Biggest Middle Fingers to Physics in Fiction

[SpiderClops]

Cap's shield. How can it absorb impact so well that he can jump from a plane and land on it, yet also bounce around (why doesn't it just hit the wall, and fall with the energy of the impact absorbed?) or even hurt anyone. If it absorbs the impact of Hulk punching it, it equally absorbs the energy of Cap hitting someone with it. So, Cap could use it to push people around, but hitting anyone with it shouldn't really hurt.

Nerf does a great job of absorbing impact too. But I wouldn't use it as a weapon. the problem is, it is hard to conceptualize, because we don't have (as far as I know) materials in the real world that are both incredibly hard, and also absorb impact really well.

[StuffKnower]

Comics in general tend to be a big middle finger to physics, especially the X-Men in general. I'm less concerned about that (I mean, magic users are so prominent, and by definition their powersets are supposed to be giant FUs to physics), and more about how the explanation to Cyclops' powerset seems convoluted in an attempt to make his one-note power seem more interesting.

If you reread my post, I argue that the more convoluted portal-eyes explanation isn't a middle finger to physics (so yes, the simpler explanation is that middle finger instead) moreso than it is someone trying to use their limited knowledge of physics to make Cyclops seem more impressive than he is. Indeed, no writer uses that as integral to Scott, even though there've been several workarounds for his powers (i.e. a psychic barrier that shuts off his powers, or henchmen wrapped in ruby quartz armor, or energy manipulators, or depriving him of solar power, or simply turning off his X-Gene), but never an attempt to go after those portals, because writers just don't care about it. It's not a middle finger to physics -- it's a guy trying to express his love of physics by writing a terrible poem on Valentine's Day.

As it is, you could say the same about Havok and ambient cosmic energy -- all the energy he has is built internally from absorbing the same amount of energy as Cyclops, and yet he's the more powerful of the two. No need for openings to other universes or other extra nonsense. Is it a big middle finger to physics? Sure it is. Is it needlessly complex to make up for some kind of shortcoming? No. He just does it. And that's all he needs.

Sometimes a middle finger to physics is needed in comics. But sometimes trying to create an explanation isn't necessary, either. Star Trek: TOS is harder sci-fi than Voyager, even though Voyager goes through much greater pains to explain the science, because they're too concerned in making imaginary techno-magic than they are about telling sci-fi stories (i.e. the conflict resolution of a story shouldn't come from a technobabble solution, it should be coming from a deep change of the character -- the technobabble solution should be a tool to solve the problem, but not the story itself).

And that's Cyclops. He can do a lot of things, but mostly he just needs to be the guy that shoots stuff.

No disagreement with anything you said there - just thought it was worth mentioning in a thread about giving physics the middle finger, the solution that is more elegant in a lot ways for Cyke is also the bigger middle finger to physics. Given the title of the thread, that seemed to be worth noting. the less convoluted answer also makes us ignore the whole idea of how he can possibly brace himself well enough to fire a blast that can do as much damage as his blasts do. The dimensional portal thing helps with that, because he isn't he source of the energy. But, I also don't really love the idea of a dimension of concussive force, which itself has a seemingly infinite source of energy, so we are just moving that middle finger a couple of degrees, not eliminating it. Or of the idea that somehow ruby quartz is immune to something that is supposed to be concussive force. So, again, magic. Just changing where the magic lies.

[Shellhead]

I literally NEVER knew Cyclops had any connection to.solar energy. Huh. I have read a bunch of older x men comics. Don't know how I missed it. *hangs head in shame*

I only remember one reference to it, in the Annual featuring Arkon. It was during the Claremont/Byrne run, but I think Perez drew that annual.

[Güicho]

It wasn't "magic" but still "physics" somehow? Once Superman stopped jumping, and flew (ie magically) direction-changed mid air, all cards went flying off the table.
Nobody has looked back sense. welcome to comics.

LOL, loved that scene.

[Shellhead]

Eh, I can buy the ricochet for Cyclops. His powerset is so limited as it is that he almost needs more creative ways to apply his powers.

Rather, when it was retconned that Cyclops doesn't really shoot optic blasts from his eyes more than his eyes are portals to another universe of pure energy -- *that* struck me as needlessly complex and borderline magical. Whenever Havok or Torch or Carol Danvers or whoever fires energy blasts out of their hands, it's usually just that. Sure, they may have absorbed ambient energy like cosmic forces or fire to do it, but it just works and Cyclops is well-established at absorbing sunlight to make his powers work.

Instead, the sunlight his body absorbs is the key to opening gateways in his head which then fire.

It'd be far simpler to say (as it was for twenty years or so) that Cyclops absorbs and stores sunlight, and his body converts that sunlight into concussive energy. His body is a generator, like any other energy blaster in Marvel. But no, his powers were given an explanation that no writer ever really used for plot reasons after that, and was made convoluted so that Cyclops' powers could have more technobabble jargon for the sake of being more than just the guy with laser eyes.

It's not so much a middle finger to physics as it is someone trying to use big words to make Cyclops sound more than he needs to be.

The portal thing seemed necessary to explain why Cyclops didn't break his neck from recoil every time he fired his optic beams.

[The Drunkard Kid]

Cap's shield. How can it absorb impact so well that he can jump from a plane and land on it, yet also bounce around (why doesn't it just hit the wall, and fall with the energy of the impact absorbed?) or even hurt anyone. If it absorbs the impact of Hulk punching it, it equally absorbs the energy of Cap hitting someone with it. So, Cap could use it to push people around, but hitting anyone with it shouldn't really hurt.

Nerf does a great job of absorbing impact too. But I wouldn't use it as a weapon. the problem is, it is hard to conceptualize, because we don't have (as far as I know) materials in the real world that are both incredibly hard, and also absorb impact really well.

Forget hitting people with it, how does Cap even pick it up without it absorbing the force he puts into it and staying perfectly still, carving a trench though the planet as it continues to move while the shield stays where it is.

[Beadle]

Everyone involved in this had no idea how lasers or laser grids works.

Yeah, but this is CW where in Arrow they attacked the Room Full of Internet.

I will never let that drop.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Yeah, but this is CW where in Arrow they attacked the Room Full of Internet.

I will never let that drop.

Oh my gosh, was the Room Full of Internet okay ?

[Beadle]

Oh my gosh, was the Room Full of Internet okay ?

Can you still use the Internet? Then I guess it was fine.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Can you still use the Internet? Then I guess it was fine.

That's a relief.

Maybe one of these days they'll figure out a way to spread the Internet out or something ...

I mean I'm already damned so this is fine.

[StuffKnower]

Forget hitting people with it, how does Cap even pick it up without it absorbing the force he puts into it and staying perfectly still, carving a trench though the planet as it continues to move while the shield stays where it is.

Oh. That. I have convinced myself that it functions kind of like ooblek (corn starch suspended in water - if you haven't seen the videos of people running back and forth across a liquid, then sinking in the moment they stop, check it out). It behaves one way on slower forces acting on it, like being picked up, and another when being struck. At least there is a vague corollary in the real world for that.

As with most things comic book, it is best not to think about it too rigorously. I am a huge believer in willing suspension of disbelief.

[Cyke]

I only remember one reference to it, in the Annual featuring Arkon. It was during the Claremont/Byrne run, but I think Perez drew that annual.

It originated in the 60s, with it being more pronounced once Alex was created, to show more sibling connection of their powers.

The portal thing seemed necessary to explain why Cyclops didn't break his neck from recoil every time he fired his optic beams.

Eh, but there are countless other glass cannons (and indeed, other eye-blasters) who don't need that explanation or just handwave it away. Sunfire is one of the most powerful X-Men out there, and he even split a giant starship in a feat that impressed Thor, but he has regular human strength. And, there's the aforementioned Havok, who's stronger than him but never ever breaks his arms when he deals even more concussive energy.

---

Edit: Also, writers seem undecided about the recoil thing anyway. Yes, they all agree that his head doesn't snap back when he fires a blast that can stagger a brick, but it seems to vary from writer to writer on whether or not there's any recoil at all.

https://static.comicvine.com/uploads...icblastdg4.jpg

[grampagen]

The magic of movie Legolas deserves a mention here

[Lord Falcon]

The magic of movie Legolas deserves a mention here

I mean, all Legolas has to do is push down faster than the floor is falling. It's superhuman, but not completely out of the realm of the physically possible.

Everyone involved in this had no idea how lasers or laser grids works.

This one might take the cake for me.

I tend to grant superpowers more leeway in the physics department because they're supposed to do the impossible. Once you change one law of physics, it can become exceedingly difficult for the writer to compensate for its effects on everything else. And since these powers are supposed to have impossible effects anyway, I don't learn too hard on faulty explanations for how those powers work given the feats their users are capable of.


I'll submit G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In the final battle, they attack the Cobra HQ which is located under an icecap. Their strategy is to destroy the icecap, causing the ice to sink to the ocean floor like boulders to crush the base. And it somehow works.

[Cyke]

I'll submit G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In the final battle, they attack the Cobra HQ which is located under an icecap. Their strategy is to destroy the icecap, causing the ice to sink to the ocean floor like boulders to crush the base. And it somehow works.

To save the world, they blew up a polar icecap. Greeeat.

They really needed an old school PSA at the end to tell kids NOT blow up the polar icecaps.