What's the Best Superpower? part III: And the Winner Is...

Alright, it's time for me to finally answer the question that all comic book geeks will inevitably ask of themselves and each other: what is the best superpower?

I started writing about this question a few days ago, and have since followed it up with another post as I realized how complex and nuanced this question actually is.  Now that I've set up the terms and conditions, it's time to finally pick a winner.  So, let's get down to it!

So, I've established a few things up to this point:

1. It's not all about the powers.  It's also about environment, your tactical cognition, and some other external factors, like luck.  No one ability can trump another all the time, in every possible situation.
2. You will be placed in a comic book or other fictitious world or setting, where there are other super-powered individuals to work with or against.
3. You will be given a power set as opposed to a single superpower.  For instance, super-strength could have a direct relation to enhanced durability.  It doesn't mean you automatically get multiple powers; you would have to develop or discover all but the first, which would emerge spontaneously.

With all this in mind, here are a few favorites I've considered, and why:

Telekinesis

This one is a favorite of many Jedi aspirants and Jean Grey devotees, and it certainly does have its appeal.  The ability to move things with your mind would give you a potentially huge advantage over just about anyone in a fight.  Hulk too strong for you?  Levitate him and toss him back a few blocks.  Need to fly somewhere?  It might take a lot of training and concentration, but you could probably use this ability to develop flight as a power stunt.

Plus, consider the possibilities here.  You can move things with your mind, not just objects.  This could be a possible gateway to other power stunts, such as elemental manipulation (earth would be easiest, but fire?  That would take talent), energy manipulation, and so on, depending on how advanced you go with it.  With enough imagination and training, this psionic ability could allow you access to a multitude of other powers.

Drawbacks?  At least one big one comes to mind.  First off, you need to be able to concentrate and focus when you use these abilities.  I would imagine that the more advanced your tricks are, the more you'd need to concentrate.  If an enemy uses abilities or circumstances that disrupt your ability to do this, you'll become pretty useless in a fight.  Storm has very slyly used this tactic on Jean Grey during at least one Danger Room session, to astonishing effect.

Telepathy

Another favorite among aficionados of this debate, this potentially devastating power set could allow you to defeat your opponent without even lifting a finger.  Forget being able to read their thoughts to anticipate their moves--already a very cool thing.  Imagine telling your opponent to simply stop attacking you and to restrain themselves--and they do.

Aside from the ability to read and send thoughts, there's a lot of room here to develop power stunts that will expand this awareness and exert external control over the minds of others.  Astral projection, anyone?  Or, instead of just being able to make opponents follow your mental orders, you simply take control of their minds, and through that, their bodies?  I've even seen instances where telepaths develop a kind of mental blast, basically frying their opponents' brains through telepathy in combat.  Personally I think that's a bit of a stretch, but I can't argue that this precedent hasn't been set.

Drawbacks?  Like with telekinesis, and really any ability that involves fine external manipulation, you need to be able to concentrate.  Also, telepaths are often targets of the first wave of any attack, as a savvy strategist knows how they can often take out multiple opponents at once.  Defenses are often developed specifically against them--think Magneto's helmet, for instance--which would render them otherwise powerless against an opponent.

Gravity Manipulation

I think what appeals to me about this set is the number of practical uses you could put it to.  Need to move a heavy piece of furniture?  Reduce the gravity around it, and suddenly you can move it yourself!  Want to piss off your little sister?  Subtly increase her personal gravity so she mysteriously gains weight when she steps on the scale!

Obviously there are a multitude of powers you could develop from this set.  Flight, by manipulating, deleting, and directing gravitons.  Stuns, by increasing someone's personal gravity by a lot and essentially rooting them to the ground.  Mimicking of super-strength by reducing the gravity of objects and other people.  And I'm sure there are plenty of imaginative types out there who can think of even more uses for this set.

Concentration is a major drawback of this power set, just like with telekinesis and telepathy.  Another glaring weakness is that you need... well... gravity to use this superpower.  Essentially, this set is useless in outer space.  Stay out of the spaceways if you have this power set and want to use it effectively.

Energy Blasts

Come on, who hasn't thought of this one?  Having the ability to call forth a destructive burst of energy is one of the simplest, yet most viscerally appealing ideas in comics.  Something in your way?  Just blast it into a million pieces. Don't like close-quarters fighting?  Get back and pick people off from far away.  It's a simple, but effective power set.

The big weakness of the energy blast is that it doesn't really allow for much in the way of development.  If you're lucky, over time you can learn to control and manipulate the type of energy to blast, but history generally relegates energy wielders to being blasters.  There's also the issue of your reputation for destruction, which, while it may not directly affect a fight, may have huge ramifications about the circumstances of any conflict.  Finally, energy wielders usually have some big limitation on their destructive ability, be it the inability to control it or the need to store it up for a long time before building up enough energy to release effectively.

While all these powers are great, and I considered them strongly, there can be only one set that's a winner.  And the winner is...

Power Mimicry

Call me a glutton for punishment, but I think this power is the most versatile and potentially useful of all other power sets out there, particularly if you can figure out a way to extend and develop it.  It calls for an extremely high level of tactical cognition to use effectively, and effectively gives you a taste of virtually every superpower out there.   

In the short term, it essentially puts you on (somewhat) equal footing with any other super-powered opponent you come  up against, with the one big caveat that they're likely to have used their own superpower a lot longer than you have.  Sure, you might be able to mimic Superman's strength and ability to fly, but he's been using them for decades, and likely knows how to use them more effectively than you will.  

In the long term, it could make you one of the smartest and most effective fighters in your world--assuming you survive enough battles and take enough lumps.  Think about it.  You'll have learned to change tactics quickly, play to your strengths by adjusting and improvising quickly, and know how to use a wide range of abilities wielded by other super-powered individuals.

If you want to go all Peter Petrelli with this, the possibilities become limitless.  Imagine being able to summon any power you've mimicked in the past, at will.  Imagine being able to work with and develop any of them.  It'd take a lot of training and a lot of time, but potentially, this power could rule them all.

In the interim, though, you'd have to be a clever fighter.  And I'm a fan of any ability that makes you have to constantly push your own boundaries to be effectively used.

Power mimicry, for the win!

What's the Best Superpower? part II: Environmental Considerations

When I wrote about having the best superpower, I established that, first and foremost, the superpower alone isn't going to determine victory in a fight.  It's going to depend on how you use it versus how your opponent uses his or her own abilities, what kind of environment you're fighting in, and oftentimes just how lucky you are. With so many variables in play, there really is no one perfect superpower suited to all situations.

I'd like to set some rules about the macro-environment in which you would answer this question.  G-Man establishes that you would be put in a comic book world and allowed one superpower--only one.  Fair enough on first glance, but before we go on, I'd like to set up a couple of other scenarios by changing around some of the terms of his premise.  For instance, consider:

• The World: what if you were given superpowers in "this" world, or real life?  There are, of course, no other people in this world known to have the kinds of superpowers you find in comic books (at least, not conclusively proven).  This would change the entire way you thought about this question, as there are no other metahumans you may potentially have to fight, work with, or otherwise compete against.  You'd be the only person in this world with, say, flight, or invisibility or super-strength.  It doesn't mean you wouldn't have to have a high level of tactical cognition, however.  If you became a threat because of your powers, the government or some other entity would try to find people, ways, and methods to take away your power or use it against you.  You'd also have to deal with the possibility that the world would fear and hate you due to your remarkable difference from the rest of the world.  Sound familiar?
• Superpower: what if we thought of powers a little more liberally--say, power sets as opposed to a single superpower?  I think this question bears consideration, as it seems a little constricting to say, "You can only have super-strength and nothing else.  You can punch through steel and lift cars and nothing else.  At. All."  Usually powers tend to come in a set.  For example, super-strength is usually far more than just that.  Where the strength comes from and how it manifests could have potentially far-reaching ramifications for a new young hero.  Take a look at the Hulk.  Yeah, he's super-strong, but is that all?  Absolutely not!  He's also nigh invulnerable, also from the gamma bomb incident!  I think it's generally fair to assume that invulnerability--a separate power for this and most other such purposes--is a possible ability that either comes with or can be developed within a super-strength power set.  Games such as City of Heroes and X-Men Legends/Marvel Ultimate Alliance often make allowances for developing such related-yet-different power groupings.

For the purpose of my answer to this question, I'm going to change up the terms slightly.  I agree with G-Man in that this question is most fairly answered by placing yourself in a comic book or fantasy world with other superpowered heroes and villains (though I do think the scenario I proposed is worth thinking about).  I do think, however, that my own inclination towards power sets will take precedence when I answer.

Next time around I'll explore several top contenders for ideal power sets before naming off the one I think would work best for me.  Until then, enjoy!

What's the Best Superpower? part I: It's Not Just About the Powers

Thanks to this article on Comicvine, I've spent the last couple of days thinking of my own consistent answer to the question all comic book geeks ask, debate, and fight over.  Put succinctly, which comic book power is the best?

Of course, with the question phrased in such an open-ended manner, it's very easy to argue endlessly about which power is better than that power, and why it would trump or be trumped by that power over there.  It's one of the things that make superhero comics such a joy to read and discuss with others, since the possibilities are virtually endless.  Some powers work better under particular conditions than others, and various settings and environments can make a huge difference.

"I'm kind of useless on a hot, dry day!"

Let's use Bobby Drake, the Iceman, as an example.  He has the mutant ability to pull moisture from the surrounding air, convert it to frozen solid water (you know, ice), and utilize ice in various ways: armor, projectiles, ice slides, and so on.  It's a pretty cool power--pun intended--but what happens in less than ideal conditions?

I'm sure Bobby will be fine for battle on a cold day or a during the regular span of temperatures, but what happens when things get abnormally hot?  What if he has to do battle in Hell, or the Stygian abyss of Mephisto's realm (arguably the same as Hell) or Houston, Texas in August (also arguably the same as Hell).  I don't know if it's purely psychological, or if there is a temperature threshold at which Bobby's ice powers simply start to impair, but it's an issue that's caused him more than one moment of doubt as an X-Man over the years.

So, we know ice powers aren't flawless.  Technically, no power is.  It's all in how you use them, and how smart you are about it.

Avatar: the Last Airbender supported this theory by showing that no bending element was superior to another.  It all depended on the bender's particular mastery of their element, how smart they were about fighting with it, and the skill of the opposing bender.

"Power in firebending comes from the breath,
not the muscle!"

Prince Zuko, who turned out to be an excellent firebender by the series' end, is a prime example of this.  He was not a smart fighter when we see him at the beginning of season one: he wastes energy on over-large movements, doesn't focus on his breath control, and expends energy by depending on his temper.  Eventually he becomes a more efficient fighter, learning the value of hitting an opponent's weak points with a relatively little energy.  By the time he takes on Aang as a firebending pupil, he's learned a good deal of control, both internal and external, over his abilities, and truly is one of the better firebenders out there.

I make these points to illustrate that, oftentimes, powers alone aren't going to decide the outcome of a battle.  It's simply not going to be the only factor, nor even necessarily the most important one.  Environment, opponent awareness and your own resourcefulness are going to have huge, and often decisive effects on any super-powered brawl.

Which is why I must respectfully disagree with G-Man's answer in the article linked above.  Super-intellect, which is his choice for best power, does not necessarily cover sound tactical and strategic thinking.  It covers science smarts, amassed knowledge, and ability to apply those things in a practical way to aid in a fight.  Is it useful?  Very definitely, but it certainly does not guarantee that whoever has it will always be a smart fighter.  I would posit that what G-Man actually means to be a power is actually a learnable skill, one that many people with lower IQs than Reed Richards or Hank Pym have learned and used against them in combat.

Captain America has this skill.  Emma Frost has this skill.  Hell, we've recently seen Spider-Man take this skill and use it in conjunction with his own high intellect to whip up armor, tech, and gadgets to combat the Sinister Six, but he also regularly applies it in combat as well.

I think this particular skill--we'll call it tactical cognition--is something that is learnable by all super-powered individuals, usually through direct combat experience.  Furthermore, it is something that is virtually indispensable to a hero's continued survival.  This is a skill that is needed by all superheroes no matter what other powers and abilities they have, though to what degree they would need it would often depend on their role in a given situation.  I definitely don't consider it the same as super-intellect.

Hmm.  I've started out asking one question, and seem to have veered into a multi-part answer.  Next time I address this, I'll set some ground rules for selecting a power.  For now, just keep in mind that the powers themselves aren't the only part of the equation, and not even necessarily the most important factor.  Smarts, environment, resourcefulness, and probably a lot of other factors I've failed to mention can influence or even decide a battle.  

It isn't just about what powers you're packin', True Believers.  That point, to me, is probably the most important part of the answer to this question.