Does Superman HAVE TO have super intelligence?

[Superlad93]

It's that big secret debate that Superman fans will have at least once or twice after a while. But I'm now coming to you all to genuinely if having a "super intellect" is completely necessary for the Superman character. Does the character not work as well when he's not constantly building improbable tech or some other Reed Richards like deal? Or do you think he doesn't really need it? Why do you think what you think?

[Last Son of Krypton]

I'd like him to develop his intelligence over time. Clark starts as a "dumb farmboy" but, the more he comes into contact with the kryptonian technology or have encounters with alien races/cultures, the more emerge his attitude to science and the ability to build robots and other bizarre things.
A "potential super-intelligence" rather than a power he has from one day to another.

[Agniwolf]

It's that big secret debate that Superman fans will have at least once or twice after a while. But I'm now coming to you all to genuinely if having a "super intellect" is completely necessary for the Superman character. Does the character not work as well when he's not constantly building improbable tech or some other Reed Richards like deal? Or do you think he doesn't really need it? Why do you think what you think?

depends

which inteligence are we refering to?

logical? language? physical? natural? social? spatial? or musical?

each inteligence has its own ups and downs, someone who is stupid in language can be the new einstein in the logical department and so on

[Nite-Wing]

He shouldn't be in the conversation when we are talking about the smartest people in the DCU
Other than that Kryptonians natural intelligence and powers should make him able to think very fast

[Dispenser Of Truth]

The simple answer is no, it isn't necessary, because the vast majority of portrayals of him over the years don't have it, or at least don't show it. But it's one of those things that makes more sense the more you think about it.

It's pretty much the same as super-breath to me. Super-breath isn't something that seems immediately intuitive, but it honestly makes more sense than heat vision or flight: if all his muscles are so incredibly powerful, he should be able to exhale with an incredible amount of force just like he can do everything else with an incredible amount of force. Just the same, he's from a civilization of godlike super-geniuses and had at least one parent who was a genius even by those standards, then grew up in an environment that hyper-energized every other aspect of his being - the idea of him not being super-intelligent is far stranger and more unlikely than him being so.

One solid suggestion I've heard to explain over the years why he wouldn't manifest obvious super-brains is because they were instead devoted solely to controlling his powers. His body radically morphed at a very young age, and the brain that originally would have been godlike instead naturally developed along different lines to control his radically altered physical form, allowing the precise muscular control and growth of new neutral pathways related to entirely new capabilities like heat vision he'd need to function. It makes sense and emphasizes that the yellow sun is an alien environment he wasn't actually supposed to ever live in, though then when you bring in other Kryptonians you have to show them as either being dangerously out of control of their own bodies, or going through the existential horror of suddenly shedding about 150 IQ points in the process of readjustment to the yellow sun.

[magha_regulus]

I COMPLETELY disagree. Kryptonians are supposed to be by nature super intelligent. They are supposed to be more evolved than humanity and have greater mental capacity than our species. It is a thing I think that is core to the concept. Their children were doing calculus when they were toddlers for christ sakes! Bringing back super intelligence among kryptonians is the best thing about the Grant Morrison reboot in my opinion. Sure, let Brainiac and Luthor be smarter than Superman. That makes them elite in the world of villainy and would make them Justice League level threats all by themselves. Let Jor-El be smarter than his son, that makes sense. He was the greatest mind on a world of super geniuses. Jor-El might've found the answer to restoring the Kandorians to their proper size if he were still alive, while the problem vexes Superman, that's fine. My point though is that the Kryptonians are one of the most intelligent species in the DCU. Intelligence was their THING! The smartest humans (outside of geniuses like Luthor) would only be as smart as Kryptonian children that were still developing.

Its bad enough that they altered the story so that the Kryptonians weren't super on Krypton, making the whole race of supermen thing from the original stories obsolete. To take away their super intelligence just completely wipes away their whole point. Why have a super science sci-fi world governed by a Science-Council if the people aren't all super-intelligent? It just doesn't make sense.

Superman is supposed to be mentally and physically superior to human beings. Batman is smart by human standards, but Superman isn't human. Is Superman a detective? No, but he is an investigative reporter. Let Batman be the world's greatest detective, thats fine. He still should be coming to Superman to hook the Batcave up with advanced technology.

I have real issues with how they've been depicting Superman in his youth in Smallville. I think that his super intelligence should be immediately on display. He should be able to master English after hearing it for a few weeks. If they depict his powers like flight and heat vision developing later on, they should definitely still show how abnormally intelligent he is. He's got a photographic memory and the whole lot. He should always remember his brief time on Krypton, his parents, and the trauma of losing them and his world. In fact I think his super intelligence is how he was able to hide his secret while growing up, and it would explain how the Kents weren't ever seriously injured dealing with a super strong and fast child. Superman's super intelligence would help the Kents raise him. He'd be able to really understand their lessons early on which would prepare him to start his career as Superboy at an early age. H should definitely be Superboy by the time he's 10, cementing his role as a superhero with a secret identity from early on in his life.

I feel like I'm on a rant lol. I love this topic. Superman's super intelligence opens up sooo much story potential and adds some genuine nerdiness to the character.

He shouldn't be in the conversation when we are talking about the smartest people in the DCU
Other than that Kryptonians natural intelligence and powers should make him able to think very fast

[Superlad93]

depends

which inteligence are we refering to?

logical? language? physical? natural? social? spatial? or musical?

each inteligence has its own ups and downs, someone who is stupid in language can be the new einstein in the logical department and so on

The most common idea when "super intelligence" is brought up is that people want him to be a super renaissance man. So to answer your question apparently it's all of the above.

[Sacred Knight]

I'm very flexible with the intelligence level. In fact, I think it should be categorically established that he is NOT on par with Jor-El. He's got good genes, but he's not his father in the intelligence department. He's more like his mother. That's what I'd do at least.

I think this is especially cool with the Brainiac dynamic. I love the idea that Jor-El actually rivaled and defeated Brainiac in the intelligence department, and he holds that against his son. Then his son goes and routinely beats him with his wits and guile.

[Agniwolf]

The most common idea when "super intelligence" is brought up is that people want him to be a super renaissance man. So to answer your question apparently it's all of the above.

thing is, if he gets everything, the writers will certailly give him some serious PIS, and he will end up with none =/

i would dare say he is most talented in the spatial, natural and musical inteligences, physical is a little hard cause he is powerful and he knows it, so he rarelly exploits his own atletic capabilities, this one is exceled by ww, batman, black canary, huntress, green archer, the robins and nightwing cause they do explore their own limits to the pinacle

i though he as great at languages too, that is until the universal translator thing, lost all credibility, for me, there

social is a doble edge, he want to set the right thing, but keeps most people at arms length, and truth is proof of that, he is not very good at this one

logical is the controversial one, one time they make him "dance macarena over the bones of alan turing" and the other he needs "pocoyo teaching how to tie your shoes lasso", if that is so i would be content if he got an iq of 200, but lately i ask myself he got at least the 100 basic to learn maths properly

[Superlad93]

My personal opinion on this idea: I have some real issues with it being a "must have". The word "genius" is used in a much too limited context in western culture. In order to be a "genius" for the most part you must show perfect virtuosity in an area or areas (most of the times the sciences are held up as the greatest). In comics it's even worse. Building a robot or a smart sounding device or calculating something has become the de facto test of "genius" in comics.

I'm starting to seriously think that Superman doesn't have to ascribe to the mark of "genius" as set by a 1950s guy in a lab coat who thinks everything will be nuclear powered by the 1980s. So I think Batman, Lex, Ray Palmer, and John Henry can be a good deal smarter than Superman in the conventional genius ways that their characters MUST fall under, because Superman isn't beholden to the same obligations they and guys like Reed Richards are.

I personally think Superman is a very curious and thoughtful person. I think he's a particularly creative person do to his knack for writing and seeing a story. I think that bleeds pretty profusely into his job as a hero, and that's where a lot of his wins come from. But I don't think he HAS TO sit in his own personal lab building things.

Him not being a genius doesn't equal him being dumb. That's ignoring like 95% of the world.

[JBatmanFan05]

It's that big secret debate that Superman fans will have at least once or twice after a while. But I'm now coming to you all to genuinely if having a "super intellect" is completely necessary for the Superman character. Does the character not work as well when he's not constantly building improbable tech or some other Reed Richards like deal? Or do you think he doesn't really need it? Why do you think what you think?

Yes, I think it's core enough. Not that it has to be harped on all the time. But, yes, he should have his super intelligence.

[Superlad93]

One solid suggestion I've heard to explain over the years why he wouldn't manifest obvious super-brains is because they were instead devoted solely to controlling his powers. His body radically morphed at a very young age, and the brain that originally would have been godlike instead naturally developed along different lines to control his radically altered physical form, allowing the precise muscular control and growth of new neutral pathways related to entirely new capabilities like heat vision he'd need to function. It makes sense and emphasizes that the yellow sun is an alien environment he wasn't actually supposed to ever live in, though then when you bring in other Kryptonians you have to show them as either being dangerously out of control of their own bodies, or going through the existential horror of suddenly shedding about 150 IQ points in the process of readjustment to the yellow sun.

Not a bad thought in the slightest. I had a similar idea a few months back but far less fantastical.

The notion is that a Kryptionian is like a very impressionable seed or stem cell (not a perfect comparison but stay with me). Their environment largely dictates what they put their amazing potential towards. For the vast majority, that environment has been the largely logic and science based planet they come from. So you come out with largely the same "tree" of Kryptonian (some larger than others etc). But suppose that seed grew in new ground? Suppose the nourishment that seed was getting was from a planet that was still, collectively speaking, "finding itself"? I'd imagine the seed's potential would be used quite differently, no? Some of that potential might even be a little lost because of atrophy.

In a weird way it makes pretty good sense to me that Clark Kent finds himself so well in writing and story. The fluidity of the written word is a little parallel to the planet that's still "under construction" that he's found himself on.

In case some people don't know me around here, I'm very much into the idea of a Morrison-like Super thinker. But with that said, I'm also so very much into the idea of a new way of looking at things.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

That idea of his brain developing radically differently in the alien environment could pretty well explain why he always seems to be able to come up with wildly out-of-left-field solutions to his problems as well as write well, the creative aspect of his brain being the primary part of his intellect that 'survived' and therefore received a much greater deal of development. That definitely fits for certain circumstances. But on the whole, I definitely far prefer him to just generally be a hyper-mind.

[Tayswift]

That idea of his brain developing radically differently in the alien environment could pretty well explain why he always seems to be able to come up with wildly out-of-left-field solutions to his problems as well as write well, the creative aspect of his brain being the primary part of his intellect that 'survived' and therefore received a much greater deal of development. That definitely fits for certain circumstances. But on the whole, I definitely far prefer him to just generally be a hyper-mind.

creativity is the are of his brain that he used more and developed. this makes sense.

Superman should be smart like peter parker

[The World]

Makes a hell of a lot more sense for beings like Superman and Wonder Woman to have super intelligence than someone like Batman. These are beings that are the product of the workings of higher societies, Bruce is an angry guy who's intelligence is motivated by crime deterrence which is largely based off what goes on in Gotham which is quite a step down from what Clark or Diana go up against.