The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

I was thinking that this might be a good topic for the current people of this forum.

If you were a super villain, what would your super powers be?

I thought I already was a super villain?

Anyhow, I would not want super "powers", just the ability to focus my own physical stength with greater efficiency. That may sound boring at first, but not if you think about it.

Imagine if you could jump as high into the air as a pole vaulter, only without the pole. Imagine if you could direct focused mechanical energy across a distance, as an archer does, only without a bow and arrows. Imagine if you could move across the ground as fast as a cyclist, only without the bicycle.

These tools' only power source is YOU. Imagine if you didn't need them to do those things. You already have all the power you need to do so. That is all that stands in the way of becoming super evil.

Gills. I would like gills. And hydrodynamic skin, like a dolphin's.

I don't know how this would allow me to super villainous, but I'm sure I would think of something. Maybe I could take up piracy.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot webbed feet. ;D

I am immediately reminded of this radio program (http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/01/178.html) when I see this topic.  Have a listen, especially to Act One, it asks a lot of really good questions, and raises a lot of really good points. For a discussion about superpowers, anyhow.

For as long as I can remember I've had a burning desire to fly. I can think of much more usefull powers, but flying would be more fun ;D.

Definitely control over time.

The pole vaulter doesn't fit into this list. You first gather energy and only then use the collected energy towards your goal. If that's allowed you can do almost anything.
Also, you have an object to apply the force to, like with a ladder. If that's allowed, your superpower would give you the power of a ladder without a ladder...

Look, what's that twenty feet in the air? It's a bird. No, it's a plane. NO, it's Ladder Man!

(Cue Music)

Ladder Man, he climbs to high places.
Ladder Man, he can hover in the air.
Ladder Man, he isn't the coolest.
Ladder Man, he's actually quite dull.

This week, our hero must face his arch nemesis, Evil Elevator.


You may have the power of a ladder, but who's going to hold it up for you? The pole vaulter doesn't really store energy, he uses his kinetic energy to launch himself into the air. If I'm going to make bounds like that, I can get a running start. And if you gear down the operation and allow for storage of energy, it's still going to take you a very long time to gather enough force to do something super amazing. But just to clarify, my super power only stores energy for 1-5 seconds. It's main strength is how it directs the energy.


Speaking of which, what would your power be, as a super villain?

(Cue Music)

Moderator Man, he can reset your post count.
Moderator Man, he can delete your posts too.
Moderator Man, and when he get's really pissed at you.
Moderator Man, he can ban you from this website.

The "Earth:X" graphic novels shows that the most powerful superhuman in the Marvel Universe had the power of a Dnyarri; of course, he had a planet full of Mutants with powers under his control...   ::)

Hmm, as a supervillain, the only power I'd need is the ability to never be held responsible for my actions, even better would be the ability to never be thought of as evil no matter what I do.  Of course, this power could come in handy for super-heroes too.  

Cue Mr. Popular!  "I can't stop Dr. Doom, but I've got these four friends..."

David Letterman's Top 10 Least Exciting Superpowers - August 3, 1990

• Super spelling
  
• Lightning-fast mood swings
  
• Really bendy thumb
  
• Can breathe soup
  
• Ability to calm jittery squirrels
  
• Power to shake exactly two aspirin out of a bottle
  
• Ability to get tickets to Goodwill Games
  
• Power to score with other superheroes' wives
  
• Ability to communicate with corn
  
• Magnetic colon

That's part of the top 10 least exciting?  I could probably use that one in my plot to take over the world.

The energy is stored in the form of kinetic energy. He is collecting that energy in his run.


Ok, good. Without such a limitation you could say that "A human can collect enough energy to do just about anything by generating electricity on a home trainer, so with my superpowers I could make ice cubes, make toast, and pull train carriages."


Perhaps something like super intelligence. Being able to solve any problem in your lunch break. That's got to be more useful than brute force. If I'd need some super power, I'd just invent some device for that.

"He is collecting that energy in his run."

Running is not an extra super-power. It's a somewhat common ability, actually.  :P


On second thought, forget the storage thing. My super power doesn't make me physically any more durable, and I can't produce any more energy than I could without it nor convert it to any form other than mechanical energy. Thus, I can't have the power of a cannon, because I can't store energy and I could never physically harness that much power (I'm still flesh and blood).


"so with my superpowers I could make ice cubes, make toast, and pull train carriages."

Superman gets to do all those things. What makes him so special? And yes, I know he's super.


"Perhaps something like super intelligence. Being able to solve any problem in your lunch break. That's got to be more useful than brute force. If I'd need some super power, I'd just invent some device for that."

Or use genius gene-therapy techniques to give yourself everyone else's super power.

If I were a Super Villain, I'd like the power to melt the icecaps. Before doing so, my henchmen would steal all boats in the world. and then everyone would bow to my will.

I'd like the power to make people not find the things they had in their sights just a moment ago. It will practically make me invicible.

[Evil Villain HQ, some deserted island, some ocean]
James Bond enters the room, points a gun at me

BOND: This ends now Ivanov!
ME: Oh! I am undone! You are far too clever for a poor Evil Villain like me and now I must submit to your superior, British intellect...
typical 5 minute Evil Villain Admitting Defeat talk
...And I was so close to achieving my goals...
BOND: Yes, but now we have you Ivanov. Give in.
ME: Very well mr. Bond. But first, tell me where did you put your gun?
BOND:  :o
ME: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

My villianous superpower? Hmm. Two things come to mind.

The first would be a simple one. An aura or something similar that would, upon injury from any source besides myself, reflect that amount of damage two times over onto them. I'd still get hurt, but they'd get hurt worse.

The other took a bit more time. I would, by concentrating my will, be able to evince a brick in my open palm. I would utter the name of a person or object to this brick and toss the brick upwards. This brick would then, at terminal velocity and unerring accuracy, find the designated target and strike it in the most critical location it can find, such as a human's temple or a car's engine block.

*Steps into Necro's HQ with an AK-47 in his arms. Sees Necro chanting his dark incantations, ordering the brick to do something undoubtedly sinister*

ME: No you don't, Necro. The world is mine! I will be the sole ruler of the universe MWAHAHAHAHA!
NECRO [stops chanting]: Ha! Put away the gun Ivanov, you'll hurt yourself more then you'll hurt me!
ME: Oh? And how will that happen?
NECRO: I have this special aura, that reflects everything with twice the strength.
ME: Interesting, but when was the last time that you have seen it?
NECRO [looks for his auara, can't find it for the life of him]
ME: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Super intelligence sounds nice, but what I would really want is.....Phaseshift!!!
And not the one like that of the Arilou and the Orz, but this phase shifting would mean that you are still located in thiss universe, you just don't have to follow the laws of physics!

Think of this.

James Bond enters room where evil me is.
,,You're going to feel worse than a Wodka martini that has been shaken for mre than ten hours!"
(starts shooting with his gun, only to see the bullets fly right trough me and striking the wall.)
,,Damn, well, whaty about this!"
(starts using every single gadget that Q ever invented, only with the same result.And then, I lock the door and let him starve there while I fly trough the walls of my hideout and take over the world.)

Yeah, that would be nice

Off course, something all villains have to think about.

Is it really such a good idea to hire a couple hundred henchmen who will get whacked the moment one of those anoying good guys come in? For example, in the above scenario of Bond versus evil phaseshifting jack cloudy.
He was getting really iritated that he didn't found anybody to kill while making his way to the big villain. But what would be the point of having all those wimpy guards who constantly want to get higher salary if you are invulnerable because nobody can even touch you with anything?
So in the end he made it to the villain, heavily annoyed and started trowing everything he had at jack cloudy while the latter was practising his evil laughs.

So just as a little point of thought. Are Henchmen actually useful for anything?( apart from keeping the corridors all cleaned)

This was What to think about When Becoming a Villain.
Thanks for watching this show.

I think it depends on the henchmen. I only hire and purchase commandos, terminators, attack dogs, ED-209 property defense systems, protoss, lawyers and real estate agents. Nobody bothers me.

Oh yes, he could. He could have long, floppy ears and say "mesa" and "yousa" all the time. Only then it would probably be more satisfying to see him killed.

Seriously, Darth Mauls only big flaw is that he has very few lines of dialogue, and he is killed off too early. All he gets to do is walk around trying hard to look bad, and then he dies.


Vader's the villain, his followers (stormtroopers, mostly) are the henchmen.


On topic: I AM a super villain, I don't need any additional powers. Although the ability to cook coffee with the power of thought would be neat-o.

EDIT: Seeing how this thread got cleaned, my post (and the posts following it) seemed a bit out of place so I decided to change it.

As everyone knows, all Evil Villains need an apropraite Sinister Symbol for their empire/corporation/syndicate. It's about much more then just having a flag outside your HQ, or tatoos for your henchmen.
It's all about fashion!
That's right! Your Sinister Symbol must be something you identify with, it must be something that will strike fear into hearts of men, and at the same time it must be cool and trendy, so other Evil Villains and Secret Service Agents won't laugh at you.

So, without further delay, my Sinister Symbol:
The Inverted Circle

My symbol?

Hmmm... that's a hard one. ???

I guess I don't need a symbol. Just some freaky scary black suit that doesn't show my face as I beat up the good guys while phasing should be scary enough. But If I need one, it would probably be something very stupid, such as a simple red triangle or something.

The moebius strip.

As Mr. Popular, I'd be my own symbol.  ;D

Puppies and a Heart, it'd throw them off. Only too late would they realise that the puppies are mad pitbulls and the heart is simply a favorite attack point.

That or a bill gates mask. I could just walk into the office building of a small independent software company, and everyone would scatter like crickets in the light.

One of the reasons why I just hated Superman and Batman was because of those damn symbols. It just makes them look like they've got a really big ego (Look, Its a bat! This is my very own private symbol, now am I not a great super heroe because of this? I think they would've looked much better without it. Especially batman, that Big yellow symbol just completely ruined the dark scary look of his suit.

Batman Begins was very well done. And yes, the bat symbol is far more understated (more like the original comic depiction than adam west/animated style).

Yea, the bat symbol is black just like the rest of the suit.

I was also referring to the shape of the symbol. It's much more angular and boxy. I liked it. (pic (http://images.killermovies.com/b/batman5/batman_begins_logo.jpg))

It also looks more like a real bat. That's definitely a good thing.

Evil symbol, hmm?
Seeing as I stated that I wanted gills and webbed hands and feet, I suppose my evil symbol should be related.

Therefore, it will be a fish head and tail connected by the spine and ribs. You know, like the ones you see in the garbage on cartoon shows? :P