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Deputy
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Originally posted by Barry Kitson:
His mimicry isn't always totally accurate - hence the giant Brainiac head in the same scene. I thought his Brainy was the most accurate impersonation of all! 
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Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
Cham's capacity to duplicate the abilities of the forms he imitates has varied somewhat over the years, so it's probably difficult to come up with an explanation which would explain all of the various cases.
The way I tend to think about it is that he can duplicate abilities that derive from large-scale strutural features of the organism, such as the bone structure of birds allowing him to fly, but can't duplicate abilities that primarily rely upon micro-structure, such as the cellular structure of Kryptonians. But then, back in the Silver Age he was able to outright turn intangible, which certainly doesn't seem like a structural feature. Okay, Silver Age, not supposed to make sense...but later, an actively scanning Mon-El was unable to detect Chameleon Chief in rock-form while he was leaning against the guy. That suggests that Durlans duplicate so finely as to fool even Daxamite microvision. I'm not sure there's any limit on their shapechanging other than "no duplicating powers which would make them unfairly powerful...." Originally posted by BouncingBear:
I have a question about Chameleon and his race. In the original series it was shown that the shape and color that Chameleon presents to the world is not their true shape. I believe their true shape involved tentacles? So...is the orange humanoid shape real or just a mask the Durlans use to hide their true shape? At least in reboot continuity, Durlans didn't really have a true shape; different tribes on Durla chose different forms.
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Reservist
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Does Barry's explanation mean that Cham can duplicate two lifeforms at a time; one-Lightning Lad, two-the lightning thing?
So what.
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I guess I just took it for granted that was the case... I have no real historical preceedent for it...maybe I should ask the writer 
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Hey Barry are you going to San Diego Comic-Con next week?! If you need a place to stay in between Legionworld bar time and the convention itself I'm sure we could arrange something
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That's very kind, but sadly I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm a bit snowed under with work at the moment ( not helped by an accident I had a couple of weeks back which put me out of action for a while)and need to get back up to speed. I am planning to be at the Baltimore Con in September though - along with Mark and possibly our esteemed editor - so if you can make it there I'd be honored to meet up for a chat!
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Legionnaire!
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Originally posted by SiliconDream: Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
[b] Cham's capacity to duplicate the abilities of the forms he imitates has varied somewhat over the years, so it's probably difficult to come up with an explanation which would explain all of the various cases.
The way I tend to think about it is that he can duplicate abilities that derive from large-scale strutural features of the organism, such as the bone structure of birds allowing him to fly, but can't duplicate abilities that primarily rely upon micro-structure, such as the cellular structure of Kryptonians.
I'm not sure there's any limit on their shapechanging other than "no duplicating powers which would make them unfairly powerful...."
Originally posted by BouncingBear:
I have a question about Chameleon and his race. In the original series it was shown that the shape and color that Chameleon presents to the world is not their true shape. I believe their true shape involved tentacles? So...is the orange humanoid shape real or just a mask the Durlans use to hide their true shape? It had been stated more than once that Chameleon Chief was not Durlan, or so he claimed.
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Trap Timer
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Originally posted by SiliconDream: Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
[b] Cham's capacity to duplicate the abilities of the forms he imitates has varied somewhat over the years, so it's probably difficult to come up with an explanation which would explain all of the various cases.
The way I tend to think about it is that he can duplicate abilities that derive from large-scale strutural features of the organism, such as the bone structure of birds allowing him to fly, but can't duplicate abilities that primarily rely upon micro-structure, such as the cellular structure of Kryptonians.
[/b]As I said, one probably isn't going to come up with something that really makes sense of every use of his power that's been depicted. I think the macro/micro structure distinction, if adopted as an explanation, would give a plausible (within the realm of "comic book science", at least) story as to why he could duplicate certain "natural abilities" but not "super-powers". The ability to become a phantom is, however, explainable within the context of the Silver Age explanation for Phantom Girl's powers. In those days, her abilities were explained by appeal to her fourth-dimensional origins, and her ability to pass through objects was really a matter of moving through the fourth-dimension. Becoming four-dimensional, however, is really just a matter of distorting one's shape in particularly radical fashion (similar to a circle changing itself into a sphere). If Cham could duplicate Ron-Karr's power to become two-dimensional, he should be able to duplicate Tinya's as well.
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How long's the flight? Sure you can't come for a couple of drinks?  Originally posted by Barry Kitson: That's very kind, but sadly I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm a bit snowed under with work at the moment ( not helped by an accident I had a couple of weeks back which put me out of action for a while)and need to get back up to speed. I am planning to be at the Baltimore Con in September though - along with Mark and possibly our esteemed editor - so if you can make it there I'd be honored to meet up for a chat!
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Well it would take me about three hours to get to the airport, then about ten hours in the air
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Originally posted by KryptonKid:
It had been stated more than once that Chameleon Chief was not Durlan, or so he claimed. Oh, good point. Are there any instances of actual Durlans fooling Daxamites or Kryptonians who were actively looking for them?
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Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester:
I think the macro/micro structure distinction, if adopted as an explanation, would give a plausible (within the realm of "comic book science", at least) story as to why he could duplicate certain "natural abilities" but not "super-powers". It works as well as anything, certainly. The ability to become a phantom is, however, explainable within the context of the Silver Age explanation for Phantom Girl's powers. In those days, her abilities were explained by appeal to her fourth-dimensional origins, and her ability to pass through objects was really a matter of moving through the fourth-dimension. Becoming four-dimensional, however, is really just a matter of distorting one's shape in particularly radical fashion (similar to a circle changing itself into a sphere). If Cham could duplicate Ron-Karr's power to become two-dimensional, he should be able to duplicate Tinya's as well. Actually, wasn't Cham's intangibility explained by "molecular dispersion" or something like that, ala Flash? On a related note, how small did Yera ever get when she was impersonating Vi?
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Well, she got small enough to get into the circulatory system of a mutated Talokian.
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Originally posted by SiliconDream:
Are there any instances of actual Durlans fooling Daxamites or Kryptonians who were actively looking for them? Well, Ol Vir couldn't find Cham even though Cham wasn't using his powers because his x-ray vision was seeing right through him.
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