Low IQ

[Mindworm]

I read a comment from someone saying that ‘all Marvel heroes were geniuses’. That’s highly exaggerated of course, but he did have a point as at least very many of the heroes are highly intelligent. I find it unlikely that ALL heroes have an IQ of 100 or above though, there should be quite a few having less than 100 as well. So which heroes do you think are less intelligent and have an IQ below 100?

[Xelossik]

Uncanny Avengers volume 1 - all who were there had less than IQ of 80... Tony Stark and Steve Rogers also where there and they didn't show anything above IQ of 80...

[Mindworm]

Sure, it very much depends on the story-line and the writer, and I guess the most intelligent hero has done stupid things at times. I’m thinking more generally though, which heroes have seldom been portrayed as very intelligent? Sure, some minor heroes like D-Man comes to mind, but also among the A-list there should be some.

Some suggestions:

Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
Thor (the male one)
Iceman
Hercules

[Panic]

Thor has generally been smart in his own book (until relatively recently). He gets dumbed down in the Avengers to keep him from dominating.

[Bor]

Sure, it very much depends on the story-line and the writer, and I guess the most intelligent hero has done stupid things at times. I’m thinking more generally though, which heroes have seldom been portrayed as very intelligent? Sure, some minor heroes like D-Man comes to mind, but also among the A-list there should be some.

Some suggestions:

Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
Thor (the male one)
Iceman
Hercules

I dont think those really Count as low IQ. Human Torch has been able to build/design complicated machines like the Spidey mobile and operate a lot of the highly complicated machines build by Reed. Sure he can be immature but not really that much more then Spider-man and he is a genious. Thor has showned himself to be atleast decently intelligent and Iceman even went to college and got a degree. Even Hercules is not really what I would consider to have a "Low IQ". He can be a bit slow with something but in regards to other things he has showned himself more then cable.

The only one I really think you can argue from A list heroes would be some versions of the Hulk, and even then thats debateable because of Banner.

[Xelossik]

http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Categor...d_Intelligence
list of characters with weak intelligence in marvel

[Sutekh]

I read a comment from someone saying that ‘all Marvel heroes were geniuses’. That’s highly exaggerated of course, but he did have a point as at least very many of the heroes are highly intelligent. I find it unlikely that ALL heroes have an IQ of 100 or above though, there should be quite a few having less than 100 as well. So which heroes do you think are less intelligent and have an IQ below 100?

Depends on the team and line-up. (And bear in mind that most characters will be cleverer on their own, than on a team!)

Fantastic Four - Reed's a genius. Sue, Johnny and Ben, not so much. They aren't mentally challenged or anything, but they are pretty much regularly folk. (Although Johnny can occasionally be the poster boy for poor impulse control and / or arrested emotional development...)

Avengers - the Founding Five included Hank Pym, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, all geniuses. And Janet van Dyne and Thor, not dummies, but not geniuses, either. (And Thor can range from a tactical whiz with thousands of years of experience and familiarity with advanced Asgardian tech to dumb as a box of rocks and leading with his face, depending on the writer, much like Hercules, who ranges from clever to a buffoon, sometimes in the same comic...) Later additions, Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had no geniuses, even if Cap has a lot of experience and is a good strategic thinker and leader, and Quicksilver can process information fast.

X-Men - of the original five, only Hank McCoy is a bona fide genius. (Although mutant telepaths seem to have eidetic memories and the ability to master any skill by breathing the same air as someone who has it, making them sort of geniuses by accident because their 'telepathy' includes fifteen other random powers, other than just read and send thoughts.) Scott, Jean, Bobby and Warren are not generally regarded as geniuses, even if Cyclops has the same sort of strategic reputation that Captain America does (and Jean cheats). For the All-New crowd of Banshee, Thunderbird, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, SniktBub and, again, Cyclops, nary a genius in sight. Again, none of them seem particularly thick or anything, and some have some pretty clever feats to their names (and they've all been telepathically force-fed a dozen languages and some amazing alien-tech-repair skills), but they aren't rocket scientists. (Except when they are, but that's the telepathic cram courses in piloting Shiar spaceships the Professor crapped into their brains while they were sleeping, all not-at-all-creepy-like.)

The most famous solo hero, Spider-Man, happens to also be a extremely smart. I'm not sure how much of a 'genius' he is considered to be, but he has developed at least one patentable marvelous technology (his web-fluid), so, while he's no Tony Stark, he's more *technically intelligent* (and educated) than, say, Cyclops or Captain America.

Where Marvel is just catching up is in genius ladies. Of the original top tier Marvel heroes, a fair number of the men are geniuses, but Wasp, the Invisible Woman, Natasha Romanov, Jean Grey, Storm, Carol Danvers, Crystal, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch, etc. are generally not playing in that league. Recently, there've been a bumper crop of super-intelligent ladies (Valeria Richards, Monica Rappacini, Toni Ho, Riri Williams, Moon Girl, Nadia Pym, etc.) which feels a little bit like Christmas in July, with the fans being flash-mobbed with lady geniuses, since after fifty years of little to nothing, super-intelligent girls and women are suddenly coming out of the woodwork.

[jackolover]

I read a comment from someone saying that ‘all Marvel heroes were geniuses’. That’s highly exaggerated of course, but he did have a point as at least very many of the heroes are highly intelligent. I find it unlikely that ALL heroes have an IQ of 100 or above though, there should be quite a few having less than 100 as well. So which heroes do you think are less intelligent and have an IQ below 100?

Many heroes that are successful over an extended period you would have to consider have the correct problem solving credentials for a high IQ. Anybody who didn't, would end up dead or in jail. I'm looking at you Ant-Man. Even Sam Alexanger, the high school kid, doesn't get freaked out by interstellar travel, meeting strange aliens, and defeating the bad guys. If he was dumb, he'd have been run over by a truck ages ago. You look at the heroes mechanics of operation and they have adapted remarkable aptitude for physics and technical information as portrayed in the books. I have no trouble believing Moon Girl is the smarted human if she can navigate a giant red dinosaur in her life.

[Mindworm]

Many heroes that are successful over an extended period you would have to consider have the correct problem solving credentials for a high IQ. Anybody who didn't, would end up dead or in jail. I'm looking at you Ant-Man. Even Sam Alexanger, the high school kid, doesn't get freaked out by interstellar travel, meeting strange aliens, and defeating the bad guys. If he was dumb, he'd have been run over by a truck ages ago. You look at the heroes mechanics of operation and they have adapted remarkable aptitude for physics and technical information as portrayed in the books. I have no trouble believing Moon Girl is the smarted human if she can navigate a giant red dinosaur in her life.

Yeah, I guess you’ve got a point, if the hero isn’t at least medium clever he or she won’t last long in the game, at least not as A-listers. So do we have any examples of any heroes who was not so clever, and who have paid the ultimate price because of this?

As for Sam Alexander, his intelligence-level is a bit confusing according to this: http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Samuel_...er_(Earth-616)

[Tofali]

Sam's intelligence increases when he uses the worldmind.

[Huntsman Spider]

Depends on the team and line-up. (And bear in mind that most characters will be cleverer on their own, than on a team!)

Fantastic Four - Reed's a genius. Sue, Johnny and Ben, not so much. They aren't mentally challenged or anything, but they are pretty much regularly folk. (Although Johnny can occasionally be the poster boy for poor impulse control and / or arrested emotional development...)

Avengers - the Founding Five included Hank Pym, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, all geniuses. And Janet van Dyne and Thor, not dummies, but not geniuses, either. (And Thor can range from a tactical whiz with thousands of years of experience and familiarity with advanced Asgardian tech to dumb as a box of rocks and leading with his face, depending on the writer, much like Hercules, who ranges from clever to a buffoon, sometimes in the same comic...) Later additions, Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had no geniuses, even if Cap has a lot of experience and is a good strategic thinker and leader, and Quicksilver can process information fast.

X-Men - of the original five, only Hank McCoy is a bona fide genius. (Although mutant telepaths seem to have eidetic memories and the ability to master any skill by breathing the same air as someone who has it, making them sort of geniuses by accident because their 'telepathy' includes fifteen other random powers, other than just read and send thoughts.) Scott, Jean, Bobby and Warren are not generally regarded as geniuses, even if Cyclops has the same sort of strategic reputation that Captain America does (and Jean cheats). For the All-New crowd of Banshee, Thunderbird, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, SniktBub and, again, Cyclops, nary a genius in sight. Again, none of them seem particularly thick or anything, and some have some pretty clever feats to their names (and they've all been telepathically force-fed a dozen languages and some amazing alien-tech-repair skills), but they aren't rocket scientists. (Except when they are, but that's the telepathic cram courses in piloting Shiar spaceships the Professor crapped into their brains while they were sleeping, all not-at-all-creepy-like.)

The most famous solo hero, Spider-Man, happens to also be a extremely smart. I'm not sure how much of a 'genius' he is considered to be, but he has developed at least one patentable marvelous technology (his web-fluid), so, while he's no Tony Stark, he's more *technically intelligent* (and educated) than, say, Cyclops or Captain America.

Where Marvel is just catching up is in genius ladies. Of the original top tier Marvel heroes, a fair number of the men are geniuses, but Wasp, the Invisible Woman, Natasha Romanov, Jean Grey, Storm, Carol Danvers, Crystal, She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch, etc. are generally not playing in that league. Recently, there've been a bumper crop of super-intelligent ladies (Valeria Richards, Monica Rappacini, Toni Ho, Riri Williams, Moon Girl, Nadia Pym, etc.) which feels a little bit like Christmas in July, with the fans being flash-mobbed with lady geniuses, since after fifty years of little to nothing, super-intelligent girls and women are suddenly coming out of the woodwork.

Especially love this last paragraph. I'd also mention that the post-2000 adaptations have tried to rectify this somewhat by making Wasp (Janet van Dyne), Invisible Woman, Jennifer Walters (who didn't become the She-Hulk in this continuity), and Betty Ross (who was the She-Hulk of this continuity) scientists in Ultimate Marvel (and Invisible Woman is also a scientist in all of her modern film adaptations) and by making Jean Grey an actual medical and scientific doctor specializing in mutant biology in the original X-Men film trilogy. Of course, an adaptation doesn't necessarily translate back into the original comic unless the writers and editors wish to make it so, and even before the current crop of mostly young female geniuses in comics, there were a few female super-scientist geniuses here and there, but alas, most of them were villains.

Off the top of my head, there's Tilda Johnson/Nightshade, who was largely self-taught and guided by a naturally very high intelligence and is currently Nighthawk's tech support, and Deidre Wentworth/Superia, who was a raging misandrist who tried to create a matriarchal utopia in the mold of Thundra's Femizonia, as she believed she was an ancestor of Thundra and thus destined to usher in what would become Femizonia. Even Emma Frost had enough genius to whip up psychic power-amplifying tech that could enable a mere illusionist to directly project those illusions into someone else's brain, which was how we ended up with The Dark Phoenix Saga. The heroic female side is a bit thin, but if I recall, Kitty Pryde was a genius with computers even in her earlier appearances as the naïve young newcomer to the X-Men, and Monet St. Croix canonically has super-intelligence as one of the superpowers that make her physically and mentally "the perfect being." Moira MacTaggart, the X-Men's ally in the older comics and the guardian/caretaker of Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair, might count, at least as a woman proficient and well-educated in a field of scientific study, and combined with Emma, Kitty, and Monet, it seems that the X-Men were pretty pioneering compared to the rest of the Marvel Universe in terms of female scientists and/or female characters with high intelligence.

[Xelossik]

Huntsman Spider :

it seems that the X-Men were pretty pioneering compared to the rest of the Marvel Universe in terms of female scientists and/or female characters with high intelligence.

Does it matter?
X (wo)man with normal intelligence can:
repair and use space ships, Cerebro and other similarly complicated machines
can teach in school while being counselor
has knowledge about leadership
can beat wolverine in hand to hand combat without using her powers
can speak with more than 1 language

what more do You need?

[Michael Watkins]

didn't Artie Maddicks have some kind of learning disability, at one point? he must have gotten over it; since joining the Future Foundation.