History TheWorfEffect / ComicBooks

* ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} is an especially noteworthy example as he’s either delivering TheWorfEffect to JL (see ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'') and more regularly ComicBook/TeenTitans as their nemesis or being on the receiving end himself having been Worfed by Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Cassandra Cain, Batman, multiple Robins and Superman. In ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' Slade gets killed by Aquaman simply to show how serious it has gotten in the BadFuture. Deathstroke has better luck in the New 52 and Rebirth comics able to fight even Superman in his team up series with Wonder Woman — albeit thanks to a healthy dose of PopularityPower PlotArmour.

* In general this tends to happen a lot to whoever the [[TheBigGuy primary]] [[SuperStrength Super-Strong]], {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le guy on a hero team is, such as ComicBook/{{Superman}}, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], ComicBook/MartianManhunter, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]], [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]], ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, etc. This is especially true if they're the team bruiser for SizeShifter reasons.

** [[Characters/SpiderManCentralRoguesGallery Rhino]] suffers this all the time. He’s easily the strongest of Spidey’s RoguesGallery by a wide margin (only the Symbiote characters, Scorpion and Sandman are anywhere near his strength) Rhino is so strong he’s managed to give Hulk and Juggernaut trouble and could even injure Thor when empowered by Jörmungandr‘s tooth. Despite this in most of his appearances Rhino is only there to get his butt kicked by the likes of Luke Cage, Captain America, Miles Morales, Spider-Woman and Spidey himself. DependingOnTheWriter he’s superior strength and toughness is noted with Peter needing wits and luck to beat him while at all other times Spidey beats up him as easily he would any other villain.

** Spidey himself much like Batman is famous for Worfing opponents well out of his weight class simply to show how awesome Marvel’s Friendly Neighbour mascot is. The Fantastic Four in his second appearance, the X-Men in ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' (despite said team having Rogue and Colossus, both of whom are stronger than him), Graviton, Titania, Firelord (a former Herald of Galactus who’s matched Thor) and most famously Juggernaut. Sometimes it’s a case ingenuity and luck from Peter (as it was with Juggernaut) while at other times it’s plain o’l PopularityPower.

** [[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] owns he’s very existence to this trope. From his inception in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' he was not only devised as someone who would best the Dark Knight physically (similar to Doomsday with Supes) but completely match and even outwit Batman in the GeniusBruiser department. To wit upon coming to Gotham he studies Batman before causing a mass breakout at Arkham, letting Batman get exhausted recapturing the inmates before attacking Batman directly and most famously lifting Bruce up and breaking his spine over his knee. Keep in mind Batman is [[MemeticBadass famous]] for being a CrazyPrepared strategist so the fact ''someone'' could beat the Dark Knight at his own prep time game is beyond impressive. Bane has suffered his own Worfing and BadassDecay since then as well as DC trying recapture his breaking of Batman in other comics but none of it has topped his first comic.

* [[Characters/GreenLantern1941 Solomon Grundy]] might as well be the poster boy for this in the DCU, being Hulk-esque character but not being a hero like Hulk means he’s regularly on the receiving end of the Worf Effect. It’s strange considering throughout his early appearances in the Silver and Bronze Age, Grundy was actually the one Worfing Green Lantern and Superman himself multiple times. In modern comics however whenever Grundy shows up he’s just there to be a big zombie punching bag who makes other often far physically weaker characters ([[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGCwwYAyAvjbTYhEiZLySMC5qObnMI65X63w&usqp=CAU usually]] [[https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7ff48144a2ecca6632c6bbe4c2f6eea1-lq Batman]]) look cool. In Tom King’s run, the aforementioned Gotham Girl beats Grundy up simply for sake of shilling her. Egregiously Grundy’s strength fluctuates as he bad luck against Gotham City characters Yet against other characters like Superman and JL members he’s still portrayed as a serious threat fully capable of throwing the Man of Steel around like a beach ball. The explanation offered by DC is that Grundy’s strength and intelligence fluctuates depending on his ResurrectiveImmortality aka he’s StrongAsTheyNeedToBe.

* [[Characters/GreenLantern1941 Solomon Grundy]] might as well be the poster boy for this in the DCU, being Hulk-esque character but not being a hero like Hulk means he’s regularly on the receiving end of the Worf Effect. It’s strange considering throughout his early appearances in the Silver and Bronze Age, Grundy was actually the one Worfing Green Lantern and Superman himself multiple times. In modern comics however whenever Grundy shows up he’s just there to be a big zombie punching bag who makes other often far physically weaker characters ([[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTGCwwYAyAvjbTYhEiZLySMC5qObnMI65X63w&usqp=CAU usually]] [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/c/ca/1117051-batvsgrundy_dv2_super.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111203043116 Batman]]) look cool. In Tom King’s run, the aforementioned Gotham Girl beats Grundy up simply for sake of shilling her. Egregiously Grundy’s strength fluctuates as he bad luck against Gotham City characters Yet against other characters like Superman and JL members he’s still portrayed as a serious threat fully capable of throwing the Man of Steel around like a beach ball. The explanation offered by DC is that Grundy’s strength and intelligence fluctuates depending on his ResurrectiveImmortality aka he’s StrongAsTheyNeedToBe.

** Killer Croc out of all Batman’s RoguesGallery suffers this the most, despite being explicitly a metahuman. While fellow powerhouses like Clayface and Bane often have circumstantial or technical excuses for their clobberings at the hands of the heroes (Clayface in particular cannot beaten by Batman in a straight fight and requires tools to be defeated), Killer Croc meanwhile just jobs like clockwork to all the assorted Robins, Batgirls, Nightwing Red Hood and the Dark Knight whenever writers want the Bat-Family to look strong and badass. In one New 52 comic Batman literally bridles Croc like a horse to save a de-powered Superman. Particularly sad considering Croc spent his first appearances being a SmarterThanTheyLook menace who kicked the shit of Batman, almost killing him multiple times before he TookALevelInDumbass and got BadassDecay.

** [[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] owns he’s very existence to this trope. From his inception in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' he was not only devised as someone who would best the Dark Knight physically (similar to Doomsday with Supes) but completely match and even outwit Batman in the GeniusBruiser department. To wit upon coming to Gotham he studies Batman before causing a mass breakout at Arkham, letting Batman get recapturing the inmates before attacking Batman directly and most famously lifting Bruce up and breaking his spine over his knee. Keep in mind Batman is [[MemeticBadass famous]] for being a CrazyPrepared strategist so the fact ''someone'' could beat the Dark Knight at his own prep time game is beyond impressive. Bane has suffered his own Worfing and BadassDecay since then as well as DC trying recapture his breaking of Batman in other comics but none of it has topped his first comic.

** ''ComicBook/KravensLastHunt'' is a superbly effective example of this with the [[Characters/MarvelComicsKravenTheHunter titular hunter]] proving he is a force to be reckoned with after years of VillainDecay. He attacks Spidey out of nowhere with a tranquilliser dart, easily prevents Peter from escaping and pulls a gun and shoots Wall Crawler… with a sleeping drug but it ''could'' been a bullet as Kraven notes to Spidey after the latter dug his way out of the grave Kraven had built. If that wasn’t enough he also single handedly defeated another villain Vermin whom Spidey was unable to defeat without Cap’s help. Kraven proved he was more dangerous and superior to Peter which is all he really wanted [[spoiler:committing suicide by in the end of the comic]]. This comic alone shot Kraven to the top tier of Spider-Man and Marvel in general’s greatest villains [[spoiler: though this newfound popularity among readers meant his death (much to his annoyance) was undone.]]

* ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} is an especially noteworthy example as he’s either delivering the TheWorfEffect to JL (see ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'') and more regularly ComicBook/TeenTitans as their nemesis or being on the receiving end himself having been Worfed by Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Cassandra Cain, Batman, multiple Robins and Superman. In ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' Slade gets killed by Aquaman simply to show how serious it has gotten in the BadFuture. Deathstroke has better luck in the New 52 and Rebirth comics able to fight even Superman in his team up series with Wonder Woman — albeit thanks to a healthy dose of PopularityPower PlotArmour.

** Killer Croc out of all Batman’s RoguesGallery suffers this the most, despite being explicitly a metahuman. While fellow powerhouses like Clayface and Bane often have circumstantial or excuses for their clobberings at the hands of the heroes (Clayface in particular cannot beaten by Batman in a straight fight and requires tools to be defeated), Killer Croc meanwhile just jobs like clockwork to all the assorted Robins, Batgirls, Nightwing Red Hood and the Dark Knight whenever writers want the Bat-Family to look strong and badass. In one New 52 comic Batman literally bridles Croc like a horse to save a de-powered Superman. Particularly sad considering Croc spent his first appearances being a SmarterThanTheyLook menace who kicked the shit of Batman, almost killing him multiple times before he TookALevelInDumbass and got BadassDecay.

** ''ComicBook/KravensLastHunt'' is a superbly effective example of this with the [[Characters/MarvelComicsKravenTheHunter titular hunter]] proving he is a force to be reckoned with after years of VillainDecay. He attacks Spidey out of nowhere with a tranquilliser dart, easily prevents Peter from escaping and pulls a gun and shoots Wall Crawler… with a sleeping drug but it ''could'' been a bullet as Kraven notes to Spidey after the latter dug his way out of the grave Kraven had built. If that wasn’t enough he also single handedly defeated another villain Vermin whom Spidey was unable to defeat without Cap’s help. Kraven proved he was more dangerous and superior to Peter which is all he really wanted [[spoiler:committing suicide by in thr end of the comic]]. This comic alone shot Kraven to the top tier of Spider-Man and Marvel in general’s greatest villains [[spoiler: though this newfound popularity among readers meant his death (much to his annoyance) was undone.]]

* ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} is an especially noteworthy example as he’s either delivering the TheWorfEffect to JL (see ComicBook/IdentityCrisis) and more regularly ComicBook/TeenTitans as their nemesis or being on the receiving end himself having been Worfed by Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Cassandra Cain, Batman, multiple Robins and Superman. In ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' Slade gets killed by Aquaman simply to show how serious it has gotten in the BadFuture. Deathstroke has better luck in the New 52 and Rebirth comics able to fight even Superman in his team up series with Wonder Woman — albeit thanks to a healthy dose of PopularityPower PlotArmour.

* The ComicBook/SilverSurfer is one of the most powerful beings alive. He has thrown energy blasts that have staggered ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, a man in a crazy hat who ''eats planets''. He has taken hits from said man in crazy hat ''and lived''. He's taken hits that would liquefy Earth and given them right back. This is why whenever a new cosmic menace is introduced, generally the very first thing that happens is someone pitches Silver Surfer in through a window.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' has been pretty bad with this, having the Inheritors essentially wipe out anyone and anything that gets in their way. They've romped the Fantastic Five, ComicBook/TheNewWarriors, [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends the Spider-Friends]], [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited a city's worth of Beastmen]], [[PhysicalGod a Spider-Man with the Enigma Force]], even friggin' [[Series/SpiderManJapan Leo]][[HumongousMecha pardon]]!

** Batman himself is an ''enormous'' beneficiary of this, due to being perhaps the patron saint for writers RunningTheAsylum over at DC. Entire minis (such as the quasi-infamous ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'') have been written basically for no other reason than to give Batman a venue to gleefully kick around anyone who pisses him off. He's defeated more powerful opponents so often, and with such regularity, that "Batman with prep time" has become a meme in fandom circles. ComicBook/WonderWoman currently stands as the sole big-name hero who has ''not'' been worfed by him over the years. Obviously, PopularityPower overlaps a good deal here.

* Surprisingly even ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} (a freaking GodOfEvil who is the be all and end all to the DC mulitiverse) is subject to this having had his clock cleaned by Superman, Doomsaday, Alan Scott as well as Batman in the Hellbat suit. Though as others pointed have out these were Darkseid's avatars and his real omnipotent form as shown by ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' cannot be nearly as easily jobbed out without a plot device from the heroes... at least '''until''' ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueIncarnate'' where the [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Great Darkness]] [[https://i.redd.it/qoxoa1ry4bf81.jpg quite literally stomped his true from like a bug]].

** The most common Worfing technique Diana gets is being wrapped up by her own lasso (something that dates back to her [[ComicBook/WonderWomanCharlesMoulton golden age comics]]), which you would think she’d have ways to prevent that happening by now, but both evil Superman from an AlternateUniverse and Batwoman in the ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' comic are able to wrap Wondy’s lasso around her throat.

* There is also a ''group'' that serves this effect: ComicBook/TheIlluminati (a secret society composed by ComicBook/IronMan, [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]], [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], [[ComicBook/ProfessorX Charles Xavier]], ComicBook/BlackBolt and Comicbook/DoctorStrange). They are supposed to exchange information so they can coordinate their respective teams and prevent the great crisis. Still, when each new crisis begins (''ComicBook/CivilWar'', ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'', ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen''), the Illuminati have a secret meeting where they decide that there is nothing they can do.

* ComicBook/IronMan tends to get hit by this, for similar reasons to Wolverine (he's well-known, he's powerful enough for it to be impressive but not so powerful for it to be stupid, the fact that [[GoodThingYouCanHeal he can just rebuild his armor]] means that he can suffer massive damage without killing him), but a particular one is [[ManOfKryptonite his "Buster" armors]]. After their unveiling, and the initial hype of "Oh, my god, [[CrazyPrepared Iron Man built an armor]] to defeat Hulk/Thor/Phoenix/Galactus/the Celestials!", their inevitable fate is for the person they were designed to defeat [[ScissorsCutsRock to promptly rip them limb from limb.]]

** The most common Worfing technique Diana gets is being wrapped up by her own lasso (something that dates back to her [[ComicBook/WonderWomanCharlesMoulton golden age comics]]), which you would think she’d have ways to prevent that happening by now, but both evil Superman from a AlternateUniverse and Batwoman in the ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' comic are able to wrap Wondy’s lasso around her throat.

* In general this tends to happen a lot to whoever the [[TheBigGuy primary]] [[SuperStrength Super-Strong]], {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le guy on a hero team is, such as ComicBook/{{Superman}}, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], ComicBook/MartianManhunter, [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk The Hulk]], [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]], ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, etc.

* ComicBook/{{Rogue}} often fills this role for ComicBook/XMen, ''especially'' in [[WesternAnimation/XMen the animated series]].

* In general this tends to happen a lot to whoever the [[TheBigGuy primary]] [[SuperStrength Super-Strong]], {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le guy on a hero team is, such as Franchise/{{Superman}}, ComicBook/{{Thor}}, ComicBook/MartianManhunter, ComicBook/TheHulk, [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour The Thing]], ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, etc.

* ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}} of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and Franchise/TheFlash of the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} begin at least half of the team fights they're in by getting backhanded into unconsciousness (they do much better when fighting [[ConservationOfNinjutsu solo]]). The reason for this is (1) due to their powers ({{teleportation}} and SuperSpeed, respectively) they're usually the first one to reach the villain, (2) the sooner they get taken out, the less time the reader has to [[FridgeLogic think about]] how each could kill almost anyone before their opponent even knew they were in a fight, and (3) it demonstrates that the villain has reflexes akin to precognition just to be able to lay a glove on them… in theory. You see it enough times, it starts to look like they just 'port/run right into villains' outstretched fists.

* ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} is perhaps the BigBad most frequently hit by this. He has the power and reputation to stand in the same category as Marvel's biggest bads but is the "youngest" among them (in terms of creation, not in-story age) and thus 9 out of 10 times is the character Marvel looks to when they need to have a truly ''big'' villain take a dive for some reason. ComicBook/BlackBolt, ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}, Kang the Conqueror and an evil alternate Professor X have all made a whipping boy of the Eternal One to greater or lesser degrees, but the crowning example for Apocalypse and this trope is the 1992 ''X-Cutioner's Song'' crossover, which features upstart villain Stryfe effortlessly flinging around Big Blue with his telekinesis in a ''total'' CurbStompBattle. Apocalypse doesn’t fare any better in more recent comics, in ''ComicBook/Excalibur2019'' a pissed off ComicBook/{{Rogue}} straight up kills him for his scheming (and hurting Gambit) and after being resurrected for ''ComicBook/XOfSwords'', Apocalypse gets badly wounded by his grandson Summoner along with the other Horseman.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Eric Larsen had [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Dr. Octopus]] deliver a severe smackdown to the [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] during the "Revenge of the Sinister Six" storyarc. In the story, "Doc Ock" was given [[AppliedPhlebotinum extremely powerful adamantium limbs]] which made him far more dangerous. Hulk writer Creator/PeterDavid accused Larsen of a making a personal attack when he wrote that story and responded with a story written for the sole purpose of mocking Dr. Octopus. Larsen explained that it made sense to use the Hulk for the purpose of this very trope.

* The Wrecking Crew now exist entirely for this purpose. They have an ounce of credibility from being old [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] villains with incredible strength and mystically powered construction weapons, but adamantly yelling that you've fought Thor doesn't mean much when you can be taken down by low-power heroes like ComicBook/SpiderWoman. Franchise/SpiderMan once joked that everyone seems to beat them up sooner or later; subsequent encounters with the ComicBook/{{Runaways}} and ComicBook/ThePunisher of all people have showed he's probably right.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** When ComicBook/GreenArrow and Franchise/GreenLantern came back from the dead (the latter of them in ''ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth''), they both established that they were the real deal in short order by socking Batman square in the jaw. [[note]]In GA's case, it was implied to be both a gimme for Bats' shoddy treatment and another way of testing whether it was Ollie or an impersonator. The GL case, though, was actually a ShoutOut to Bats dropping Guy Gardner like a sack of potatoes in the JLI book.[[/note]]

** Batman himself is an ''enormous'' beneficiary of this, due to being perhaps the patron saint for writers RunningTheAsylum over at DC. Entire minis (such as the quasi-infamous ''ComicBook/JLAActOfGod'') have been written basically for no other reason than to give Batman a venue to gleefully kick around anyone who pisses him off. He's defeated more powerful opponents so often, and with such regularity, that "Batman with prep time" has become a meme in fandom circles. Franchise/WonderWoman currently stands as the sole big-name hero who has ''not'' been worfed by him over the years. Obviously, PopularityPower overlaps a good deal here.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':

* Whenever he's in the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}, [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Ridiculously Human Android]] ComicBook/RedTornado is ''notorious'' for always getting demolished to show off a villain's power. The main reason for this is that the bad guy can tear Red apart and the team can just repair him later.

* A curious case is Magog in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'', a CanonImmigrant from ''ComicBook/KingdomCome''. He's ''supposed'' to be a meta with power on par with Franchise/{{Superman}}, [[Franchise/GreenLantern Alan Scott]], and ComicBook/PowerGirl. In practice? He usually ends up either jobbing to whoever the villain of the day is or falling prey to someone with mind control. He's already been whammied by Gorilla Grodd, Miasma, and the Brain Trust - all in a ''single year''. And then Max Lord made the fourth time the charm [[spoiler:and killed him to boot]].

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* If ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' was better known than ''Star Trek'', this trope would be called "The Midnighter Effect". Midnighter is essentially a CaptainErsatz of Franchise/{{Batman}} with ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s personality, and canonically the scariest and most dangerous badass in the Creator/{{Wildstorm}} universe, yet he gets jobbed out in ''every single'' story arc just to demonstrate how much of a threat that arc's villain is.

** In ''[[ComicBook/CaptainAtom Captain Atom: Armageddon]]'', it isn't Midnighter who is used this way to show how utterly ''outclassed'' everyone in the Wildstorm universe is when compared to ComicBook/CaptainAtom, it's ''Apollo'', Wildstorm's SupermanSubstitute. Midnighter doesn't even count as a threat to Atom, and is casually (and entertainingly) dismissed offhand.

** Likewise, ComicBook/DoctorDoom occasionally suffers this, whether from ComicBook/{{Dazzler}} and other new heroes, or to show how tough a new villain is (e.g. Millar's promise of a "Master of Doom"). Thank Kirby for [[ActuallyADoombot Doombots]], eh?

* ComicBook/TheSentry He was based on the ''[[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver-Age]]'' Superman, more powerful than anyone, so mighty that he made the comics universe and the real world forget he had ever existed because he was so almighty that the mere memory of him would risk destroying the world. Then [[TheScrappy he didn't quite take off]], so he started getting lunched by everybody. Up to and including the Golden-Age Human Torch.

* In general this tends to happen a lot to whoever the primary [[SuperStrength Super-Strong]], {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le guy on a hero team is, such as Superman, the Martian Manhunter, the Thing, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, etc.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was another popular go-to guy to get the beat-down in a new or relaunched title; to a lesser extent the rest of his fellow Avengers, too. Literally Rogue’s first appearance in ''Avengers Annual'' #10 was her chucking the defeated Steve on the ground like garbage.

** Similar to Gladiator is Exodus, an immortal psychic mutant who at one point was described on-panel as the most powerful mutant on Earth. Originally intended to be the heir of Magneto, StatusQuoIsGod doomed him to spending the past decade mostly jobbing to various X-Men to make them look better at his expense. He suffered it ''twice'' during Messiah Complex and later had it inflicted on him by Creator/BrianBendis in the name of pumping up his GenericDoomsdayVillain Matthew Malloy. Bendis swore that last one ''killed'' Exodus, but since we're talking about a guy who was up and on his feet a few minutes after having ''[[GoodThingYouCanHeal all his organs shredded]]'', the general consensus was that a simple NeckSnap wouldn't keep him down long. The whole affair ended up being made moot when Malloy was {{RetGon|e}}ned out of existence, but just two years later Exodus was back to jobbing in the pages of Bunn's ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2016''. ''Sigh''...

* ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} is perhaps the BigBad most frequently hit by this. He has the power and reputation to stand in the same category as Marvel's biggest bads but is the "youngest" among them (in terms of creation, not in-story age) and thus 9 out of 10 times is the character Marvel looks to when they need to have a truly ''big'' villain take a dive for some reason. ComicBook/BlackBolt, ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}, Kang the Conqueror and an evil alternate Professor X have all made a whipping boy of the Eternal One to greater or lesser degrees, but the crowning example for Apocalypse and this trope is the 1992 ''X-Cutioner's Song'' crossover, which features upstart villain Stryfe effortlessly flinging around Big Blue with his telekinesis in a ''total'' CurbStompBattle.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica was another popular go-to guy to get the beat-down in a new or relaunched title; to a lesser extent the rest of his fellow Avengers, too.

** This sometimes happened to his [[FanNickname Mighty Shield]]. Since it was established as [[MadeOfIndestructium practically indestructible]] ([[RetCon with the times it had been destroyed before that being established as steel copies while Tony Stark tried to understand how to replicate it]]), damaging or destroying it means that whoever did it has immense power. Thankfully, these instances are quite rare, as it was damaged or destroyed only by the absolute control over molecule bonds of the Molecule Man, the near omnipotence of the Beyonder and whoever wields the Infinity Gauntlet, the enormous power of the Odinforce and [[spoiler: the Serpent shattering it ''barehanded'']].

** Wolverine and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} have a weird back-and-forth history of doing this to each other, most famously in ''ComicBook/FatalAttractions'' where Magneto ripped all the adamantium from Wolverine's body. On Wolvie's end, he's gotten to improbably shish-kebab Magneto in ''Eve of Destruction'' and outright ''beheaded'' him in ''Planet X'' (though that one was quickly retconned, so make of it what you will).