So I applied Physics to Superpowers and I Think I Broke it.

[John Cribati]

Backstory: I remember reading a Wolverine Novel where the antagonists were a pair of twin mutants: Slake and Surge. Oskar (Slake) could absorb energy. Gregor (Surge) could redirect that energy through his own body. IE, Oskar finds an exposed live wire and touches it, absorbing electricity, and boom, Gregor is now has electrokinesis.

So years later, I'm thinking about this again because I want to crib the power for something, and realize something.

It's made very clear that he absorbs all energy all the time, and cannot turn it off. He stands in an explosion and Gregor could make mini explosions for a while; that means he absorbs heat and force. He sticks his hand in an open flame on the stove, and Gregor can shoot blue fire; that means he absorbs light too. By logic, Oskar should have been totally immovable by any outside force and shrouded in perpetual darkness.

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong about this.

Because I honestly can find no way to beat this beyond "take out Gregor first (if you can somehow avoid getting blown to kingdom come) and watch as all that energy builds up inside Oskar till he explodes."

[Randomguy]

He would defeat himself by being immune to gravity and electromagnetic force, meaning he wouldn't be able to even make physical contact with anything. If he can't absorb inertia, then he'd fly off the planet as the earth turned around the sun and he didn't. If he could absorb inertia, he'd be left behind by it.

He probably has a few required secondary powers (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RequiredSecondaryPowers). Or it could just be one of those things where he doesn't realise that light or being pushed counts as energy, and therefore doesn't absorb them.


I suppose you would be able to kill him by tricking him into going into some sort of freezer. Cold isn't energy, just a lack of heat, so he couldn't absorb it, and he'd eventually freeze to death. If the setting you plan on using the power in has shadow magic, that could hurt him, too.

[Traab]

One possible explanation is that there has to be a certain level of concentration of energy for his abilities to kick in. He can absorb the heat of an open flame, but sunlight isnt strong enough to trigger his abilities. He can absorb the explosive force of a bomb, but a punch to the face still hurts. He might somehow absorb gravity on jupiter, but earths pull isnt enough to trigger it.

it may also be an issue of subconscious self control. Much like how superman can step on an ant without kicking a hole through the center of the earth, or shake your hand without tearing it off, his body has naturally adapted to his baseline level of surrounding energy and only triggers when something exceeds the normal parameters.

[The_Snark]

I think the most likely explanation is that the author mugged Physics in a dark alley somewhere, riffled through its pockets for stuff that looked cool, and then ran away cackling.

If you want a less Doylist explanation: the laws of physics in the Marvel universe are not necessarily the same as those in the real world.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Its occaisonally been implied that all mutants (below omega level) are low level reality warpers anyway.

[Ravens_cry]

Its occaisonally been implied that all mutants (below omega level) are low level reality warpers anyway.
I've been watching A Certain Scientific Railgun, AKA Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, and that seems to be the basic 'explanation' for the various 'skills', superpowers.
A literal case of their minds making it real.

[Prime32]

I've been watching A Certain Scientific Railgun, AKA Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, and that seems to be the basic 'explanation' for the various 'skills', superpowers.
A literal case of their minds making it real.Presumably the reason Gemstones have such weird powers is that they developed them as young children, without the extensive scientific education that most espers have, so their powers are defined more in terms of result than mechanism (Misaka can generate electricity, Gunha can "defeat the bad guys").

Accelerator has similar powers to Slake and Surge, but he can choose which forces are affected (and has super-intelligence to keep track of them).

[Ravens_cry]

Presumably the reason Gemstones have such weird powers is that they developed them as young children, without the extensive scientific education that most espers have, so their powers are defined more in terms of result than mechanism (Misaka can generate electricity, Gunha can "defeat the bad guys").

Accelerator has similar powers to Slake and Surge, but he can choose which forces are affected (and has super-intelligence to keep track of them).
I am only a few episodes in (just started the one with the group mind eldritch foetus thing) but I rather liked the power of the wannabe bank robber. The marbles don't move fast, but they keep moving, an irresistible force.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Presumably the reason Gemstones have such weird powers is that they developed them as young children, without the extensive scientific education that most espers have, so their powers are defined more in terms of result than mechanism (Misaka can generate electricity, Gunha can "defeat the bad guys").

Accelerator has similar powers to Slake and Surge, but he can choose which forces are affected (and has super-intelligence to keep track of them).

Gemstones aren't even in the anime my name, let alone in the spin off. We never even get to see the powers of the only character who appears in the anime who gets identified as a gemstone due to there not you know, being any vampires around.

Accelerator's arc is only in the Railgun manga, not the anime.

So talking about stuff from the A Certain Magical Index novels is really confusing.

Since that setting seems to use the rule 'you can only have one power but you can have as many derived abilities from that power as you can bull****'. Espers are as flexible as the technology in the more deus ex machina episodes of Star Trek: TNG.

There's a particularly broken character in Scryed called Urizane who's ability appears to be 'do stuff with watermelons'. Other characters are limited to stuff like 'summon a giant robot' or 'make cars go really fast' or 'enforce your script-writing on reality'. However Urizane despite not being able to fight anyone really powerful can make watermelons explode, make watermelons into a teleporter, make watermelons into an amplifier for someone else's powers. In the end rather than 'watermelons' being his power its more like its actually 'plot hole filling putty'.

I like the sonic screwdriver* a lot more when its abilities were 'undo screws' and very occaisonally other things that could concievably be caused by high powered vibrations. The re-boot version is basically a magic wand/tricorder that doesn't work on wood (a reverse case of Urizane's watermelons). Its a literal plot 'device'.

*the one from Dr Who, not the popular cocktail

[Prime32]

Accelerator's arc is only in the Railgun manga, not the anime.

So talking about stuff from the A Certain Magical Index novels is really confusing.Well Accelerator is in the Index anime...


Since that setting seems to use the rule 'you can only have one power but you can have as many derived abilities from that power as you can bull****'. Espers are as flexible as the technology in the more deus ex machina episodes of Star Trek: TNG.That rule applies more to espers. Mages have multiple spells with specific and unrelated effects, though not all of them are suitable for combat.

[Lothston]

So I applied Physics to Superpowers and I Think I Broke it.

And it surprised you... why?

I would assume physics and superpowers are like matter and anti-matter: one annihilates the other. (or, if you prefer, one is real and the other imaginary).

[Dr.Epic]

You're over thinking it. Not everything in comics makes sense.

[Lothston]

On topic: "Chronicle" was the coolest and most righteous superpowers movie I've seen in a long time. And that's counting all that Marvel films crap that keeps flooding the big screen.

[John Cribati]

And it surprised you... why?

I wasn't really surprised. Applying physics in places it should not be is a little hobby of mine. But I was surprised that this time, Physics actually made the power better, not worse.

At least until someone brought up gravity.

[Traab]

I still like my idea of his body registering a baseline of where all energy levels should be and absorbing anything that exceeds them. It has some neat implications. For example, going to jupiter, would crush us like bugs normally, but this guy might just absorb the extra gravity and be able to walk around like normal. Theoretically, he could stop a plane from crashing, simply by standing in front of it and absorbing its kinetic energy instantly. Im not sure what that would do to the passengers though. Its not like a normal sudden stop with a huge spike of gforces, its as if the plane and everyone in it (possibly, not sure how far the range goes) were never moving at all. Of course, the worst case would be it only canceled the kinetic energy so far away and the passengers in the cheap seats were sent flying to first class.

[Worira]

Not to mention shearing the plane in two at wherever that point is. The other problem is that stopping a plane in midair doesn't stop a crash, it just makes it happen in a fun new way.

[Traab]

Not to mention shearing the plane in two at wherever that point is. The other problem is that stopping a plane in midair doesn't stop a crash, it just makes it happen in a fun new way.

No, I mean he literally grabs it at the point of impact, absorbing, and theoretically, negating all the kinetic energy that would normally be applied in a plane crash towards fiery impact blunt force trauma death. It would be as if the plane and its passengers hadnt been moving at all. Of course, if it doesnt effect the entire plane and everyone in it, that could cause all sorts of tragic scenes like the rear of the plane telescoping into the pristine front, killing everyone anyways.

I would have to see what happens when he stands in an explosion to have a better idea of how things work. Does he absorb ALL that force, making an explosion that isnt? Or is a section of the blast negated that surrounds his body while the rest of the sphere of boom goes off like normal? Is he a vaccuum cleaner in a pool of water, sucking all this energy towards him? Or does only the stuff that directly touches him get absorbed? Also, is it instant? is there a slight delay? Does it take time for the full amount of energy to be drained, or is it like flicking a switch, first there is energy, then there isnt?

[John Cribati]

I would have to see what happens when he stands in an explosion to have a better idea of how things work. Does he absorb ALL that force, making an explosion that isnt? Or is a section of the blast negated that surrounds his body while the rest of the sphere of boom goes off like normal? Is he a vaccuum cleaner in a pool of water, sucking all this energy towards him? Or does only the stuff that directly touches him get absorbed? Also, is it instant? is there a slight delay? Does it take time for the full amount of energy to be drained, or is it like flicking a switch, first there is energy, then there isnt?

I can't really say, actually; I'd read the book years ago. IIRC, only the part of the explosion that actually hit him was negated/absorbed. But it was a large explosion, and he was close to the point of impact, so he got "more" of it than if he were father away.

[Traab]

I can't really say, actually; I'd read the book years ago. IIRC, only the part of the explosion that actually hit him was negated/absorbed. But it was a large explosion, and he was close to the point of impact, so he got "more" of it than if he were father away.

Ah, well then chances are he would survive catching an airplane, but the airplane itself would be obliterated.

[John Cribati]

So I found a copy on Google Books, and it turns out I misremembered some things.

For one, Oskar isn't a battery as much as he's a circuit. Too much energy and he'll overheat and... explode, basically.

He can't take energy from living things. This includes natural fires, but stove fires are fair game. Also might not include kinetic energy.

He does absorb sunlight, but the energy is diffused by the time it reaches earth.

He thinks it's possible for him to absorb the energy from a nuclear explosion/nuclear radiation (since he can absorb sunlight), but he hasn't tried and is afraid that it might overheat him too fast for Gregor to release the energy.