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| Flash vs Quicksilver by Edgar Manjarrez |
But is that why we like super-speedsters? We simply want to mooch off their Speed Force? It has to be more than that. One possible reason is that we recognize the "runner" as sports hero or mythical archetype. Since running is an ability common to most humans, characters with uncanny speed have found their way into the myths and folk tales of many cultures (including my own - the French Canadian Alexis le Trotteur!). We're wired to admire these guys, whether in stories or on the Olympic track. Beyond running, vehicles allow us to move faster, and get our hearts pumping faster too. Speedsters feel the literal "rush" you get when driving a fast car, plane or boat, only more so. If we, as a species, are excited by speed, these superheroes surely hold an attraction.
But my interest is more scientific. Speed is made of pure physics and super-speed has traditionally been used to create all sorts of effects. They're not just runners, not if they have imagination. They can be used as weather controllers, teleporters, super-learned geniuses, sonic boomers, inertia absorbers, water walkers and more. The faster they run, the crazier the physics and effects. That's why I respond much better to the Flash than I do Quicksilver, for example (or, Wally West just after the Crisis). I don't want realism, I want mad mad science. Such a simple ability, but so much potential variety.
What about you? Do you have a "need for speed"? What attracts you (or doesn't) to the Speedster set?
Comments
My list of best superpowers, from best to worst:
luck
super-speed
time control
the ability to see the future and know what to do about it
all the other powers
Luck is always best because it renders losing impossible, but look at the next several powers: they all deal with time and making more efficient use of it. The ability to uproot telephone poles is of limited use against someone who can freeze time, move out of the way in the blink of an eye, or pre-emptively plant a banana peel at just the right spot on the ground.
If you have neither, you're just a 6' tall projectile without the ability to change course.
I've always considered teleportation to be the best super-power, because at some point flying and/or running everywhere is going to get deathly noring.
It reminds me of the old Silver Age comic when, between a gun being fired from across the room, Superman grabbed Lois, flew her to the Fortress of Solitude, built a Lois duplicate robot, flew back and replaced her, all faster than the human eye could see. (How Lois survived the instant acceleration to light speed is never explained.)
Quicksilver worked better for me because he was fast, not ridiculous fast.
Hee.
Sally: Yeah, I seldom use fan art on the blog unless it's the whole point of the post, but I had to make an exception when I saw this.
Jeff: True that! And it's somewhat reflected in the way team books with speedsters are written. The same way, you can't break the game with too many actions, especially considering the rest of your party needs equal time to have fun, speedsters in super teams don't get to defeat everyone before Batman can throw the first punch.
And that's the way I try to handle it in my own games. You have the same number of actions as everyone else per turn, BUT those actions can be those that would take a long time at normal speeds. In a fight, it takes the whole round to do a speed stunt (like a tornado) or you can throw a ton of punches (equivalent with a high damage single superstrong punch), or you can do stuff like go and read a whole book at the library during your turn. But you can't do all three.
This limit works well enough and emulates the comics too.