marycatelli (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
marycatelli) wrote2023-06-13 06:58 pm
marycatelli) wrote2023-06-13 06:58 pm
Entry tags:
problems of powers
So what problems come with the powers? There have to be some or there is no story.
There's the ever popular "inhuman, even monstrous appearance." With personality powers, it would get interesting. The villains really are ugly because they are evil. . . . Though if the villains are the ugly ones and the changes are caused by something else, the natural consequence would be that villains stem from characters being treated as monsters for their appearance; the consequences for world-building are inherent. (Heroes reform villains by building a town and running a job board.)
And of course, there is the looks are randomly distributed. Mind you, it would give heroes a good reason for concealing costumes. On the other hand, whether it's both heroes or villains, or merely the villains (or even merely the heroes), there is the little problem of world-building a convincing reason why superpowers come with weird looks.
Then there's the rather rare lack of required secondary powers. You can run at superspeed but not think at it, so you're always colliding with things. You have superstrength but your bones are ordinary -- and break. I've seen it a few times, but the problem is that it's limited in use. In particular, a single story seems to exhaust a particular form of it.
Lack of control is a popular and much more logical. Especially for young characters, or characters otherwise new to their powers (though immaturity can't help). Lending itself to quick discovery of new powers, and also to fundamental problems with the secret identities. Also for themes about a life both wonderful and horrible, since while doing things ordinary humans can't, the superpowered may not be able to do what they can. (Hmm. Horrible appearance could do that, too.)
Finally, and my favorite, there are inherent problems. At the upper limit, there are logical ones: the most powerful Superman could not do a thing and yet leave it undone. And the nature of the power ones: the most powerful Superman could not make anyone actually do something. He could make him suffer horribly for not doing it. (This is why mind control, particularly of the invidious type, is the true world-shaking power.) But forcing characters to come up with ingenious uses for overtly useless powers, or work with great resolution (and perhaps courage) to laboriously difficult even with their powers, make for good and logical stories.
There's the ever popular "inhuman, even monstrous appearance." With personality powers, it would get interesting. The villains really are ugly because they are evil. . . . Though if the villains are the ugly ones and the changes are caused by something else, the natural consequence would be that villains stem from characters being treated as monsters for their appearance; the consequences for world-building are inherent. (Heroes reform villains by building a town and running a job board.)
And of course, there is the looks are randomly distributed. Mind you, it would give heroes a good reason for concealing costumes. On the other hand, whether it's both heroes or villains, or merely the villains (or even merely the heroes), there is the little problem of world-building a convincing reason why superpowers come with weird looks.
Then there's the rather rare lack of required secondary powers. You can run at superspeed but not think at it, so you're always colliding with things. You have superstrength but your bones are ordinary -- and break. I've seen it a few times, but the problem is that it's limited in use. In particular, a single story seems to exhaust a particular form of it.
Lack of control is a popular and much more logical. Especially for young characters, or characters otherwise new to their powers (though immaturity can't help). Lending itself to quick discovery of new powers, and also to fundamental problems with the secret identities. Also for themes about a life both wonderful and horrible, since while doing things ordinary humans can't, the superpowered may not be able to do what they can. (Hmm. Horrible appearance could do that, too.)
Finally, and my favorite, there are inherent problems. At the upper limit, there are logical ones: the most powerful Superman could not do a thing and yet leave it undone. And the nature of the power ones: the most powerful Superman could not make anyone actually do something. He could make him suffer horribly for not doing it. (This is why mind control, particularly of the invidious type, is the true world-shaking power.) But forcing characters to come up with ingenious uses for overtly useless powers, or work with great resolution (and perhaps courage) to laboriously difficult even with their powers, make for good and logical stories.