Off My Mind: Can Superheroes Still be Heroes if they Lose Their Powers?

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choki

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#51  Edited By choki

I would really like it if Hal got a Blue Power Ring . Really loved when he had it in the Red lantern series. Hope they can give one to him.

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GT-Man

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#52  Edited By GT-Man

Yah! sure as long as they want to get their A$Z kicked
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Ferro Vida

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#53  Edited By Ferro Vida

When Storm lost her powers she continued to serve on the X-men, and was even the acting team leader for a period of time. Going off of that example it is safe to make the claim that the power does not make the hero, but rather the opposite is true. Anyone who has the drive and determination to go out and be a hero is capable of making a difference with or without a radioactive spider as long as they have a little know-how backing them up.

We have seen that the worlds in Marvel and DC are dangerous ones for the protagonists of our favorite comic books, but they are even more so for the civilians that are in harms way. These people never asked to be put into these situations, largely because they are shown to be unable to handle themselves (in reality, people in general have proven to be more coherent and dependable in a time of crisis, but we're not talking about real life). The reason that characters like Batman spend so much time preparing themselves for this world is because they want to go out there and face the sociopaths with glowing eyes and a burning epidermis; that time and care makes them even more well-equipped to handle these situations, because they know that they need to be in order to survive.

That's not always true for the characters with powers. They certainly want to go out and make a difference in the world, to save lives and win the praise of the public; but if they have bulletproof skin then they have one less thing to worry about every time they don their brightly coloured tights.

So what if they lose that?

This is where we separate the boys from the proverbial men.There are several characters over the years who have simply packed it in when faced with that kind of adversity because they don't believe they are capable of making a difference anymore. When M-Day hit there were a number of mutant crime fighters who did just that. Others, like Wind Dancer, ended up finding a new way to make a difference alongside the New Warriors.

Are all superheroes still heroes when they lose their powers? No. But that is only because they choose not to be.

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SeanNOLA

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#54  Edited By SeanNOLA

Exosuit Cap was the worst thing that ever happened to anyone ever. That whole era was painful to read right down to the last detail. Yuck.

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TheMess1428

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#55  Edited By TheMess1428

WHAT ABOUT EDDIE BLOOMBERG?! May he rest in peace.

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Ferro Vida

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#56  Edited By Ferro Vida

@SeanNOLA said:

Exosuit Cap was the worst thing that ever happened to anyone ever. That whole era was painful to read right down to the last detail. Yuck.

If I could "like" this then I would.

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The Impersonator

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#57  Edited By The Impersonator
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CurbsideProphet

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#58  Edited By CurbsideProphet

Didn't superman get beat up back in one of those old comics when he tried to hero without his powers?

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SebastianShawShank

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If Hercules can do it anyone can.

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BatUniverse

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#60  Edited By BatUniverse

Heroes don't need Superpowers, superheroes need them, so, if a cop lose his ¨powers¨ he will still beeing a hero.

Now if a supeheroe loses his powers he will become a hero...

But the short answer to this question is ¨Yes, they can¨

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PowerHerc

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#61  Edited By PowerHerc

Hercules is.

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Migz13

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#62  Edited By Migz13

If SUPERheroes rely too much on their powers, then good luck to them battling villains WITHOUT them.

This makes powerless Superheroes like Batman, Hawkeye, Iron Man all the more interesting because they have special skills that make them stand out among the rest. Powerless or not.

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BatteredArmor

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#63  Edited By BatteredArmor

Why don't you ask Red Devil if you can be a super hero after you loose your powers. Oh wait he got blown up by a nuke

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MintBerryCrunch

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#64  Edited By MintBerryCrunch

Of course they can, you can fight crime and protect the innocent in more ways than one; directly or indirectly as lawyers, police officers, doctors and nurses!

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Ferro Vida

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#65  Edited By Ferro Vida

@BlackArmor said:

Why don't you ask Red Devil if you can be a super hero after you loose your powers. Oh wait he got blown up by a nuke

That would have killed him even if he still had his powers.

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BatteredArmor

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#66  Edited By BatteredArmor

@Ferro Vida said:

@BlackArmor said:

Why don't you ask Red Devil if you can be a super hero after you loose your powers. Oh wait he got blown up by a nuke

That would have killed him even if he still had his powers.

Actually no, He flew a plane with a nuke into the atmosphere in order to save San Francisco but when he's in the safe zone he has like 5 seconds left heres the kicker, one of his powers was teleportation so if he still had them he could have gotten out just fine

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Ferro Vida

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#67  Edited By Ferro Vida

@BlackArmor: Let me clarify that: I wasn't saying that he couldn't have gotten out. But a nuclear explosion WOULD have killed him either way if he were hit by it. Unless you have scans of him tanking some serious damage with his powers.

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unicornpuncher

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#68  Edited By unicornpuncher

Dani lost her powers and honestly has been pretty lame since. Some people like her depowered, I honestly miss the late 90s days of X force where she would kick @ss, take names and left all this Valkyrie crap behind her.

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BatteredArmor

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#69  Edited By BatteredArmor

@Ferro Vida:

Yeah he wouldn't have survived a nuke and his biggest damage feat is having his chest and ribs ripped wide open and getting better with surgery from the Chief (doom patrol) but that doesn't change the fact that with his powers he'd still be alive because he could get away. Red devil died because he was in the field without powers

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Ferro Vida

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#70  Edited By Ferro Vida

@BlackArmor: You're kind of missing the point that I'm trying to make. Even without his powers there are ways that he could survived. Maybe a teammate protects him. Maybe he has technology to save his ass. Whether or not he has powers is a moot point because whether or not he had powers a nuke COULD have killed him.

In X-men, Nightcrawler was killed in the line of duty. Whether or not he could teleport, Bastion still could have killed him. Whether or not Daredevil had radar sense he could have been shot in the shoulder by Paladin. Whether or not Captain America had the super soldier serum pumping through his veins he couldn't have taken a bullet to the cranium. You understand what I'm saying here? Having powers helps them fight crime, but it's not a free pass from harm. In these fictional worlds people like the Ares are just as likely to die as people like Batman simply by virtue of the forces that they are combating.

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Dakens son

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#71  Edited By Dakens son

it depends on what do you mean power,

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ogarza

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#72  Edited By ogarza

Of course they can! But I suggest they first attempt to find a way to restore their abilities, skills, or whatever makes them heroes. After they attempt and fail, then they have all the freedom in the world to find another way to save the world.

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BatteredArmor

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#73  Edited By BatteredArmor

@Ferro Vida:

I do get what your saying very few heros are invulenerable and very few can survive for example a nuke but my point in bringing up red devil wasn't about durability or endurance its about adjusting to their new situation Yeah if someone pulls a gun on daredevil and it hits him he'll be dead but his sences allow him to "see" it well enough to hopefully avoid it so he'll probably be fine but if matt murdok had his vision restored and someone pulled a gun on him if it hits him he'll still die but now we know it will hit him know we know that he's going down because he wont be well enough prepared to dodge (if my example was off sorry i don't read much daredevil). Yeah night crawler got axed but he choose to die in order to save hope would his powers protect him from a bullet both yes and no the ability to avoid will save his life but getting hit ends it' Very few powers are about getting hit and getting up alot of them are about not getting hit in the first place. What really killed red devil was that when he was depowered he didn't do anything to help himself in the field didn't learn Kung Fu or buy a gun or even wear a temate summoning dog whistel He just figured hed go out be helpful and comeback peachy. So your very right Red Devil wouldnt have surrvived a nuke and most heros don't get a free card powers or not powers don't protect people from harm (not a nuke anyway) but what they do give heros is a tool something their experienced enough with to give them a fighting chance So Red Devils story is still relevant because while his powers wouldn't let him take a bow from a nuke they would let him avoid it in this senerio his powers were tools for survival they would not have been missed if he had another tool like one of his teamates or a jet pack or a nuke absorbing shield or most ironically a teleportation device but he didn't and heros who used to have powers shouldn't go into the field without them unless their powers were a small part of how they fought crime or they havesomething to replace them

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HalJordan888

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#74  Edited By HalJordan888

Hal could so be a superhero without powers. He'd a very crazy one but Green Lantern #1 showed he could.

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GREGalicious

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#75  Edited By GREGalicious

Heroes definitely dont need powers to be super, but sometimes you just grow accustomed to certain characters having certain abilities (or weapons) and begin to associate them with their abilities (such as WOLVERINE w/ his adamantium claws, WILLOW w/ her magical abilities, or JEAN GREY w/ the power of Phoenix) to the point where you sort of forget that they didnt always have them, and were just fine (and just as heroic).

Then when you see them without their signature abilities or lose their powers all together, your like ??? but you still think of them as heroes.

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_Knightwing

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#76  Edited By _Knightwing

All a hero requires is determination and persistance. 
aAnd fearlessness. 
 
That way anybody can be a hero. Seriously.

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xander_cole

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#77  Edited By xander_cole

It depends on the person for example; Superman, if he looses his powers then he is worthless because he never train his body, doesn't know much about martial arts or gadgets and he is too used to take the blows because of his powers he can take, so If he were human he would be dead since the first issue. But there are others like Hal Jordan that without there powers they still can do or be heroes because they were train as soldiers. Finally the best example for this question is the Batman family that doesn't have powers but they are consider heroes because they are train for any kind of heroism.

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SeanNOLA

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#78  Edited By SeanNOLA

Dug this back up, because I just realized an even better example of Cap without powers - After Streets of Poison, Cap has to get a blood transfusion in order to get all of the drug out of his system. When they offer to filter the drug out so that he could keep the serum in his blood, he opts out and becomes just a normal dude with a fancy shield an suit. He goes for like 6 months without any augmented abilities before we find out that the serum is actually a virus, not a drug, and that it has gestated in him and he regains his strength.

Still, there was that 6 month period where he had to "prove himself" as a hero without the aid of the serum OR a ridiculous robot suit.

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Tigerstriper

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#79  Edited By Tigerstriper

The X-Men have been a great example of this. How many times have the X-Men had to overcome their powers being taken away?

The X-teams, to me, have always been prepared for this than anyone. Take their powers away and they can still kick your butt.

Cyclops is a born leader and strategist. Storm lead the team without her powers for quite some time, and when Magneto had them all captive without powers and they were all effectively helpless as babies Storm got them free picking locks with her tongue!

Shadowcat has ninja training, and Wolverine is one of the best hand to hand fighters in comics. During X-tinction Agenda he fought with both hands behind his back, no healing factor, and he spent a previous issue bleeding all over the place. Even Rictor and Boom Boom were catching Genoshans off guard and taking them out with no powers.

Training is the key.

And it's not just X characters, several other heroes have more going for them than powers. How many of Marvel's heroes are brilliant scientists?

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jhazzroucher

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#80  Edited By jhazzroucher

@KainScion said:

no mentin of storm? back in mohawk era. she was pretty damn good too. she beat logan in sparring.

INdeed. I think she is one of the best examples for this topic. She lose her powers but she was still an awesome character and continued to fight for Xavier's dream.

the best one for me.

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TransgressionsofSociety

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losing powers sucks.

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JonesDeini

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#82  Edited By JonesDeini

yup

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christopherwalken

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Rorschach can.

He never actually had powers in the first place, though.

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Timandm

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#84  Edited By Timandm

Batman. Robin. Rorschach. Hawkeye. Green Arrow. Black Widow. Bucky. Nomad. The Question. Mach-5.

I'm sure I could make a MUCH longer list, especially if I included ALL of the Bat-heroes, but the point should be clear. There are plenty of super heroes who have no power. So, can a super hero still be a hero if they lose their power? Of course.

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Johnny_Was

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#85  Edited By Johnny_Was

I think that the best answers on this question are written on "Hitman/Jla" by Garth Ennis and on Marvel's "Powerless" by Matt Cherniss, Peter Johnson and Michael Gaydos.