What's the Appeal of Characters with External Superpowers? (i.e. think Green Lantern & Classic Iron Man)

[Savage Savant]

Title say it all. I recall reading someone's post about not liking characters that have external powers, it was to the effect of "What's the point of liking a character if anyone can wear the suit?" and that really resonated with me personally. I'm a huge Spectre fan but I strongly dislike the Post-Crisis Spectre because the powers are not a part of Corrigan's spirit (it's an external entity or some lame bugger) & basically any schmuck can obtain the power.

Similar with Green Lantern, I acknowledge that the wielder of the ring is "chosen" because of their willpower, however outside of that that character doesn't have any superpower at all. I put "classic" in front of Iron Man because I've heard with the latest incarnation, Tony somehow placed the technology inside his body so the suit is a part of his physiology now, however prior to this despite the character's genius intellect, without the suit he can't go on any adventure or stop villains (despite his wealth) at least not on the scale that the suit would enable him to do so.

Wouldn't it be more interesting if the character gained that power via skills (be it super-science or magical)? For me, I prefer characters & heroes who derive their powers either due to their biology, an accident that gives them powers, or it's skills they have acquired. I just don't see the appeal of external-based superpowered heroes.

[victorxd1999]

The appeal is that it makes the reader feel like he could be a superhero too. It makes the character more identifiable, they're just like you. Apart from that, it emphasises the fact that powers don't make the superhero. You can't give the Iron Man armor to a random dude and expect him to live longer than a week doing what Tony does. Also, the fragility of the hero makes for some great plot devices. There have been countless stories where Stark loses the suit and still saves the day. Probably the same with GL and other stories about heroes with external powers.

[Desh]

Similar with Green Lantern, I acknowledge that the wielder of the ring is "chosen" because of their willpower, however outside of that that character doesn't have any superpower at all.

Does that somehow negate good storytelling, though?

[Lightning Rider]

Well, in that way, the character kind of "earns it". The power isn't what truly defines someone as a hero, their qualities are. Exceptional qualities. The ring chose Hal from a whole planet. Ironman's suits are one of a kind, and if you put someone else in them, even for enough time to get the hang of it, he'd find a way to top them.

It's also kind of a meaningless distinction. Superman's powers come from the sun, are his powers external or internal? The Flash's come from the speed force. That connection has been made with many others and can be severed. Wonder Woman could and did surrender her magical powers. Martian Manhunter's powers are part of his DNA, sure, but he's not much different to any other martian. I could go on but you get the point. All powers are basically bestowed externally, or inherent to that being such that it's not a super power to their kind.

[j9ac9k]

I'm going to echo a bit of what was said before, but I think it's true - external powers might seem uninteresting, but is it really that much more interesting if someone got their powers by accident or because of random genetic mutation? At its best, The X-Men used the fluke of their powers to the greatest effect - the powers aren't what makes the characters - it's their personalities and who they are as people. They're not extraordinary people because of something they did to give themselves powers.

Conversely, people like Tony Stark of Hal Jordan are superheroes directly due to their personal attributes. Tony's a genius, Hal has "The Right Stuff." Those qualities were in them as people, which makes them extraordinary before they put on costumes. As a kid, I always looked down a bit on characters who didn't have their powers as a part of them. (but I think that's just because as a child, it made me feel less empowered to identify with someone whose powers could be taken away and used by anyone else) But then, the older I got and the more comics I read, Iron Man and Green Lantern became two of my favorites! (Hal actually is my fav now) And that's because I found that the personality traits were more important then whether their "super-powers" were a part of their bodies. It's been said and demonstrated time and again that Clark Kent is the greatest hero not because of his powers, but because of the man he is. I'm not a big Superman fan, but the stories that really conveyed this idea , that the man is the hero - not his powers - made me love Superman in those stories.

[vartox]

I like heroes with external powers because it forces writers to characterize them well. Anybody can put on a Batsuit and hop in the Batmobile but Batman is Batman because of who Bruce is. With somebody else under the cowl Batman isn't the same character. Bruce and Dick (and Jim, and Jean-Paul, and so on) are all written a lot differently when they are under the cowl and they're written differently outside it too. Or the Green Lanterns. Technically anybody could put on a ring and do GL stuff but Hal/John/Guy/etc. are all fleshed out and well written characters and I like reading about them because I like to see how each specific character utilizes their powers and abilities, what they do with it, what they're like outside of being a GL, not because of what their specific powers are.

Also there's an extra dimension of vulnerability to characters with external powers, when they lose access to them which tends to happen more easily than it does to characters with internal powers.

I guess a lot of this applies to characters with powers too but they don't tend to lose them or swap them around as easily.

[Agent Z]

The appeal is that it makes the reader feel like he could be a superhero too. It makes the character more identifiable, they're just like you. Apart from that, it emphasises the fact that powers don't make the superhero. You can't give the Iron Man armor to a random dude and expect him to live longer than a week doing what Tony does. Also, the fragility of the hero makes for some great plot devices. There have been countless stories where Stark loses the suit and still saves the day. Probably the same with GL and other stories about heroes with external powers.

Isn't this kind of contradictory? I mean, if only Tony can use the armor, how can the reader feel like anyone could be Iron Man?

[j9ac9k]

Isn't this kind of contradictory? I mean, if only Tony can use the armor, how can the reader feel like anyone could be Iron Man?

I'm sure victor has his own answer, but to me it means that Tony's achievements are exceptional, but they are humanly possible. Anyone can study and be a scientist or inventor, etc.... Batman is appealing because he's the pinnacle of human achievement. Nobody can just do what he does right now, but it's *possible.* If you train and study and work and hone your skills, etc. you could be like Batman or a Tony Stark.

[silly]

i like the idea introduced in green lantern rebirth. not every person can wield a power ring. oliver was in excruciating pain when he tried to make an arrow construct.

[Lee Stone]

I think it's partly because it becomes "a choice".
They could stop being a hero tomorrow if they wanted.

It's also the best type of hero to have legacies.

[Crazy Diamond]

What makes Green Lantern appealing to me isn't the powers. It's the idea that if you have the willpower and the determination, you too can be a superhero. What that leads to is the Green Lantern Corps.

My first introduction to Green Lantern was through the Superfriends cartoon which didn't leave a good impression. The ring was cool, but the guy using it just seemed to get done in by the color yellow all the time.

Then when I first started reading GL, it was cool learning that there was a much larger organization dedicated to protecting the universe, whether that meant helping people in floods, stopping the local dictator from taking over their planet, or even just getting into full blown planet destroying fights with your berzerker mom for Mother's Day. There was a lot of imagination that went into stories like Mogo Doesn't Socialize, Tygers, Mosaic, and even Ganthet's Tale that I wish we could see more of today. I mean, even a living math equation is a GL? That's pretty cool to me.

Then there's all the themes that they were able to explore with Green Lantern that they couldn't do with Batman or Superman. GL was a popular enough character that stuff like the O'Neil run and the like could have an impact but not so popular that they weren't afraid to take risks with the series once in awhile.

As for Iron Man, I can't speak on that because apart from the first movie I've never been a fan.