The funny thing is, the reason this is a thing isn't so much about lazy writers but of a cheap company. 90% of all electrical black heroes back in the day are just DC not wanting to pay royalties. If you look up at the Black DC electrical powers MOST of them are just copies of black lightning.
We also have the dances the electric boogie and electric slide and the song electric avenue. We're an electric culture in America that shocks the world.
Black Panther in The MCU can channel Kinetic power into his vibranium suit and unleash an electric force. And Luke Cage got his Powers Partly from an electromagnet machine experiment being conducted on inmates.
Someone really should. Though in all seriousness, I thought of the Teen Titans immediately. Bumblebee and Herald have no electrical powers (Bumblebee can shrink and fly a la the Wasp. Herald has a horn which can warp spacetime.), and while Cyborg depends on electricity, he doesn't store and discharge it or anything; no, he uses sonic attacks, though someone needs to tell Marv Wolfman that decibels are logarithmic.
I feel like the stigma behind this is that many of the popular black heroes in comics and the ones pushed the most seem to have electrical based powers. Static, Storm, Miles Morales & Black Lightning all have it and they’re some of the more popular characters within their comic book companies.
False the industry refused to give black men the ability to create and write characters. Also the same men were too uncreative.....and base ideas of existing characters instead of just create new, they strayed too far.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm How does that statement have anything to do with what I said? lol The stigma exists because the more well known black heroes mostly have electricity powers. That’s it. Two things can be true. Doesn’t mean one the other can’t be.
It's this simple. Most people don't know them other people. Before Luke Cage got a series the only famous black faces were Blade and Spawn, who aren't quite the same
Storm Controls all the elemental forces of the sky she doesn’t just have electric abilities storm doesn’t use lightning she uses the entire sky to fight lightning is just part of it and isn’t her strongest ability her strongest ability is too controll all weather in vast areas
Honestly, it’s a Reader vs NonReader issue. If you like super heroes b/c of television and movies, you have literally a droplet of the actual black representation in the comics. I’ve been reading comics since I was 8 (born in 84’) and I never heard this lightning powers trope until recently b/c I’ve seen black people do everything, my friends read comics so we just talked about everyone, there was no hyper fixation on optics, it was just character and powerset. Glad you made the video though, people need to chill out.
Literally this vid only proves the point The fact ONE POWER which isn’t a necessary suplemental power common amongst all heroes like flying, has such a mass amount of specifically black heroes, with most of them being the most popular ones, is insane. Most black heroes are either -electric -black versions of other heroes -extremely unpopular
Also tbh sunspot and bishop are questionable identity wise. Most white superheroes having super strength and speed etc isn’t comparable. That’s a thing we have as people, and then it’s enhanced. It’s the base physical stats of a “super” person. It’s almost a prerequisite when it comes to heroes. Truth of the matter is, black superheroes have a disproportionate amount of electrical heroes, and they’re the most popular ones. Static Black Panther Storm Miles Spawn John Stewart Cyborg Seem to be the most popular black heroes. It’s like black characters in anime with white hair and lightning powers Or black characters who are blind warriors Or Asian characters that are relegated to ninja shit
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Mr. Terrific?! His costume is absolutely hideous. A large T shaped mask across the center of his face, and white and black leather...
Not every black hero has electricity based powers but there are quite a few popular ones that do. 😅 Excellent presentation of so many amazing black superheroes!
No one questioning that there are many black superheroes. The questioning is why no top tier black superheros or shown beyond the electric ones, why only tokens,b tier and below...especially males. Most characters shown were b tier, with many c tier, tokens, that appeared briefly or were so forced you cringed. Riri Williams. Icon and static shock were made by a black company. DC got rights too. DC comics tired to screw the widow of the black company out the IP of static shock and icon. But we didn't let them and they had to pay.
I wouldn’t wager on that, it depends on how to interrupt. Black panther was one of the few heros to face doom when he had all the power. She was after thought....
@@akira17_samurai Electricity powers are objectively cool. Unlike a bunch of the magical silliness in comics, it's grounded (heh) within the reality of how electricity works and interacts with the world around it. It's harnessing a force of nature humans instinctively know to respectfully fear and be careful around. Powers based around elements of the real world resonate with people easily.
I'm surprised you forgot Cloak, from Cloak & Dagger Edit: You also should have thrown in Lock Rock from MHA since you mentioned keeping it Plus Ultra 👍🏼
It's not quite right to count the number of black superheroes without lightning powers and comparing that to the number of black heroes with lightning powers. A more accurate comparison would be to compare the quantity of lightning base heroes compared to quantity of psionic heroes, animal based heroes, technology based heroes etc. Basically how does the percentage of lightning based powersets compare to the overall percentage of other powersets. I do agree though there are plenty of variation in black super powersets and I don't really see a problem in it cause they are flat out cool. As a kid I wanted electric powers simply because it is one of the coolest and most realistic powersets period, especially when you think about the fact that electric eels exist.
Written to full potential lighting characteristics can be op base off physics alone. Now add in "powers" it a game changer. But you know that nor doing that.....unless it's a female never a male
Like a lot of popular tropes, this one is probably based on the representation of black superheroes in TV and movies. As a comic book reader starting in the 80s, my first exposure to black superheroes were: Luke Cage, Storm, Blade, Bishop, and Steel (in that order). Storm was the only one with powers related to electricity, but I always considered it only one ability of her vast weather controlling powers.
Your a better man than me. I never like that storm a woman, whi in her own right got a spot over a black man. As boy reading and looking in comics. I could not dream or live though Strom or relate. She was love instruct of many. And only got black panther because of token love and backstop. Even now I have yet to truly see a cosmic shaking black male mutant, that really omgea level in marvel who offensive powers, fighting ability, and leadership is considered a threat.
For the longest time I didnt think that was a thing. I thought people was just getting mad at nothing. Then a friend of mine showed me a ton of examples. Real eye opener 👀
I feel like there is a little bit of merit to this, but overall it is in a complete exaggeration. Plus blatantly ignores all the times that they weren’t ginger, but weren’t replaced by a black person.
@@Hillthugsta sure but my biggest issue with this argument is that it blatantly ignores all the times that they weren’t ginger, but weren’t replaced by a black person or a person of color for that matter.
A guy did ask why all Black characters have lightning powers and i asked why do all whites have psychic powers? I believe it was on your channel or Comics Explained but yeah you are absolutely right they don’t know every Black character and the ones they know are the ones with Lightning powers. I love the fact that they have Lightning powers and that psychics are weak against it
So you couldn't provide a answer, and sought this. Most blk in DC do have electricity powers. Most b tiers on DC do have a little more variety but not much. Marvel has more variety but the characters barely get shown and rarely heard from again.
Most humans are gonna get folded by a taser let alone a full blown bolt of lightning. Ironically Electric based heroes are sandbagging hard since they should be crippling if not outright killing people.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hmHonestly I can count the Black characters in dc on a half of a hand 🤚🏾. As far as me not able to provide an answer…I did. This vid came up much later and it reminded me of that very question…but it almost seem like you’re upset that Blk characters even exists.
Never thought of Storm as “electricity-based”... EDIT: She uses "atmokinesis" (thanks for the word, @jus-7421) which is a mind-power like Livewire (mentioned as a mental, non-electrical hero). Yes lightning is the obvious power, but a conjured hurricane by Storm has the power of dozens of nuclear bombs. Storm is so NOT an electrical hero. Sorry Earnie. Love ya buddy!
Her primary power is atmoskinesis. This is not just limited to Earth but includes extraterrestrial sources, anything with an atmosphere. That means she can manipulate the environment of stars as well. Coming from a bloodline of powerful magic users gives her the potential to wield magic.
It is entirely fine not to think of Storm as electricity-based because you always understood her power is manipulation of weather and atmospheric conditions, but no one should be so shocked others fixate on her lightning. Her most prominent attacks were often bolts of lightning or accompanied by them before people started leaning into the diverse range of atmospheric feats her abilities come with. Lightning heavy rain with high winds is most associated with storm conditions, and to this day her angered or powering up state is signified by sparks from her eyes. It's not that deep; in saying that no one is limiting her to lightning casting.
Not all black superheroes have lightning powers... but the ones that don't have lightning powers are actually shape shifting aliens who choose to look like black folks when they come to earth and need to fit in.
I think a bigger issue is that we never the prominent black male heroes raising black sons who are also gifted. Seeing them learning from their fathers would be awesome. They always show black fathers and their daughters (who often take on the angry black woman sterotype) but hardly ever see them Raising sons.
100% worst black male heros are not shown to be in top tier, alone others. They are usually under. The only one I can think of is Mr Tefferic. He is considered DC comics 2nd smartness behind or on par with lex Luther. He is tech company billionaire, to me he what Tony stark wishes to be. But never written to his full potential unlike Tony stark. Also you see plenty of powerful blk female characters in comics, especially in marvel, with no equally powerful males. Just look at what current storm is doing.
Some more characters without electricity powers he didn’t mention: Cloak. Bedlam. Curtis Car. Black Goliath. Tom Foster. Abe Brown. The Prowler (616). Rage. 3-D Man (Garret Jr). Midnight’s Fire. Casper Cole. The Revenant. Bronze Tiger. Signal. Marilyn Moonlight. Andromeda. Hawke. Vigilante. Duncan. Doctor Mid-Nite (Elizabeth Chapel). Orpheus. Guardian (Jake Jordan). Guardian II. Hot Spot. FireStorm (Jason Rusch). KEEP IN MIND, that this is what I could pull from the mainstream continuity of Marvel & DC. There is still more.
I noticed Black super heroes were either elemental based or animal based. And then watching this video I realized Black versions of white heroes should be added to the list. Let's see a video about that.
The way some of you are trying to die on this hill for this argument is brazy. Especially y’all who keep moving the goalpost. Bottom line is no, the majority of black superheroes are not electricity based. It’s not “disproportionate” either. It’s not a “lack of imagination”. Are the most popular black heroes electricity based? Sure, but popularity is also based off demand. It’s clearly & truly coincidental and non-consequential.
Why do people keep referring to Duke Thomas as "(insert) Batman?" I don't hear Nightwing referred to as "capeless Batman." Does anybody call Azrael "assassin Batman?" Or Ghost Maker "Batman with swords?"
Want to know where its belief seems stems from. The superhero Black Lighting has a rare thing in comics in that his creator gets royalties if he appears in other media. Which is why Black Vulcan exist in Superfriemds. Then in other superhero cartoons that had DC character they were worried Hannah Barbara owned Black Vulcan and made their own stand in for Black Lighting. Kind of shows how terrible comic companies are to their talents.
Storm was supposed to be a werecat shape shifter too. A character called Black Cat but they merged her with another two characters. That's why Storm has large cat eyes in her in ths Giant Sized era.
I always assumed Black Cat was just a Catwoman knockoff. Cat motif, love interest for the protagonist, that's pretty Catwoman-ish to me. And of course Black Cat and Storm have different creators, (Black Cat was created by Marv Wolfman, Storm, of course, was created by Chris Claremont.)
On some other UA-cam Cntent creator (can't recall who), they said that the entire reason Black Vulcan was created for 'Super Friends" was that they wanted to use Black Lightning, but this was one of those rare incidences where the artist who created him actually owned the rights to the character, and he would have to be paid to use him, so they just make a knock off instead.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Super-Friends just used code names. Which is probably for the best; it ran all the way through the creation of Jason Todd, which would confuse people. Can they say Dick Grayson's name on a kids' show?
I don’t really care about that because not all electrical based characters use their powers the same way. They also don’t have the same personality. I make my own characters and some of them have electrical power but I differentiate them by personality and approach.
I've heard this trop before, but it's not the one that I think fits the most. I never liked how one dimentional a lot of male black characters are in a lot of comics. Their almost all smart, super serious, athletic geniuses with multiple PhD's and no chill whatsoever. The few exceptions are usually kids like Miles and Virgil(at least in a more light-hearted way) or more hood related like Luke or Blade but I found this to be even few and far between. This in itself isn't a bad thing, just a lack of imagination on the part of non-black writers trying to portray them in the most positive way, but none of them ever felt like they ever portrayed me, the average black guy. I mean, not everyone is born special, and yet have to become so just because the occasion demands it. Once again, nothing really wrong with these characters, just wish there was a little more variety in the people behind the mask and not just in what powers they may have.
I'm not sure why? (IMA GIANT COMIC NERD, but like the classic OG's Justice league 7, magic charcters, SUPERFAM and Batfamily, ETC. But seeing all these Black Character and Superheroes made this Black Boy very happy.
I was literally reading that issue of Irredeemable when it came out and asked myself, "Wait, that's a stereotype?" but I figured it was basically as this video sums up: most people not highly exposed to comics are only aware of the majority of Black characters having electricity/lightning in their power set. Because of their popularity from cartoons like Super Friends through X-Men up to Static Shock, where Black Vulcan, Storm and Static set the stage, if people haven't seen much beyond that it can persist, but like many things there is wilful ignorance aplenty when they watch the same cartoons and don't register Bishop alongside Storm, Green Lantern and Vixen alongside Black Lightning, etc. and not conclude, "Ohhhhh, we haven't seen more than 1% of the Black superheroes in media!"
I disagree. Top tier heros are not usually black males. They are b and c tier. These characters are rarely needed and just to move plot along, be there, or take up page space. Which most of the heros he show were. Worst they are tokens characters forced, reworked, or rehash due to non creativity that make you cringe. Also alot of the characters are old rarely used. They had new DC comic animated movie come out. In the last seen they recruit heros from DC multiverese. There is black hero wearing green name amazing man. But no one truly knew him or paid respect to him due to that. Sometimes I feel its on the culture to know of its hero portrayed, those created, and those to create.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Some of your points are correct, but the problem with summing up anything as an absolute is that it ignores the reason why this all is. Underrepresented groups did not have the resources, financial backing and industry recognition early enough to get into the the zeitgeist before the market got fairly saturated. Outside of a relatively small percentage of non-white, non-male or non-straight characters by the time there was a push for more diverse characters nearly every power under the sun was pretty much wielded in some way by a white, straight, male already; and there were already derivative white, straight, male characters around them wasting space, rarely needed and just there to move the plot along, appeal to a younger group, rehash an origin that played out with their predecessor, and sometimes, not always, make tweaks to either be edgy, contemporary or just make us cringe. All of that is a matter of the signs of the time, but contrary to your denouncement of them as just B and C tier, derivative characters can become just as relevant as their original templates, or even more so if written well enough, promoted, and designed in a way that appeals to a newer set of eyes; and often there is an element of luck because the market is way too saturated to guarantee anyone is going to be a breakout in any community. Let's take an example, Barry Allen is derivative of Jay Garrick, but because most are too young to have come up reading Jay, Barry had room to shine, and that was helped by the less saturated market and the absence of Jay for a while. Then Barry got objectively bigger than Jay ever was because he crossed into mainstream media and out of just the comics. Then along came Wally West (an unneeded character that was taking up page space, but represented wish fulfillment for kids alongside their hero); eventually shuffled off to the Teen Titans, but then was allowed to grow up as the assortment of teen heroes drew interest. Allowed to grow and replace the predecessor, he is now argued by a newer generation as even greater than Barry. Now that he has that prominence, existing alongside Barry doesn't diminish him (unless the powers-that-be feel Barry needs to be more prominent and start to marginalize Wally). The difference though, is that doing a similar thing by letting John Stewart have the solo Lantern spotlight during Hal's absence didn't quite happen. Whereas Wally was the true, sole titular Flash for over a decade, John was among other Lanterns, and not too far from Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner having the spotlight. Still, he got prominence from mainstream animation promotion and became A-list. Something that doesn't hold up the same way when Barry was brought back because, as stated, his "spot" was divided up by the Kyle and Guy fans as well as those who couldn't let Hal go. So with Hal around it is hard to see John as still an A-lister even though Kyle and Guy don't eclipse him: as opposed to with Barry around there is still a massive clamoring for Wally to be featured. That's not simply on the community of John's demographic, that's a symptom of him not being allowed to remain in sole focus AND a symptom of the outrage that simmered when it appeared Hal would have been kept second fiddle to John after his return and redemption. Basically, those with the power want to maintain their representation, and those selling the titles that are the big properties (your Batman through Flash to Green Lantern properties) want to keep being able to sell, so won't upset the apple cart as much. Which brings us to non-derivative characters. They naturally had a harder time catching on because if one follows the money, for the large portion of history in the US population, the demographic with the vastly larger percentage of disposable income were (or presented as) white, male and straight, with interest in having white, male, straight heroes to identify with. One cannot ensure a comic character persists in the mainstream if there aren't dollars behind them to guarantee a long run. And a character rarely breaks out if the writing and art aren't up to snuff or uniquely appealing. Put the interests of the 71% White population up against those of the 14% Black, and probably the 90% wealth of the former behind it and how does one think a lot of Black characters would break through? Usually by having forward thinking established White writers put their weight behind them until someone of the Black community makes their way into the medium and is allowed to cook. There we get the likes of Storm shining under Chris Claremont and now under Al Ewing, and propped by mainstream animation and live action depictions, a spot on lunch boxes, etc. Similar situations with Black Panther, and both of theres are in the A-list of Marvel characters. Amazing Man (the character in green you're probably referring to over at DC) has not had that level of promotion, long suffering presence, acclaimed writer connections, etc. and was not lucky enough to have made the break when the medium was less saturated. So while there is a nugget of truth to what you said about Black characters, it's the same nugget that applies to White or any other character, with the added challenge of where the power, money and promotion lies. The landscape isn't the same anymore, so a lot of others are flush with the cash to throw behind more diverse characters, but we can't forget the big name characters had a headstart AND the benefit of continuity of backing by the White majority. It is not as simple as just saying: "Let's go out there and put all our backing behind Night Thrasher" not without something that will cause a ground swell like Luke Cage being featured in live action, added to Spidey cartoons, etc.; and not without an established person in the spotlight like Spawn rising under the auspices of Todd MacFarlane when he made headlines as part of the Image wave; or Malcom Dragon allowed to shine in the absence of his established father; and none of them are truly A-list yet, but they have a better chance of being cemented as such with more exposure.
😅 Before I watch this I'm commenting that I only know of 2 Static and Black lightning, and I found out abouts Black Lightning when his CW show dropped.
From my understanding with point was about comics and not other media or manga. At Marvel and DC the number of characters with electric powers is probably less than how many versions of spider man exist. So it would be far to say the majority of electric powered characters are not Asian I took miles morales as trying to steal static shocks thunder. He’s got the power so I can imagine why you wouldn’t count him. The flash can throw lightning but his main power is “speed” lightning is a by product would you consider him a lightning character if not they that cuts down the number of electric users by almost half.
given the choice of elemental power, as a hispanic i'd also take electricity. it's a two-fer power, you also get to control magnetism, the force is electro-magnetism, one includes the other.
@christopherbennett5858 really? Bishop is half aboriginal? Didn't know that but then again I don't really keep up to date with marvel or dc comics much these days
@@metalmonkey0026 It’s one of those things that got confused so much over the years that I think a compromise was made. E.g Bishop referring to Gateway as Grandfather. That could be biological or it could be in the sense of the wider aboriginal traditional communal sense.
Not every Black villain or Hero uses lightning Aqua lad is magic,Black Hulk , Spawn, Deadshot,Black Spider,Luke Cage is a Super soldier, Firestorm,Falcon,Nick Fury's brother,Batwing,Black Manta,Mr.Terrifc,Steel,Amanda Waller,Cyborg,Bronze Tiget, Battalion, Kill monger,Kang,and other's no one mentioned
I still get giddy when I see Battalion. I bought all of that Waller Vs Wildstorm book because he was in it. He was my first favorite character when I started seriously getting into comics. Thanks for mentioning him!
Real talk, black superheroes have evolved, because at one time they were just black copies of existing heroes. The ones with their own unique identity, many of the popular ones just happend to be electric based. But Black Panther, Storm, Cyborg, and Power Man are some of the original black characters that held their own without being direct copies of other heroes AND without being electric based. (Anyone who's read X-Men know Storm does more than lightning. She creates crazy hurricane and rain, making her multi-dimensional. Electricity is only one of her arsenals)
I mean yeah there’s more black characters who don’t have electricity powers but proportionally to the amount of total black characters it happens more often than with white characters or characters of any other race
There are more white characters with electricity, powers than black characters. You can easily type in electrokinesis Marvel database, that alone has tons of them.
Thank you SO MUCH for this video. I get that a lot of folks are using the "difficulty" of naming non-electricity based heroes/villains for views (and more power to em), but watching so many people who bash non-blerds not be able to name a handful of them has been irking me to NO END!!! LOL... Hopefully, this informs and sparks interest in more black comic book characters!!!
I never saw Sunspot aka Roberto da Costa to be black, aside from a darker complexion, although brazil is broken in the five racial classifications white,black, multiracial, asian and indigenous.
Definitely agree that the perception that this is a trope, especially if considered a problematic one, is overblown. Sure, SOME of even the most prominent Black characters in the most popular comics have eletricity-based powers but it's definetly not the majority. Not really related, but it made me think of it, I wonder if the perception that Black main characters in animation don't spend a lot of their screentime being Black humans but instead animals or other inhuman figures is valid or overblown as well
Excellent point, Vixen in DC comics I portrayed as sumomimg animals power. In Conan cartoon the black man could control,communicate with animals, falcons from.mavel used to talk to command birds(pigeons 😂). Most black characters are not shown superpowers. Heck when Jon steward green latern came out they went nuts. He's the only show with Justice league, besides cyborg who's was your typical blk make football player that got messed up, and made part machine. That's it, he's literally a man/robot part......
Sure, but the argument can easily go the other way with white characters. There are more white characters with electricity powers than black characters.
@@mizushogun but it is prevalent because there are far fewer black characters and many of them, the most notable, do have the electric powers. Bringing up white characters doesn’t change that lol. Last I’ll say on this cause your being deliberately obtuse now. Thanks.
First of all, thank you for dispelling this. Gives me way more ammo than I had before for this argument. Also shout out for the intentional/unintentional shine you just have to nearly 100 Black superheroes. Well done sir.
About the legacy character thing, if we are going to have legacy characters at all, if we are going to make some superheroes a mantle that can be passed, then I absolutely think we should change race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, and I'm not just saying that because I'm half Asian and really like Amadeus Cho.
This video just reminded me of the topic how Native American characters tend to have Spiritual/Shaman powers paired with Hunter tracking abilities. But to be honest I have no problem with it, those kinds of powers are always dope. My favorite is Nightwolf.
Honestly, they’re cool. Although, the only one who isn’t to my knowledge is Forge and his whole deal is that he’s secretly mystic and doesn’t want to delve into that.
Pretty sure The Signal aka Duke Thomas is another one without lightning based abilities. Also I’m black. I got Static, Storm, Black Lightning, Miles, and Kaldur. I am NOT about to start rallying against that trope.
I've talked with Africans and Egyptians and none of them consider themselves black. A lot of them consider it an insult when even referring to them as black lol, made that mistake a few times and got lectured.
When you take away characters like Storm or Monica Rambeau, whose power sets may include lightning or electricity but are actually so much more than that, the gap becomes much greater
Was this really a hill somebody tried to die on? That trope was always just more an hyperbolic statement due to the lightning based heroes ended up being more popular and showing up in actual media.
Name all the caucasian comic book characters who have superhuman strength and speed. 😏
Batman
Name all the characters who don't...
A hell of a lot of them
Almost all the evil superman
LUKE Kage?
The funny thing is, the reason this is a thing isn't so much about lazy writers but of a cheap company. 90% of all electrical black heroes back in the day are just DC not wanting to pay royalties. If you look up at the Black DC electrical powers MOST of them are just copies of black lightning.
That light bill gon be high as hell
We also have the dances the electric boogie and electric slide and the song electric avenue. We're an electric culture in America that shocks the world.
Black Panther in The MCU can channel Kinetic power into his vibranium suit and unleash an electric force. And Luke Cage got his Powers Partly from an electromagnet machine experiment being conducted on inmates.
I argue as a black comic reader, that the most popular/iconic electric powered superheroes/villains are all black.
now the black wash of wiping out ginger characters is insane.......almost diobolical
This number goes up when you include indie IPs. Shawn James' Isis, John Haynes and E'steem; Will Power; Odina; Super Natural; Mega Woman
Rippavesre ISOM, but he's talking top 2 comics
NGL "Eletrical Negro" sounds like the name of a 70/80s electro funk band
Someone really should. Though in all seriousness, I thought of the Teen Titans immediately. Bumblebee and Herald have no electrical powers (Bumblebee can shrink and fly a la the Wasp. Herald has a horn which can warp spacetime.), and while Cyborg depends on electricity, he doesn't store and discharge it or anything; no, he uses sonic attacks, though someone needs to tell Marv Wolfman that decibels are logarithmic.
I feel like the stigma behind this is that many of the popular black heroes in comics and the ones pushed the most seem to have electrical based powers.
Static, Storm, Miles Morales & Black Lightning all have it and they’re some of the more popular characters within their comic book companies.
False the industry refused to give black men the ability to create and write characters. Also the same men were too uncreative.....and base ideas of existing characters instead of just create new, they strayed too far.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm
How does that statement have anything to do with what I said? lol
The stigma exists because the more well known black heroes mostly have electricity powers. That’s it.
Two things can be true. Doesn’t mean one the other can’t be.
@@Chronic_Gainz The sad thing is Miles is just a copy of Static without the depth and growth that he had.
It's this simple. Most people don't know them other people. Before Luke Cage got a series the only famous black faces were Blade and Spawn, who aren't quite the same
Storm Controls all the elemental forces of the sky she doesn’t just have electric abilities storm doesn’t use lightning she uses the entire sky to fight lightning is just part of it and isn’t her strongest ability her strongest ability is too controll all weather in vast areas
Bruh…”anything an ant can…except be small.” 😂😂😂😂😂
I was gonna comment the same 😁
Outta the whole video, THAT'S the one made me bust out laughing 🤣
That's probably so Marvel doesn't sue her company for copyright infringement because Marvel's Ant-Man can shrink.
@@darlalathan6143
Good point.
Honestly, it’s a Reader vs NonReader issue. If you like super heroes b/c of television and movies, you have literally a droplet of the actual black representation in the comics. I’ve been reading comics since I was 8 (born in 84’) and I never heard this lightning powers trope until recently b/c I’ve seen black people do everything, my friends read comics so we just talked about everyone, there was no hyper fixation on optics, it was just character and powerset. Glad you made the video though, people need to chill out.
A Black character being the Black verison of another character is the real superhero trope.
I agree, in so ways it frustrating
I was looking for this comment
Peter Darker.
Literally this vid only proves the point
The fact ONE POWER which isn’t a necessary suplemental power common amongst all heroes like flying, has such a mass amount of specifically black heroes, with most of them being the most popular ones, is insane.
Most black heroes are either
-electric
-black versions of other heroes
-extremely unpopular
Also tbh sunspot and bishop are questionable identity wise.
Most white superheroes having super strength and speed etc isn’t comparable. That’s a thing we have as people, and then it’s enhanced. It’s the base physical stats of a “super” person. It’s almost a prerequisite when it comes to heroes.
Truth of the matter is, black superheroes have a disproportionate amount of electrical heroes, and they’re the most popular ones.
Static
Black Panther
Storm
Miles
Spawn
John Stewart
Cyborg
Seem to be the most popular black heroes.
It’s like black characters in anime with white hair and lightning powers
Or black characters who are blind warriors
Or Asian characters that are relegated to ninja shit
“Shall we get started..” -BlueMarvel
What a great way to start a list🙌
Icon
@@robertbfunkii4686 Blue Marvel FTW
Mr teffric.....
Riri williams.....lol
Blue Marvel is heaven sent
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Mr. Terrific?! His costume is absolutely hideous. A large T shaped mask across the center of his face, and white and black leather...
Not every black hero has electricity based powers but there are quite a few popular ones that do. 😅 Excellent presentation of so many amazing black superheroes!
He mentioned that in the video
No one questioning that there are many black superheroes.
The questioning is why no top tier black superheros or shown beyond the electric ones, why only tokens,b tier and below...especially males.
Most characters shown were b tier, with many c tier, tokens, that appeared briefly or were so forced you cringed. Riri Williams.
Icon and static shock were made by a black company. DC got rights too. DC comics tired to screw the widow of the black company out the IP of static shock and icon. But we didn't let them and they had to pay.
You left off the smartest Black person in the Marvel universe...Moon Girl!
He left off quite a few characters, which I think reinforces his point of "They're out there if you look."
Moon girl? Wasn't it Blu marvel and tchala
@@draggoon9121 No disrespect to T'Challa and Blue Marvel but Moon Girl is way smarter!
@@eddieheisser5746Yeah it's her and blue marvel then T'Challa tho All of them are in the top heroes period
I wouldn’t wager on that, it depends on how to interrupt.
Black panther was one of the few heros to face doom when he had all the power. She was after thought....
I know not ALL black super heroes have electric powers but I can see why people believe that they do. Great Video.👍🏾⚡️
I mean, it’s like he said in the video it’s mostly peoples lack of comic book knowledge
@@mizushogun couple with the ones that get pushed are popular and just happen to have electrical powers
@@akira17_samurai Electricity powers are objectively cool. Unlike a bunch of the magical silliness in comics, it's grounded (heh) within the reality of how electricity works and interacts with the world around it. It's harnessing a force of nature humans instinctively know to respectfully fear and be careful around. Powers based around elements of the real world resonate with people easily.
@@rutt7147 true
I can confirm that as a black superhero,my only electric powers are the electric slide
You forgot to mention The Rock Dewayne Johnson, the most electrifying man in sports entertainment.
hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🤣😂🤣😂
He’s not black
@@tyota3334 his dad is black, so he's black.
@tyota3334 and he played ... that's right, Black Adam...
@@tyota3334 his dad is. Rocky Johnson.
By that same token, Miles Morales isn't black.
Did you not see the Nation of Domination era Rock?
I'm surprised you forgot Cloak, from Cloak & Dagger
Edit: You also should have thrown in Lock Rock from MHA since you mentioned keeping it Plus Ultra 👍🏼
Didn't know he was doing anime/manga.....that opens the door.....
Apparently the trope of black heroes having lightning powers comes from a black power joke
Joke?
@enzothunder2996 are you about to take offense to a trope someone didn't create?
He could be asking what the joke is lol
I feel like you got this information from a meme
@@ontoya1 somebody from Tumblr told me. I never actually said it was true.
It's not quite right to count the number of black superheroes without lightning powers and comparing that to the number of black heroes with lightning powers. A more accurate comparison would be to compare the quantity of lightning base heroes compared to quantity of psionic heroes, animal based heroes, technology based heroes etc.
Basically how does the percentage of lightning based powersets compare to the overall percentage of other powersets. I do agree though there are plenty of variation in black super powersets and I don't really see a problem in it cause they are flat out cool.
As a kid I wanted electric powers simply because it is one of the coolest and most realistic powersets period, especially when you think about the fact that electric eels exist.
Written to full potential lighting characteristics can be op base off physics alone. Now add in "powers" it a game changer. But you know that nor doing that.....unless it's a female never a male
Electricity is one of the coolest powers out there.
Like a lot of popular tropes, this one is probably based on the representation of black superheroes in TV and movies. As a comic book reader starting in the 80s, my first exposure to black superheroes were: Luke Cage, Storm, Blade, Bishop, and Steel (in that order). Storm was the only one with powers related to electricity, but I always considered it only one ability of her vast weather controlling powers.
Your a better man than me. I never like that storm a woman, whi in her own right got a spot over a black man. As boy reading and looking in comics. I could not dream or live though Strom or relate. She was love instruct of many. And only got black panther because of token love and backstop.
Even now I have yet to truly see a cosmic shaking black male mutant, that really omgea level in marvel who offensive powers, fighting ability, and leadership is considered a threat.
Xmen fan. Synch, sunspot and Maggot, dont have electric powers. Is Hammer from the six pack a mutant?
Jesse Aaronson (Bedlam and bedlam brothers) has an EMP from the new mutants. His brother has electrical powers that can disrupt biological things.
Thanks. I was about to mention Bedlam.
That was fun!
Do the "Ginger characters being changed to black characters" trope/myth?
Hahahaha. Not all but it do tends to be that way
For the longest time I didnt think that was a thing. I thought people was just getting mad at nothing. Then a friend of mine showed me a ton of examples. Real eye opener 👀
I feel like there is a little bit of merit to this, but overall it is in a complete exaggeration. Plus blatantly ignores all the times that they weren’t ginger, but weren’t replaced by a black person.
@@mizushogun I thought as you do, but it keeps happening.
@@Hillthugsta sure but my biggest issue with this argument is that it blatantly ignores all the times that they weren’t ginger, but weren’t replaced by a black person or a person of color for that matter.
Oooo do a video on Black Psionics (telepathy, tk, etc.) There aren’t many at all! It’s crazy
They would be a villian 😂.. Asap!
Great point. 😅
Nope, all I can think of is Jackson King who has telepathy and TK aka battalion, later The Weather man from Stormwatch
@@MRWJP4 it’s intentional in my opinion. There is most def a reason why this is
@@patricktyler4712 yep!!
A guy did ask why all Black characters have lightning powers and i asked why do all whites have psychic powers? I believe it was on your channel or Comics Explained but yeah you are absolutely right they don’t know every Black character and the ones they know are the ones with Lightning powers. I love the fact that they have Lightning powers and that psychics are weak against it
So you couldn't provide a answer, and sought this. Most blk in DC do have electricity powers. Most b tiers on DC do have a little more variety but not much.
Marvel has more variety but the characters barely get shown and rarely heard from again.
Most humans are gonna get folded by a taser let alone a full blown bolt of lightning. Ironically Electric based heroes are sandbagging hard since they should be crippling if not outright killing people.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hmHonestly I can count the Black characters in dc on a half of a hand 🤚🏾. As far as me not able to provide an answer…I did. This vid came up much later and it reminded me of that very question…but it almost seem like you’re upset that Blk characters even exists.
@0:30 ITS NOT THAT ALL BLACK SUPERHEROES HAVE ELECTRICITY POWERS, BUT RATHER, MOST ELECTRICALLY POWERED SUPERHEROES ARE BLACK... ITS A FINE NUANCE..
No, it is not. Please watch the whole video.
I wish there were more characters that aren't X hero but black that got more exposure
Never thought of Storm as “electricity-based”...
EDIT: She uses "atmokinesis" (thanks for the word, @jus-7421) which is a mind-power like Livewire (mentioned as a mental, non-electrical hero). Yes lightning is the obvious power, but a conjured hurricane by Storm has the power of dozens of nuclear bombs. Storm is so NOT an electrical hero. Sorry Earnie. Love ya buddy!
that was her main thing in the cartoon
Her powers are energy based, Specifically the various energies of the atmosphere are hers to mold.
It's why she can wreck mutants like Vulcan
She is not. She bends energy.
Her primary power is atmoskinesis. This is not just limited to Earth but includes extraterrestrial sources, anything with an atmosphere. That means she can manipulate the environment of stars as well.
Coming from a bloodline of powerful magic users gives her the potential to wield magic.
It is entirely fine not to think of Storm as electricity-based because you always understood her power is manipulation of weather and atmospheric conditions, but no one should be so shocked others fixate on her lightning.
Her most prominent attacks were often bolts of lightning or accompanied by them before people started leaning into the diverse range of atmospheric feats her abilities come with. Lightning heavy rain with high winds is most associated with storm conditions, and to this day her angered or powering up state is signified by sparks from her eyes.
It's not that deep; in saying that no one is limiting her to lightning casting.
Not all black superheroes have lightning powers... but the ones that don't have lightning powers are actually shape shifting aliens who choose to look like black folks when they come to earth and need to fit in.
Icon??
TF heha😅
What??
@@ryanbrown938yup 😂
You can kinda add Martian Manhunter to that too, especially with some modern stories.
No we had no choice but to love the electric based heroes because that’s all they presented to us in most depiction of the long term black hero!!
I agree somewhat, we had heros but we didn't demand them to be put in spot light.
❤❤❤ 8:25 "Ayyyee!! Black Falcon!!! A'ight Nah!!👴🏾" 😂... Bloodwynd,Ant , and Battalion descriptions took me out😂
"I'm green falcon!!!"
This makes me wonder why there aren’t more Black superhero films and tv shows.
Need companies willing to invest $$$ in them.
A damn good question
Now lets talk about black characters with white and/or blonde hair with blue eyes 👀 😂
I remember seeing some of them having white hair, but don't remember seeing many with blonde or blue eyes.
Why? There r black people with blonde hair and blue eyes.🙄
@@afro_princess1671 There are Blacks with natural blonde hair and blue eyes.
I would also like to add blonde and red hair......
@@Aevum13th The eyes i don't know but the blond hair was a trend in the 90/early 2000. Was something like rebel teen looks.
I think a bigger issue is that we never the prominent black male heroes raising black sons who are also gifted. Seeing them learning from their fathers would be awesome.
They always show black fathers and their daughters (who often take on the angry black woman sterotype) but hardly ever see them Raising sons.
Blue Marvel and his kids.
@@mizushogun does he get adequate 1:1 time with his son? Or is it just mix of him and his kids?
100% worst black male heros are not shown to be in top tier, alone others. They are usually under.
The only one I can think of is Mr Tefferic. He is considered DC comics 2nd smartness behind or on par with lex Luther. He is tech company billionaire, to me he what Tony stark wishes to be. But never written to his full potential unlike Tony stark.
Also you see plenty of powerful blk female characters in comics, especially in marvel, with no equally powerful males. Just look at what current storm is doing.
Some more characters without electricity powers he didn’t mention:
Cloak.
Bedlam.
Curtis Car.
Black Goliath.
Tom Foster.
Abe Brown.
The Prowler (616).
Rage.
3-D Man (Garret Jr).
Midnight’s Fire.
Casper Cole.
The Revenant.
Bronze Tiger.
Signal.
Marilyn Moonlight.
Andromeda.
Hawke.
Vigilante.
Duncan.
Doctor Mid-Nite (Elizabeth Chapel).
Orpheus.
Guardian (Jake Jordan).
Guardian II.
Hot Spot.
FireStorm (Jason Rusch).
KEEP IN MIND, that this is what I could pull from the mainstream continuity of Marvel & DC. There is still more.
Your right
I'm 46. My cousin and I have been having this conversation since the 90's.
Great content. Keep it up.
I noticed Black super heroes were either elemental based or animal based. And then watching this video I realized Black versions of white heroes should be added to the list. Let's see a video about that.
This Was Movies Not Comics But Meteor Man from 1993 he doesn't have Electricity powers he should have a new Comic Book series or TV show
90% of the electric power list is DC characters lol.
I always thought Electricity was just easier to draw.
The way some of you are trying to die on this hill for this argument is brazy. Especially y’all who keep moving the goalpost. Bottom line is no, the majority of black superheroes are not electricity based. It’s not “disproportionate” either. It’s not a “lack of imagination”. Are the most popular black heroes electricity based? Sure, but popularity is also based off demand. It’s clearly & truly coincidental and non-consequential.
Duke Thomas??? Day Time Batman who can control light and darkness
Why do people keep referring to Duke Thomas as "(insert) Batman?" I don't hear Nightwing referred to as "capeless Batman." Does anybody call Azrael "assassin Batman?" Or Ghost Maker "Batman with swords?"
@@YTUBENEWB spittin
lol! Even Huey in the boondocks took on Oprah's security with eltrostun gloves he made at home for the frugal revolutionary's budget
Want to know where its belief seems stems from. The superhero Black Lighting has a rare thing in comics in that his creator gets royalties if he appears in other media.
Which is why Black Vulcan exist in Superfriemds. Then in other superhero cartoons that had DC character they were worried Hannah Barbara owned Black Vulcan and made their own stand in for Black Lighting.
Kind of shows how terrible comic companies are to their talents.
Storm was supposed to be a werecat shape shifter too. A character called Black Cat but they merged her with another two characters. That's why Storm has large cat eyes in her in ths Giant Sized era.
I always assumed Black Cat was just a Catwoman knockoff. Cat motif, love interest for the protagonist, that's pretty Catwoman-ish to me. And of course Black Cat and Storm have different creators, (Black Cat was created by Marv Wolfman, Storm, of course, was created by Chris Claremont.)
@@jonbrewer297I just noticed too that Halle berry played Storm and cat woman 👀
@@Exaltedone1222 I was referring to Black Cat from Spider-Man.
On some other UA-cam Cntent creator (can't recall who), they said that the entire reason Black Vulcan was created for 'Super Friends" was that they wanted to use Black Lightning, but this was one of those rare incidences where the artist who created him actually owned the rights to the character, and he would have to be paid to use him, so they just make a knock off instead.
Also black Vulcan didn't even get name........unlike Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Dianna Troy,wally west, barry allen, hal Jordan....,
That scumbag ideal is truly old as hell. They refuse to give the creator their due unless they kiss ass and even then they can get froze out
When they could have just paid the artist
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Super-Friends just used code names. Which is probably for the best; it ran all the way through the creation of Jason Todd, which would confuse people. Can they say Dick Grayson's name on a kids' show?
I don’t really care about that because not all electrical based characters use their powers the same way. They also don’t have the same personality.
I make my own characters and some of them have electrical power but I differentiate them by personality and approach.
I've heard this trop before, but it's not the one that I think fits the most. I never liked how one dimentional a lot of male black characters are in a lot of comics. Their almost all smart, super serious, athletic geniuses with multiple PhD's and no chill whatsoever. The few exceptions are usually kids like Miles and Virgil(at least in a more light-hearted way) or more hood related like Luke or Blade but I found this to be even few and far between. This in itself isn't a bad thing, just a lack of imagination on the part of non-black writers trying to portray them in the most positive way, but none of them ever felt like they ever portrayed me, the average black guy. I mean, not everyone is born special, and yet have to become so just because the occasion demands it. Once again, nothing really wrong with these characters, just wish there was a little more variety in the people behind the mask and not just in what powers they may have.
I'm not sure why? (IMA GIANT COMIC NERD, but like the classic OG's Justice league 7, magic charcters, SUPERFAM and Batfamily, ETC.
But seeing all these Black Character and Superheroes made this Black Boy very happy.
Does anansi count? The apparent source of all Spider-Men?
Nobody knows who most these people are the main known characters do have electricity powers
I knew Static would be mentioned but he also has magnetic power and static/electromagnetic powers. much like a super conductor rail car in Japan
I was literally reading that issue of Irredeemable when it came out and asked myself, "Wait, that's a stereotype?" but I figured it was basically as this video sums up: most people not highly exposed to comics are only aware of the majority of Black characters having electricity/lightning in their power set.
Because of their popularity from cartoons like Super Friends through X-Men up to Static Shock, where Black Vulcan, Storm and Static set the stage, if people haven't seen much beyond that it can persist, but like many things there is wilful ignorance aplenty when they watch the same cartoons and don't register Bishop alongside Storm, Green Lantern and Vixen alongside Black Lightning, etc. and not conclude, "Ohhhhh, we haven't seen more than 1% of the Black superheroes in media!"
I disagree. Top tier heros are not usually black males. They are b and c tier. These characters are rarely needed and just to move plot along, be there, or take up page space.
Which most of the heros he show were. Worst they are tokens characters forced, reworked, or rehash due to non creativity that make you cringe.
Also alot of the characters are old rarely used.
They had new DC comic animated movie come out. In the last seen they recruit heros from DC multiverese. There is black hero wearing green name amazing man. But no one truly knew him or paid respect to him due to that.
Sometimes I feel its on the culture to know of its hero portrayed, those created, and those to create.
@@Googleisstupid-sk3hm Some of your points are correct, but the problem with summing up anything as an absolute is that it ignores the reason why this all is. Underrepresented groups did not have the resources, financial backing and industry recognition early enough to get into the the zeitgeist before the market got fairly saturated. Outside of a relatively small percentage of non-white, non-male or non-straight characters by the time there was a push for more diverse characters nearly every power under the sun was pretty much wielded in some way by a white, straight, male already; and there were already derivative white, straight, male characters around them wasting space, rarely needed and just there to move the plot along, appeal to a younger group, rehash an origin that played out with their predecessor, and sometimes, not always, make tweaks to either be edgy, contemporary or just make us cringe.
All of that is a matter of the signs of the time, but contrary to your denouncement of them as just B and C tier, derivative characters can become just as relevant as their original templates, or even more so if written well enough, promoted, and designed in a way that appeals to a newer set of eyes; and often there is an element of luck because the market is way too saturated to guarantee anyone is going to be a breakout in any community.
Let's take an example, Barry Allen is derivative of Jay Garrick, but because most are too young to have come up reading Jay, Barry had room to shine, and that was helped by the less saturated market and the absence of Jay for a while. Then Barry got objectively bigger than Jay ever was because he crossed into mainstream media and out of just the comics. Then along came Wally West (an unneeded character that was taking up page space, but represented wish fulfillment for kids alongside their hero); eventually shuffled off to the Teen Titans, but then was allowed to grow up as the assortment of teen heroes drew interest. Allowed to grow and replace the predecessor, he is now argued by a newer generation as even greater than Barry. Now that he has that prominence, existing alongside Barry doesn't diminish him (unless the powers-that-be feel Barry needs to be more prominent and start to marginalize Wally).
The difference though, is that doing a similar thing by letting John Stewart have the solo Lantern spotlight during Hal's absence didn't quite happen. Whereas Wally was the true, sole titular Flash for over a decade, John was among other Lanterns, and not too far from Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner having the spotlight. Still, he got prominence from mainstream animation promotion and became A-list. Something that doesn't hold up the same way when Barry was brought back because, as stated, his "spot" was divided up by the Kyle and Guy fans as well as those who couldn't let Hal go.
So with Hal around it is hard to see John as still an A-lister even though Kyle and Guy don't eclipse him: as opposed to with Barry around there is still a massive clamoring for Wally to be featured. That's not simply on the community of John's demographic, that's a symptom of him not being allowed to remain in sole focus AND a symptom of the outrage that simmered when it appeared Hal would have been kept second fiddle to John after his return and redemption. Basically, those with the power want to maintain their representation, and those selling the titles that are the big properties (your Batman through Flash to Green Lantern properties) want to keep being able to sell, so won't upset the apple cart as much.
Which brings us to non-derivative characters. They naturally had a harder time catching on because if one follows the money, for the large portion of history in the US population, the demographic with the vastly larger percentage of disposable income were (or presented as) white, male and straight, with interest in having white, male, straight heroes to identify with. One cannot ensure a comic character persists in the mainstream if there aren't dollars behind them to guarantee a long run. And a character rarely breaks out if the writing and art aren't up to snuff or uniquely appealing.
Put the interests of the 71% White population up against those of the 14% Black, and probably the 90% wealth of the former behind it and how does one think a lot of Black characters would break through? Usually by having forward thinking established White writers put their weight behind them until someone of the Black community makes their way into the medium and is allowed to cook. There we get the likes of Storm shining under Chris Claremont and now under Al Ewing, and propped by mainstream animation and live action depictions, a spot on lunch boxes, etc. Similar situations with Black Panther, and both of theres are in the A-list of Marvel characters.
Amazing Man (the character in green you're probably referring to over at DC) has not had that level of promotion, long suffering presence, acclaimed writer connections, etc. and was not lucky enough to have made the break when the medium was less saturated.
So while there is a nugget of truth to what you said about Black characters, it's the same nugget that applies to White or any other character, with the added challenge of where the power, money and promotion lies. The landscape isn't the same anymore, so a lot of others are flush with the cash to throw behind more diverse characters, but we can't forget the big name characters had a headstart AND the benefit of continuity of backing by the White majority. It is not as simple as just saying: "Let's go out there and put all our backing behind Night Thrasher" not without something that will cause a ground swell like Luke Cage being featured in live action, added to Spidey cartoons, etc.; and not without an established person in the spotlight like Spawn rising under the auspices of Todd MacFarlane when he made headlines as part of the Image wave; or Malcom Dragon allowed to shine in the absence of his established father; and none of them are truly A-list yet, but they have a better chance of being cemented as such with more exposure.
I thought it had to do with fighting over the rights of Black Lightening
I wasn’t aware that was a stereotype and I’ve been a superhero fan my whole life
9:17 who is just Samuel L Jackson
Also, just putting this out there. Lupita Nyongo was born in Mexico City. We claim Malice
😅 Before I watch this I'm commenting that I only know of 2 Static and Black lightning, and I found out abouts Black Lightning when his CW show dropped.
Can you do a video on tokenized black characters? I'd love to hear your opinion.
100% but that might knock out 50% and more of thus video 😂
Idk about every black superhero but Static Shock was dope AF from the original cartoon to Batman Beyond
True and miles Morales
I love this video. This is my frustration all these dope black characters are not utilized
I would call all dope, but yes they are cool.
From my understanding with point was about comics and not other media or manga.
At Marvel and DC the number of characters with electric powers is probably less than how many versions of spider man exist. So it would be far to say the majority of electric powered characters are not Asian
I took miles morales as trying to steal static shocks thunder. He’s got the power so I can imagine why you wouldn’t count him. The flash can throw lightning but his main power is “speed” lightning is a by product would you consider him a lightning character if not they that cuts down the number of electric users by almost half.
given the choice of elemental power, as a hispanic i'd also take electricity. it's a two-fer power, you also get to control magnetism, the force is electro-magnetism, one includes the other.
Real shit
Oh yeah? Did you say Moon Girl? That's another one that become/becoming popular for obvious reasons
Oh yeah, and Cloak that you show in the video later (too)
Unimportant nitpick but dcs thunderer and marvels manifold are aboriginal Australians not black men.
Also Gateway and Bishop.
Although the Bishop one is messy.
@christopherbennett5858 really? Bishop is half aboriginal? Didn't know that but then again I don't really keep up to date with marvel or dc comics much these days
@@metalmonkey0026 It’s one of those things that got confused so much over the years that I think a compromise was made.
E.g Bishop referring to Gateway as Grandfather. That could be biological or it could be in the sense of the wider aboriginal traditional communal sense.
@christopherbennett5858 one of the many problems with long running series going through different creative teams over decades.
Not every Black villain or Hero uses lightning Aqua lad is magic,Black Hulk , Spawn, Deadshot,Black Spider,Luke Cage is a Super soldier, Firestorm,Falcon,Nick Fury's brother,Batwing,Black Manta,Mr.Terrifc,Steel,Amanda Waller,Cyborg,Bronze Tiget, Battalion, Kill monger,Kang,and other's no one mentioned
I still get giddy when I see Battalion. I bought all of that Waller Vs Wildstorm book because he was in it.
He was my first favorite character when I started seriously getting into comics.
Thanks for mentioning him!
Real talk, black superheroes have evolved, because at one time they were just black copies of existing heroes.
The ones with their own unique identity, many of the popular ones just happend to be electric based. But Black Panther, Storm, Cyborg, and Power Man are some of the original black characters that held their own without being direct copies of other heroes AND without being electric based.
(Anyone who's read X-Men know Storm does more than lightning. She creates crazy hurricane and rain, making her multi-dimensional. Electricity is only one of her arsenals)
I mean yeah there’s more black characters who don’t have electricity powers but proportionally to the amount of total black characters it happens more often than with white characters or characters of any other race
That’s a bit of a reach & somewhat moving the goalpost. There are definitely more white people with just electricity powers, then black people.
There are more white characters with electricity, powers than black characters. You can easily type in electrokinesis Marvel database, that alone has tons of them.
@@mizushogunthere are more white characters than black period. I’m sure any powerset would have more white heroes than black
Why u leave out Lactuca, Isca, Genesis, Apocalypse, Shaard, Spike, Mijnari, Astrid Bloom (the only black telepath I can think of) and Melinda?
Night thrasher truely hurt by this video Blerd. Now he deserves a whole episode for him this month.
night thrasher is black iron man but a teen and extreme. See he use a skateboard.
I love Stacie and Storm
I just see this trope as divine black beings. Electricity is often seen as the highest power of a sky father God
That's where superheroes with electrical powers come from, alright.
Thank you SO MUCH for this video. I get that a lot of folks are using the "difficulty" of naming non-electricity based heroes/villains for views (and more power to em), but watching so many people who bash non-blerds not be able to name a handful of them has been irking me to NO END!!! LOL... Hopefully, this informs and sparks interest in more black comic book characters!!!
I never saw Sunspot aka Roberto da Costa to be black, aside from a darker complexion, although brazil is broken in the five racial classifications white,black, multiracial, asian and indigenous.
Got you Blerd you forgot the Bedlam brothers from the X-men. Not electricity but Electromagnetic. Bandit the brother of Nighthrasher.
15:02 tell em!
DOPE! Call out to ALL the other Non-Electrical based black superheroes. I've been telling folks for years.
Definitely agree that the perception that this is a trope, especially if considered a problematic one, is overblown. Sure, SOME of even the most prominent Black characters in the most popular comics have eletricity-based powers but it's definetly not the majority. Not really related, but it made me think of it, I wonder if the perception that Black main characters in animation don't spend a lot of their screentime being Black humans but instead animals or other inhuman figures is valid or overblown as well
Excellent point, Vixen in DC comics I portrayed as sumomimg animals power. In Conan cartoon the black man could control,communicate with animals, falcons from.mavel used to talk to command birds(pigeons 😂). Most black characters are not shown superpowers.
Heck when Jon steward green latern came out they went nuts. He's the only show with Justice league, besides cyborg who's was your typical blk make football player that got messed up, and made part machine. That's it, he's literally a man/robot part......
Honestly idk electricy powers are cool either way. Also my firestorm is he black and got nuclear fire
No one said they ALL are, that would’ve obtuse and just wrong. But there is prevalence of lightning/electric themed characters that are Black.
Sure, but the argument can easily go the other way with white characters. There are more white characters with electricity
powers than black characters.
@@mizushogun well duh…there are a lot more white mutants/meta human characters in general.
@@midnitehour1 i’m just pointing out that it doesn’t make that much prevalent
@@mizushogun but it is prevalent because there are far fewer black characters and many of them, the most notable, do have the electric powers. Bringing up white characters doesn’t change that lol. Last I’ll say on this cause your being deliberately obtuse now. Thanks.
@@christianrapper and I literally just said, in my very first post that it’s not all Black characters, so what’s your point lol
I actually do complain about how many superheroes have flight and super strength. It's kinda boring to me.
First of all, thank you for dispelling this. Gives me way more ammo than I had before for this argument. Also shout out for the intentional/unintentional shine you just have to nearly 100 Black superheroes. Well done sir.
Ok,this young man is on another level
About the legacy character thing, if we are going to have legacy characters at all, if we are going to make some superheroes a mantle that can be passed, then I absolutely think we should change race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, and I'm not just saying that because I'm half Asian and really like Amadeus Cho.
This video just reminded me of the topic how Native American characters tend to have Spiritual/Shaman powers paired with Hunter tracking abilities. But to be honest I have no problem with it, those kinds of powers are always dope. My favorite is Nightwolf.
Honestly, they’re cool.
Although, the only one who isn’t to my knowledge is Forge and his whole deal is that he’s secretly mystic and doesn’t want to delve into that.
Pretty sure The Signal aka Duke Thomas is another one without lightning based abilities.
Also I’m black. I got Static, Storm, Black Lightning, Miles, and Kaldur. I am NOT about to start rallying against that trope.
Seems like a bigger problem is why so many black characters getting Superman's powers?
I've talked with Africans and Egyptians and none of them consider themselves black. A lot of them consider it an insult when even referring to them as black lol, made that mistake a few times and got lectured.
One thing that is true! 99% of black people know how to do the electric slide⚡ boogie woogie woogie
When you take away characters like Storm or Monica Rambeau, whose power sets may include lightning or electricity but are actually so much more than that, the gap becomes much greater
Funny enough, when i heard about this trope, which surprised me, i wanted to use this trop myself. I love lighting so why not.
Was this really a hill somebody tried to die on? That trope was always just more an hyperbolic statement due to the lightning based heroes ended up being more popular and showing up in actual media.
3:47 lol of course the ones they race-swapped were again originally redhead characters... they do stick to the script.
The obvious reasoning behind this is: black people look way cooler with white glowing eyes
Not all black heroes has electric powers, but 90% of electric based characters are black. So i can see why some say this
Milestone comics was/is an all minority comics group. Plenty of black people with powers. Good and evil. I love it.