Using Superpowers for Mundane Work

[Hytheter]

So in comics and other properties, having extraordinary powers inevitably results in crime fighting/committing, saving/conquering the world and so on. But what if instead of putting on bright costumes and being big damn heroes/villains, super-powered folks just used their powers to make their jobs a little easier?

This thread is for any and all ideas on using superpowers for mundane work.

To get the ball rolling: A teleporter could make a pretty penny doing deliveries. "Near instant deliveries, anywhere on Earth!"

[goto124]

There's a TV trope for that: Mundane Utility. Not linking to TVTropes for obvious reasons.

http://image.prntscr.com/image/68a9e9ee510642f5836d06bd4c3991f9.png

There're entire fictional worlds where magic is so common, people use it mundanely more often than for combat. I'll leave it to others to list those worlds. Even if magic doesn't quite fit your idea of 'superpowers', ideas could be nabbed from there.

[Asmodean_]

SMBC did a thing on this a while ago (http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2305)
Not embedding the image because some people have phones and that'd be cruel

[Frozen_Feet]

Spiderman had it right when he used his strength and speed to cheat at wrestling. :smalltongue:

In general, it'd be smarter to become a firefighter, cop or a soldier if you wanted to be heroic, rather than putting on a skimask and beating people in the face.

Construction work is also something that benefits from such.

[Flickerdart]

There's a TV trope for that: Mundane Utility. Not linking to TVTropes for obvious reasons.

Also Reed Richards is Useless (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ReedRichardsIsUseless) and Cut Lex Luthor a Check (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CutLexLuthorACheck). And These Look Like Jobs for Superman (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/JustForFun/TheseLookLikeJobsForTheSuperman) is basically already this thread.

In case you got out of the endless pit of despair after those links, have one more related one (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MundaneUtility).

[GloatingSwine]

It would be instructive to read Top Ten, which is a police procedural set in a city where absolutely everyone has superpowers or crazy gadgets.

Loads of the incidental stuff in the series (and there is loads of it[/i] shows mundane uses of superpowers because it's still a city of ordinary people.

[Kantaki]

Someone with plant control/growth powers would make a great gardener or farmer.

Flight could be helpful for cleaning windows on high buildings.

Pyrokinesis is a great power for a cook or- depending on the exact mechanics -a firefighter.

With cryokinesis you could make icecream.

[Rater202]

Spiderman had it right when he used his strength and speed to cheat at wrestling. :smalltongue:
There was also a sotyine where he was terminially ill(he got better) where he considered taking his life savings to vegas and use his Spider-sense to cheat at high stakes games to ninsure that Mary Jane and Aunt May would be taken care of.

Cracked.com did an article a few months ago about people who squandered their powers.

Of note, Swamp Thing can control every plant on earth and forcing them to take in more carbon and/or produce more oxygen in the photosynthesis process is explicitly something he can do. He could clean up carbon based air pollution the world over overnight.

Storm of the X-Men can control Solar Wins and manipulate Ozone.She could easily fix the hole in the ozone layer and redirect solar winds away from the earth, lessening the damage the ozone layer takes going forward.

Cipher, also of the X-Men, has the power to instantly and innately understand anything even remotely considered a language. He could make a fortune as a translator, could reveal ancient secrets by looking at old untranslated texts, make a fortune in programming with unparalleled understanding of all the programming languages, ect.

In the Web serial Worm, i's a plot point that a disproportionately high number of parahumans are driven towards heroics or villainy or other conflict generating uses of their powers when some of them would be really freaking useful in other fields.(Off the top of my head, our main character would be the ultimate in humane pest control, and the remember of her team would be invaluable in nuclear reactor repair, physical rehabilitation, dog training, and research... I think I'm forgetting one)

[Kantaki]

In the Web serial Worm, i's a plot point that a disproportionately high number of parahumans are driven towards heroics or villainy or other conflict generating uses of their powers when some of them would be really freaking useful in other fields.(Off the top of my head, our main character would be the ultimate in humane pest control, and the remember of her team would be invaluable in nuclear reactor repair, physical rehabilitation, dog training, and research... I think I'm forgetting one)

To be fair, there is a very good reason why Worm’s parahumans are driven to conflicts.
And there are a few who use their powers for more mundane applications. The clothing designer comes to mind. (Although even her powers could be used in combat)

The Undersiders missing someone? You have Skitter, Grue, Regent, Rachel (or Hellhound to use the name the „good guys” gave her), Tattletale and... that should be all of them. I certainly don't remember another teammate.

[Rater202]

To be fair, there is a very good reason why Worm’s parahumans are driven to conflicts.
And there are a few who use their powers for more mundane applications. The clothing designer comes to mind. (Although even her powers could be used in combat)

The Undersiders missing someone? You have Skitter, Grue, Regent, Rachel (or Hellhound to use the name the „good guys” gave her), Tattletale and... that should be all of them. I certainly don't remember another teammate.

Well, I did say that drive to create conflict was a plot point.

[Kantaki]

Well, I did say that drive to create conflict was a plot point.

Errm yes... I think I've read that, but it didn't register. Happens sometimes (Usually with... funnier results). My mistake.

[Felandria]

I would use my telekinesis to win all kinds of gift cards and iPads out of arcade machines.

[noparlpf]

So in comics and other properties, having extraordinary powers inevitably results in crime fighting/committing, saving/conquering the world and so on. But what if instead of putting on bright costumes and being big damn heroes/villains, super-powered folks just used their powers to make their jobs a little easier?

This thread is for any and all ideas on using superpowers for mundane work.

One of my top three powers would be animal telepathy, which considering I'm a vet student would be pretty handy. :smalltongue:
Other two I always like are on the more broken/OP end. A healing factor would be nice because I'm kind of a moron and don't take good care of myself, and on-topic would be handy for all kinds of dangerous jobs from manufacturing to firefighting/police work. You could also donate organs pretty much every day as long as you eat enough to grow them back overnight. The other one I like is electrokinesis, which could help me charge my phone or gameboy on the go.


To get the ball rolling: A teleporter could make a pretty penny doing deliveries. "Near instant deliveries, anywhere on Earth!"

I mean, Amazon Now is making that a reality without superpowers...

[Kantaki]

One of my top three powers would be animal telepathy, which considering I'm a vet student would be pretty handy. :smalltongue:
Other two I always like are on the more broken/OP end. A healing factor would be nice because I'm kind of a moron and don't take good care of myself, and on-topic would be handy for all kinds of dangerous jobs from manufacturing to firefighting/police work. You could also donate organs pretty much every day as long as you eat enough to grow them back overnight. The other one I like is electrokinesis, which could help me charge my phone or gameboy on the go.



I mean, Amazon Now is making that a reality without superpowers...

No. (http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-3/page-39-2/):smalleek:
No, no, no. Did you have to bring it up? I had that Story safely tucked away in the back of my head where it can't haunt me and you just had to remind me.
Thank you very much.

Ontopic:
Geokinetic powers would be great for all kinds of construction or mining.

[Asmodean_]

No. (http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/issue-3/page-39-2/):smalleek:


oh my god
the poor girl

[LaZodiac]

My Hero Academy actually shows some of this off. A main character has powers that makes things lose their gravity and become weightless. She's got an out of school job working at a construction sight, allowing buildings to be built really fast because all those heavy I-beams and stuff become lighter than air.

[danzibr]

Cipher, also of the X-Men, has the power to instantly and innately understand anything even remotely considered a language. He could make a fortune as a translator, could reveal ancient secrets by looking at old untranslated texts, make a fortune in programming with unparalleled understanding of all the programming languages, ect.
I've often heard of math referred to as a language. Could be something there...

[golentan]

My ideal power has always been basically Tyranid Biomancy. Fleshwarping and fleshcrafting, control over a swarm of smaller critters... I could do painless surgery on people and animals, keep swarms of insects to do emergency cleanup of spills, make living furniture or artwork out of plants... Can you imagine how awesome it would be to be able to say "This seed, planted in the ground, will grow into a house within a year which will provide nutritionally complete foodstuffs for one person indefinitely. Here are ten thousand seeds to be distributed to needy populations."

[Bohandas]

There was a Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic a while back about Superman getting a job turning the dynamo at a power plant

http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2305

[Tvtyrant]

Cyclops can power a space ship by simply firing out the back, as he can jettison and infinite amount of energy.

Storm + Cyclops could fix arid deserts by evaporating sea water in the Atlantic and then make it rain over the Sahara, repeating in the local ocean to whatever desert they want.

Cyclops could fix water desalinization processes by evaporating water for clean usage.

Several x-men could go colonize anywhere they wanted, as they don't need to breath and are made of invincible bodies (Emma Frost, colossus, etc).

Magneto could make space colonies easy, as he can simply lift them into orbit. He could probably also make moon colonization and martian colonization possible by lifting huge colony ships up into orbit, riding to the location, then gently dropping them.

[KillingAScarab]

I would use my telekinesis to win all kinds of gift cards and iPads out of arcade machines.I swear, I have a relative who already does this. I have a knickname for her.
https://a.dilcdn.com/bl/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2012/09/gal_wonderground_the-claw_447x336.jpg


My Hero Academy actually shows some of this off. A main character has powers that makes things lose their gravity and become weightless. She's got an out of school job working at a construction sight, allowing buildings to be built really fast because all those heavy I-beams and stuff become lighter than air.Thor Odinson was a construction worker in his Sigurd Jarlson identity.


Cyclops can power a space ship by simply firing out the back, as he can jettison and infinite amount of energy.

Storm + Cyclops could fix arid deserts by evaporating sea water in the Atlantic and then make it rain over the Sahara, repeating in the local ocean to whatever desert they want.

Cyclops could fix water desalinization processes by evaporating water for clean usage.I think you may need a lesson on Cyclops' power (http://comicsfact.com/post/83672995483/cyclops-optic-blasts-are-not-lasers-they-only). Also, I doubt the beam pushes him, so even with the more recent portal to a non-Newtonian dimension explanation I don't think he's a source of propulsion in space.


Magneto could make space colonies easy, as he can simply lift them into orbit. He could probably also make moon colonization and martian colonization possible by lifting huge colony ships up into orbit, riding to the location, then gently dropping them.Silver Age Magneto did this with Asteroid M. Dark Age Magneto had to take over Graymalkin (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avalon_%28Space_Station%29), but demonstrated sufficient control over it to bring it near the Earth's surface and back into orbit. After Joseph (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Joseph_%28Earth-616%29) became one with the Earth's magnetic field or something, I doubt he is able to do this, anymore.

[Bohandas]

What about the supervillain equivalent of this? Like Instead of using one's powers for world domination, using them to play stupid pranks on people, sneak into movie theaters, shoplift, and spy on folks in dressing rooms.

[HatMadder]

I'd wager that telepathy (a la Xavier / Jean Grey) would do wonders in the world of psychiatry.
Being able to tell what people are thinking and uncovering repressed memories in a matter of seconds? Super useful.
Would also be great as a lie detector in criminal cases.

To combine the SMBC Superman turbine and the Cyclops spaceship ideas from above, have cyclops fire into some contraption to use the energy and power whatever you'd like.

Iceman, free AC.

For Supervillains
Magneto making metal detectors go off for someone, preferably at an airport.
Magneto again, stopping escalators. To quote Mitch Hedberg "Escalator temporarily stairs, sorry for the convenience."

Sinestro: adding another step, then removing it. For people who always think there's that one extra step at the top of stairs.

[gooddragon1]

http://image.prntscr.com/image/68a9e9ee510642f5836d06bd4c3991f9.png

Shouldn't work. The couch would probably break around the area he's holding it up.

Hand directed (so it's not directly tied to your thoughts which could be erratic at times) telekinetics to make yourself a 1 man construction crew.

Telepathy that works on anything with the ability to communicate (including computers) to write code for the most amazing game ever. Better yet, hypercognition (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/hypercognition.htm) not based on only what you know to know where the bugs in the code are and how to fix them. Because finding bugs in code can get very mundane.

[goto124]

Telepathy that works on anything with the ability to communicate (including computers) to write code for the most amazing game ever.

Does this assume telepathy gets past the 'language' barrier? Or that a computer has 'thoughts' to read in the first place?

*philosophical questions*

[mpclardy]

Surprised no one's mentioned the After Hours video on this. The Best Superpower (Is Not What you think).

[Bohandas]

Hand directed (so it's not directly tied to your thoughts which could be erratic at times)

Which was the premise of both Sphere and Forbidden Planet

[Bohandas]

I just saw an ad for an anime called One Punch Man which appears to combine this with a regular superhero in the form of a guy who fights monsters as a hobby

[Yuki Akuma]

One of my top three powers would be animal telepathy, which considering I'm a vet student would be pretty handy. :smalltongue:

Dude. Do you know how many animals vets have to kill? Animal telepathy would be an awful power for a vet who actually likes animals.


Shouldn't work. The couch would probably break around the area he's holding it up.

Superheros with super strength pull stunts like this all the time, though. Obviously has has Superboy's tactile telekinesis. :smalltongue:

[golentan]

Surprised no one's mentioned the After Hours video on this. The Best Superpower (Is Not What you think).

Doesn't appeal to my interests in the same way that biomancy does.

[Tvtyrant]

I think you may need a lesson on Cyclops' power (http://comicsfact.com/post/83672995483/cyclops-optic-blasts-are-not-lasers-they-only). Also, I doubt the beam pushes him, so even with the more recent portal to a non-Newtonian dimension explanation I don't think he's a source of propulsion in space.

Silver Age Magneto did this with Asteroid M. Dark Age Magneto had to take over Graymalkin (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avalon_%28Space_Station%29), but demonstrated sufficient control over it to bring it near the Earth's surface and back into orbit. After Joseph (http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Joseph_%28Earth-616%29) became one with the Earth's magnetic field or something, I doubt he is able to do this, anymore.

Then all he needs to do is sit in a chair and shoot an adamantium wall on the space ship, or shoot an invincible turbine.

[danzibr]

I just saw an ad for an anime called One Punch Man which appears to combine this with a regular superhero in the form of a guy who fights monsters as a hobby
While I absolutely love the manga, after reading it you'll see it doesn't really match the thread.

[noparlpf]

Dude. Do you know how many animals vets have to kill? Animal telepathy would be an awful power for a vet who actually likes animals.

Yeah, I've worked in the field full-time for the past two years. I don't need telepathy to know how much pain some of these animals are in and that euthanasia is the best option to make them feel better. And anyway, euthanasia is performed under sedation/anaesthesia (to varying degrees, depending on what drugs that vet likes to use). You wouldn't be able to pick up any thoughts or feelings at that point.

[KillingAScarab]

Yeah, I've worked in the field full-time for the past two years. I don't need telepathy to know how much pain some of these animals are in and that euthanasia is the best option to make them feel better. And anyway, euthanasia is performed under sedation/anaesthesia (to varying degrees, depending on what drugs that vet likes to use). You wouldn't be able to pick up any thoughts or feelings at that point.The real problem would be the day you find out you're having difficulty controlling your powers and there's a rabid raccoon (or whatever is most likely on your continent) nearby.

[rajgupta]

:smallannoyed:

[Bohandas]

I'd like to see a spoof of Ghost Rider where instead of "the devil's bounty hunter" he's the devil's actuary or something like that

[Dodom]

The real problem would be the day you find out you're having difficulty controlling your powers and there's a rabid raccoon (or whatever is most likely on your continent) nearby.

That reminds me of a book I've read (I think it was by Ray Bradbury) where Martians were telepaths and because of that, if one of them was hallucinating, the others would see the same things. So they couldn't be convinced of anything extraordinary: seeing the evidence doesn't prove it's not someone else's delirium.

[Heliomance]

It would be instructive to read Top Ten, which is a police procedural set in a city where absolutely everyone has superpowers or crazy gadgets.

Loads of the incidental stuff in the series (and there is loads of it[/i] shows mundane uses of superpowers because it's still a city of ordinary people.

Link? I forsee a distinct lack of success finding this by searching for the phrase "Top Ten superpowers", "Top Ten police procedural", or any similar phrase :p


.(Off the top of my head, our main character would be the ultimate in humane pest control, and the remember of her team would be invaluable in nuclear reactor repair, physical rehabilitation, dog training, and research... I think I'm forgetting one)




The Undersiders missing someone? You have Skitter, Grue, Regent, Rachel (or Hellhound to use the name the „good guys” gave her), Tattletale and... that should be all of them. I certainly don't remember another teammate.

Can't tell if honestly forgetting or stealth joke XD

[Rater202]

Can't tell if honestly forgetting or stealth joke XD

Is joke, yes.

[JeenLeen]

In the webcome Grrlpower (www.grrlpowercomic.com), it's noted that many supers can and do get jobs in industry or other areas, since that is so profitable. Hence, government-hired supers are paid a lot due to competition from private industry. Especially when superstrength is a partially telekinetic power, so it doesn't break stuff (you can lift a car without it breaking in half).

I think Dinosaur Comics (Qwantz) had something about how powerful Poison Ivy could be if smart, fixing the environment, ending world hunger, etc. Might've been another comic, but I think it was them.

[The Sadistic DM]

Well for a bit of mundane activity, the Flash could do a couple of things.

A: Work in a power facility where he runs in a machine at super speeds for X amount of time and that kinetic energy is used as a renewable power source. Ex: Like a rodent on the wheel thingy

B: Be a Delivery boy

C: Be the guy who picks up coffee/take out at a business.

D: Or similar to A he could just sit and vibrate inside of an area and have the heat then power a highly efficient heat engine.

[Kantaki]

Can't tell if honestly forgetting or stealth joke XD

Joke. Definitely a joke. Referencing Imp by demonstrating her power is just to fun to let the chance pass.

[Ulthraun]

So, kinda in 5e DnD, you can technically make a 3.5 mile long line of peasants, make them hand off a spear to the other, the total time would be equal to 6s making the projectile travel 3.5 miles x 6 seconds. This equals out to mach 3, or 420d6 damage.

[Heliomance]

So, kinda in 5e DnD, you can technically make a 3.5 mile long line of peasants, make them hand off a spear to the other, the total time would be equal to 6s making the projectile travel 3.5 miles x 6 seconds. This equals out to mach 3, or 420d6 damage.

No it doesn't. In 3.5, it deals 1d8 damage plus the final peasant's strength bonus, with a -4 penalty on the attack roll because the peasant isn't proficient with spears. I'm certain it does something similar in 5e. You can't mix game mechanics and physics like that. Even if you could, I'm not certain how it's relevant to the thread.

[Bohandas]

So, kinda in 5e DnD, you can technically make a 3.5 mile long line of peasants, make them hand off a spear to the other, the total time would be equal to 6s making the projectile travel 3.5 miles x 6 seconds. This equals out to mach 3, or 420d6 damage.

I'm quoting this this in the Guns in medieval fantasy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?496814-Guns-in-Medieval-Fantasy-Settings/page7) thread.

[alkatrazjr]

So, kinda in 5e DnD, you can technically make a 3.5 mile long line of peasants, make them hand off a spear to the other, the total time would be equal to 6s making the projectile travel 3.5 miles x 6 seconds. This equals out to mach 3, or 420d6 damage.

The ol' peasant railgun

[Kantaki]

Someone with the power to create illusions could make money by providing special effects for movies* or theatres.

*assuming the illusions show up on camera.

[Arutema]

I can't help but think that super speed would be helpful in all sorts of computer fields, from data entry to sysadmin. See as fast as your monitor's refresh rate allows, and type as fast as the switches on your keyboard can take it.

Of course, you may then need a healing factor for the resultant carpal tunnel syndrome.

[Rockphed]

Storm of the X-Men can control Solar Wins and manipulate Ozone.She could easily fix the hole in the ozone layer and redirect solar winds away from the earth, lessening the damage the ozone layer takes going forward.

The "Hole in the Ozone Layer" has about as much to do with the Solar Wind as the price of Swiss Chocolate has to do with the energy intake of the LHC. The "Hole in the Ozone Layer" is caused by a weather pattern over the South Pole during the Australian winter. Ozone (O3) forms in the upper atmosphere when UV light breaks apart O2 molecules and then more UV light hits said monatomic oxygen and creates Ozone. Ozone is, for various reasons, unstable and decomposes over time. Because the atmosphere over Antarctica is in darkness for 3 months and the weather keeps the same upper atmosphere in said darkness, Ozone breaks down and does not reform. The "Hole in the Ozone Layer" is a natural phenomenon that has existed about as long as there has been a continent on the South Pole.

Now, there is a class of incredibly inert chemicals, called Chloro-Floro-Carbons or CFCs, which breaks down in the upper atmosphere and speeds the decay of ozone. They were used for a variety of things as a wonder chemical (due to their incredible inertness) for 20 - 50 years before their effect on ozone in the upper atmosphere was discovered. After it was discovered, most of the world agreed to drastically reduce their use and the "Hole in the Ozone Layer" has since returned to its normally scheduled perturbations.

Now, Storm's powers have lots of mundane utility. The ability to call a rainstorm at will is about as close to the perfect power to promote world peace as things get.

[Giggling Ghast]

Is there any downside to Storm's powers? Like, if she created a powerful enough weather effect, she could lose control?

[Frozen_Feet]

She can create too powerful effects for her to control them, yes, but more importantly her powers don't escape the Butterfly effect. Any drastic local changes her powers could make can have global repercussions. So in order to get perfect weather, always, everywhere, she needs to be in total control always, everywhere.

[MrZJunior]

Speaking of GrrlPower one of the supers in it has geomantic powers which he uses to extract gold from the earth's core which he slowly sells off to fund his opulent lifestyle.