If you want your mundane character to go head to head with the supers, that’s a lot harder. There’s just no realistic way Batman will ever be as good in a fight as Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, etc. This is why the best stories about Batman in the Justice League tend to focus on his detective skills rather than his fighting skills. Even after getting his sword, Sokka is no match for the other characters in a fight, but that’s fine because Sokka’s contributions to the group are tactics and planning. This is what’s known as the Sokka approach. The easiest way to make a mundane character matter in a super-powered team is to give them expertise in things beyond hand-to-hand combat, which is what most superpowers are used for. Marvel gets away with this because they’re a multi-billion dollar film franchise with super high production values, and so most people agree not to care about goofs like this, but the rest of us mere mortals have to try a little harder. He should be dead a hundred times over when he takes the same kind of hits they do, but for some reason he never is! Captain America is explicitly not bulletproof, whereas most of the other Avengers are. It comes up any time characters drastically differ in power levels. Heck, this isn’t even just a problem for mundane characters. I guess Cap and Widow’s powers are about on the same level in this scene! When Black Widow, a normal human who works out a lot, punches an alien, they grunt and get knocked back a little. I call this phenomenon “power-leveling.” Remember that fight where Captain America and his crew take on Thanos’ minions at the start of Infinity War? You’ll notice that when Cap, someone with supernatural strength, punches an alien, they grunt and get knocked back a little. Black Widow and Hawkeye should both be dead a hundred times over as they go up against enemies scaled for Thor and Iron Man. The main problem is, as you’ve guessed, this gets unrealistic really fast, and most superhero stories are way past the event horizon of believability. We inherently cheer for the underdog, and how better to illustrate that than a character with no powers in a world of supers? There’s something extra likable about a character who has to work harder and show greater ingenuity than their peers.
#BADASS PACIFIST FULL#
It’s totally possible to have a Badass Normal in a story that’s otherwise full of super-powered characters, and in fact, this character is almost always a fan favorite. So the bottom line of my question would be – is there any way to make the Badass Normal trope work? Or is it one of those tropes that need to be dropped from a story?
In addition, your article on oppressed mages also highlights a point on why muggles wouldn’t stand a chance. My reason for asking is because I know there are many writers who are dismissive of this trope due to the unrealism of it all (such as Orion’s Arm referring to this trope as the “Plucky Baseline Syndrome”). Is it realistic to have a non-powered hero in a super-powered setting be able to kick just as much ass as their super-powered compatriots or even able to take down a superhuman in a fight? (Think Hawkeye and Black Widow in The Avengers, or Batman in Justice League and the ilk.) Hi, I’d like to know what your take is on the Badass Normal trope.
0 kommentar(er)
