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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member mathew101281's Avatar
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    Default Would Superman actually be the Most powerful DC hero if....?

    superpowers were written accurately? No plot armor, no characters seeming to forget their power set, etc.

  2. #2
    A Wearied Madness Vakanai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mathew101281 View Post
    superpowers were written accurately? No plot armor, no characters seeming to forget their power set, etc.
    Yes I think. Martian Manhunter has more powers, and Firestorm is high end, but Superman going superspeed all the time like he should is a beast...

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    Imagine a superman who instead of working (8h) spends that time at the core of the sun, every day.

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    A Wearied Madness Vakanai's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NaVi View Post
    Imagine a superman who instead of working (8h) spends that time at the core of the sun, every day.
    Or a Superman who flies around the Earth at faster than lightspeed unleashing his heat rays. The surface of the earth would be molten in under a minute, and all life dead in that first millisecond or two.

    Which makes me wonder how come Zod or Bizarro never went full earth destroyer during any of the times Clark wasn't aware they were around. If they wanted to hurt him emotionally, they could end humanity before he knew we were all in danger.

  5. #5
    Spectacular Member Gitagon's Avatar
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    First time on CBR forums after like 10 years of being a lurker here.

    Just my 2 cents but I've always thought DC Earth or any comic Earth should have some sort of planetary magic enchantment that restricts the destructiveness of anyone continent+.

    DC Earth alone has several S-Tiers and planet level characters, probably in the hundreds. If we take Superman for example, most of his famous rogues are in his weight class. Over 10 planetary bad guys just chilling on Earth. Supergirl got a lot of powerful threats in her run too, then there's the other JL S-Tier members and their rogues. Everyone apart from Batman on the original 7 League is at least continental+ and they each have rogues galleries with villains on their level. There's also families like the Shazam Family, Black Adam family, etc all filled with heavy hitters.

    The fact that DC Earth hasn't been destroyed so far is honestly a miracle. Literal universal wars with guys like Darkseid, Despero, Trigon, Anti-monitor, Starro and other team busters who are Planetery+ happen on Earth all the time yet it's still intact.

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member j9ac9k's Avatar
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    Superman would not. Firestorm or Green Lantern should be able to produce Kryptonite in an instant, he'd be vulnerable to any psychic or magical attack. "realistically" I don't think there'd be a "most powerful" since most of them should be able to kill any other one of them in a heartbeat if provided the right opportunity.

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    duke's casettetape lemonpeace's Avatar
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    no, he wouldn't, because Kryptonians aren't supposed to be unstoppable all-powerful entities in the universe and Kal isn't some particularly powerful variant of Kryptonian. if characters' powers were written properly Superman's powercreep would de-escalate, as it should, and characters like the Green Lanterns, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, a good deal of magic users would humble Superman (well, he's pretty humble but you know what I mean).
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    Fishy Member I'm a Fish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mathew101281 View Post
    superpowers were written accurately? No plot armor, no characters seeming to forget their power set, etc.
    Does this apply to every hero or just Superman in this context?

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    Just if only Superman gets written like that, and anyone else still not.

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    Ultimate Member Gaius's Avatar
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    Well, beings like the Spectre exists so probably not.

    Though I guess it depends if you consider him a hero.

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    Superman has weaknesses.

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    My Face Is Up Here Powerboy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mathew101281 View Post
    superpowers were written accurately? No plot armor, no characters seeming to forget their power set, etc.
    Depends on what you think the proper power level of each character is. Inconsistencies abound.

    I can only say I think he should be the most powerful in the powers he has. That may seem obvious. But he has super strength, super durability, super speed, flight, heat vision, etc. He should be the most powerful in those.

    That doesn't mean that Firestorm or a Green Lantern couldn't whammy him by making kryptonite or that Zatanna couldn't stop him with magic. Wonder Woman has her lasso which is magic and a number of devices that are magic. He can't read minds or turn non-corporeal like the Martian Manhunter.

    His lack of power would be in the powers he does not have or in his weaknesses.

    But that's what I would prefer. "Written accurately" is too vague and only works if Superman is always at his high-end showings while other characters can have their abilities downplayed.
    Power with Girl is better.

  13. #13
    Incredible Member Knightmare's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Powerboy View Post
    "Written accurately" is too vague and only works if Superman is always at his high-end showings while other characters can have their abilities downplayed.
    Isn't this basically what we have now? Case in point Shazam!

  14. #14
    Extraordinary Member Lightning Rider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitagon View Post
    First time on CBR forums after like 10 years of being a lurker here.

    Just my 2 cents but I've always thought DC Earth or any comic Earth should have some sort of planetary magic enchantment that restricts the destructiveness of anyone continent+.

    DC Earth alone has several S-Tiers and planet level characters, probably in the hundreds. If we take Superman for example, most of his famous rogues are in his weight class. Over 10 planetary bad guys just chilling on Earth. Supergirl got a lot of powerful threats in her run too, then there's the other JL S-Tier members and their rogues. Everyone apart from Batman on the original 7 League is at least continental+ and they each have rogues galleries with villains on their level. There's also families like the Shazam Family, Black Adam family, etc all filled with heavy hitters.

    The fact that DC Earth hasn't been destroyed so far is honestly a miracle. Literal universal wars with guys like Darkseid, Despero, Trigon, Anti-monitor, Starro and other team busters who are Planetery+ happen on Earth all the time yet it's still intact.
    I kind of like that idea. It's plausible in-universe and gives weight to the magic side of things.

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  15. #15
    Extraordinary Member Lightning Rider's Avatar
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    There are different ways to be powerful. Usually people mean some combination of:

    Most durable
    Most destructive raw power
    Best in a fight head-to-head

    I think he's probably the most durable, the toughest to penetrate with raw force.

    I don't think he's the most destructive. He's up there, but Captain Atom, Green Lantern, and some magic characters are probably capable of more devastating shows of force with less effort.

    In my head, he's probably the toughest head-to-head in a round-robin against all the other big hitters, but he still loses to some. Firestorm and Captain Atom were mentioned. Constantine and Zatanna could defeat him provided they were far enough away at the start of the fight. Martian Manhunter is a strong contender. Shazam is a toss-up, and I think a GL could give him a run for his money if the situation really motivated them. Wonder Woman could also out-skill him, and has an edge with magic weapons. Flash probably can't beat him regularly, but can out-maneuver him into a trap 1 out of 7 times or something.

    Still, there's nobody I would outright favor to beat Superman under ordinary circumstances.

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