if you could have one super power

[heX]

what would it be?

[Stormy]

Ability to absorb and properly understand/cope with/digest knowledge.

Lame, but it would do so much for me.

edit: I bet my twist would be I am in a vegetative state.

[heX]

Originally Posted by Stormy

Ability to absorb and properly understand/cope with/digest knowledge.

Lame, but it would do so much for me.

edit: I bet my twist would be I am in a vegetative state.

I wasn't sure what everyone was going to pick but i was pretty sure yours was going to involve some type of power with your boobs. You really surprised me with that one.


Me raditz and a few other friends discussed this topic while camping. The question in its full form was:
--------------------
If you could have any 3 powers what would they be?

They have to have an example based on a famous fiction. (comic, movie, television, book)
You can't gain ALL the powers from one person and it count as 1 power. For example you could choose superman's strength, x-ray vision, and flight as your 3 powers but you couldn't choose "superman" as 1 power. Also note you can only have 3 of his powers you don't get his freeze breathe, ability to time travel, saran wrap 's', ect.

If a power you choose has a downside directly related to it you inherit that downside. For example if you chose wolverine's adamantium coated skeleton you would also die from it since that procedure must be accompanied by wolverine's healing factor.

Lastly and possibly most importantly your powers will be for real world use. No one else will have a power and your life from day to day will be the same, unless you choose to go public with your abilities.
--------------------

The discussion got pretty in depth and lasted a couple of hours and then came up again with new ideas on the drive home. Stormy, your power actually came up in our discussion. In order to play by the rules set we used micah's cousin from heros who could see/read how to do something and then could do/know it perfectly.

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by heX

I wasn't sure what everyone was going to pick but i was pretty sure yours was going to involve some type of power with your boobs. You really surprised me with that one.

Wait, what?

Me raditz and a few other friends discussed this topic while camping. The question in its full form was:
--------------------
If you could have any 3 powers what would they be?

They have to have an example based on a famous fiction. (comic, movie, television, book)
You can't gain ALL the powers from one person and it count as 1 power. For example you could choose superman's strength, x-ray vision, and flight as your 3 powers but you couldn't choose "superman" as 1 power. Also note you can only have 3 of his powers you don't get his freeze breathe, ability to time travel, saran wrap 's', ect.

If a power you choose has a downside directly related to it you inherit that downside. For example if you chose wolverine's adamantium coated skeleton you would also die from it since that procedure must be accompanied by wolverine's healing factor.

Lastly and possibly most importantly your powers will be for real world use. No one else will have a power and your life from day to day will be the same, unless you choose to go public with your abilities.
--------------------

The discussion got pretty in depth and lasted a couple of hours and then came up again with new ideas on the drive home. Stormy, your power actually came up in our discussion. In order to play by the rules set we used micah's cousin from heros who could see/read how to do something and then could do/know it perfectly.

What's to prevent someone from requesting Sylar's powers, which would ultimately allow one to have every possible power? Other than the fact that cannibalism is illegal.

There's a pretty good show over here that was on E4 recently, called Misfits. It's like Heroes without the cheerleader: a group of inner-London kids doing community service get stuck in a strange storm which grants them powers based on their personalities, and which they cannot control. So, for example, the shy character turns invisible when he feels ostracized or forgotten. There's only one season right now, with six episodes, but a second season is in the makes.

[heX]

Originally Posted by Stormy

Wait, what?

don't even pretend.

Originally Posted by Stormy

What's to prevent someone from requesting Sylar's powers, which would ultimately allow one to have every possible power? Other than the fact that cannibalism is illegal.

Originally Posted by heX

Lastly and possibly most importantly your powers will be for real world use. No one else will have a power.

Reading FTW, and Sylar doesn't eat people.

[Cid]

Healing - Wolverine (I could GET the exoskeleton, it's not a power)
Mastery of time and space - Hiro (it's one power. Do I get a brain tumor?)
Super Strength - Superman (no real drawback)

[heX]

Originally Posted by Cid

I could GET the exoskeleton, it's not a power

It was a medical procedure making him nearly indestructible. It may not have been a mutant power but indestructible bones still falls under a power for the sake of this discussion. If we didn't count medical procedures that granted extraordinary abilities we would cut off a whole avenue of possibilities.

Although wolverine's healing was considered by all of us at one point we starting considering the fact that we would have to watch everyone we know die of old age including our own children. After that we all agreed we'd rather have a better quality of life power rather than quantity of life.

Originally Posted by Cid

Hiro (it's one power. Do I get a brain tumor?)

We discussed this as well and, yeah I'm pretty sure you do get a brain tumor. I would argue your healing factor cancels this out though. Time travel can be granted in other ways as well. I think all of us took time travel in one shape or another at first until we tried to get practical uses out of it. I think everyone who took time travel ended up taking something else after discussing what you could do with that ability in real world application in comparison to more specific solutions to achieve the same goals.

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by heX

don't even pretend.

I'm not 15 anymore...

Reading FTW, and Sylar doesn't eat people.

But what if it wasn't consuming people's superpowers, but instead their qualities/skills/knowledge?

And the idea behind Sylar, IIRC, was that he was modeled as a cannibal/zombie who ate people's brains in order to steal their powers.

[heX]

Originally Posted by Stormy

I'm not 15 anymore...

don't remind me

Originally Posted by Stormy

But what if it wasn't consuming people's superpowers, but instead their qualities/skills/knowledge?

Well, that's not what his power is.

Originally Posted by Stormy

And the idea behind Sylar, IIRC, was that he was modeled as a cannibal/zombie who ate people's brains in order to steal their powers.

It doesn't matter what he was molded after he still doesn't eat people. I'm not sure where you read he ate brains or if that was ever what they were going for but he hasn't and doesn't eat brains nor does he steal people's qualities/skills/knowledge. Nothing about Sylar fits your description so that plus the fact no one else would have a power should be enough to answer "what is there to prevent someone from requesting Sylar's powers, which would ultimately allow one to have every possible power?" move on before you turn into a pumpkin nooberella.

[raditz]

I'll stick with the main ability I chose during camping. I can't remember the other two, but I probably don't need them.

Scott can still turn into a meat gun.

[Stormy]

Originally Posted by heX

Well, that's not what his power is.

Within the world of Heroes, his specific power was to absorb powers of those he killed, the specific mechanism of which was left ambiguous. It's obvious his power was simply to absorb other people's powers and that this relies on the context of other people's powers. Isolate Sylar's ability into a world where 1) no one else has any other kind of superpowers and 2) you get to choose which three you want based on fictional characters, it's ridiculous to say that, in lieu of superpowers, "powers" doesn't translate to skills or mental abilities. What are superpowers other than a metaphor for the normal traits, personalities, or history/background of those who possess them?

It doesn't matter what he was molded after he still doesn't eat people. I'm not sure where you read he ate brains or if that was ever what they were going for but he hasn't and doesn't eat brains nor does he steal people's qualities/skills/knowledge. Nothing about Sylar fits your description so that plus the fact no one else would have a power should be enough to answer "what is there to prevent someone from requesting Sylar's powers, which would ultimately allow one to have every possible power?" move on before you turn into a pumpkin nooberella.

Interview with Bryan Fuller, one of the writers:
http://media.libsyn.com/media/cni/CNI69.mp3
From: http://www.comicspodcasts.com/?p=500

[quote=rough transcription]22:41: Bryan Fuller interview starts
~43:00: interviewers's question about Sylar:

[heX]

Firstly, that interview was done before the second half of season one was even finished in production. For some reason I get the feeling you haven't seen more than a few episodes from the first season.

Sylar eating brains may have been a jumping off point for a conceptual ability but that has never happened at all in the show or comic. We have even seen Sylar at work on Claire when she asks "Are you going to eat my brain?" and he responds "Claire, that's disgusting.".

To take it a step further-

Within the world of Heroes, his specific power was to absorb powers of those he killed

Also untrue. I believe it was season 2 when he gained Elle's power with out killing her. There are fan speculations on how that can work but I won't get into that I only bring it up to make sure you know you are wrong.

As of right now you already have the power to be wrong about heroes and the power of being annoying. What do you choose for your third power? I recommend the power of not arguing when you are clearly wrong about something (although you may lose your female membership card).

[raditz]

hero's is just a ripoff of batman anyway

[Cid]

Sylar's ability is called "intuitive aptitude". He "understands" how things work. He opens a special's head and "sees" how their ability works. This is why he's more adept with their ability than even they were. He CAN acquire abilities via empathy, like Peter used to, but it's only been done twice now and it's somewhat vague WHY he can do that.

The only benefit you could get from Sylar's power would be to understand how things work. This is why he can tell when a clock isn't working and he can fix it with ease.

About Wolverine. I don't see why, after getting his healing factor, I couldn't just opt for the adamantium procedure. It's not a power. It's something that even Claire could get if adamantium existed in her world. But I digress, it's your game.

I'd still probably take healing. Seems useful.

Though I WOULD like Matt Parkman's ability. Also, I think Longshot has an interesting power...though it's not really "on demand"...so it's not as useful.

[squirrels2nuts]

I'd be able to shoot lightening bolts out from my fingertips - great big Knowledge Network Documentary bolts - and when a person was zapped by one of these bolts, they'd fall down on their knees, and once on their knees, they'd be underwater, in this place I saw once off the east coast of the Bahamas, a place where a billion electric blue fish swam up to me and made me a part of their school - and then they'd be up in the air, up in Manhattan, up above where the World Trade Center was, with a flock of pigeons, flying amongst the skyscrapers, and then - and then what? And then they'd go blind, and then they'd be taken away - they'd feel homesick - more homesick then they have felt in their entire life - so homesick they were throwing up - and they'd be abandoned, I don't know...in the middle of a harvested corn feild in Missouri. And then they'd be able to see again, and from the edges of the field people would begin to appear - everybody they'd ever known - and they'd be carrying Black Forest cakes and burning tiki lamps and boom boxes playing the same wonderful song, and the sky would turn into a sunset, the way it does in Walt Disney World brochures, and that person that I zapped would never ever be isolated or alone again.

[Stormy]

Hex, you're right. I haven't watched Heroes in about two years. Nor have I sat down and watched it in order because I haven't had the time and there are other things I'd rather watch. You are the biggest winner.

Originally Posted by cid

Sylar's ability is called "intuitive aptitude". He "understands" how things work. He opens a special's head and "sees" how their ability works. This is why he's more adept with their ability than even they were. He CAN acquire abilities via empathy, like Peter used to, but it's only been done twice now and it's somewhat vague WHY he can do that.

The only benefit you could get from Sylar's power would be to understand how things work. This is why he can tell when a clock isn't working and he can fix it with ease.

Thank you.

[heX]

Originally Posted by Stormy

Hex, you're right. I haven't watched Heroes in about two years. Nor have I sat down and watched it in order because I haven't had the time and there are other things I'd rather watch. You are the biggest winner.

Thank you Stroms you are so beautiful to me right now. I apologize for being so harsh.

Originally Posted by Cid

Sylar's ability is called "intuitive aptitude". He "understands" how things work. He opens a special's head and "sees" how their ability works. This is why he's more adept with their ability than even they were.

Thanks Cid. I'm glad not everyone is a fucking retard idiot girl.

Originally Posted by Cid

About Wolverine. I don't see why, after getting his healing factor, I couldn't just opt for the adamantium procedure. It's not a power. It's something that even Claire could get if adamantium existed in her world. But I digress, it's your game.

If you have the means to get adamantium and have the procedure done in the real world, then yeah could do it. If not you would have to use one of your power slots.

Originally Posted by Cid

Also, I think Longshot has an interesting power...though it's not really "on demand"

Using your wolverine argument you could gain lh's powers as well, given that they were gained from a genetic engineering procedure. If you can find some one to alter your dna with magic in the real world (which is just as likely as you getting a full adamantium overhaul), you can have his abilities without using a slot.

[Mr Biglesworth]

Originally Posted by squirrels2nuts

I'd be able to shoot lightening bolts out from my fingertips - great big Knowledge Network Documentary bolts - and when a person was zapped by one of these bolts, they'd fall down on their knees, and once on their knees, they'd be underwater, in this place I saw once off the east coast of the Bahamas, a place where a billion electric blue fish swam up to me and made me a part of their school - and then they'd be up in the air, up in Manhattan, up above where the World Trade Center was, with a flock of pigeons, flying amongst the skyscrapers, and then - and then what? And then they'd go blind, and then they'd be taken away - they'd feel homesick - more homesick then they have felt in their entire life - so homesick they were throwing up - and they'd be abandoned, I don't know...in the middle of a harvested corn feild in Missouri. And then they'd be able to see again, and from the edges of the field people would begin to appear - everybody they'd ever known - and they'd be carrying Black Forest cakes and burning tiki lamps and boom boxes playing the same wonderful song, and the sky would turn into a sunset, the way it does in Walt Disney World brochures, and that person that I zapped would never ever be isolated or alone again.

Like

[heX]

Originally Posted by squirrels2nuts

I'd be able to shoot lightening bolts out from my fingertips - great big Knowledge Network Documentary bolts - and when a person was zapped by one of these bolts, they'd fall down on their knees, and once on their knees, they'd be underwater, in this place I saw once off the east coast of the Bahamas, a place where a billion electric blue fish swam up to me and made me a part of their school - and then they'd be up in the air, up in Manhattan, up above where the World Trade Center was, with a flock of pigeons, flying amongst the skyscrapers, and then - and then what? And then they'd go blind, and then they'd be taken away - they'd feel homesick - more homesick then they have felt in their entire life - so homesick they were throwing up - and they'd be abandoned, I don't know...in the middle of a harvested corn feild in Missouri. And then they'd be able to see again, and from the edges of the field people would begin to appear - everybody they'd ever known - and they'd be carrying Black Forest cakes and burning tiki lamps and boom boxes playing the same wonderful song, and the sky would turn into a sunset, the way it does in Walt Disney World brochures, and that person that I zapped would never ever be isolated or alone again.

Yeah, I forgot to comment. This is truly inspired.

[squirrels2nuts]

its from All families are psychotic by douglas coupland.