# Things super-powered characters can't do because of their powers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440 "2007-10-29T14:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/61 "2007-10-30T23:04:16Z")
There was a very disturbing Hellraiser story where one of Constantine’s ancestors, under a spell of immortality, was buried alive. John eventually dig him up and killed him—300+ years later. Black Bolt can’t sing. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/62 "2007-10-30T23:40:53Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Black Bolt can’t sing. [/QUOTE] Well, he CAN. It would be a mighty expensive aria, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/63 "2007-10-31T02:34:13Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Why would a healing factor preclude a tattoo? People made this argument about Peter Petrelli’s vanishing tattoo on “Heroes” a couple weeks ago. The needle would still penetrate their skin and the ink would still be deposited. [/QUOTE] But a tattoo is essentially colored scar tissue. Healing factors seem to preclude those a bit. I may be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/64 "2007-10-31T02:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] Well, he CAN. It would be a mighty expensive aria, though. [/QUOTE] He could become lead singer for _Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_’s Disaster Area. > [@](#): > > Disaster Area, a plutonium rock band from the Gagrakacka Mind Zones, are generally held to be not only the loudest rock band in the history of the Galaxy, but the loudest noise of any kind at all. > > Regular concert-goers judge that the best sound balance is usually to be heard from within large concrete bunkers some thirty-seven miles from the stage, whilst the musicians themselves play their instruments by remote control from within a heavily insulated spaceship which stays in orbit around the planet or more frequently around a completely different planet. ---
**Author:** ![tonedef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@tonedef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tonedef)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/65 "2007-10-31T03:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Would Rogue be able to be pregnant? Or would her powers kill any possible child? [/QUOTE] What about the sperm? Wouldn’t she kill them before they had a chance to reach there destination? BTW what happens if rouge touches a plant or a animal? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/66 "2007-10-31T04:34:38Z")
[QUOTE=tonedef] BTW what happens if rouge touches a plant or a animal? [/QUOTE] It turns red. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/67 "2007-10-31T12:04:53Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Miskatonic] But a tattoo is essentially colored scar tissue. Healing factors seem to preclude those a bit. I may be wrong. [/QUOTE] I believe you are - a tattoo consists of ink molecules of a specific size that makes them too big to be “processed out” by the body, so they remain just beneath the skin - and show through because skin is very translucent. Which doesn’t sound like scarring. I am assuming that just like a Healing Factor can overcome big, normally fatal wounds, it could process much bigger ink molecules than your average person’s healing system… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/68 "2007-10-31T12:27:58Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] Actually, there was one issue where he’d lost his telepathy, but still managed to talk down a knife-wielding attacker… by reading his body language. Didn’t make much sense to me. [/QUOTE] Actually, being able to see someone and read their emotional state would be an advantage in learning to read body language. (Admittedly, it would reduce the need for the latter, but you’d probably pick it up anyway just from noticing that such-and-such an expression tends to go with such-and-such a thought.) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/69 "2007-10-31T13:05:59Z")
[QUOTE=Steve MB] Actually, being able to see someone and read their emotional state would be an advantage in learning to read body language. (Admittedly, it would reduce the need for the latter, but you’d probably pick it up anyway just from noticing that such-and-such an expression tends to go with such-and-such a thought.) [/QUOTE] Add to that the likelihood that Xavier would have put some thought and study into it, both out of intellectual property and as a contingency plan in the event he ever temporarily lost his powers. (Of course, like Batman’s contingency plans, Professor X’s typically go horribly awry, but this is the exception.) ---
**Author:** ![Surbey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@Surbey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surbey)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/70 "2007-10-31T16:22:08Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Fine fine, if you want to be all technical about it. [/QUOTE] but isn’t this the one place where you are expected to be? lol. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/71 "2007-10-31T16:43:34Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] But surely unprotected sex would be something to avoid anyway, as it’d probably be even more hazardous in the Marvel universe as it is in ours. Along with all the ordinary terrestrial STDs floating around, there’d no doubt also be freaky mutant viruses, gamma-irradiated pubic lice, Skrull herpes, etc. Plus, of course, the risk that your partner might suddenly suck the life out of you. [/QUOTE] Curse you, now I’ve got this scenario in my head: Cannonball: “I heard that Rogue sucked the life out of Gambit.” Sunspot: “Dude, she does that? My girlfriend won’t even do it with the lights on!” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/72 "2007-10-31T17:21:22Z")
Dr. Manhattan can’t - or feels that he can’t - do anything to prevent disasters, even when he foresees them. The Martian Manhunter can’t walk through a public place unnoticed. Mr. Incredible apparently can’t slam a car door shut without damaging the car. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/73 "2007-10-31T17:45:46Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] The Martian Manhunter can’t walk through a public place unnoticed. [/QUOTE] Unless he turns invisible 😉 Or shape-shifts into a normal-looking person. Maybe I’m being wooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/74 "2007-10-31T17:55:17Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] The Martian Manhunter can’t walk through a public place unnoticed. [/QUOTE] 😕 Um…he can both change his shape AND turn invisible. Of course he can. Well, Batman can often see through his disguises, and Superman, if he puts his mind to it (and knows JJ is there in the first place) can find him when he’s invisible–but apart from those two, John is quite stealthy when he feels like 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:** [November 2, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/75 "2007-11-02T11:48:13Z")
“I, Proteus, possess the wisdom and ignorance of all men, but I can’t feel the sun on my face.”—Proteus IV\*, _Demon Seed_ Jus’ another few… •I think I’ve read/seen of a few Vampires who can no longer pallate solid food. •Many cyborgs and most androids can’t have children. On a related note, IIRC, the Teen Titans’ Cyborg gained great strength upon his cyborging operation, but it took a long time before he was able to pick up an egg without breaking it. Other characters (superpowered biologicals like The Thing, or early/discount model prosthetic body users from _Ghost in the Shell_) have had similar problems with delicate objects or things that require fine dexterity. \*As far as I know, he’s the first mechanical movie monster to actually progress past “silently carry fainted, broken-ankled damsel around in his mighty arms before being gunned down” to a full “sex offender.” (It was the 70s, and he didn’t have arms.) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/76 "2007-11-02T12:01:01Z")
[QUOTE=Omi no Kami] I kind of always figured that at one point Rogue wised up and bought a bodystocking… [/QUOTE] Yeah, for a woman who spends a lot of time in mutant angst over it she sure does overlook a lot of simple, obvious solutions to her problem. Personally I think she can control her powers; it’s just a cry for attention. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/77 "2007-11-02T12:27:20Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] I believe you are - a tattoo consists of ink molecules of a specific size that makes them too big to be “processed out” by the body, so they remain just beneath the skin - and show through because skin is very translucent. Which doesn’t sound like scarring. I am assuming that just like a Healing Factor can overcome big, normally fatal wounds, it could process much bigger ink molecules than your average person’s healing system… [/QUOTE] There’s plenty of cases where healing factors push bullets out of a body, for example. I’m with you, I think tattoos probably wouldn’t work. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2007, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/78 "2007-11-02T12:44:15Z")
[QUOTE=Just Some Guy] Yeah, for a woman who spends a lot of time in mutant angst over it she sure does overlook a lot of simple, obvious solutions to her problem. Personally I think she can control her powers; it’s just a cry for attention. [/QUOTE] Not only that, but haven’t we seen mutant restraining collars? Y’know, things that temporarily cancel out mutant powers? Unless they give you cancer, or have a 1/12 chance of making your eyeballs explode out your ass or something, it seems like it’d be handy to have one of those lying around the bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/79 "2007-11-02T18:25:59Z")
The invisible man can’t get drunk and streak through campus. Well he could, but it wouldn’t make much difference. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440/80 "2007-11-02T18:29:30Z")
> [@](#): > > The invisible man can’t get drunk and streak through campus. Well he could, but it wouldn’t make much difference. Have you seen “The Son of The Invisible Man” segment from **Amazon Women on the Moon** (starring Ed Begley Jr.)? If not, grab it and watch it. Hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-super-powered-characters-cant-do-because-of-their-powers/424440.md?page=5)