What power do you pick?
So this place has put me in a comics mood lately and this one's a classic. If you could pick one basic superpower (super strength, speed, invisibility etc.) which would you take? Only rule is no taking your power to such an extreme that it basically means you can do all the others too or anything cheesy like that.
Personally I'm picking telekinesis. All the tedium of life, gone for good.
Personally I'm picking telekinesis. All the tedium of life, gone for good.
- What power do you pick?37 votes
- Super Strength2.70%
- Super Speed0.00%
- Telepathy5.41%
- Telekinesis5.41%
- Invisibility13.51%
- Shapeshifting10.81%
- Teleportation21.62%
- Healing power18.92%
- Other21.62%
5
Comments
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Honestly though...travelling to and from work would be a lot easier, as would doing weekly shopping etc, not to mention getting home after a night out...no more stupidly overpriced taxis!
As far as the list goes, growing up I always wanted Teleportation so that I didn't have to walk/ride/drive places. Just Poof and hey-presto you were there. Would save a lot of time. Now-a-days, I like driving places in my car, so maybe not.
Telepathy is another one that I have always wondered about. I am terribly fascinated by what people think and how they come to certain conclusions. On the other hand, telepathy means you actually GET to know what they are thinking and that could be pretty scary.
I think if I could pick a super-power, I would like something like super-physique or the pinnacle of physical prowess, maybe like Captain America or even The Batman. Maybe that wouldn't be 'Super' enough, but it would be so much better than the 'Puny Banner' that I am in real life.
Most of the *really* desireable super-heroes, i.e. the godlike ones, have most or all of those powers, so the rub is that you only get one, and no "Flying Bricks".
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FlyingBrick
This was also one of the premises of the old NBC series "Heroes", where the only thing close to a "Flying Brick" was the archvillain Sylar, mostly using telekinesis taken to an extreme, and later, Peter, whose power was to absorb the powers of others, somewhat like Rogue in X-Men, such that he started out helplessly weak but grew into the most powerful character on the show.
I think the spirit of this poll, though, is that you only get one power, and no access to the others.
Given that, I would mostly just want to be left alone and to feel safe. I chose super strength, because I'm assuming that includes super-toughness, or "invulnerability".
I'm assuming that "healing" means healing others, not self-healing, Wolverine style.
Invisibility appeals to me, but, that doesn't mean you can't be detected at all, (enemies could simply hear your footsteps, or smell you, or detect your body heat), and, you'd have no special ability to intervene on behalf of others at all.
Now, if invisibiliy were interpreted more like "going ghost", or "going ethereal", such that I would be completely undetectable and invincible while in the ethereal state, I might go for that, and it would make me a great spy and information gatherer, which I could do while being completely safe myself. But, again, I would have no means to intervene on behalf of others with other than mundane means.
So, I choose the ability to stand like The Thing in the first Fantastic Four movie, and have a semi truck hit me square on while I just stand there and watch the truck disintegrate around me under its own inertia. Or to pick up a several ton object and throw it like it was a ball, if I chose to do so.
Or at least, I'd choose that Thing or Hulk power if I didn't have to look like them. If I could just look like me, and still have their powers, then yes, that's what I'd choose.
Unless "invisibility" is interpreted as what I described as "ethereal". If that were so, I might choose that. But, I'd still be risking getting caught in tangible form and hurt or killed. So yeah, I think I'll stick with my original impulse and be the Hulk, or the Thing, only without the huge green (or orange rocky) monstrous appearance.
Anyway, if given the chance I'd choose the phenomenon to reincarnate infinitely. With both my memory and mind intact, that is.
If the answers are yes to dragon, lovedcraftian horror and gaseous form, then hell yes shapeshifting. If not probably telekinesis or telepathy.
Fine if your DareDevil or some samurai from a '80s manga, but not so cool for your average human.
This is probably just me over thinking things.
Just being able to point and go would be convenient but wings look so cool.
But wait, there is more. A study of physics tells us that space and time are the same things, so the ability to move through space instantaneously means that it should be possible to transport one's self through time, as well, even if it take a little practice to figure out how. You do have to be a little careful with that ability, though, because you wouldn't want to disrupt your own past and cause yourself to go out of existence. In fact, it would probably be wise to avoid yourself altogether, except to leave yourself notes.
"Molecule control" amounts to unlimited power. Just ask Molecule man.
"Magnetism mastery". Just look at all of the stuff that Magneto can do.
"Telepathy" on the level of someone like Charles Xavier or Phoenix is just about omniscience. Throw in mind control on a global basis and what couldn't you achieve?
"Speed" on the order of What Quicksilver displayed in 'Days of future past' was pretty close to all powerful. Certainly you could react almost before anyone else did, so that's as close as you REALLY need to be.
Just saying that any of the above would be more power than I'd personally ever need. Besides, Wishes always have a tendency to be 'interpreted' such that they go south. Even if you had unlimited 'Do overs', you spend all of your time 'fixing' the last wish. Where's the fun?
The problem with that version of teleportation is that you'd have to spend a lot of time practicing, and without immortality the applications would be somewhat limited.
I'd still go with teleportation myself, but only because I want to save money on gas and flights. And because I care about the environment.
Teleportation is still my choice, as well.
Telekinesis is a nasty power which can be misused at even low levels. Oh, you can pick up only 250 grams? Not to worry--that is enough to pinch blood vessels closed...which could be lethal if you are being evil with it.
Speaking of Magneto, @the_spyder, the applications of his ability are always underused. Magnetism and electric currents are interconnected--electric currents induce magnetic field and magnetic field can induce electric currents--so if he wanted to disable someone he could stop the electrical currents in their nervous system. Or he could cause all their neurons to fire simultaneously, especially their pain receptors--ouch. You wouldn't even have to totally disable them because shutting down their optic nerves would render them blind (presuming they aren't already blind), which would be disabling enough when it happens so suddenly.