History Headscratchers / Superman

* The most important question is, why would ANYONE try to rob a bank in Metropolis? When somebody whispers "Help", you can bet that the big blue guy will be there in less than a second. Superman battles superpowered enemies in daily basis, so stealing a bank in Superman's city is akin to [[PushStartToGameOver]]

* Connor Kent bugs me. Combined clone of Superman and Lex Luthor, right? Created by Lexcorp? Doesn't this mean that Lex has Superman's DNA on file? Then why the heck doesn't he try and use that to discover Superman's secret identity?

** Over the years, there have been a number of theories and explanations to justify Superman's ability to fly. Enough, in fact, that it's difficult to say exactly what the "canon" is these days. One of the earliest and most commonly cited reasons (which is also often used to partially explain his strength) is that Krypton was much more massive than Earth and therefore had a greater gravitational pull that Kryptonians had to evolve to adapt to, meaning... yeah, it's just jumping. ''Really good'' jumping. After the ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths rebooted him, the idea that John Byrne put forth was that Superman possessed a form of telekinesis called Tactile Telekinesis which basically worked like normal telekinesis except that Superman had to be in physical contact with the object he was moving—this explained his flight and how he could lift large objects over his head without having parts break off in his hands (this power continues to be used by Superman's clone, Connor Kent). Desaad, the master torturer of Apokolips and a scientist who follows Darkseid, once postulated that Superman's flight is not based in a form of propulsion like most interpret it to be, but that Superman instead bends space-time around himself to pull himself in whatever direction he wants to go. Another possible theory that some ascribe to is that he produces and/or manipulates gravitons, the theoretical subatomic particle that is thought to produce gravity. It's unlikely that the exact mechanism is ever going to have any real serious ramifications on his stories, so feel free to pick your favorite rationale or come up with your own.

*** Exactly. But the secret-identity does still keep his loved-one's (relatively) safe. If people knew Superman was Clark Kent, and they made the connections to Lois and Jimmy, they'd be in danger [[UpToEleven even more than usual]].

** [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Because the yellow light from Earth's sun supercharges his Kryptonian cells, giving him powers beyond those of mortal Earth men.]]

** Over the years, there have been a number of theories and explanations to justify Superman's ability to fly. Enough, in fact, that it's difficult to say exactly what the "canon" is these days. One of the earliest and most commonly cited reasons (which is also often used to partially explain his strength) is that Krypton was much more massive than Earth and therefore had a greater gravitational pull that Kryptonians had to evolve to adapt to, meaning... yeah, it's just jumping. ''Really good'' jumping. After the ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths rebooted him, the idea that John Byrne put forth was that Superman possessed a form of telekinesis called Tactile Telekinesis which basically worked like normal telekinesis except that Superman had to be in physical contact with the object he was moving—this explained his flight and how he could lift large objects over his head without having parts break off in his hands (this power continues to be used by Superman's clone, Connor Kent). Desaad, the master torturer of Apokolips and a scientist who follows Darkseid, once postulated that Superman's flight is not based in a form of propulsion like most interpret it to be, but that Superman instead bends space-time around himself to pull himself in whatever direction he wants to go. Another possible theory that some ascribe to is that he produces and/or manipulates gravitons, the theoretical subatomic particle that is thought to produce gravity. It's unlikely that the exact mechanism is ever going to have any real serious ramifications on his stories, so feel free to pick your favorite rationale or come up with your own.

** Over the years, there have been a number of theories and explanations to justify Superman's ability to fly. Enough, in fact, that it's difficult to say exactly what the "canon" is these days. One of the earliest and most commonly cited reasons (which is also often used to partially explain his strength) is that Krypton was much more massive than Earth and therefore had a greater gravitational pull that Kryptonians had to evolve to adapt to, meaning... yeah, it's just jumping. ''Really good'' jumping. After the ComicBooks/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths rebooted him, the idea that John Byrne put forth was that Superman possessed a form of telekinesis called Tactile Telekinesis which basically worked like normal telekinesis except that Superman had to be in physical contact with the object he was moving—this explained his flight and how he could lift large objects over his head without having parts break off in his hands (this power continues to be used by Superman's clone, Connor Kent). Desaad, the master torturer of Apokolips and a scientist who follows Darkseid, once postulated that Superman's flight is not based in a form of propulsion like most interpret it to be, but that Superman instead bends space-time around himself to pull himself in whatever direction he wants to go. Another possible theory that some ascribe to is that he produces and/or manipulates gravitons, the theoretical subatomic particle that is thought to produce gravity. It's unlikely that the exact mechanism is ever going to have any real serious ramifications on his stories, so feel free to pick your favorite rationale or come up with your own.

* HOW DOES HE FLY?? does he just jump? if he capable of jumping hard enough to go through the atmosphere into space, why doesn't he leave a crater behind on the ground? Can he control gravity? If he removes gravity below himself, how does he speed up or change direction; how are objects above him, like the atmosphere, unaffected by loss of gravity? is it telekinesis? then what prevents him from lifting other objects with his mind ala Marvel Girl?

** I'm afraid the answer is simply that... it's SuperHearing. It's a power he's had for a very long time, and this is just a rather common way that it presents itself in the comics (Which means I probably wouldn't hold my breath on getting more of an explanation than that from the show if I were you...). This wouldn't even really count as an extreme example; he's heard sounds from and in space before, and across distances far greater than that of China to Kansas. Does it make sense according to our current understanding of the laws of physics, biology, etc? No, but if you're looking strictly for those things in Superman (or superheroes in general), you're probably going to be largely disappointed. Just try to [[MST3KMantra relax]], kay?

** As he started out Humanite was a bit too similar to ComicBook/LexLuthor (balding MadScientist bent on [[TakeOverTheWorld world domination]]) except that he was an EvilCripple; by the time he became his more famous Man-Ape incarnation, he had underwent a RoguesGalleryTransplant to the Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica; in fact originally he seemingly died two issues before Luthor appeared, back in ''1940'', and his subsequent [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] fights with Superman were set on Earth-2 and, thus, not the then-mainstream Superman. Basically he's no longer considered a Superman villain and you can do little with him that ComicBook/LexLuthor can't do better anyway, so there is little point. He's just not that famous. Granted, he still deserves better than supporting / minor appearances in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', but since the Justice Society are his arch-enemies now and ''they'' don't get much media showings, what chance does he have?

** I'm afraid the answer is simply that... it's SuperHearing. It's a power he's had for a very long time, and this is just a rather common way that it presents itself in the comics—this wouldn't even really count as an extreme example. He's heard sounds from and in space before, and from distances far greater than that of China to Kansas. Does it make sense according to our current understanding of the laws of physics, biology, etc? No, but if you're looking strictly for those things in Superman (or superheroes in general), you're probably going to be largely disappointed. Just try to [[MST3KMantra relax]], kay?

** I assume the real answer is that the writers didn’t care, they just wanted him to have this cool power. (Comic book science!) But if any of you have an in-universe explanation of how that could work, I would be interested.

** We know that because we read Superman comics. In-universe what is known is bullets kill people, kryptonite [=hurts/kills=] Superman, and it is a reasonable inference to draw that a kryptonite bullet should kill Superman.

** During the ''Comicbook/{{Millennium}}'' crossover, part of this plot hole was fixed: the Manhunters tried to capture his spaceship and created a blizzard to keep people from reaching the crash site, but the Kents found him anyway and ended up stuck in a blizzard for five months. It was plausible that Martha could have given birth during that time.

** We know that because we read Superman comics. In-universe what is known is bullets kill people, kryptonite [=hurts/kills=] Superman, and it is a reasonable inference to draw that a kryptonite bullets should kill Superman.

** In total fairness to them, they know kryptonite weakens and poisons him, and may possible kill him, and it's not like there's a heck of a lot else that does. They can't be totally faulted for at least giving it the old college try.

** Plus, once the heat vision actually leaves his eyes, he can't change its direction like Darkseid can with his Omega Beams. If he fires it at something, and that something then moves away unexpectedly, then it's perfectly reasonable for the heat vision to not hit what Superman was aiming for.

** Because they were the company’s two most popular franchises, Batman and Green Lantern were not rebooted (though everything from ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'', ''ComicBook/RedRobin'', ''ComicBook/Batgirl2000'' and ''ComicBook/Batgirl2009'' is wiped from continuity) but we’re supposed to believe that the events in their comics took place over a period of about five years instead of ten or however it works.

*** Actually, under the laws about castaways they could actually admit that they found Clark in a space capsule and ''still'' not imperil his American citizenship. An infant found on a boat already within American territorial waters at the time it was found, whose exact time and place of birth or country of origin couldn't be verified, would also be granted American citizenship by default.

** Not necessarily. Your eyes don’t sit rigidly still when you look at something, instead making minor involuntary adjustments that could easily through off the aim of Supe’s heat vision (see the Analysis page of RequiredSecondaryPowers for a more detailed explanation.)

* The Parasite. It makes no sense that he's considered a second rate villain in the DCU. It makes sense that the fans think of him as such, since he's not as iconic as Luthor or The Joker. But Rudy Jones regularly commits acts of mass murder when he gets bored, and is, if you think about it, one of the most powerful beings in the DCU and technically more powerful than Superman. The only reason that he loses to the guy is because his tactics amount to little more than "punch it 'till it dies," which won't win you a fight against Superman, but will still get thousands of people dead before the fight is over. It makes no sense that the DCU doesn't collectively lose it every time he shows up.

*** The mini-series published around the 2008 election, where all the superhuman community start announcing their political preferences and kind of acting like partisan hacks towards each other, follows the 'Superman should be above partisan politics' model, but has him add in a pointed fashion that in a society like America 'freedom of thought' also means the right to ''not'' have to express your own political preferences just because everyone's loudly demanding and hectoring and bullying and cajoling you to do so. In short, Superman also seems to take the 'it's none of your damn business what I think about this if I don't want to tell you' approach as well.

* The Parasite. It makes no sense that he's considered a second rate villain in the DCU. It makes sense that the fans think of him as such, since he's not as iconic as Luthor or The Joker. But Rudy Jones regularly commits acts of mass murder when he gets bored, and is, if you think about it, one of the most powerful beings in the DCU and technically more powerful than Superman. The only reason that he loses to the guy is because his tactics amount to little more than "punch it 'till it dies," which won't win you a fight against Superman, but will still get thousands of people dead before the fight is over. It makes no sense that the DCU doesn't collectively shit a brick every time he shows up.

*** The mini-series published around the 2008 election, where all the superhuman community start announcing their political preferences and kind of acting like partisan dicks towards each other, follows the 'Superman should be above partisan politics' model, but has him add in a pointed fashion that in a society like America 'freedom of thought' also means the right to ''not'' have to express your own political preferences just because everyone's loudly demanding and hectoring and bullying and cajoling you to do so. In short, Superman also seems to take the 'it's none of your damn business what I think about this if I don't want to tell you' approach as well.

** Not necessarily. Your eyes don’t sit rigidly still when you look at something, instead making minor involuntary adjustments that could easily through off the aim of Supe’s heat vision (see the Analysis page of RequiredSrcondaryPowers for a more detailed explanation.)

** If Superman can be killed by some desperate criminal/low-level villain, then he wouldn't be able to stop cosmic-level threats. And event then, there are guys like Shazam, WonderWoman and GreenLantern who could fight them off instead. Plus guys like Luthor could make their own versions of Superman to protect humanity.