# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/61 "2015-07-21T18:38:24Z")
No love for Arm Fall Off Boy? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/62 "2015-07-21T19:17:54Z")
Did Gleek have any powers other than to be a blue monkey in a cape who could talk?\* \*(He could say “Gleek” AIUI…) ---
**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 23, 2015, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/63 "2015-07-23T01:17:29Z")
Two words: Wonder Dog :dubious:😕 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/64 "2015-07-23T02:33:46Z")
Richie Rich! He cracks eggs and the yolks come out dollar signs – how cool is that?! Not much use in a fight, but so what, he can hire the muscle . . . ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/65 "2015-07-23T21:04:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > No love for Arm Fall Off Boy? His power was stupid, but it was definitely useful in a fight: he could remove one arm and use it like a club. (BTW, “Arm-Fall-Off Boy” had been a joke going around fan circles, poking fun at some of the more absurd Legionnaires like Bouncing Boy and Matter-Eater Lad. In 1989, writer Gerard Jones turned the joke into a real character just to be funny.) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/66 "2015-07-23T21:05:41Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Did Gleek have any powers other than to be a blue monkey in a cape who could talk? He had a super-elastic tail… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/67 "2015-07-23T21:37:01Z")
There’s an ‘article’ on Yahoo right now called ‘Superheroes and their worthless powers’. (Or there was a minute ago. Not there now.) It’s click-bait (‘sponsored’), so I didn’t click it. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/68 "2015-07-23T21:38:15Z")
[I wonder who won](http://gfestblog.blogspot.ca/2010/07/super-monkey-knife-fight-club-blip-vs.html)? ---
**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 23, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/69 "2015-07-23T22:08:42Z")
Spammers, from the looks of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/70 "2015-07-24T14:03:25Z")
Okay, a bit of an incendiary choice, but…Rogue. Now, let me explain, this depends entirely on the iteration of the character. In this case, the one from the films—and even then, I haven’t seen the “Rogue Cut” of the last X-Men film yet, so maybe she roided up and trained between pictures. I don’t know. But as we see her from the first three movies? Yeah, she can steal your powers/life energy with a touch, just like all the other versions. But, simply put, it takes too long, and the side effects are too extreme. Compared to, say, the cartoons, where a brief touch is able to siphon the target’s powers, and can, but doesn’t _necessarily_ immediately disable them, movie!Rogue seemed to have to grab ahold of someone for some seconds in order for her power to work, during which time she’d be vulnerable to attack—possibly even by the target—_and_ the power-siphoning doesn’t actually seem to _last_ very long. Compared to, again, some animated episodes, where she was shown to be _frighteningly_ dangerous if motivated and empowered enough. Plus, not only does she have the usual lousy side-effect of the power—unable to touch other people without possibly killing them. Ever.—but she doesn’t permanently retain any other powers, like those of Ms. Marvel. So no flying, invulnerability, etc. Like I’ve said in other places, the “shell-shocked waif with useless powers” _is_, I feel, a perfectly valid and in it’s own way an interesting interpretation of the character…but as an action hero? Eh, not so much. ---
**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 24, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/71 "2015-07-24T20:33:06Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Okay, a bit of an incendiary choice, but…Rogue. > > Now, let me explain, this depends entirely on the iteration of the character. In this case, the one from the films—and even then, I haven’t seen the “Rogue Cut” of the last X-Men film yet, so maybe she roided up and trained between pictures. I don’t know. > > But as we see her from the first three movies? Yeah, she can steal your powers/life energy with a touch, just like all the other versions. But, simply put, it takes too long, and the side effects are too extreme. Compared to, say, the cartoons, where a brief touch is able to siphon the target’s powers, and can, but doesn’t _necessarily_ immediately disable them, movie!Rogue seemed to have to grab ahold of someone for some seconds in order for her power to work, during which time she’d be vulnerable to attack—possibly even by the target—_and_ the power-siphoning doesn’t actually seem to _last_ very long. > > Compared to, again, some animated episodes, where she was shown to be _frighteningly_ dangerous if motivated and empowered enough. > > Plus, not only does she have the usual lousy side-effect of the power—unable to touch other people without possibly killing them. Ever.—but she doesn’t permanently retain any other powers, like those of Ms. Marvel. So no flying, invulnerability, etc. > > Like I’ve said in other places, the “shell-shocked waif with useless powers” _is_, I feel, a perfectly valid and in it’s own way an interesting interpretation of the character…but as an action hero? Eh, not so much. And her power is dependent on other people having powers. If she’s surrounded by normal humans, it’s not as great a gift. ---
**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 24, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/72 "2015-07-24T22:51:13Z")
Likewise, there was a German super in THE GOLDEN AGE who stalemated all of the American supers with his nullify-super-powers power, which is why the Justice Society didn’t end WWII in an afternoon – but against a big-game hunter with a quick knife, he was basically just a little runt of a guy with bad breath, and promptly died. ---
**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 24, 2015, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/73 "2015-07-24T23:47:55Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > He had a super-elastic tail… Gleek had a super-elastic tail! Gee… how did I ever… manage to… forget about that?! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/74 "2015-07-25T00:38:43Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Likewise, there was a German super in THE GOLDEN AGE who stalemated all of the American supers with his nullify-super-powers power, which is why the Justice Society didn’t end WWII in an afternoon – but against a big-game hunter with a quick knife, he was basically just a little runt of a guy with bad breath, and promptly died. I thought it was the Spear of Destiny that kept Allied supers out of the war? ---
**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 25, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/75 "2015-07-25T01:02:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I thought it was the Spear of Destiny that kept Allied supers out of the war? This was an ELSEWORLDS, where (a) the Spear-of-Destiny story got made up because it sounded better than _supers stay here because they’d get killed over there,_ and (b) a lot of comic-book-portrayal stuff about this or that hero turns out to be mere publicity. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/76 "2015-07-25T02:46:15Z")
I don’t think I agree about Rogue. A lot of real-world fights end up in a grapple, and if you try to grapple Rogue, you will lose, badly, and probably die. Yeah, it still sucks to be her, for the whole accidentally-killing-loved-ones issue, but her power is definitely useful in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/77 "2015-07-25T10:56:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think I agree about Rogue. A lot of real-world fights end up in a grapple, and if you try to grapple Rogue, you will lose, badly, and probably die. Yeah, it still sucks to be her, for the whole accidentally-killing-loved-ones issue, but her power is definitely useful in a fight. Certainly true, but like I said, _movie_ Rogue—she’s “nerfed” in comparison to other versions. (And possibly badly, as **Love Rhombus** notes—do we know if she’s able to absorb skills/memories/physical abilities, and not “just” life-energy, from non-powered humans, on film?) Maybe not _completely_ useless in a fight, I’d be willing to grant, but perhaps hobbled enough that her powers might not justify deliberately putting her into one. And if I may be blunt, I think attitude factors into things as well. Giving the same (even limited) powers to a traumatized, if otherwise normal teenage girl is going to have a different effective outcome than when given to a version of the girl who’s a bit more of a, well, [natural hardass](http://i950.photobucket.com/albums/ad350/ranchoth/Rg1_zpswbz9lcn2.png). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/78 "2015-07-25T15:38:57Z")
Sure, an emotionally traumatized teenage girl probably isn’t going to be much good in a fight, but that’s not her powers. An emotionally traumatized girl with Rogue’s powers will fare better than an otherwise-same girl without, and so we can say that her powers are useful in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/79 "2015-07-25T16:51:38Z")
Why the hate for Bouncing Boy? I’d hate to be in a fight with someone who could come at me from any direction at high speeds. It would be like fighting a sentient 200-pound dodge ball, and my experiences in gym class tell me that would be extremely unpleasant. BB looks silly, but I think he could wipe out a squad of un-powered opponents and do well against some lesser powered supers. As for Dream Girl, she has sometimes been portrayed as a skilled fighter because her precognition gives her a split-second glimpse of her opponent’s next move. I think that’s one of the things that makes Jedis so formidable, but I’m no expert on their skills. M-E Lad, however, is useless in a fight no matter how you look at it, and Duo Damsel isn’t much better. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437/80 "2015-07-25T17:31:08Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Okay, a bit of an incendiary choice, but…Rogue. It’s a real shame that the movies made her into a weak character, rather than one of the most powerful and dangerous mutants ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-powers-but-useless-in-a-fight/725437.md?page=5)