality of Dorian Gray. Got to have that opt out of life.
- I don't think someone could live forever and not decide that humanity isn't worth it and should perish at some point..
  
  My other concern is at what point do you withdraw from society because your age doesn't match your appearance?
  Imagine going to get a passport or driver's license and saying I was born in 1895 but my face says I was born in 1985.

As an introvert a Bard loaded with charisma looks like a nice superpower to have, can't be more fictional than that.
- Imagine dating: roll for seduction.
  Nat 20, congrats you're now married.
  Easy life.
- all fun and games until you accidentally cast viscous mockery while teasing your pals
  
  "accidentally", right

There are a lot of godlike beings who would be objectively the best choice.
- Lucy (2018) - some mild insanity, remorselessness
  Genie from Aladdin (1992) ‐ everything is a joke
  Bruce Almighty (2003) - can't actually control himself
  I'm going to go off on a comic-book tangent here:
  Wielder of Infinity Gauntlet (1991, 2018) - potential insanity, later radiation scarring
  Phoenix Force (1976) ‐ heavy insanity, desire to consume planets (see: Dark Phoenix Saga (1980), (X-Men '92, S03E11), Avengers vs. X-men (2012))
  Omega-Level mutants - tendency toward megalomania (see: Jean Grey, Magneto, Kid Omega, 4 horsemen of Apocalypse... even Ororo Munroe (goddess), though Iceman seems well-adjusted)
  Beyond - remorselessness, destruction of universes (see: Secret Wars (1984), Time Runs Out Event (2014))
  
  You're getting their powers, not their personality. Of course, the old "absolute power corrupts absolutely" chestnut applies.

Id personally choose power mimicry (the version where you just have to see a person using a power once and can just mimic it at any time) then I'd just build my set of powers
- So.... There are no other people to observe with super powers...
  
  He could mimic Elon Musk and become a supervillain.
- Does that mean other people in this hypothetical world have superpowers as well?
  _Anti _{Commercial-AI} _license _(CC _BY-NC-SA _4.0)

"The Force".
Pick things up with my mind? Super speed? Super jumps? Jedi mind tricks? Premonitions? Force Conference Calls? Lightning? Chokes? Healing? Die and come back as a ghost?
- Are you the only force ghost in existence though? That would get rather lonely, especially over the course of eternity.
  
  Force Ghosts get to interact with people though!
- I wonder if Han ever choked Leia....

I want the blink ability from the Dishonored video games. Basically a line of sight teleport but still it's awesome in the games.
- I was going to say teleportation as in Jumper but going instantly to a place outside your field of view seems like trouble waiting to happen. Blink is already good enough.

Simple, I choose EveryMan's superpower from The Simpsons

There was this one minor character from a book whose title I can't recall (it was about a kid with a dragon eye behind his normal eye and he was transported to a magic realm, i cant remember much else. i read it almost 15 years ago) that can make one wish a day. Every now and again I remember that guy and wonder why he only settled to be a pro soccer player considering his powers lol.

Feruchemy
- Not Allomancy? Being a full Mistborn would be cool, but I'd take being a coin shot.
  Hemalurgy is right out of course. Really don't want spikes sticking in me anywhere.

Does it need to be noted as a superpower within the story? If not, I'm saying plot armour. I get to be safe in the knowledge I can't die or be taken out of action unless all plot threads that need me are resolved ahead of time.
- The main character of the novel "Infinite Mana in the Apocalyps" literally has the traits "I'm the Main Character", "Plotarmor" and "Nexus Events", so you are good with that choice.
- Plant armor is a device for turning death into trauma. Are you really sure you want it?
  
  It doesn't make death traumatic. It makes death impossible until a certain point in the narrative, and then death can happen however the author chooses. It means I won't be killed stupidly through a random accident while I still have unfinished business.
- I don't need you. I don't even know you. By your logic, you had super powers for 0.0 seconds.
  
  You are not the protagonist of my life.

Do I get the power without possible strings attached? I'd totally be down to be a genie like in Aladdin, so long as I could choose my first "customer". Having to live inside a itty bitty lamp would definitely suck, tho.
- At least it's rent free.
- Come on... would your first customer be YOURSELF? :)
  
  I'd actually pick my dad, having studied law he'd have a hell of a fun time thinking about how to circumvent the equivalent of a wish's EULA.

The ability to see and manipulate emf.

Time control. I think it's the most powerful one.

Ever since I saw it in a TMNT comic book, I wanted the ability to bring to life anything I can draw. I could have literally any super power I want and more with this one weird trick.

Spatial/Dimensional magic from most things that have spatial magic in them. It gives you the ability to teleport, create portals, create/use your own inventory, and even teleport to other worlds.

I can't think of a fictional character that has this, but the ability to know, and convey the answer to ANY question.
- John Doe from the John Doe TV series.
  Warning, it only lasted one season and was cancelled. But the premise is about a guy who wakes up naked and doesn't remember anything about him, but he knows everything about everything else.
  
  Wow. I forgot ball about this show. I loved it and was bummed it got cancelled.

Geass from Lelouch.

Dr. Strange.

Gear 5

Sir Patrick Stewart on Extras. Making women's clothes fall off..
- It's too late. I've already seen EVERYTHING.

Probability manipulation can make anything happen. That's the strongest one. Although ofc big risk of tearing up the fabric of reality by messing with small forces probability and just destroying everything by accident.

One single superpower, or a suite of powers that exists within a single character?
Assuming that we're talking conventional media (e.g., not religion), and we're talking about powers that exist within a single character, I'd probably take the powers of a witcher, from Sapkowski's novels. They're not immortal, but they live multiple times longer than a normal human. They're not invulnerable, but they're able to take more physical abuse and heal than any normal person. They're able to use magic in a limited way. They move faster and are stronger than humans. So they're not so far outside of humanity that they can't still blend in with and appreciate humanity.
I feel like most other super powers would quickly lead to intense alienation, because you'd be so far outside of the normal human experience that you'd lose the ability to empathize.

Immortality.
Don't even try all the lame excuses about why it is a bad thing. You know who comes up lame excuses? People who are mortal.
I will never get bored
I will accept that everyone I know will eventually die
I am not worried about being trapped in a hole or something because fuck it I will just carry around a collapsible shovel
I am not worried about heat death because I will just solve entropy Asimov style.
If they sentence me to life imprisonment I will just wait them out. Also point out to the judge who sentences me that eventually I will get out since no civilization lasts forever
And if humanity goes extinct I will just remake humanity from my cache of stored fertilized eggs and artificial wombs that I had like a billion years to get working.
- I got two things to say.
  Are you ok with this potential future?
  https://xkcd.com/505/
  And take me with you.
  
  Yes I am okay with it. Sisyphus is happy.
  Also I will take you with me.

Can I get hit by a truck and go to a better reality? The bar is set pretty low.

Use 100% of my human brain capacity, instead of this stupid 2% that we have now
- So your superpower is Epilepsy?
  
  No it's more like Omnipresence ... 😭😭
- Yea thats not how it works.
  
  I know, the movie Lucy was based on pseudoscience...
- Seizureman
- Magic mushrooms. You'll understand why you gotta cool down.

129 comments