Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Long Live the Legion! Using Super-Powers to Their Fullest Potential

Hi, everybody!

The thread on how Matter-Eater Lad's powers could be revamped got me thinking about how Karate Kid's and the Infinite Man's powers could be used to their fullest potential. Fortunately, there is some precedent for "amping up" a Legionairre's power, as Giffen and Levitz showed with Cosmic Boy just after the completion of the Great Darkness saga (I love the idea of him being able to fly along the Earth's magnetic lines and controlling his foes through the very iron in their bloodstreams).

So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on how Karate Kid's and the Infinite Man's powers could be heightened without being totally revamped:

Karate Kid:

In the real world, some martial arts masters are impervious to physical blows and cannot be physically moved by others no matter how hard they try. This ability is frequently attributed to a mystical energy commonly called "chi." Surely, then, it wouldn't inappropriate to depict Karate Kid as having these defensive abilities, too, in addition to his usual array of offensive abilities, would it?

The Infinite Man:

It seems to me that the Infinite Man's primary ability is to summon things from throughout time and space. In the past he has mostly used animals and other living beings to attack the Legion; however, I think that he should be able to summon forces from throughout all of time and space as well, such as vulcanic erruptions, nuclear explosions, or perhaps even blasts from the Big Bang itself, for example. This would certainly be dramatic, to say the least, wouldn't it?

Just a couple of thoughts anyway. Please feel free to comment on them, or to propose ways in which other Legion characters' powers could be better used to their fullest potential.

Cheers!

Sorry to riff on my own replies to other posts, but in contributing to the thread concerning issue number six of the LSH, I've also subsequently made the following observation about the fullest use of Projectra' power:

Didn't Sensor do that against Mordru?

Yep. And for that matter Saturn Girl did it against Universo.

I'd definitely like to see Projectra take total control of an enemy's senses. Even if they were far more physically powerful, she could wear them down over hours, as they fought illusory foes, collided with invisiblized walls, moved into airless environments without realizing it...they might never know who they were really fighting until they lost consciousness.

Oh, I forgot about the Sensor/Mordru and Saturn Girl/Universo battles, guys.

And I'm excited that Projectra could also use her powers in the ways you've mentioned, SiliconDream.

Hello, moderators!

Would one of you be able to ammend the title of this thread to just "Using Super-Powers to Their Fullest Potential"? Thanks, regardless of whether or not you can (I don't seem to be able to).

Note: Consider it done

Oh, one other possibility--Projectra could reclaim some of Sensor Girl's sensory abilities, not by having amped senses herself, but by hacking into the perceptions of others. Stands to reason, if she can manipulate what they see, she might be able to see through their eyes as well. Possibly jump into the sensory field of anyone in range of her senses, then jump to anyone they could sense, and so on.

I admit I'm largely drawing on the "brainhacks" from Ghost in the Shell here--characters often hijack targets' brains to borrow their eyes, or psychologically disable them by editing their perception of reality. Projectra could be the scariest girl alive if she got good at that stuff.

It might not be that appropriate to this version, though, if she's going to be generating all her illusions mystically...I was thinking of her more as a specialized telepath. We'll have to see how her powers work when she gets 'em.

On KK, I'd avoid granting him default semi-invulnerability...to my mind that shifts him more to having "real" superpowers like Dragonball characters. And while there's nothing wrong with that, it takes away somewhat from his uniqueness. That said, I certainly wouldn't mind him having a temporary "defensive stance" or something that, with sufficient focus and concentration, let him take otherwise lethal hits. There are also a lot of possibilities for him in terms of pain resistance, control over his own bloodflow, etc. Remember when he got stabbed and didn't even notice it?

As for the Infinite Man...well, he's damn near God already, isn't he? I would like to see some creativity in his spacetime manipulations--pulling toxic substances from other times/places, as you suggest, or moving the local environment into the vacuum that was here three hours ago when the Earth wasn't in this region of space--but the Legion's probably not going to win if that happens.

I'd agree with SiliconDream about KK. Just tap into his already existing powerbase (such as it is) and just have him be the best prepared fighter in the Legion. Certain near superhuman feats would be cool once in a while, such as when he studied a prison cell force field for weaknesses while XS fretted about their situation. (*sigh* I guess with this reboot there's no chance of the possible XS/KK romance I'd hoped for way back when...)

If anything, I think he'd be best used as the Legions tactics specialist. Brainy comes up with strategies, Val figures out the best way to enact them.

Mark Waid has used what I've always thought was a natural extension of Triplicate Girl's powers. Each body can learn something and the knowledge gets integrated when she remerges.

That vacuum of space idea rocks. It may not kill the Legion because of their revamped flight rings, but it sure would suprise 'em!

Good idea; a very logical extension of his martial arts wisdom.

I'll be the first to admit that Waid is doing a good job with KK; all I want is for his chi to be used, too.

I think that illusion is a phenomenally effective power that Jeckie has rarely used to full tactical effect. For instance, no enemy should ever know where she is. If you can't trust your senses, you can't act confidently. And as Jack Pallance used to say, confidence is everything.