# Cool powers, but useless in a fight. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2015, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437 "2015-07-17T18:32:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/41 "2015-07-20T14:00:14Z")
Triplicate Girl (later Duo Damsel when one of her was killed) was pretty useless. So she can split herself into three (later two) at will. No other powers. What the hell good is that? Maybe for an espionage mission, get let in, go to bathroom, split, get let out, then the part that remains can spy. But in a fight- really? I don’t think so. What you wind up with is two or three ordinary females in a fight team. Not so super. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/42 "2015-07-20T14:04:28Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Triplicate Girl (later Duo Damsel when one of her was killed) was pretty useless. So she can split herself into three (later two) at will. No other powers. What the hell good is that? Maybe for an espionage mission, get let in, go to bathroom, split, get let out, then the part that remains can spy. But in a fight- really? I don’t think so. What you wind up with is two or three ordinary females in a fight team. Not so super. In later continuities, they made her an expert in “tri-jitsu”–a fighting style based on having three bodies to punch with. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/43 "2015-07-20T14:12:11Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > In later continuities, they made her an expert in “tri-jitsu”–a fighting style based on having three bodies to punch with. Thanks for that info. That makes her (them) not quite as lame. Shrinking Violet was another lame one. Oh and let’s not forget Chlorophyll Kid, who could stimulate plant growth. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/44 "2015-07-20T14:36:51Z")
They had some fun with triplicate lass, too- having her “fly” by creating a duplicate above the original, then absorbing the original. Do it fast enough… There was a marvel hero called butterball- a fat kid who got the power of total invulnerability, mental and physical. Unfortunately, this meant that he was stuck at his current physical level- he had unlimited stamina, but no amount of exercise would make him stronger, and his mental invulnerability worked like a learning disability- he couldn’t be mind controlled or go insane, but he also had a hard time learning new skills. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/45 "2015-07-20T14:37:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Thanks for that info. That makes her (them) not quite as lame. Shrinking Violet was another lame one. Oh and let’s not forget Chlorophyll Kid, who could stimulate plant growth. Chlorophyll Kid was one of the subbies (Legion of Substitute Heroes, which I mentioned above), who were always largely intended as comedy. I wouldn’t scoff at the ability to stimulate plant growth, though. Swamp Thing memorably used the same power to bring all of Gotham City to its knees (while incidentally kicking the ass of a fully prepared Batman–take that, Grant Morrison!). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/46 "2015-07-20T14:57:49Z")
Green Flame (originally) had the ability to make a 2-3" long green flame shoot out of her mouth. Helpful if her opponents were particularly flammable or easily startled, otherwise, only useful for lighting candles and cigarettes. She got better. From Mystery Men: Invisible Boy could only be invisible if nobody was looking at him. From Wild Cards: Digger Downs had the ability to detect people with superpowers by smell. Tinkerbell had the ability to make people emit a pink, sparkly glow for several hours (very useful at raves, not so much in a gunfight). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/47 "2015-07-20T15:03:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Tinkerbell had the ability to make people emit a pink, sparkly glow for several hours (very useful at raves, not so much in a gunfight). Hey, in Dungeons & Dragons terms, that gives your opponents a bonus on their To Hit rolls! Well, [it used to](http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Faerie_fire). Doesn’t look as though it does [any longer](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/faerieFire.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/48 "2015-07-20T15:19:32Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Aside from fly away from a fight, I don’t know what else Hawk Man can do. He can do [a lot of damage](http://peur-evol.blogspot.com/2011/12/hembeck-does-hawkman.html). And it’s “Hawkman.” Rule of thumb for superheroes whose name ends in “man”: if it’s Marvel, it either two words or it’s hyphenated: Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Iron Man, Power Man, Wonder Man. (Exception: Iceman.) If it’s DC, it’s one word: Superman, Batman, Hawkman, Aquaman, Sandman, Starman, Hourman. (Exception: Elongated Man.) This rule doesn’t apply to villains, or to heroes purchased from other companies (like Plastic Man and Doll Man). ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/49 "2015-07-20T15:31:10Z")
DC had a parody comic in the sixties called The Inferior Five: the children of 1940s superheroes who were trying to carry on for their parents, even though their abilities weren’t quite as impressive. One member was the Blimp, who inherited just enough of his father’s flying power to hover, but he needed a good strong wind to move horizontally. Another was Awkwardman, son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid (pastiches of Superman and Lori Lemaris); he inherited his father’s super-strength and invulnerability, and his mother’s clumsiness on dry land. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/50 "2015-07-20T15:36:39Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Green Flame (originally) had the ability to make a 2-3" long green flame shoot out of her mouth. Helpful if her opponents were particularly flammable or easily startled, otherwise, only useful for lighting candles and cigarettes. Well, _originally_ the character was called “Green Fury”, a supporting character in the _Super Friends_ comic. Her abilities weren’t _that_ useless, though being mystical in nature, they varied somewhat in their effectiveness - she could create convincing illusions and throw around bolts of magical green fire - and in her occasional appearances, she was typically the deus ex element that would save the day. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/51 "2015-07-20T16:00:45Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I remember thinking that about [Bouncing Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouncing_Boy) back in the era when I read comics fairly regularly. I thought, "They need a cast of dozens of super-powered heroes and they had a deadline and someone penned this guy without thinking all the way through to how he’d actually fight crime or deal with violent people & stuff. Imagine if they had to give him his own ongoing comic series! Nah, he was one of three applicants in Supergirl’s second appeareance, the one in which she qualified. It’s hard to say whether they thought he had potential, or were just trying to be funny. (After all, they WERE called funnybooks. And does comics sound serious to you?) > [@Lanzy](#): > > Later on Bouncing Boy was able to really smash things when he bounced on them. He clobbered Dartalg, who assumed an ordinary dart would puncture him. He also saved his wife with his ability to expertly throw bouncing balls. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > In the animated Legion teevee series, Bouncing Boy was very good at piloting the Legion rocket ship. So maybe they let him in in recognition of his non-powered abilities. Maybe he makes the most delicious egg salad. Or maybe he could teach expert poker playing. Seriously, did you miss the episode where his ingenuity made him a dark horse winner for leadership over Garth and Rokk? > [@Cartoonacy](#): > > DC had a parody comic in the sixties called The Inferior Five: the children of 1940s superheroes who were trying to carry on for their parents, even though their abilities weren’t quite as impressive. One member was the Blimp, who inherited just enough of his father’s flying power to hover, but he needed a good strong wind to move horizontally. Another was Awkwardman, son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid (pastiches of Superman and Lori Lemaris); he inherited his father’s super-strength and invulnerability, and his mother’s clumsiness on dry land. “The Mermaid” was no doubt based on Aquaman as well. Sure, she was married to the Superman-pastiche, but she had legs. Lori Lemaris merely had to sleep 8 hours in water. Awkwardman’s frequent need to briefly get plenty of hydration (briefly) fits Arthur Curry much better. For that matter, Bridwell sneaked in elements of Captain Marvel into Mr. Might, and his costume reflected both Mon-El and his pre-Silver Age counterpart Halk Karr. That Awkie’s clumsiness (on land) was inherited from her is something I had never really considered. I thought it was just like White Feather happening to be cowardly. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/52 "2015-07-20T16:02:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, _originally_ the character was called “Green Fury”, a supporting character in the _Super Friends_ comic. Her abilities weren’t _that_ useless, though being mystical in nature, they varied somewhat in their effectiveness - she could create convincing illusions and throw around bolts of magical green fire - and in her occasional appearances, she was typically the deus ex element that would save the day. Yeah – then the “Crisis on Infinte Earths” came along and she was depowered in more ways than one: her alter ego (Beatriz DeCosta) was changed from a high-powered business executive to a showgirl-turned-accident-prone-secret-agent. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/53 "2015-07-20T23:19:56Z")
Doctor Mid-Nite’s power to see in the dark is kind of useless in broad daylight: put him in the ring against the heavyweight champ, or in an alley with a knife-wielding mugger, or whatever, and he may as well not have any powers… …except it’s _worse_ than that, since he in fact has reverse-vision: “in the dark” is, to him, like “in broad daylight” to us; and “in broad daylight” is, to him, like “in the dark” to us. So in his own right – without any special gear – he has the power of _just being blind_ when you can naturally see him and punch him and kick him. Does his costume have lenses that black out the visual-light spectrum? Sure. Is he a tough customer with smoke grenades? You bet. But strictly speaking, his _power_ sometimes runs the gamut from ‘useless’ (if you were fighting him while strobe lights were flicking on and off and on and off) to ‘handicap’ (if the lights were, uh, _on_). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/54 "2015-07-21T04:15:14Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > Yeah – then the “Crisis on Infinte Earths” came along and she was depowered in more ways than one: her alter ego (Beatriz DeCosta) was changed from a high-powered business executive to a showgirl-turned-accident-prone-secret-agent. It was my recollection that _Super Friends_ comic-book series was in a universe distinct from the “main” Earth-1 DC universe, though the [wiki entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Friends#Comic_books) suggests the issue was somewhat muddied, with events and characters from _Super Friends_ comics getting appearances or references in mainstream stories. And then _Crisis_ took the whole mess and ran it through a wood-chipper. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/55 "2015-07-21T13:07:09Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Chlorophyll Kid was one of the subbies (Legion of Substitute Heroes, which I mentioned above), who were always largely intended as comedy. I wouldn’t scoff at the ability to stimulate plant growth, though. I imagine Chlorophyll Kid was invited to tend to the Legion’s weed garden in the basement of their clubhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/56 "2015-07-21T16:38:33Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Doctor Mid-Nite’s power to see in the dark is kind of useless in broad daylight: put him in the ring against the heavyweight champ, or in an alley with a knife-wielding mugger, or whatever, and he may as well not have any powers… > > …except it’s _worse_ than that, since he in fact has reverse-vision: “in the dark” is, to him, like “in broad daylight” to us; and “in broad daylight” is, to him, like “in the dark” to us. So in his own right – without any special gear – he has the power of _just being blind_ when you can naturally see him and punch him and kick him. > > Does his costume have lenses that black out the visual-light spectrum? Sure. Is he a tough customer with smoke grenades? You bet. But strictly speaking, his _power_ sometimes runs the gamut from ‘useless’ (if you were fighting him while strobe lights were flicking on and off and on and off) to ‘handicap’ (if the lights were, uh, _on_). And imagine if some sunny afternoon you needed medical attention really badly, the way heroes never do… ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/57 "2015-07-21T17:43:32Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It was my recollection that _Super Friends_ comic-book series was in a universe distinct from the “main” Earth-1 DC universe Writer E. Nelson Bridwell went to great lengths to try to fit the Super Friends into the mainstream. He even came up with backgrounds for Wendy and Marvin, though they were only discussed in the text pages: Wendy was Wendy Harris, niece of Harvey Harris, the detective who trained young Bruce Wayne (Detective Comics #226); and Marvin was Marvin White, son of Diana White (née Prince), the nurse whose identity Wonder Woman bought in exchange for the airfare for the real Diana to join her fiancé in South America (Sensation Comics #1). The “Super Friends” and “Hall of Justice” were the Justice League’s experimental training academy, and these kids were chosen to take part in the trial program. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/58 "2015-07-21T17:54:08Z")
Back to the OP: the original Air Wave from the 1940s gets my vote. He wore special skates that allowed him to run along telephone wires, and his helmet could tune into any piece of metal within a certain range and use it as a transceiver (i.e., he could listen in on conversations near it, and project his own voice through it). Useful, but not in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/59 "2015-07-21T18:12:22Z")
MtAtoz: > [@](#): > > They were meant to be funny Not in the first 25 years of their existence. They were meant to show that heroic spirit and some extra brainwork can overcome limited powers. It wasn’t until the mid-80’s that Keith Giffen turned them into a joke. (And then, incidentally, turned them back into serious characters about a decade later.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/60 "2015-07-21T18:23:47Z")
[Eye-Scream!](http://marvel.com/universe/Eye-Scream) It’s a cool power because, c’mon, **any flavor!** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437.md?page=4)