Ridiculously powerful comic characters

Franklin Richards. 'nuff said...

Morrus said:

Yeah, the powers don't prohibit good storytelling. They just mean your stories aren't just about physical challenges.

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I think they inhibit it. I mean, to a lot of people someone that's super in every way imaginable breaks immersion way, way faster than something equally absurd but in fewer ways. Plus, who cares? How can you care about a character that's so near perfect? It's wish fulfillment stuff and, unless it's your wish, too, that makes it a little too personalized.

Meh, I see a character like Supes and I used to laugh. Now it just annoys me that such a terrible character is as popular as it is.

Zombie_Babies said:

I think they inhibit it. I mean, to a lot of people someone that's super in every way imaginable breaks immersion way, way faster than something equally absurd but in fewer ways.

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Over-poweredness is not about immersion - there's little immersive about super-powered fights and other exercises in power. Immersion comes from the normal aspects of the character's life or complications from the normal world around him.

That said, I think writers face some inhibited narrative space with uber-powered characters. At the very least, the typical super-fight is difficult to present as frequently as the action junkies who buy comics seem to want it. There's a limited list of things that can be done to really threaten Superman at his peak - that's why so many villains in Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes had so much kryptonite around. Superboy couldn't turn around without some bozo having it and using it on him. The writers were constrained in what they could do to challenge the guy because previous writers had made him so broadly powerful in his abilities.

Doctor Manhattan. The only weakness is that he can't perceive the future if there are too many Tachyons. That's hardly Kryptonite. (But then, Kryptonite seems a bit of a lame cop-out.)

I still thoroughly enjoyed Watchmen...

billd91 said:

Over-poweredness is not about immersion - there's little immersive about super-powered fights and other exercises in power. Immersion comes from the normal aspects of the character's life or complications from the normal world around him.

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Umm ... I'm sorry but I really do get to dictate what does and does not ruin my immersion. And, uhh, apparently I also speak for a lot of people.

I do agree that the powers are not what makes the immersive experience. What I'm saying is that they can distract sufficiently from what does to effectively ruin it. And it's kinda hard to make anything about a super powered dood relatable enough to be engaging.

That said, I think writers face some inhibited narrative space with uber-powered characters. At the very least, the typical super-fight is difficult to present as frequently as the action junkies who buy comics seem to want it. There's a limited list of things that can be done to really threaten Superman at his peak - that's why so many villains in Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes had so much kryptonite around. Superboy couldn't turn around without some bozo having it and using it on him. The writers were constrained in what they could do to challenge the guy because previous writers had made him so broadly powerful in his abilities.

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Yup. That's what I'm sayin', man! Preach it!

Srsly, that really hits on why super powers ruin immersion. If a dood is so powerful you have to invent some sort of substance or whatever to get around his awesomeness then it becomes important that every threat has it or something equivalent to be a challenge. If every time Supes is gonna have a tough fight some uber being from another realm of equal power to this guy that's remarkable for his unique powerset or some dood with a vat of super goo has to be involved, it gets old fast. And it's bad writing. Instead of coming up with ways around your problem simply try to avoid the problem in the first place.

Nobody is interested in unstoppable characters - something that's plainly evidenced by the fact that the people who write these unstoppable characters are forced to constantly come up with some painfully contrived way of stopping them.