One of the stories I'm working on is set in a futuristic world where 50% of the population has superpowers. (The rules of how and what are still vague) And I have two problems with this story.
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the main character has the superpower indestructible body as long as it comes to force and really hard to damage body when it comes to fire and the likes. My problem with this is coming up with ways for her to utilize it in other ways than simply not caring for the guy shooting at her. Any suggestions on shenanigans she can pull or ways that it's very inefficient for her to have the power?
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Coming up with superpowers that seem kind of original. There is, of course, the super strength and super speed stuff but I want powers that might not be very useful and give way to problems and shenanigans beyond the "I'm a danger to myself and others" trope. What would you guys like to see?
Universe: Supers
Main character: Mista Ó Cathain (Ó Kane)
So if supers have superpowers because of a chemical that alters their DNA, maybe there would be some way the chemical itself takes a toll on the body; maybe supers don't live as long as normal humans or have some kind of disease.
As for shenanigans, you could have her do reckless, dangerous things just for fun ("look guys I'm going to jump off this building!"). You also said her body is really hard to damage, but not impossible; does she know her limits? If not, discovering that she can actually be hurt would be a shock, and she would probably be more susceptible to pain than normal people as someone who's used to never being hurt.
So if supers have superpowers because of a chemical that alters their DNA, maybe there would be some way the chemical itself takes a toll on the body; maybe supers don't live as long as normal humans or have some kind of disease.
As for shenanigans, you could have her do reckless, dangerous things just for fun ("look guys I'm going to jump off this building!"). You also said her body is really hard to damage, but not impossible; does she know her limits? If not, discovering that she can actually be hurt would be a shock, and she would probably be more susceptible to pain than normal people as someone who's used to never being hurt.
hmm, I hadn't thought about the negative effects for supers as a whole. Might be a good idea.
She didn't receive her powers until the age of 14, meaning that she isn't unfamiliar with pain and is indeed quite reckless. She did have time to figure out her limits but she maybe isn't aware of the exact border where something can hurt her. I like your idea that she would be shocked (or at least very confused) when encountering a situation or person that poses a threat.
If the skin is indestructible when it comes to force… reminds me of the Juggernaut, maybe she could get a running start, and smash through things.
It's a good suggestion but I don't think she has the strength to do that. I'm also afraid that if I do give her the strength it would feel too much like "that one invincible superhero". Do you think it would work if she jumped out of a plane and crashlanded in the middle of the battle?
It's a good suggestion but I don't think she has the strength to do that. I'm also afraid that if I do give her the strength it would feel to much like "that one invincible superhero". Do you think it would work if she jumped out of a plane and crashlanded in the middle of the battle?
Well, I think the force of the impact would cause her skin to take on the indestructibility aspect, and she'd be fine.
So, is her skin like regular people's skin when there is no 'force' coming at her ?
I like the kind of sci-fi vibe this has, with the robots and the 300 years into the future,
One of the stories I'm working on is set in a futuristic world where 50% of the population has superpowers. (The rules of how and what are still vague) And I have two problems with this story.
- the main character has the superpower indestructible body as long as it comes to force and really hard to damage body when it comes to fire and the likes. My problem with this is coming up with ways for her to utilize it in other ways than simply not caring for the guy shooting at her. Any suggestions on shenanigans she can pull or ways that it's very inefficient for her to have the power?
What if she comes across someone with intangibility? Then her superpower would be severely limited fighting someone like this, because they could become intangible and then phase through her, there would be no force, and no way for her body to protect against that.
- Coming up with superpowers that seem kind of original. There is, of course, the super strength and super speed stuff but I want powers that might not be very useful and give way to problems and shenanigans beyond the "I'm a danger to myself and others" trope. What would you guys like to see?
I have a few superpowers (I try to make the powers affect the character mentally/physically depending on what it is) that are probably considered normal, but with a little twist (kind of)
Ice - Character can control/create ic, turn water and vaper to ice, but over time, icicles form on the body, like say the cheeks, the arms, and limits the movements (like say a foot started to become overtaken by the ice that the character generates internally, and now they have an extremely heavy foot. haha) and anyone within a close enough proximity will feel the effects of the ice/coldness
Heat - a character that can control heat; raise and lower temperatures (though nothing below like 90degress), they send out a subconscious heat wave constantly, and when emotionally unbalanced, this heat wave grows larger and more intense.
Electricity - character can control electrical currents (including bio electric pulses that humans give off), but with a constant influx of electricity, it messes with characters brain chemical whatever and so they are a little bit of a nutcase
Telepathy - character is able to read minds, but in the beginning, has very little control, and so it constantly suffering from migraines. Possibly wears noise canceling headphones at all times to be able to concentrate.
Time Manipulation - character is able to gather small specks of Time that are present everywhere (though must separate herself and go into a different state of existence to be able to see these Time particles. Then gathers them together, and with enough partcles, is able to slow down/speed up/stop completely time, but causes massive strains to the body to be out of the natural flow of Time. There could be many side effects and drawbacks with this ability.
Shadow Manipulation - able to teleport through the shadows, form shadows into solid objects. Also travels into a 'dark realm' full of terrifying things. Could also, having using ability more often than not, start to become a shadow slowly, like maybe an arm starts to turn wispy and maybe sometimes sticks him to shadows where he has to convince himself that he is not a shadow, but a human.
Universe: Supers
Main character: Mista Ó Cathain (Ó Kane)
So, is her skin like regular people's skin when there is no 'force' coming at her?
Nah, she's basically like a 132 pound diamond with titanium armour although still looking and feeling like a normal human.
…And thank you. ^.^
Here is a link http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Invulnerability
maybe take a look, see if there is something else that could be used for your MC, or put a tweak on it, an odd spin.
Also, is the MC only indestructible-skin when someone with a bad intent is coming at her?
Because Im thinking, what if a friend playfully slaps her arm, and then their hand gets broken/sprained/bruised because of it?
Oh, that's what you mean. No. She can't turn it on and off (or at the very least doesn't know how to turn it off) so its a permanent thing. It's why she's absolutely terrifying and her Archnemesis advice to everyone else is: don't do anything against her, don't trick her, don't engage in combat, just run and hope you're fast enough.
Oh, that's what you mean. No. She can't turn it on and off (or at the very least doesn't know how to turn it off) so its a permanent thing. It's why she's absolutely terrifying and her Archnemesis advice to everyone else is: don't do anything against her, don't trick her, don't engage in combat, just run and hope you're fast enough.
oooh sounds awesome.
Well, then the baddies need to get creative and find a super, or a tech, that attack through diamond strength humans.
You really like superheroes, don't you? I'm not sure about the ice and the heat. The others are absolutely wonderful ideas. I'm definitely going to try to incorporate some of them.
….
Jinx is fabulous.
You really like superheroes, don't you? I'm not sure about the ice one and the heat. The others are absolutely wonderful ideas. I'm definitely going to try to incorporate some of them.
….
Jinx is fabulous.
Man I LOVE superheroes to the extreeeeme.
Jinx… should have done a 6th season, and shown a few of the awesome new characters they introduced at the end with Brother Blood. Like yes, Jinx and Kid Flash (so many fanfics written for these two haha) Cheshire… and that one awesome british goth girl that had abilities similar to Green Lantern
I'm glad, you're a beacon of information and references. I mostly watch the anime my hero academia and like to research Marvel and DC lore, especially Marvel.
I like to have abilities that will constantly affect the super. Like superspeed, I feel you'd get ADHD because everything would be moving way to slow for you to function properly. idk haha
I'm glad, you're a beacon of information and references. I mostly watch the anime my hero academia and like to research Marvel and DC lore, especially Marvel.
me too.
im a superhero nerd with so much useless information haha
You really like superheroes, don't you? I'm not sure about the ice one and the heat. The others are absolutely wonderful ideas. I'm definitely going to try to incorporate some of them.
….
When you add more characters/superpowers, I would like to look at them(:
always interested in superhero/power stories
sure, I'll leave the public setting on. feel free to comment here again if you have suggestions on improvement.
Oh, that's what you mean. No. She can't turn it on and off (or at the very least doesn't know how to turn it off) so its a permanent thing. It's why she's absolutely terrifying and her Archnemesis advice to everyone else is: don't do anything against her, don't trick her, don't engage in combat, just run and hope you're fast enough.
So she's basically indestructible from the outside, but what about internal damage? What if she swallows poison or something? Can she get sick?
So she's basically indestructible from the outside, but what about internal damage? What if she swallows poison or something? Can she get sick?
I'm going to say yes. At least if the poison disrupts the electric pulses between nerfs or something. If someone dropped a smoke bomb of poisonous gas she would have to Nope out of there fast. Food poison and drowning would become a thing too I suppose.
So she is kind of like Luke Cage?
ayy lmao i'm doing a story where 50% of the population has powers too high five
As for original superpowers, my story has a fair amount of normal powers, like summoning a sword or being able to understand any language. Then there's the really weird stuff, like how one of the antagonists is an octopus man who can attack and disable people's senses by spitting ink at them, transform into an octopus, or even regenerate limbs over time like an octopus, though he is incredibly fragile during regeneration, to the point where even a few scratches could fatally wound him or kill him.
My usual strategy for a truly unique superpower is to look at something you know, then take inspiration from that- for example, my favorite animal is the octopus, so I based the antagonist's powers on certain octopus traits. This can work with anything, even objects; a person could be able to manipulate a certain material such as brass, and if an object has any brass in them, the character could use that as a tool, weapon, or anything in between.
As for common-but-interesting powers, like the first two mentioned, it's a similar process. I look at an archetype of a power, like ice manipulation, and use it just as that for an easy character to understand. However, if you wanted to get a little more interesting than that, you could narrow down this power with a specific drawback or weakness. My protagonist, for example, has ice manipulation, but can't make anything bigger than her hand out of ice, so instead of creating whatever will get the job done, she has to use small tools or weapons to defend herself or fix something. Another character of mine can manipulate technology, but can only use modern electronics, and even then, he can easily overexert himself with technopathy if he uses it too long.
Really, the main rule I follow when creating new powers is to add a drawback, or do something completely out of left field. Water manipulators could rely on their own hydration to use their power, and if used too much, they dehydrate themselves. Someone with super speed lacks super reactions, so they can only use their speed when they can easily tell when to turn, like on a circular racetrack. The list goes on and on.
As for your protagonist, it looks pretty good already! If you're really intent on avoiding the "overpowered hero" trope, you could say that her weakness is that her internal systems are weaker than average, as if to make up for her invincibility and go along with the poison thing you mentioned. Perhaps even make the antagonist a poison-based villain, if you really wanted to give her a hard time. Nonetheless, I'm glad she's not totally indestructible, it seems like a nice break from the average of the invincibility archetype, where you don't have to worry about the hero dying because they physically can't.
So she is kind of like Luke Cage
quickly looks up Luke cage…..
Oh yeah, he's pretty close to who she is with her indestructibility.
As for your protagonist, it looks pretty good already! If you're really intent on avoiding the "overpowered hero" trope, you could say that her weakness is that her internal systems are weaker than average, as if to make up for her invincibility and go along with the poison thing you mentioned. Perhaps even make the antagonist a poison-based villain, if you really wanted to give her a hard time. Nonetheless, I'm glad she's not totally indestructible, it seems like a nice break from the average of the invincibility archetype, where you don't have to worry about the hero dying because they physically can't.
I already have a power for the antagonist: thought manipulation and teleportation. It basically comes down to the main character trying to fight him and being al like I hate you! and him being like Nah you're just jealous of my beautiful hair. Distracting her long enough to teleport the hell out of there
It features the problem of: this hero is awesome! But the villain is smart enough not to face them in battle. Force vs wits
Antagonist: Harold Termorsand- mind manipulation
By the way, I've already had some wonderful tips on shenanigans and possible superpowers (Though I can always use more), but what about daily complications people might have in certain cases?
Up to now there have either been mayor drawbacks to a power or powers that negate the function of a power. I would like some suggestions on small inconveniences that might come with a power.
for example, one of the characters I've written into existence since I started this thread has the power of fire breath up to the point were it instantly melts soft metals. A drawback this character has is that whenever they sneeze or have the hiccups they exhale flames. Though the heat is easily controlled this means that everything in their workspace and house needs to be fireproof.
Any ideas on more like this?
what other characters do you have with powers
I'm thinking about using the time manipulation you suggested for an older hero overseeing others
But I also want a few people with smaller things like levitating objects with a maximum weight of 5 pounds or the person I definitely want to write in who can throw their voice like a weapon (think Banshee and Black Canary but more sporadic).
There's also going to be someone who can make plants grow and maybe a dude who has super strength or something similar.
The maincharacter is going to meet a lot of superheroes and villains but not every occasion is going to be tense.
By the way, can you see the linked characters?
