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[Deified Data]

So when I get bored I occasionally browse the Marvel Comics Database to cram my head full of more useless information than I really need, but it's all good fun so who cares. The more I read, the more I notice how much the powers of certain characters are totally blown out of proportion - you get line after line of "Well, if X wanted to, he could destroy half a planet!" or "X is an a tier comparable to Galactus", etc., etc.

The guy in my avatar, Doctor Strange is often accused of being woefully overpowered (which in turn makes him a very difficult character to write). He's been made a bit more balanced in recent years, however. The character who's currently catching my eye is one Black Bolt.

Blackagar Boltagon is the monarch of the Inhumans, a member of the Illuminati, and capable of using his voice as a weapon of mass destruction. From the wiki:

Quasi-Sonic Scream: Black Bolt's most devastating offensive weapon, and one of these phenomena based upon the particle interaction, is his actual voice. A whisper can level a city, cause distant dormant volcanoes to become active once more, shake entire continents apart and generate tremors on the far side of the planet. A hypersonic shout has been said to generate enough force to destroy planets. Due to the constant and extreme danger posed by his voice, he has undergone rigorous mental training to prevent himself from uttering even the smallest sound, even while asleep. Recently it has been shown that Black Bolt's scream is tied into his emotions, especially anger. This in turn would mean that the power of his scream would depend on his emotional state in at least some way. It would explain the somewhat significant difference of the power released by his quasi-sonic scream. While at in a calm state, a simple whisper from Black Bolt has destroyed entire mountain ranges and cities in seconds in the past, but while under more strenuous circumstances, it was stated that a single syllable would be capable of annihilating more than half a planet. The full extent and damage of Black Bolt's scream is unknown, but based on the fact that it is caused by particle interaction and electron manipulation, it is theoretically infinite, destroying both the Sentry and the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange with one sound wave on a parallel Earth.

Black Bolt is a fascinating character, and his muteness opens him up to unique writing scenarios, but why in the hell would Marvel greenlight such a colossally powerful character who isn't some sort of demigod or cosmic entity? He's just a dude, and his powers appear to trump even the likes of Strange, the Hulk, or Sentry. How does one create drama for such a powerful character?

 

[yogloo]

Hulk and wolverine.

 

[BFIB]

Superman.

 

[realraptor]

said Superman but was beaten

 

[Guevara]

Batman

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Aquaman.

 

[Bisnic]

Does DBZ characters count? I mean, some of them can destroy a whole planet with their finger.

 

[Mudkips]

 

[Perspicacity]

Didn't the Hulk trounce him leading into World War Hulk? Or was that a Skrull...

 

[joelseph]

The dude with the bow in that Avengers movie.

 

[Data West]

I would say a better example of an 'overpowered' character is someone like Wolverine or Hulk who is able to beat characters that are absurdly powered despite the fact that, on paper, they should get destroyed.

Also Black Bolt is overpowered because his costume is awesome. Probably Stan Lee/Jack Kirby's best design. And part of his awesome power is that it is a handicap for him and those around him unlike Dr. Strange, Thanos, or whatever

Didn't the Hulk trounce him leading into World War Hulk? Or was that a Skrull...

It was a Hologram

 

[Deified Data]

Didn't the Hulk trounce him leading into World War Hulk? Or was that a Skrull...

That was a Skrull.

 

[Manmademan]

Probably between the Flash, and the Surfer if we're just sticking to heroes.

The flash is just...well, ridiculous (he can increase his mass to infinite or near infinite as he gets closer to lightspeed- meaning he can literally hit you with the force of a planet) and the Surfer's powerset is essentially infinite- the PC's only limitation is the plot. Both have lost fights, but it's almost always due to bad writing.

 

[Psychological Intellect]

we had this thread already.

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=436100&page=35

my vote goes to plastic man or the flash

 

[Arment]

Nevermind, Skrull.

 

[entremet]

Superman.

But he died!




Once.

Or was it some weird Kryptonian hibernation. I forgot. Haven't read that arc in ages.

 

[Quackula]

The Flash is pretty nutty.

Didn't he once race a guy who had the ability to instantly teleport anywhere in the universe and won?

 

[Unspeakable Evil]

Jesus

 

[Shadow780]

 

[thetrin]

Flash has become pretty absurdly powerful.

 

[FStop7]

Molecule Man. He can literally transform molecules from one form to another. I think he once transformed Wolverine's claws into glass.

Also, pre-Crisis Superman.

 

[DarkKyo]

So powerful he ends up becoming a god... or something.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

not really Black Bolt

 

[ultron87]

Ugh, Black Bolt's full name is the worst thing.

I'm going to go with Batman. His "prep time" bullshit has reached such stupid levels.

 

[bjork]

The Beyonder.

 

[Raxus]

Dr. Manhattan

You really cannot top God powers for superheroes.

 

[Kusagari]

 

[Satch]

batman

 

[Manmademan]

[/QUOTE]

she's actually less powerful than a fraction of the phoenix force now, if Xmen vs. Avengers is to be believed.

Dr. Manhattan

You really cannot top God powers for superheroes.

Manhattan doesn't come close to the marvel cosmic tier. He's basically a watered down silver surfer.

Molecule Man. He can literally transform molecules from one form to another. I think he once transformed Wolverine's claws into glass.

not a hero, though.

 

[Stet]

This. Squirrelgirl could kick everyone's ass.

 

[Data West]

 

[JohnDoe]

Does DBZ characters count? I mean, some of them can destroy a whole planet with their finger.

No. Overpowered means it is (or should be) easy as shit for a character to beat the living fuck out of all others because of his/her powers without being harmed.
In DBZ the villains are "overpowered" at the beginning but the heroes always managed to beat them.

 

[Keru_Shiri]

Flash
Hulk
Wolvering
Cast of DBZ/GT

Probably a lot of the high-end cosmic Marvel characters.

 

[Brian Griffin]

Can't the Flash like vibrate time or some shit so he could punch anyone, anywhere, infinite times, with infinite force, in the shortest length of time that exists in physics?

OP much?

 

[Deified Data]

I would say a better example of an 'overpowered' character is someone like Wolverine or Hulk who is able to beat characters that are absurdly powered despite the fact that, on paper, they should get destroyed.

Also Black Bolt is overpowered because his costume is awesome. Probably Stan Lee/Jack Kirby's best design. And part of his awesome power is that it is a handicap for him and those around him unlike Dr. Strange, Thanos, or whatever


It was a Hologram

I don't know, if Wolverine or Hulk are defeating enemies they absolutely shouldn't be able to, I chalk that up more to bad writing than the character genuinely being overpowered (though Hulk is undeniably overpowered).

 

[Quackula]

Ugh, Black Bolt's full name is the worst thing.

I'm going to go with Batman. His "prep time" bullshit has reached such stupid levels.

I could be wrong here, but it seems to me that Batman's preptime stuff is only really ridiculous when he's in a story with other superheroes. They gotta make this mortal seem comparable to all these super-powered types, so they beef up the closest thing to a superpower that he has to crazy levels.

 

[Yeef]

Dr. Manhattan?

He seems to have virtually limitless power in a world where the only other super heroes don't have any powers at all.

Then again, don't know that you can necessarily qualify him as a hero.

 

[orion434]

There's a post floating around here somewhere with why The Flash is the most overpowered superhero... shit was nutty-nuts!

 

[Venfayth]

Fus-ro-dah!

 

[TacticalFox88]

This is why I can't take most manga/comics/sci-fi even remotely seriously.

The characters are so ridiculously overpowered that there latest feat just induces eyerolls.


And fun fact: Dragonball Z is not even CLOSE to some of the absurd power levels in fiction, despite its bad rep for overpowered characters.

See:

Doctor Who
Manifold
Saint Seiya
Tenchi Muyo
Digimon
Transformers
DC Comics
Marvel Comics
Gurren Laggan (A mech that can literally throw entire galaxies as if their shuriken.)
etc...

Whoever thought any of these series was acceptable should be slapped in the face.

 

[Brian Griffin]

There's a post floating around here somewhere with why The Flash is the most overpowered superhero... shit was nutty-nuts!

I found this.

http://cheesebadger.xanga.com/650384722/why-the-flash-is-the-most-overpowered-superhero-ever/

 

[Yeef]

"Overpowered" is a relative term. The Dragon Ball Z characters, for example, would be overpowered if they found themselves in Archie comics, but in the Dragon Ball Z world, there are so many ultra-powered beings that things are more balanced.

 

[Fry]

I never read any of Watchmen's comics, but going by the movie, Dr. Manhattan couldn't care less about anything or anyone. I wouldn't call him a hero.

 

[Haly]

Whoever thought any of these series was acceptable should be slapped in the face.

Why do you hate fun?

And I don't think "overpowered" should be measured purely in destructive force. Surely there other scales to measure "power" as well, such as the creation of life.

 

[Kusagari]

"Overpowered" is a relative term. The Dragon Ball Z characters, for example, would be overpowered if they found themselves in Archie comics, but in the Dragon Ball Z world, there are so many ultra-powered beings that things are more balanced.

Not really... if you count those Archie Sonic comics.

Some of the shit that goes on in those things is ABSURD.

 

[Manmademan]

Can't the Flash like vibrate time or some shit so he could punch anyone, anywhere, infinite times, with infinite force, in the shortest length of time that exists in physics?

OP much?

not exactly, but eh...close enough. He can be beaten, but those that can legitimately do so without terrible, terrible writing is a really short list.

Why do you hate fun?

And I don't think "overpowered" should be measured purely in destructive force. Surely there other scales to measure "power" as well, such as the creation of life.

That's why I listed the surfer. his abilties encompass pretty much everything just UP to creating life from nothing outright. (he can grant powers to others, heal people, and once evolved an entire planet to death.) Galactus who has his power on a larger scale can and has created life, though.

 

[MrChocolate]

Sup.

 

[TheKaeptain]

Firestorm.

 

[Data West]

not exactly, but eh...close enough. He can be beaten, but those that can legitimately do so without terrible, terrible writing is a really short list.

Gorilla Grodd beats Flash, and he's not overpowered. He's the man ... gorilla. He's the gorilla.

 

[massoluk]

The Ion. Kyle Rayner was practically omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. JLA was out of job when he was the Ion. Disabled all weapons on a planet with just a thought, such that you can't fire anything, kill anyone. He can be anywhere at once, he can beat anyone in but a second. He's Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlets but no "I wanted to lose deep down inside" BS.