If Superman exists and went bad....

[Morrus]

Could we handle him? Assuming there are no other superheroes and ignoring the Kryptonite get-out clause on account of it being a far too boring answer. What would happen if Superman existed and he went bad and decided he wanted to rule Earth?

1) If you are Kal-El, what is your strategy for world domination?

2) If you are a [fictional] first world leader, what is your plan to prevent this, assuming alliance with the Kryptonian is not an option?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Could we handle him? Assuming there are no other superheroes and ignoring the Kryptonite get-out clause on account of it bring a far too boring answer. What would happen if Superman existed and he went bad and decided he wanted to rule Earth?

It depends upon which iteration of the character, but largely, the answer would be no, we couldn't stop him. At best, we could annoy him and thwart his plans on a micro scale, since he is not omniscient or omnipresent. But we don't have a weapon that could take (most versions of) him down.

1) If you are Kal-El, what is your strategy for world domination?

If I'm really evil? Kill all the world leaders in one day- and I mean ALL national monarchs, executives, or legislators- at super speed, recorded on my Go-Pro, uploaded to YouTube. Go to UN and have press conference declaring my leadership of the earth.

If someone makes a peep, make an example of them. Seal their nuclear missile silos with concrete, metal or just my heat vision. Sink their subs first, then the surface ships. Heat vision their aircraft. Take out satellites as needed.

"Who else wants to negotiate?"

2) If you are a [fictional] first world leader, what is your plan to prevent this, assuming alliance with the Kryptonian is not an option?

We have nothing I know of that can slow him down, much less, stop him. The only solution I can think of is to find a way to keep him from absorbing the solar energy that powers him so he runs out of energy...without him noticing. That means:

1) a clear coating that is flexible, light, skin-like, odorless and easily applied.

2) some kind of toxin or other ingestible that prevents him from metabolizing sunlight.

Neither, I think, is particularly likely.

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

 

[Cor Azer]

How quickly does Superman depower when out of sunlight?

Because if it's fast enough, that "clear covering" doesn't need to be that clear. Glomp him with enough coloured paste to obscure him from the sunlight, and then... crosses your fingers.

Of course, that assumes that he's the Superman we know from comics, and that we know his powers are solar-derived. Any changes in that, and humanity is out of luck.

Hmm... is Superman immune to diseases? Probably human ones. Otherwise we could go with the Cordelia special, and run around with a big box that says "Ebola!" on it

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

He depowers very slowly. We know he doesn't depower perceivably overnight, at the very least.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, I think the "quickly paint over Superman" tactic has been thoroughly debunked. As has the "throw a sheet over him!" strategy, despite the stupid Nuclear Man scene in Superman IV.

 

[Umbran]

What would happen if Superman existed and he went bad and decided he wanted to rule Earth?

Hm. Now I wish I had read "Favored Son" which is "What happens if Superman came to Earth in Communist Russia....

1) If you are Kal-El, what is your strategy for world domination?

In the modern day? The "kill all the world leaders, upload it to YouTube, barge into the UN to make a speech" approach is pretty good.

Except... well, it has a major flaw. You are Superman. You are good at kicking butt and chewing bubblegum. Administration on a national scale is not part of your skillset. You need to have human world leaders running things for you. So killing them all, while dramatic, is not a great move.

So you don't kill the leaders. You kill all the *media* figures. All the movie and TV stars. All the top reporters. Oprah and a few others get handled in very flamboyant style, just because. And tell the world leaders that they'll be next unless they give in to your demands. Oh, and take out all the nuclear weapons, just in case they want to try a scorched Earth approach.

Not that I understand what your demands are. You are Superman. What can these humans do for you? You are already more powerful than anything these humans can build. What is the *point* of domination? Lex Luthor can want to dominate because there are things that humans under his dominion can do that he alone cannot. But that's not so for Superman.

2) If you are a [fictional] first world leader, what is your plan to prevent this, assuming alliance with the Kryptonian is not an option?

By the 1970s, in-canon Superman could take a direct nuclear blast. Heck, he could fly through the center of stars. There is *nothing* on Earth that can harm him. No poison, no force we can generate. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Goose egg. I don't think you can prevent his takeover, except by threatening to scorch the Earth so it is just another rock. Be ready to lose some cities to prove that you mean it. But, of course, he can stop that too.

By what I noted above - maybe it really doesn't matter. Really, for the bulk of humanity, does having Superman at the top of the food chain matter *at all*? Depending what he wants, maybe you just feed most of the profits of the top 1% of earners in the world, and just leave it at that - what else is e goign to ask of us? Maybe the vast majority of the planet goes on just like it does every day.

But, let's assume he's going to be a complete sadist, and torture people by the thousands and stuff, cause he's bad. Superman really wants to rule, you can't stop him. But, can you *depose* him?

Maybe. Here's my idea - Superman is *not* an administrator, and the world is big. It should be possible to do things he doesn't know about. So, assume you can put together a modest biological laboratory without him finding out about it.

Now, you collect some super-poop. Yes, you need Superman's waste products. Because those will contain the only potential weapon on Earth to use against Superman. Kryptonian gut flora - we are going to try to give Superman the Kryptonian equivalent of dysentery, which can be fatal.

The prospect of a Kryptonian with explosive diarrhea may be one of the most disgusting things I can imagine. A horrible way to destroy a city, but, hey....

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Killing Evil Superman

Perhaps we could design a red solar radiation weapon...whatever that is, it has worked in the comics, as I recall.

Appealing to his ego and the fact that he is the only one of his kind in the world, it is possible we could get a sample of his genetic material (possibly via Umbran's clever method) in order to "create offspring" for him. That means we might be able to clone an adversary for him that is his equal, or design a Kryptonian-specific illness or pathogen. That last one is risky, though, if it mutates into something that could affect humans...

The prospect of a Kryptonian with explosive diarrhea may be one of the most disgusting things I can imagine. A horrible way to destroy a city, but, hey....

With apologies to Larry Niven, "Man of Steel, Planet of Charmin"

As for:

Except... well, it has a major flaw. You are Superman. You are good at kicking butt and chewing bubblegum. Administration on a national scale is not part of your skillset. You need to have human world leaders running things for you. So killing them all, while dramatic, is not a great move.

We really don't know his motives, but this much is clear: why should he care about administration? He only needs as much food as a normal human being to survive, near as we can tell. He could hand-pick all the people he needs to run things his way to make him happy.

Because he certainly doesn't need all the moving parts of a democracy. He's dictator of the world for life, however long that may be.

 

[MechaPilot]

We have nothing I know of that can slow him down, much less, stop him.

Nukes slow Superman down. You wouldn't be able to use missiles, because Supes would just avoid them or take them out, but discrete delivery mechanisms are possible if one doesn't care about collateral damage. If you prepare a red sun room beforehand and deliver the package properly, you can probably nuke Superman into severe weakness and cart him off to the red room until he depowers before executing him.

Edit: Now I'm probably on some kind of list for using the word Nukes online talking about disabling a fictional comic book hero turned dictator. Ah, the world we live in.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Nukes slow Superman down.

Not the version who flies through suns and pushes planets around.