How NOT to write Speedsters
Вставка
- Опубліковано 11 сер 2023
- Speedsters and bad writing, the ultimate power couple. Superpowers are awesome, and they can be found across all forms of media from comics through to anime and movies. But there's one superpower that's naturally more overpowered than most, so OP that it can break a plot just by existing: Super speed.
Characters like the Flash, Quicksilver, and just about anyone who can outrun a speeding train? Overpowered as hell, but they're usually written as idiots to compensate.
Trying something a lil different this time, a video in a similar vein to my pure evil villains video. Wonder Woman video is probably next.
Link to the Madvocate Flash playlist:
• Quicksilver Saves Ever...
Music used:
Jipang - Dragon Quest 11
Miss Monomi's Lesson - Danganronpa 2
Dark Reality - King's Quest 4
Ma'Habre Streets - Fear and Hunger
A Woman - Persona 5
Corridor - Persona 4
#dc #dccomics #theflash #theflashmovie #movie #theflashcw #videoessay
In my opinion there is at least one good solution to this problem
If a character is overpowered, just go nuts and make the odds insane
The good example of this is Sonic, game continuity Sonic to be more specific
Most of the enemies in those games aren't even a threat - Sonic just takes them out in a single hit
So instead of fighting one generic enemy you fight armies of those generic enemies
And more serious threats are usually something like extremely powerful beings who could manipulate reality, or strate up ancient immortal gods, their power levels varying from wiping out a civilization to destroying the multiverse, or other speedsters but with additional powers Sonic doesn't have, or at the wery least just a really big robot
Enemies that can't be defeated by just punching them really really fast
Although that is how you usually defeat them, but you get the point
Insanely powerful character needs insanely dangerous odds to compensate
this is a perfect example and i've made this point myself numerous times. a lot of people seem to default to the response of nerfing the absolute shit out of the speedster's actual speed and abilities. and while that's completely valid and would work, it's also completely possible to do the opposite and make them as powerful as you want. it just becomes a balancing game of giving them foes that are competent enough to challenge them and requires you to be more creative with the powers those foes have.
The most simplest and best way to limit a speedsters powers is the calorie burn, with the consequence for greater feats requiring immediate extremely higher calorie intake.
Think the best way to limit speedsters, is to emphasize the fact that their speed is not inherent to them. Like they gotta consciously change their perception to have faster reaction than a normal person. While even then not give them anything akin to spider sense, so it is logically possible to catch them off guard.
Also would help if they added downsides to each speed level, like being unable to see when they move faster than light, or being able to hear anything when they move faster than sound.
There also could be a matter of friction where after a certain speed level, things will just get torn apart the moment they touch them, so certain speeds are only used for very specific things which dont apply for average use.
The reason speedsters get hit by normal people is because they have to slow their concentration to not have everything feel like a year
nope
Uhhh. No. The real reason is because of plot.
@@pullcarsmelly8051 nope actually
The flash is a talker, not really a fighter
So he has to slow down his concentration to normal people's speed so he can talk to his enemies.
@@AAHumann_ nope. You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Anyone who can react and think in less than an attosecond has more relative time at their disposal than the full age of the universe.... Times a million. So again. PLOT.
@@pullcarsmelly8051 dude
you're ignoring the flash's whole thing of rehabilitation and talking
you're thinking that the flash doesn't wanna talk about anything and just goes in to fight.
He talks more than he fights to small villains/criminals.
If he was just another fight first talk later hero, then you'd be right.
But he's a talk first, then talk, then talk, THEN fight hero.
this speedster slander by writers needs to stop. i'm sick and tired of what is essentially the best super power being mishandled and poorly represented by writers who are either completely incompetent, or have no idea what to do with characters who have it. speedsters who are op usually only lose to bad writing or other speedsters. it's very rare that you'll see a speedster be pushed in a way that is non contrived if they aren't fighting another speedster or someone else on that level of being op.
people usually say to nerf the speedster's actual speed. and that's a good idea if you want to make them a side character or B list hero. but for characters like the flash and x-men quicksilver? they should be given enemies who match them. or use the basic bad guys of the week to show how op they actually are and treat the characters and the audience with the respect they deserve. someone else in the comment section pointed out a perfect example of a speedster who's op while still being extremely entertaining and having enemies who aren't push overs.
I feel like simply making contact while at superspeed a point of contention would narratively limit the practicality of superspeed. Maybe punching a guy faster than he could react would instantly kill him, or break your hand. That could explain people reacting fast enough to do something, because a speedster would have to purposely slow down to avoid major consquences. Or maybe the speedster is just fragile in general, like they cant really do much but run and observe, like in real life. Its like writers want all the fun but none of the plot downsides.
Speedsters have to bave the durability to withstand their speed or they would break their bones everytime they ran and catch fire due to sheer friction.
You cant have superspeed without having the nessesary durability to handle it.
Great video
Speedster are so OP that kill someone with mind can't compete with him.
Let me introduce Takatou Yogiri. Guy is the end itself. he can end any definition include dead or the world itself. Even if the opponent is faster than what Yogiri can react, his powers activate automatically to retaliate them before any harm is done.Yogiri can kill hypothetical beings.The author implied that Yogiri's true form is inaccessible to higher dimensions, no matter how many of them are stacked, as it can destroy all of those things.No matter how much defenses or resistances one has to instant death abilities, it is all meaningless in front of Yogiri's power.
Yogiri can use his power for as much as he wants, even when asleep.Yogiri's power automatically activates against abilities that tries to manipulate his mind.
MCU quicksilver may have been nerfed from the X-men movies and especially the comics, but that speed of barely cracking mach 1 was "realistic" and had stakes, unlike FOX'S quicksilver, who is too OP for the limited-compared-to-the-comics foxverse, MCU did a good job balancing the speed for its own verse, and I'd like to see more limited speedsters like the fast kid from incredibles, also me personally, if i had superspeed, id prefer it to be limited to racing car speeds as i don't wanna be trapped in the slow-motion abyss, I've read that X-Factor comic lol
(Also yapping warning for below, TL;DR: comic quicksilver wouldn't end up like the well enough balanced MCU quicksilver, despite what some say to defend his unneeded death in AoU lol)
(And yes i implied if MCU QS was more comic accurate outside of looks and personality, he would've done something similar to the FOX'S version of quicksilver when faced with those jet bullets, despite what some say about MCU QS's slow and realistic speed being "comic accurate", comic QS wasn't that slow outside of an inaccurate 80's handbook saying that most marvel speedsters were as fast as a car lol, QS even before and in the same era of that handbook had speed feats way above just 175mph or mach 1 or 10, like a moment similar to the X-men apocalypse scene, in an X-Factor comic, where he evacuated an entire military complex full of soldiers in the literal blink of an eye, or that 60's avengers comic that had him searching and scouring a 10 mile area in around 1-3 seconds, never mind the three FTL feats from these eras, as well as more FTL and way beyond feats since the late 90's
that handbook is malarkey, and for anybody who'd treat it like the bible, it even says that spider-man can only lift 10 tons, which contradicts the 50 ton and above tank and building lifting feats that spidey did from those eras, just like how the 175mph for QS is easily contradicted by feats from the time
And if more official or direct means of gauging QS's speed is needed:
1. QS's speed rating on the official marvel website is a 7, the highest rating, which means FTL
2.
2a) the many times other characters referred to QS as "the fastest man alive" which would be impossible for a 175mph to mach 1 or 10, and even impossible for a near lightspeed speedster, like northstar, as there are many FTL and way beyond characters on marvel's earth alone
2b) a writer statement that says that quicksilver is at least among the top fastest marvel universe characters, see point 2a for how even a near light speedster can not crack that list
Anyway, comic QS's speed isn't too OP for the main marvel 616 comic verse, as there are lot of extremely powerful characters there, unlike the movies, where the MCU did a good job balancing power levels compared to the FOX verse, although they went a little overboard killing him off lol
And before anyone says flash is faster, well i know that, it's shown in the crossovers where wally outclasses pietro multiple times lol)
Flash shouldn’t be super strong. He should easily break his wrists punching in ways beyond human limitations. He shouldn’t be able to spin his arms really fast and generate more than moderate uncontrollable undirectable gusts. If they stuck to just speed running speed reading, running on water or up walls, phasing, and left time travel ONLY capable with external (Cosmic Treadmill) means then you could have a more compelling character.
I definitely like that idea
He shouldn't be phasing either.
@@Rengokuo4o6 debatable. Phasing was leeway I was granting, it’s plausible. It can also be taken away.
@@indatube okay but most of the time phasing isn't written well atleast to me. How is Barry able to vibrate fast enough to go through a door but not immediately plummet towards the earth's core? Never understood that. Or how can he can remove a bullet from someone's body while vibrating but is still some how intangible.
@@Rengokuo4o6 it’s science fiction. It’s also selective, just like Kitty Pryde phasing - they can choose to keep their feet solid or affect the bullet and make it intangible as he grabs it while not harming anything else
RAAHHHHH COMMENT TO DRIVE UP VIDEO ENGAGEMENT SMALL UA-camRS RISE UP
Sub #2.45k - 26-04-2024
+200
Characters are only as smart as their writers, and the CW Flash could have easily been better if the villain of the week wasn't as easily found every. Single. Episode.
In terms of how OP Super Speed is as a power, honestly think it depends on the speed in question.
Obviously anyone that can move at the speed of infinite km in 0 seconds can blitz anybody before anything ever happens.... But being able to move 3x faster than world record athelets is also technically super speed, yet that's kinda a weak power on its own, as it is still very manageable by anybody with a gun.
The problems with Speedsters is that their power is often exaggerated out of proportion compared to everything else, but that's not because Speed is OP by itself, as much as you are pitting lvl 99999 speed min-maxers against lvl 10 everything else.
If you want balance the speed at a level where it's faster than everything but not unmanageable without applying hard limits, then a reasonable way is to either only use a level of speed where none speedsters can still react/counter, or give every important antagonist some level of super speed, and just have the speedsters be specialist in it.
Like have the difference between them be like Agile Ninja vs Armored Knight instead of Bullet vs Snail.
bro your voice puts me to sleep, talk faster