What Is A Superhero?

[Paul Farquhar]

All Action Movies give the protagonist a degree of plot armor. An Action Hero is a Jonah, irrationally surviving irrational dangers.

To me the main difference between Super Hero and Action Movie hero is that everyone agrees the Action Movie hero got lucky and by all rights should be dead several times over

Just like the Joker.

 

[kigmatzomat]

No, she's literally the Fifth Element, the unique and special being destined to defeat the great evil once every 5,000 years. I have no idea where you're getting the idea that she's a Mondochiwan soldier.

She was the pilot of the Mondochiwan vessel attacked by the Mangalors carrying the fake stone case. The "survivor" that was used to "print" Leeloo was the pilot's egg-armor gauntlet still clutching a control that looked like a throttle.

We have no idea if she was unique or if all Mondochiwans are Fifth Elements.

We also don't know how many other egg troopers were on that ship. The one that took the stones in 1920 had several so Leeloo might have been intended to just be the pilot rather than the one to perform the ritual.

She might be the only Fifth Element they had, rather than the only Fifth Element that existed. Much like the last match.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

We have no idea if she was unique or if all Mondochiwans are Fifth Elements

The film is called The Fifth Element. The clue is in the name.

 

[kigmatzomat]

Just like the Joker.

The Joker is like Batman, at the questionable bottom edge of "super". But he definitely lives in a world with Superman, so Super Hero Genre. He seems to be able to pose a challenge for "real" superheroes beyond Batman so he qualifies as a super villain on merit, if not an explicit super ability. Similarly, Batman beats "real" supervillains with powers so superhero by merit.

 

[MarkB]

She was the pilot of the Mondochiwan vessel attacked by the Mangalors carrying the fake stone case. The "survivor" that was used to "print" Leeloo was the pilot's egg-armor gauntlet still clutching a control that looked like a throttle.

We have no idea if she was unique or if all Mondochiwans are Fifth Elements.

We also don't know how many other egg troopers were on that ship. The one that took the stones in 1920 had several so Leeloo might have been intended to just be the pilot rather than the one to perform the ritual.

She was piloting the ship because they were bringing her to Earth. She was literally the same being they collected from Egypt in the prologue, just having been decanted from that sarcophagus since she was now needed active. She doesn't look anything like the Mondochiwans we see in the prologue, even assuming there's anything organic inside those mechanical suits - their hands weren't gloved, they were entirely mechanical.

Her DNA is confirmed to be literally "perfect", and she even confirms herself that she is the Fifth Element and supreme being.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The Joker is like Batman, at the questionable bottom edge of "super". But he definitely lives in a world with Superman, so Super Hero Genre. He seems to be able to pose a challenge for "real" superheroes beyond Batman so he qualifies as a super villain on merit, if not an explicit super ability. Similarly, Batman beats "real" supervillains with powers so superhero by merit.

And when the Joker hijacked Nakatomi Plaza McClane dropped him off the roof.

 

[kigmatzomat]

The film is called The Fifth Element. The clue is in the name.

The first element was air. The second element was earth. The third element was water. The fourth element was fire. Those aren't unique.

They only had one match and would have died as much without that as without Leeloo. Does that make that match The Fourth Element?

My take away from the penultimate scene was the fifth element wasn't "Leeloo" but love. Corbin gave Leeloo love which unlocked Leelo's energy beam, powered by the other four.

 

[Staffan]

Yes, at least not as a major shtick.

I don’t recall Braniac 5 (Legion of Super Heroes) doing much melee. Other legionnaires that don’t do much in HTH are Light Lass & Princess Projectra.

I think the necessary part isn't fisticuffs per se, but action scenes. After all, there are plenty of supers whose powers don't lend themselves well to punchery but still manage to do cool stuff. Dazzler, for example, doesn't do well with melee but contributes via lightshows and lasers.

As I recall, it took a long time before Kitty Pryde engaged in fisticuffs with noticeable frequency.

Her first appearance was in 1979, she officially joined the team in 1980, and managed to kill a demon in 1981 (albeit by luring it to the hangar and killing it with the Blackbird's jet engines rather than by engaging in fisticuffs). Starting in 1984-1985, she was trained as a ninja and has been a formidable HTH combatant since.

 

[kigmatzomat]

She was piloting the ship because they were bringing her to Earth.

She was part of the decoy mission to "deliver" the stones. It makes no sense to protect the stones at the expense of a different unique resource. It just ups the risk of any one part being lost.

Ergo she must be a non-unique component. Another "supreme being"would have been sent over, or might even have already been in place with the Diva.

Or they just email blueprints. You can apparently 3d print a Leeloo in about 2 minutes.

 

[Aeson]

I'm not sure but I think this guy might qualify as a superhero.
Some of the stuff he does on his channel is really impressive.

Is speed archery actually practical?

Speed archery looks awesome, but is it practical?

youtube.com