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I just finished reading the collected omnibus of TOP 10 by Alan Moore, which is a comic about Neopolis, a city where everyone has superpowers (the hotdog vendor cooks his food with heat vision) and the cops who have to enforce the law.

It was a great series that will never allow me to read any DC Comic book ever again.

So here's my two questions dear Dakkanauts... if you had a superpower that would be helpful in life, what would it be?

And would you use your power for the common good or more selfish purposes?

My preferred super power, is the super power to be utterly ignored by all frogs and toads.

Make of that what you will.

Precognition could be very useful.

I mean realistically speaking, if you're willing to overlook it from an ethical standpoint, some form of mind control via telepathy or pheromones like the Purple Man would be very broken, especially depending on your functional range, since you're basically set for life if you keep it low-key, being able to secure jobs, property, and money that you want, and manipulate people as you see fit. Probably not great long-term mental health wise since it'll definitely give you some sort of god complex and it'll mess up you being able to have relationships with people, but as far as material wealth/living goes, you're good to go.

If we're going the ethical route, creating portals to travel through with other people/items instaneously would be great. It means commuting to work or going on vacation is no longer an issue, you don't have to rely on planes or cars to get to places. It also means you can start your own courier service where you can actually do same day deliveries and it could revolutionize supply chain, though you'd have to avoid it being shown in public as otherwise you'd be a target for every government in the world for being a potential terror threat with being able to instantly drop bombs and other deadly threats into places, not to mention troops or hit squads.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
My preferred super power, is the super power to be utterly ignored by all frogs and toads.

Make of that what you will.

Are you saying you're afraid of making toads/frogs into princes? Cause it sounds like you've had a history of kissing them then

If I had my pick, from a practical PoV, I'd like to have some sort of Regeneration/Healing Factor.
1) I wouldn't need to worry about my CLL, low end Diabetes, the damage to my right knee, etc
2) It'd save me a LOT of $ & hassle insurance wise.
3) With 1 & 2 covered I'd also have much less stress in my life.

I don't think automatically using my healing factor counts as selfishness.
Of course if it was strong enough? I might well consider taking on dangerous tasks.

Every dream I've ever had in which I had a power, it was flight. Which is hilarious, because I hate being on airplanes and I'm generally afraid of heights.

I wish I could conjure things like in the realm of magic...

So when some internet temptress starts talking about cookies, I could summon some fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies that taste like they were fresh from the oven...


That and spending would disintegrate as I have essentially become a Star Trek replicator.

The power of reliable wishing. If it can be structured to avoid the whole Bedazzled thing of the wishes being deliberately misinterpreted into the worst possible version each time and loopholed into oblivion, then it provides the opportunity for all possible superpowers and some judicious good for mankind as well. Care needed to prevent just becoming a dictator.

 Flinty wrote:
The power of reliable wishing. If it can be structured to avoid the whole Bedazzled thing of the wishes being deliberately misinterpreted into the worst possible version each time and loopholed into oblivion, then it provides the opportunity for all possible superpowers and some judicious good for mankind as well.

Yeah, but where's the fun in that?


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 Lathe Biosas wrote:
So when some internet temptress starts talking about cookies, I could summon some fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies that taste like they were fresh from the oven...

You are really hung up those cookies...

I left my robot masters for cookies...

What's that ChatGPT? You have brownies?

Why didn't you say so earlier...

This topic makes me wonder if anyone would actually make a half-decent Green Lantern.

Guardian: Sorry, your Ring is enhanced by your Willpower.

Gamer: Oh, I didn't think the Ring would know that I cheated on my diet and overspent on cool new GW toys this month.

Guardian: Yeah, we're gonna need that Ring back.

Shapeshifting, every time. I'll admit that the common good isn't going to get much of a look in, but I like to believe I wouldn't use my powers to do harm - no impersonating VIPs or pulling off heists, that sort of thing just invites attention, and part of the attraction of the power is the ability to use it without there being any evidence that you're using it, thus minimising the chances of being dragged off to a lab for dissection. (Similar to telepathy in that regard, except I'm far from sure I want to know what's in anyone else's head.) Provided I remember to only shift in private, but so far in life I've managed to not accidentally start changing clothes in public, I imagine it'll be a similar skill I won't have too much trouble with. So I guess I'd be a selfish superbeing, but so far as using my power for advantage goes, it'd only be tailoring myself to get a positive reception in whatever situation I'm in; nobody's getting hurt, apart from in their wallet when they overspend on my onlyfans, or all those runners-up at cosplay contests.

 Vulcan wrote:
Precognition could be very useful.

To me that’s a terrifying ability to have. As most often, it seems to be knowing what’s going to happen - good or bad - and being powerless to prevent it. Even if you try. Or you don’t try. You’ve seen what’s coming, and it’s coming. Your action or inaction will only allow it to happen.

I wont use specific examples, as I don’t think that adds anything to the conversation. But just think of all the horrible things that have happened in the world across your lifetime. Then add the sure and certain knowledge that was going to happen, possibly years before it, and not being able to prevent it.

Nope. No thank you. I’m living in Wee Me’s future as it is. And that’s awful enough without also having the knowledge of what is to come.

Eh. I've forseen quite a few problems over the decades and lived with not being able to change any of them. At least with the actual power I could at least profit from it more easily.

Time Manipulation would be the best, even if you could reverse Time a few moments.

It would make everything from romance (If I say something stupid I can rewind and try again... and again... and again...) to well pretty much everything.

But there, you may spend your life replaying and replaying and replaying in search of the mythical “perfection”, and while your life away. Whilst driving yourself insane.

 Quixote wrote:
Time Manipulation would be the best, even if you could reverse Time a few moments.

It would make everything from romance (If I say something stupid I can rewind and try again... and again... and again...) to well pretty much everything.

This was my thought. The ability to rewind and just not put my foot in it would remove so much pain from my life!

Or telepathy; the ability to know what someone else is actually thinking.

Can you tell that I’m socially awkward?!

While many other powers would be fun (telepathy, flight, invisibleness, etc.) I think the power I'd have if given the choice would be Voice of God (I.e Garth Ennis' Preacher). It's the ultimate superpower. Being able to command anyone to do anything you say would solve a lot of problems very quickly.

Global command is just a few televised interviews away.

The ability not only to know when someone is lying, but what they’re lying about, and, this bit is super important, why.

I’m getting pretty good at that in my professional capacity, and am more often accurate than not.

But for comic book purposes? Knowing the Why allows for discretion. After all, telling lies isn’t inherently wrong. There are many reasons for us to tell porkies where it’s justified, such as protect a kid, a friend or a family member. And it’s that discretion that makes you heroic.

Luck.

I don't need anything for myself but please give me a Death Note so I can sort out all of this *gestures vaguely*

Here's one for the world.

The power to make other people seriously consider alternate points of view instead of dismiss them out of hand.

That also would go a long way to sorting out 'all of this'.

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:The ability not only to know when someone is lying, but what they’re lying about, and, this bit is super important, why.

I’m getting pretty good at that in my professional capacity, and am more often accurate than not.

But for comic book purposes? Knowing the Why allows for discretion. After all, telling lies isn’t inherently wrong. There are many reasons for us to tell porkies where it’s justified, such as protect a kid, a friend or a family member. And it’s that discretion that makes you heroic.

You should read the Mindstar Rising trilogy by Peter F Hamilton, that’s basically the main characters power. Mid-90’s cyberpunk detective noire, which sits in the uncomfortable category of becoming somewhat more realistic as we get closer to the timeframe.

Skinflint Games wrote:Luck.

Luck isn’t a superpower!

Everyone should read Peter F Hamilton’s work. It is wondrous. Greg Mandell is a great protagonist. Also the idea of the. British Army having a Psi-Corps just makes me giggle every time

I'd have the power to have lots and lots of powers

Eric Cartman is not always wrong


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Flinty wrote:
Everyone should read Peter F Hamilton’s work. It is wondrous. Greg Mandell is a great protagonist. Also the idea of the. British Army having a Psi-Corps just makes me giggle every time

Great stories

 Mr Morden wrote:
I'd have the power to have lots and lots of powers

Peter Petrelli-style or Sylar-style?

1 of 2:

1: The Serious Answer - Healing factor on a level of Wolverine when adamantium removed.
Provides long life, almost instant regeneration as long as a few cells remain somewhere. It still hurts (there should always be a recognised downside to any superpower).

2: The not so serious answer. The power to cause anyone to violently and uncontrollably poop themselves with a thought.

 BorderCountess wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
I'd have the power to have lots and lots of powers

Peter Petrelli-style or Sylar-style?

Superman / Invincible Style - flight, superspeed, superstrength, senses, healing etc etc

 Mr Morden wrote:

 BorderCountess wrote:

 Mr Morden wrote:
I'd have the power to have lots and lots of powers

Peter Petrelli-style or Sylar-style?

Superman / Invincible Style - flight, superspeed, superstrength, senses, healing etc etc

And easily defeated by magic?

I always loved the idea of Nightcrawlers' "BAMF" teleport ability. If I could have that without the blue skin or three toes, that would be my pick. Just seems fun to bamf around in a puff of black smoke around the house