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  1. #1
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Default The Greatest Personality Flaw of Each Hero

    There's a saying that Marvel Comics has characters you can relate to, while DC Comics has characters you can aspire to. Whether or not the aforementioned is true, even the most morally upright characters such as Superman have been portrayed to have failings.

  2. #2
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Bruce Wayne - Obsession
    Dick Grayson - Robin: Recklessness. Discowing: Emotion. Current: Trust
    Tim Drake - Self-doubt
    Starfire - Emotion since Tamaranean feels all emotions strongly
    Damian Wayne - Overconfidence
    Last edited by Restingvoice; 07-26-2021 at 10:41 PM.

  3. #3
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Damian Wayne:
    His greatest character conflict during Grant Morrison's Batman/Batman and Robin run was his lack of understanding of Batman's code of ethics due to beinv raised by the world's worst assassins.

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    Extraordinary Member Lightning Rider's Avatar
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    Always love these kinds of character-based threads.

    Some of these answers will end up being ambiguous; often our greatest strengths double as our biggest flaws. Sometimes people get upset when you list a positive quality as a personality flaw, but an exploitable trait can still technically be considered a flaw without disparaging its goodness, I think.

    Superman - his stubborness, probably
    Wonder Woman - an absolute belief in transparency and fairness, especially in combat, I think.
    Batman- his need for control
    Hal Jordan - headstrong recklessness
    Aquaman - also his stubborness
    Barry Allen - not the most socially capable
    Wally West - stubborn as hell
    Oliver Queen - emotionally impulsive
    Black Canary - maybe also a little emotional?
    Kyle Rayner - self-doubt
    John Stewart - he seems bottled up
    Martian Manhunter.- social isolation
    Dick Grayson - seems to eschew responsibility
    Ray Palmer - neglects his personal life
    Hawkman- impatience and a propensity towards violence
    Hawkgirl (Kendra) - identity issues, seems unsure of her actions at times
    Hawkgirl (Shayera) - less compassion for criminals than other heroes
    Plastic Man - uses humor as a shield
    Elongated Man - his willingness to benefit personlly from his abilities?
    Zatanna - her love of attention, or maybe fear of misusing her powers
    Black Lightning - his distrust of others
    Batgirl - overeager to help/impress
    Vixen - at times seems affected by guilt

  5. #5
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    For Superman, on occasion, his idealism and sense of hope can be a downside, when it leads him to perhaps give someone the benefit of the doubt who really, really doesn't deserve it... In those rare cases, a middle ground between his optimism and Batman's pessimism might be the better path.

    Wonder Woman seems better able to thread that needle between hopeful idealism and gritty practicality.

    Others;

    Green Arrow - can be a bit uncompromising in his idealism
    Black Canary - can get impatient and lean into a fast violent response
    Hawkman - doesn't play well with others, sometimes seems to deliberately provoke his own allies with challenging or controversial comments or acts
    Plastic Man - so busy playing the role of 'the funny guy' he's cast himself in that he downplays potentially valuable skills and instincts and contacts from his former life
    Barry Allen - he was better adjusted pre-Crisis, but the version that's come back seems younger and socially awkward, to the point of perhaps ADHD/mildly on the spectrum?
    Last edited by Sutekh; 07-27-2021 at 06:49 PM.

  6. #6

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    Wonder Woman can get so caught up in her mission and truth, she doesn't realize some aren't ready or are unwilling to confront their flaws.
    Last edited by Guy_McNichts; 07-27-2021 at 06:52 PM.

  7. #7
    Boisterously Confused
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    Booster Gold: Narcissism (okay, that's an easy one)
    Dr. Fate: Arrogance
    Guy Gardner: Anger
    Deadman: Self-Pity
    Arsenal: Bitterness
    Starfire: Impulse Control
    Cyborg: Self-Pity

    I tried to think of one for The Spectre, but he's so utterly inhuman, I couldn't put my finger on one.

  8. #8
    Extraordinary Member Restingvoice's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrNewGod View Post
    Booster Gold: Narcissism (okay, that's an easy one)
    Dr. Fate: Arrogance
    Guy Gardner: Anger
    Deadman: Self-Pity
    Arsenal: Bitterness
    Starfire: Impulse Control
    Cyborg: Self-Pity

    I tried to think of one for The Spectre, but he's so utterly inhuman, I couldn't put my finger on one.
    I guess The Spectre would be "My God's right therefore you're wrong and I don't get why you think I'm wrong"

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member Jackalope89's Avatar
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    Batman- Sociopathic tendencies (including control issues and obsession)
    Superman- Negligent parenting
    Booster Gold- Narcissism (but he does have empathy)
    Red Robin- Refuses to be older than 16.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lightning Rider View Post
    Dick Grayson - seems to eschew responsibility
    Not really. Dick basically raised Damian when Bruce was dead, also despite not wanting to Dick took on the Batman mantle. He's led several teams over the years and has been several times the undisputed leader in a team of superpowered heroes. And sure he didn't seem to bother with building trust and relationships with the Outsiders when he was with them, but Dick was also severely depressed and emotionally devastated during his Outsider days.

    Dick's greatest personality flaw in my opinion is that he holds himself to a stupidly high standard. He tries to match an idealized version of Bruce, and never can. This leads to feelings of inadequacy and Dick feeling like an impostor.

  11. #11

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    Batman: His need to be the best, sacrifice his personal life and his soul for the mission and his difficult in processing and handling death.

    Wonder Woman: Her desire to be compassionate and loving towards everyone, which is impossible and she has so many things demanding her attention that inevitably something or someone will slip her attention leading to strained relationships.

    Superman: When you are that powerful, failing to save someone feels a 100x worse. He holds himself to a standard that's impossible even for him to live up to.

    Dick Grayson: Tries too hard to escape Bruce's shadow. I would say Dick's problem is the opposite of Bruce's; being too open and trusting which can backfire hard when dealing with traitors and manipulators.

    Talia Al Ghul: If you go by her pre-Morrison characterization, it was the inability to reject her father. Even if she believed in Ras endgame, she didn't always fully agree with his methods. Her love for Batman was genuine and she saw him as a way to escape from her father's shadow.

    Roy Harper: Chronically poor decision maker.

    Donna Troy: Tries hard to live up to her sisters example by being a team mom often at the expense of her own emotional needs.

    Starfire: She leads with her emotions. What do you expect? I'm surprised she hasn't caused a huge mess in comparison to other Titans.

    Mr Terrific: He's a genius and a perfectionist. He has strong, stubborn conviction in his ways which sometimes puts him at odds with people who think differently (see; his wife).

    Oliver Queen: Can't shut up but somehow also manages to keep important information from his loved ones. Tries to go at it alone or handle a situation on his own which ends up backfiring on him hard.

    Black Canary: Dating Oliver Queen. So I guess being gullible? :P I kid, I think her flaw is her obvious self esteem issues as seen in early BOP and having to live up to the legend of her mother and the rest of the JSA.

    Black Lightning: His cynicism which is rooted in his real life experience but it can blind him from perspectives other than his own (such was the case in Other History).

    Zatanna: Often conflicted with how, when and how much she should use her power which can sometimes lead to her making a rash decision when she is in a bad mood.
    Believes in the best of everyone (she has to with the kind of power she wields) which can cause her to be too trusting.

    Wally West: Impulsive and impatient especially in his early days and has trouble thinking in long term.

    Hawkman/Katar Hol: Shown struggling with anger issues.

    Hawkwoman/Shayera Hol: Same as Katar. Probably why they are meant for each other.

    Characters I like but I can't think of a flaw for: Vixen, John Stewart, Static Shock, Aquaman and Supergirl.

  12. #12
    Astonishing Member Timothy Hunter's Avatar
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    Blue Beetle
    -Self loathing

    Superman
    -The burden of being the world's greatest superhero

    Captain Marvel
    -Immaturity

    Green Arrow
    -His knack for womanizing

    John Stewart
    -Trauma over the killing of Katma Tui and the destruction of Xanshi.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jackalope89 View Post
    Batman- Sociopathic tendencies (including control issues and obsession)
    Superman- Negligent parenting
    Booster Gold- Narcissism (but he does have empathy)
    Red Robin- Refuses to be older than 16.
    I disagree, Red Robin's biggest personality flaw is not calling himself Fuddrucker's instead of Red Robin.

  14. #14
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrNewGod View Post
    Booster Gold: Narcissism (okay, that's an easy one)
    Dr. Fate: Arrogance
    Guy Gardner: Anger
    Deadman: Self-Pity
    Arsenal: Bitterness
    Starfire: Impulse Control
    Cyborg: Self-Pity

    I tried to think of one for The Spectre, but he's so utterly inhuman, I couldn't put my finger on one.
    The Spectre's is easiest in my mind. He has a direct line to the Almighty and therefore his judgment is divine. None can question him, for he is part of the Presence which is supreme in his perfection.

    He needs a human host to humble him and provide fear of the Almighty. We're mortal. We fear God. We're the leash he puts on his attack dog he calls the Spectre. We keep him in line and answering to the Presence who prefers to keep a level of abstraction between him and us to allow plausible deniability that he involves himself in our actions. He puts that level of abstraction in a green cloak and makes it thrive on punishing those it seems wicked, and even then the criteria for who will be on his butcher's block are known only to The Spectre and Presence alone for none else deserve to know the mysterious ways in which they move. Ours is to fear and repent, terror matched only by zealous fervor. He may be reasoned with, for doing so still provides him the final judgement, but never questioned.


    It's arrogance, full stop.


    I may have thought a lot on this and put a pitch together a while back. Maybe. I'll never tell.
    Last edited by Robanker; 07-29-2021 at 06:11 AM.
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    Daddy Zeus can hit the bricks.
    Truer words never spoken.

  15. #15
    Ultimate Member Gaius's Avatar
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    Hal Jordan - A justified ego, but an ego nonetheless.

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