What if? It doesn’t matter that we’re a little older and a little wiser. We can still indulge in these childhood hypothetical questions, because they can result in some rather interesting discussions. If you could have a superpower, any sort of superhuman ability, what would it be? Going further, would you use this power for good, for evil, or just for a little bit of everyday convenience (and entertainment)?
Naturally, we need to set a few ground rules. You can certainly draw some inspiration from the powers depicted in Heroes and X-Men, as well as other comic book and graphic novel sources. I wouldn’t let the characters themselves sway your decision in any way, though, because we’re purely looking at their powers here.
Another ground rule that I would like to establish is that you cannot pick a power that allows you to have multiple or infinite powers. For example, Sylar’s and Peter Petrelli’s abilities in Heroes are off-limits, because they can have multiple superhuman abilities as a result of their powers. This rules follows the same philosophy that you simply cannot ask for more wishes when you release the magic genie from the lamp. It kind of goes against the spirit of the game.
Powers That I Would Consider
Far be it for me to call myself a comic book enthusiast, but I did watch a lot of X-Men and similar Saturday morning cartoons as a child. As such, most of my inspiration comes from that cartoon.
In thinking about what superpower I would want, I considered the shape-shifting ability of Morph/Mystique. Not only would this be quite a bit of fun, it could also be quite useful. I also considered the power of Wolverine (and Claire Bennet) with superhuman healing. In effect, I could live forever, but I’m not sure if I’d want that. A third power that I considered was telekinesis, or the ability to move objects with my mind. This is more a matter of convenience than anything else. Other powers that entered my mind were invisibility, teleportation, and time travel. But none of these hold a candle to the power that I would select.
It may be fun to influence the physical environment around you, but I feel that it is much more powerful being able to influence your fellow man. This power can also largely avoid detection by the masses, unlike the abilities of throwing fire, turning everything to ice, or running around at supersonic speeds.
The Superpower That I Want Is…
The superpower that would probably provide the most value to me is that of Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X), which also happens to be the power of Matt Parkman from Heroes. For those of you who are not as familiar, they have the power to not only read people’s minds, but to also plant thoughts into their minds, influencing their behavior.
Whether you work for the man or work for yourself, there are certainly advantages to being able to read minds and influence behavior. Having a hard time negotiating that raise you deserve? Just plant the thought. Want to get a better price on the hot sports car that you’ve been desiring? Just think it. Want to finally figure out what’s happening in the mind of your significant other? Well, I’ll leave that to your discretion.
If You Could Have a Superpower…
We all have natural strengths, weaknesses, and inclinations. So, I turn to the Beyond the Rhetoric community and ask you the exact same question. If you could have a superpower, a superhuman ability of some kind, what would it be?
I’ll take the immortality so long as it includes bodily regeneration. Some people manage to make it through nearly 100 years of life largely intact, but, given hundreds or thousands of years of life, the odds are greater that you’ll lose a finger or other limb due to accident or the actions of others. Some petty dictator in 25, 100, 500 or 1000 years might chop off your hands or your feet or your ears. And, well, it would be nice if that stuff would grow back. After a few thousand years, you don’t want to end up a blind, deaf head that people kick around for amusement.
Even better would be if your immortality made you an energy being that could take on solid form at will. That way, if someone tries to cut off your limbs, you can just dematerialize and get out of there. Would save a lot of pain. And, if they tried to seal you in a coffin and bury you anyway, you can get out of that too.
Immortality opens up a whole new can of worms, including some of the issues that you mentioned. You’d have to wonder if you would still age and if not, at what point would you stop aging? I wouldn’t want to look like a 10-year-old all my life, nor would I want to live indefinitely as a 100-year-old.
Four possibilities that I see.
The first would be that you simply stop aging. Perhaps you’re “locked in” at the point where you were at your physical and mental prime. If you had already passed that point, perhaps your body would kind of heal itself back to that position.
The second would be that you would age very very slowly. Of course, that would mean that you will eventually get frail. Technically, I don’t know if this would really count as immortality. It’d be more like extended life.
The third would be something like in Doctor Who. When your body got too old, or was fatally injured, you’d simply regenerate and start anew. Of course, true immortality would mean you’d have unlimited regenerations. (The Doctor is limited to 12, though extensions are possible.)
The fourth would be the “energy being” option. If you’re an energy being, presumably you wouldn’t age at all. Would you be limited to one physical form, perhaps the form you were when you became an energy being? Or, would you be able to take any form you wished?
I think the second option would be the least desirable. The other three are better. Any one of those would be tolerable. I think perhaps being an energy being might be the best case scenario, as it would give you more flexibility.
I think my preference would be towards a super human like Captain America. I just always liked those comics more because they were more plausible.
When my two daughters come running at me when I get home, I would hold my hand up and freeze them as they’re screaming “Daddy!”
Can I have Batman’s superpower of being ridiculously rich and having tons of hot chicks everywhere? Not the George Clooney or Val Kilmer version though…they seem slightly fruity and robot-like, respectively.
I think I’ll write one of these too. I’m almost entirely sure that given any superpower, I’d be a supervillain, though. Evil always seems so much more interesting.
I had fun writing this. I’m sure your readers would enjoy a similar post too, because you proclaim that you are so awesome. How awesome would you be if you could be “super awesome”?
The Superpower That I Want Is…Invisibility
I have that power. It’s overrated. 😉
Did someone say something? (looks around)
hahaha
Hmmm, you came up with a pretty good answer there and have successfully convinced me to copy your answer 🙂 However, if that isn’t an option, I think a close second would be the ability to shape-shift with the condition that I would not be limited in what type of being I could “shift” into.