- Secret Lair --a clandestine, hidden Headquarters (#25). Best example–the Batcave.
33] Powers - Any abilities possessed by a hero or villain which place him or her far enough beyond the human norm to be considered exceptional - these may range from an quasi-magical/quasi-scientific extreme impossible to ordinary humans {flight, invisibility} to an extremely highly developed level of attainment of a possible human ability {fighting, acrobatics}.
34] Some heroes are born with powers {Wolverine}, some achieve powers {Batman}, whilst others have powers thrust upon them {Spiderman}. The latter are usually the most tormented.
35] Capes - What am I, a dictionary?
Some of us have an ability to count below the human norm: make those last ones numbers 32, 33 and 34.
Oops :o
32: Origin The story of how a hero or villain gained their powers and what made them decide to use their powers for good or ill.
Superhero origins often involve tragedy and death (Spiderman’s uncle being killed by the criminal Peter Parker couldn’t be bothered to stop earlier, Krypton blowing up, Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed).
Supervillain origins are usually simpler, and are often based on greed (“I can do whatever I want and no one can stop me! Bwahahahaha!”) or lust for power (“I shall rule the world, and no one can stop me! Bwahahahaha!”)
33: Powers Abilities possessed by some (but not all) superheroes and supervillains. Powers are innate abilities, not to be confused with abilities conferred by gadgets. Example: Superman’s ability to fly is a power, while Iron Man’s ability to fly is conferred via gadget, i.e. his armored battle suit.
A power is an ability beyond that of normal humans, even humans who have spent their entire lives training using their skills and tools.
<stepping out of character>
I’m not sure about this one. Superman flying is obviously a power, and Iron Man flying is obviously because of his armor, but what about Green Lantern? He can fly (and do a lot of other things) by using his power ring. Is that a power? Obviously, and equally obviously non-innate. So, how do I differentiate between “real” powers and powers gained via gadgets?
</sooc>
Double :o
Make that 36 and 37
Hoo-boy. The joy of simulposts.
Previewing helps to avoid simulposts, and can allow you to quickly amend your numbering if someone beat you to it, or revise a term if someone beat you to that.
I’m going to amend the numbering because we seem to be way off. Apologies for possibly ruffling the following feathers:
Case Sensitive’s powers is #32, but #33, using examples doesn’t really warrant a different number. With regret and respect, I’m going to combine those two.
If we’re going to define separate apparel that makes up a costume or uniform (See #1 and #2), then we need a better definition for capes. Yeah, I’m looking square at you, Casey! That goes for anyone else who tackles armor, gloves, gauntlets, cowls, boots, vests, tunics, breastplates, helmets an lucky socks! If at all. For now, capes is the new #33.
Ninja Pizza Guy’s Origins is number #34, because Case Sensitive beat him to it, we should consider NPGs definition an addendum to #32 and credit him accordingly. I echo his concern that we should be able to distinguish between powers of people born with them and acquire them – between mutants and mutates – and those whose powers are natural, supernatural or come from some sort of external power source.
Assuming I haven’t pissed off the lot of you, numbering from here should start at #35.
38: Uncle Ben: Named after the uncle of Peter Parker, Spider-Man, whose death inspired Peter to fight crime. It generically refers to anyone who dies as part of a hero’s Origin (32) or Defining Event (28). Examples include Ben Parker, Thomas and Martha Wayne, the scientist who created the Super-Soldier Serum, and most of the population of Krypton, Ben Parkers are generally exempt from the rule that comic death isn’t necessarily permanent ( see also, Jason Todd, Barry Allen, and Bucky ).
39: Crisis on Infinite Earths (aka The Crisis, Crisis) A seminal maxiseries about the Anti-Monitor’s assault on the DC multiverse, and featuring the deaths of (among others) Flash II and Supergirl I, and the end of the multiverse. It’s mostly remembered now for its aftershocks, as many books took it as an oppurtunity to reorder DC’s continuity, completely changing character histories, power levels, and characters themselves. Thus it is often useful to speak of a character in terms of “Pre-Crisis” and “Post-Crisis”. For example, Pre-Crisis Superman was godlike in power, and started his career as a teen (if not as an infant!). Post-Crisis superman was substantially weaker, and started his craeer as an adult. Some consider the Crisis to be the end of the Silver Age. In recent years, DC has been distancing itself from its Post-Crsis changes and reintroducing Pre-Crisis elements.
#35) Gadgets are complex sophisticated machines not readily available to the masses. Some are the results of advanced engineering; some are extropolated from alien technology, future technology, alternate timeline technology or quasi-mystical civilization technology.
A) Gadgets made from advanced engineering are Earth-based devices that represent the cutting edge of such disparate fields as robotics, cybernetics, computing, metallurgy, alternate energy sources and biotechnology, among others. EXAMPLES: IRON MAN SUIT, STEEL SUIT and HAMMER, JLA TELEPORTERS, ADAMANTIUM, VIBRANIUM.
B) Alien technology describes a broad range of scientific advances – including energy sources, communications and various forms of transportation, among others – developed on other worlds that are used on Earth, often as a result of crash site recovery, space salvage or gifts from benevolent offworlders; much of the technology is not replicable given our current technlogical advances although scientists are able to occassionally successfully re-create that technology. EXAMPLES: RANNIAN ZETA BEAM, OA’s GREEN LANTERN RINGS, APOKOLYPSIAN AND SUPERTOWN BOOM TUBES, THE ULTIMATE NULLIFIER, QY’S REPLICANT BODIES.
C) Future technology are those often anachronistic artifacts that survive in the present from a future timeline, where such items are often commonplace. EXAMPLES: BOOSTER GOLD’S FLIGHT RING and COSTUME, TIME BUBBLES, BRAINIAC-5’S FORCE-FIELD.
D) Alternate timeline technology are those advances that have largely only been used in worlds whose histories are different from our own and rarely, if ever, seen on our own. EXAMPLES: MUTANT INHIBITOR COLLARS.
E) Quasi-mystical technology describe devices and weapons created from civilizations that are frequently hidden on Earth or oddly accessible by Earth and may have mystical components in their power sources or construction. INHUMAN’S TERRIGEN MISTS, ATLANTEAN DOME, AMAZONIAN PURPLE RAY, QWARDIAN ANTI-MATTER THUNDERBOLTS.
Dammit! I was in the middle of coding when I accidentally posted!
Sigh. Okay. Menocchio’s posts are #35 and #36, mine is #37 A-E. Anything after that gets screwed-up numbering I give up on. :smack:
And I was gonna boldface my entries but I need to get off line now and call a REAL woman. I’m starting to geek out too much, here.
Cape - A point or head of land projecting into a body of water, for example Cape Horn, Cape Canaveral, The Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Fear.
Oh, those capes. Umm, a sleeveless outer garment fastened at the throat or shoulders, worn draped over the upper body and varying between waist and floor length. Capes are usually worn by heroes with super-normal powers for purposes of sartorial extravagance only {Superman, Captain Marvel}, however for heroes who only possess highly developed human abilities, {Batman being the prime example} they may provide such additional functions as gliding, camouflage or physical protection.
Happy, Askia?
Fucking brilliant, Case.
38. Mirror: A villain posessing abilities nearly identical to the hero against whom he or she opposes. Examples: Flash / Professor Zoom; Wolverine / Lady Deathstryke or Sabertooth; Fantastic Four / Super Skrull; Spider-Man / Venom; Green Lantern / Sinestro.
39. Distaff: A female version of an existing male hero. Examples: Superman / Supergirl; Spider-Man / Spider-Girl; Hulk / She Hulk; Sunfire / Sunfire; Wolverine / X-23; Hawkman / Hawkgirl; Batman / Batgirl, Thor / Thorgirl; Captain Marvel / Mary Marvel. A distaff will usually not posess unique powers of her own, and being female, will have a dimished portion of the male hero’s abilities. There are exceptions, of course–Batgirl is Batman’s superior in hand to hand combat–but generally a diminished ability will be found. Example: Spider-Girl can press about 5 tons compared to Spider-Man’s 10.
Corollary A: Male heroes are often magically transformed into females for a short period of time. The reverse is highly unusual.
Corollary B: Daughters or neices of male heroes inevitably become a Distaff. Examples: Spider-Girl; Hawkgirl; Huntress; Male offspring never follow in their mother’s shoes.
40. Variant: Any hero whose identity or abilities can be described as the HERO, but if he was ________ . Example: Beta Ray Bill is Thor if he was a horse; Captain Marvel Junior is Captain Marvel as a teen.
41. Infant Mortality Rate: Except for Sue Richards, a female hero or the wife of a male hero who becomes pregnant will have a miscarriage or have her unborn children killed by a villain. Examples: Mary Jane Watson-Parker; Linda Park-West; Scarlet Witch.
42] Real Women - semi-mythical creatures only occasionally glimpsed and even more rarely encountered by comics fans.
43} Anatomy
a] Male - A male comic hero’s anatomy is commonly styled as an inverted trapezoid, and frequently resembles, to quote Clive James, a condom stuffed with walnuts: a curious corollary is that the physical development of any character’s musculature is often inversely proportional to that of his fans {for example, any hero painted by Simon Bisley}.
b} Female - Being founded largely upon conjecture based on half-remembered 70’s centrefolds and airbrushed van art from the same period, the anatomy of comic heroines generally resembles nothing so much as a Double D Cup Betty Page stuffed inside a skintight leather catsuit {see 1 and 2: costumes and uniforms}: a second curious corollary is that the voluptuousness of female characters is generally inversely proportional to the degree of sexual experience of her male fans {for example, any heroine painted by Simon Bisley}.
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henchman: (N.) A low-level functionary in the employ of a villain. Henchmen are usually unpowered, anonymous and expendable street criminals commonly employed in groups of three or more. They are responsible for carrying out the details of the villain’s master plan (q.v.) or criminal enterprise, and are often a prime source of information for the superhero on the villain’s plans.
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master plan: (N.) A bold and complex criminal scheme developed and implemented by a villain. Master plans are characterized by extreme audacity; complexity that often requires the assistance of numerous henchmen (q.v.) and accomplices; and a thematic significance to the villain’s pathology (q.v.), such as Two-Face’s “double”-centered crimes. Master plans are typically the province of the evil genius (q.v.)
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pathology: (N.) A psychological preoccupation that manifests itself in a villain’s criminal activity or master plan (q.v.). A villain’s pathology often stems from a traumatic event that compelled the villain to turn to crime and/or imbued him with powers. A villain’s pathology lends to his crimes a certain internal logic that can make them easier for a hero to predict and foil; a clever hero can even use his knowledge of a villain’s pathology to lay an irresistable trap.
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evil genius: (N.) A villain characterized by exceptional intelligence, grandiose ambition, and tremendous egotism; their criminal activity typically takes the form of the master plan (q.v.). Evil geniuses often affect an exaggerated gentility and will shun physical violence as uncouth and beneath them, delegating such tasks to their henchmen.
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battle cry: (N.) A declaration typically uttered by a hero to boost his morale as he enters battle. Examples include “It’s clobbering time,” “Flame on,” “Hulk smash,” “Spoon,” etc.
This is fun … perhaps I can come up with more later. I think these entries should all be collated and organized when we’re done …
51.) Chaspomonome or C.S.O. (character specific onomatopoeia) - A word or phrase, used to describe certain action sounds by certain heroes and/or villains, which have become so associated with one specific hero/villain that the sole term can be used to allude to the character by itself. Examples: snikt, bamf.
50 Reboot: An extreme form of the Retcon in which all of a character or team’s history is discarded and their continuity is rewritten from scratch (often starting from the begininng, but sometimes in media res). DC’s Legion of Superheroes is infamously on it’s second full reboot, and has had God only knows how many major retcons.
51 Women in Refrigerators: A website by comics author Gail Simone (http://www.the-pantheon.net/wir/) which lists a huge number of female characters who have been victims of violence (often sexualized). It’s named after an incident in which the Green lantern’s girlfriend was murdered and stuffed in his fridge. While the list, its methodology, and any conclusions drawn from it remain controversial, the central idea that female characters (both heroes and supporting characters) are killed and/or tortured in disproportionate numbers for cheap drama is all but undeniable.
52 Byrne Hold: A pose in which a woman is held up in the air by a man (often a hero under mind control) by her throat. A favorite of John Byrne.
No capes!
Worse than buying off the rack… 
Bosda, what is it with you and the capes?