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Anime and Manga
But, I can't sense spirits or see through girls' swimsuits or move a 10-yen coin in my sleep...
— Yuuri being Genre Blind, Kyo Kara Maoh!
She's still close enough to human that we can just about appreciate how insanely good she is.
— Chisame Hasegawa on Ku Fei, Negima! Magister Negi Magi
Screw you. I'm purebred human, right down to the bone. Don't mistake me for one of you freaks. Alt. translation:
— Guts just before killing one, Berserk (episode #275)
I'm not feeling any [psychic] pressure from him. He's just strong!
— Kamille Bidan on Yazan Gable, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Comic Books
I do it because there's nothing more powerful than an ordinary person.
I do it because there's no such thing as an ordinary person.
I do it because there's no such thing as an ordinary person.
— Batman, Dectective Comics #27 Special Edition (Free Barnes & Noble promo issue), August 2014
Hyde: You cannot avoid me for long! You are just an ordinary man... but I am Hyde! Hyde!
Captain America: Well, then here's an interesting lesson for you... Never underestimate the ordinary man!
Captain America: Well, then here's an interesting lesson for you... Never underestimate the ordinary man!
This is Poyo. Poyo was exposed to a near lethal amount of radiation as an egg during the first stages of a government experiment to create mutant super soldiers, trained in exotic martial arts by Tibetan kung fu fightin' monks, and given strange bio-enhancements during a rash of farm animal abductions by extra-terrestrials.
Nah, just kidding. None of that shit is true. Poyo is just really, really badass.
Nah, just kidding. None of that shit is true. Poyo is just really, really badass.
— Chew
I've had the taste of the glory of being normal! To win through determination... courage... to be no more than myself — and no less!
I survived the Battle of Yavin. I survived the Battle of Hoth. Hell - just a couple of weeks ago I blew up the Death Star during the Battle of Endor. The reason I'm still breathing when a lot of other good Rebel pilots aren't? Maybe it's because I'm better. Or maybe I'm just lucky.
— Wedge Antilles, Star Wars Tales #23, "Lucky"
I have no powers and not nearly enough training, but I'm doing this anyways. Being a super hero is amazing. Everyone should try it.
—Kate Bishop, Young Avengers Vol. 2 #1
Songbird: I feel so naked without my sonic rig. Powerless...
Black Widow: Super-powers are a crutch. Don't rely on them. There's always someone who can take them away. In the end, all you really have are two fists and a brain... And you pray that's all you need.
Black Widow: Super-powers are a crutch. Don't rely on them. There's always someone who can take them away. In the end, all you really have are two fists and a brain... And you pray that's all you need.
— Thunderbolts #136
Fan Fiction
Edward Cullen: Why!? Why did I lose? I am a Vampire! You are just a human!
Sherlock Holmes: No, Edward. You got it backwards. I am a human. You are just a vampire.
Sherlock Holmes: No, Edward. You got it backwards. I am a human. You are just a vampire.
Film - Animated
Anna: You are not going alone.
Elsa: Anna, no. I have my powers to protect me. You don't.
Anna: Excuse me, I climbed the North Mountain, survived a frozen heart, and saved you from my ex-boyfriend, and I did it all without powers. So, you know, I’m coming.
Elsa: Anna, no. I have my powers to protect me. You don't.
Anna: Excuse me, I climbed the North Mountain, survived a frozen heart, and saved you from my ex-boyfriend, and I did it all without powers. So, you know, I’m coming.
"Wait, you're not just some guy in a bat costume, are you? Are you freaking kidding me? What, nobody asked you to prom so you now dress as a bat and prowl around your parents' basement?"
—Green Lantern to Batman, Justice League: War
Film - Live-Action
Laura: I see you with The Avengers, and well... they're like gods.
Clint: You don't think they need me?
Laura: Actually, I think they do - and that's scarier.
Clint: You don't think they need me?
Laura: Actually, I think they do - and that's scarier.
"The city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense."
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
I can't fly, but I can kick your ass.
— Kick-Ass, and the film's tagline
Literature
"All through your flying life, you may have to face the fact that pilots who use the Force will be able to react more quickly, aim more accurately, get the better starfighters, get the greater fame. But those of us who can't use the Force - well, when we manage to make it to the top of our profession, we can look the Jedi in the eye and remind ourselves that we got there without any crutches."
— Wedge Antilles to his daughter Syal, Legacy of the Force
Ever since his awakening, Yulric had encountered children and mortals, and the only person who had impressed him had been a mortal child.
Live-Action TV
And the "glorified bricklayer" picks up the spare.
— Xander Harris after using a wrecking ball to shot-put a Physical God through a brick wall, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Just a quick reminder. Super-Speed: I don't have it.
It may be old school, but it gets the job done.
— Adam Park, the only Ranger present without superpowers as a civilian, Power Rangers Operation Overdrive
Hughie: So maybe I can't be Lee Marvin. But I can be Harry Potter. Or you know, John Connor or-or-or what's her name from The Hunger Games...
Frenchie: Katniss.
Hughie: (beat) Yeah... The point is, I could be that person who nobody thinks is awesome, but it turns out they're kind of fucking awesome!
— The Boys (2019), "The Big Ride"
Look, here's the thing, uh, I'm not Tony Stark, I'm not Dr. Banner, okay? I don't have the flashiest gadgets, I don't have super strength. But what I do have is guts. Something Captain America always had, always needs to have, and I'm gonna need every ounce of it. Because I got big shoes to fill.
— John Walker, after his achievements are mentioned during an interview. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The Star-Spangled Man
"You showed me that being a hero isn’t just for people who can fly or shoot lasers out of their hands. It’s for anyone, who’s brave enough to do what’s right, no matter the cost."
Music
Needless to say, the beast was stunned.
Whip-crack went his Whoopy tail,
And the beast was done.
He asked us: "(snort) Be you angels?"
And we said, "Nay. We are but men." ROCK!!
Whip-crack went his Whoopy tail,
And the beast was done.
He asked us: "(snort) Be you angels?"
And we said, "Nay. We are but men." ROCK!!
— Tenacious D, "Tribute"
Tabletop Games
Your capabilities are at the upper end of the normal human spectrum, or a little past it. Despite having no superpowers, usually no magical abilities, and only minor advanced technology, you can hold your own among four-color heroes. The biggest challenge you face may be avoiding a life of boredom – and being a hero may be your best way to overcome that challenge.
Fortune favors the mortal man.
— Shinsei, Legend of the Five Rings
The Imperial Guard is an army that appeals to both the ruthless commander who only cares about achieving his objective and nothing for the lives of his men, and those heroic generals who wish to see the normal man, armed with only the humble lasgun, prevail against the hordes of bio-engineered aliens and Warp-born monstrosities that would otherwise tear the Imperium asunder.
—Imperial Guard 5th Edition Codex, Warhammer 40,000
Though it is the God-King's champions, the Stormcast Eternals, who earn the greatest glory and renown through their valorous deeds, Sigmar's empire is built on the blood and sacrifice of millions of humble humans, duardian, and aelves. These heroes will not be remembered by name, save for those engraved upon scattered and time-worn monuments, but they do not fight for recognition. They fight to protect their families, friends, and way of life.
—Order Battletome: Cities of Sigmar, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
Video Games
I'll have you know that I've taken out half a dozen villains with more power than you before I showed up to work today. Do you know how I, a lowly human, can do that while the rest of you fly around this city like you're gods? I can take you down because I'm just that much better than you. Take away your powers and you're nothing. Nothing! I win because I want it more than you. I win because I will never give up.
— Marshall Brass, City of Villains
Warboss Gorgutz: Da Titan is worthless to me! Dat's why I'm gonna pound it inta scrap!
Lord Crull: You can't! The Titan Dominatus is one of the greatest war machines ever constructed!
Warboss Gorgutz: Wrong, ya git! Da greatest war machine is da Ork WAAAGH! We don't need no damn tinker'traption to be strong... we iz strong!
Lord Crull: You can't! The Titan Dominatus is one of the greatest war machines ever constructed!
Warboss Gorgutz: Wrong, ya git! Da greatest war machine is da Ork WAAAGH! We don't need no damn tinker'traption to be strong... we iz strong!
—Dawn of War: Winter Assault
Big Bad: Hello, child... I'm a little surprised to see an ordinary boy like you, fighting for the world. This day is full of surprises!
Sothe: No one's more surprised than me. I can't read people's feelings like Micaiah... I'm not invincible in battle like Ike... Between all these laguz kings and great beorc heroes, I don't really belong here.
Big Bad: Then why are you here?
Sothe: Because there's one thing I can't afford to lose. Micaiah. I've come all this way just to protect her... I won't lose her now.
Sothe: No one's more surprised than me. I can't read people's feelings like Micaiah... I'm not invincible in battle like Ike... Between all these laguz kings and great beorc heroes, I don't really belong here.
Big Bad: Then why are you here?
Sothe: Because there's one thing I can't afford to lose. Micaiah. I've come all this way just to protect her... I won't lose her now.
This is not some agent provocateur or highly trained assassin we are discussing. Gordon Freeman is a theoretical physicist who had hardly earned the distinction of his Ph.D. at the time of the Black Mesa Incident. I have good reason to believe that in the intervening years, he was in a state that precluded further development of covert skills. The man you have consistently failed to slow, let alone capture, is by all standards simply that - an ordinary man.
— Dr. Wallace Breen, Half-Life 2
Y'know, ever since I was a kid, I always wondered what I'd do with super powers. 'Course, if you think about it, do you really need 'em? Like, we ordinary folk seem to get along fine without 'em. I guess if you forget your keys and had to break a door.
The City's first protectors were Ayane Takanome and her Rangers.
In the darkest days, we didn't have many Guardians. And those who Ghosts had revived were scattered across the solar system, far from the people who needed protection as they made their way to the City in the Traveler's shadow.
From their perches high up in the mountains, the Takanome Rangers guarded the refugee roads to the City. Their rifles brought down many Fallen, as well as human bandits and murderers.
But Rangers only had one life to give. When they died, they were gone forever. So the Takanome Rangers took to planting blue flowers along the roads they watched. That way, when they fell, a piece of them would live on to guide weary travelers home.
In the darkest days, we didn't have many Guardians. And those who Ghosts had revived were scattered across the solar system, far from the people who needed protection as they made their way to the City in the Traveler's shadow.
From their perches high up in the mountains, the Takanome Rangers guarded the refugee roads to the City. Their rifles brought down many Fallen, as well as human bandits and murderers.
But Rangers only had one life to give. When they died, they were gone forever. So the Takanome Rangers took to planting blue flowers along the roads they watched. That way, when they fell, a piece of them would live on to guide weary travelers home.
Personally, I think the Force is overrated.
— Smuggler Player Character, Star Wars: The Old Republic
McBurn: Unbelievable. You got no Stigma, no showy magic, and you ain't mixed like the Ashen kid, either. You're as normal as they come and you can still keep up with me!
Lloyd: Yep. I'm just an ordinary detective. Maybe a little more stubborn than the average one.
Lloyd: Yep. I'm just an ordinary detective. Maybe a little more stubborn than the average one.
Commander of the Vespers, the Arquebus Group's augmented human squad.
An ace pilot who achieved an astonishing 94.7% mission success rate during the Island Four Disturbance, Freud is widely speculated to be a recipient of repeated "adjustments" much like Snail.
However, the real Freud is simply an ordinary human being—a man who enjoys piloting his AC and making incremental improvements on his daily sorties.
An ace pilot who achieved an astonishing 94.7% mission success rate during the Island Four Disturbance, Freud is widely speculated to be a recipient of repeated "adjustments" much like Snail.
However, the real Freud is simply an ordinary human being—a man who enjoys piloting his AC and making incremental improvements on his daily sorties.
— V.I Freud's Arena profile, Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Webcomics
"All these crazies with their mechs and their biomedical crap... They probably think we're completely irrelevant. Give 'em hell for us normal guys."
— Officer Barnes to Officer Cho, Kiwi Blitz, page 508
Magical Lawyer Superpower #1: Psychic Lie Detection
Magical Lawyer Superpower #2: Hypersensitive Tell Spotting
Edgeworth: This gun was found on the crime scene. Furthermore, the victim died of a gunshot wound to the chest. From the evidence, it can be concluded that the victim was shot. With the gun.
Magical Lawyer Superpower #3: Basic Logic
Magical Lawyer Superpower #2: Hypersensitive Tell Spotting
Edgeworth: This gun was found on the crime scene. Furthermore, the victim died of a gunshot wound to the chest. From the evidence, it can be concluded that the victim was shot. With the gun.
Magical Lawyer Superpower #3: Basic Logic
Ol' Man Death: Oh. They want my hat.
Zeuxippe: Your hat? But why?
Ol' Man Death: Ha! For those guys, hats are a big deal!
Zeuxippe: But... but your hat isn't particularly fancy, grandpa.
Ol' Man Death: Nope, but it's mine, and every Jäger knows it.
Zeuxippe: Right, and they care about your hat because...?
Ol' Man Death: It's part of the game. The badder the enemy, the better the hat.
Zeuxippe: But why...
Ol' Man Death: Because I never lost a fight.
Zeuzippe: So?
Ol' Man Death: No. Listen to me. I'm just a human. Rode with the Jägers. Never. Lost. A. Fight.
Zeuxippe: Your hat? But why?
Ol' Man Death: Ha! For those guys, hats are a big deal!
Zeuxippe: But... but your hat isn't particularly fancy, grandpa.
Ol' Man Death: Nope, but it's mine, and every Jäger knows it.
Zeuxippe: Right, and they care about your hat because...?
Ol' Man Death: It's part of the game. The badder the enemy, the better the hat.
Zeuxippe: But why...
Ol' Man Death: Because I never lost a fight.
Zeuzippe: So?
Ol' Man Death: No. Listen to me. I'm just a human. Rode with the Jägers. Never. Lost. A. Fight.
Let me tell you something, lady... (Delivers a vertical Roundhouse Kick that flips Concretia upside-down) There is no such thing... (delivers a punch that sends her careening outside) as just human."
— Math, Grrl Power
, Grrl PowerBun-bun: Oh sure, it's really easy to be "tough" when you're totally invulnerable. Sounds more like a petty *beep*hole to me.
Lodoze: Is that so?
Bun-bun: Finally, some service around here! Get me a refill on this stuff, ugly! And try not to stare at it, you'll scare all the booze out of it!
Lodoze: Is that so?
Bun-bun: Finally, some service around here! Get me a refill on this stuff, ugly! And try not to stare at it, you'll scare all the booze out of it!
— Sluggy Freelance, "GOFOTRON Champion of the Cosmos"
Web Original
The only other comic character that comes close to the preposterousness of Superman is Batman - a character who can afford the colorful long underwear - BUT HAS NO SUPER POWERS AT ALL! And we're expected to believe that you can't kill him. Isn't he the most popular character too? It's because it makes no sense that he's so beloved.
At the end of the day, though he's been ferried through Space Hell on a ship that's four thousand years old to his destination, though he deployed from high orbit with a grav chute, though he is one of ten million men raised from his homeworld to fight a war he barely understands, though he has been given a weapon that fires miniature suns and might annihilate him when he fires it because no-one knows how it works anymore, though his company is supported by tractor-tanks that run on anything you can burn, though he wages war against a devouring hivemind or space demons [...]
A Guardsman is a man, just like you, though he grew up in another culture. He has no millennia-old genetic engineering, no prophetic leader, no miracles of faith. He has his lasgun, his orders, and his fellow soldiers.
And he will Hold the Line.
A Guardsman is a man, just like you, though he grew up in another culture. He has no millennia-old genetic engineering, no prophetic leader, no miracles of faith. He has his lasgun, his orders, and his fellow soldiers.
And he will Hold the Line.
— Anonymous on Warhammer 40,000's Imperial Guard
The great thing about Han [Solo] is that he's just a regular guy with no superpowers, and he somehow manages to hold his own in a galaxy filled with giant monsters, crazy technology and angry motherfuckers with lightsabers who can move objects with their minds and set people on fire just by thinking about it. People are getting Force Choked the fuck out all over the place, entire planets are being blown up by giant universe-killing space stations, Luke is doing backflips in his sleep while bench-pressing Yoda, and in the middle of all this futuristic ridiculous space-insanity is Han Solo, who has little more to offer than piloting skills and a pistol, and he's taking care of business, saving Jedi Luke's hide from certain death, and generally just making everyone around him his bitches.
Chris: The vampires? They do not like Blade. But they f***ing hate Whistler.
David: Blade's at least KIND OF one of them. They see him as someone who's gone native, I figure. Whistler's just a racist dick to them. I mean, deservedly, they're damn vampires.
Chris: I think it's part of their whole Vampire Superiority thing. Like, they get that Blade's, you know, the Daywalker. All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, bent on revenge. But Whistler's just some regular human dude who spent like 40 years just rampaging on them.
David: That's got to be so dispiriting! Like, some auto mechanic with a whiskey addiction has just annihilated tons of your friends.
David: Blade's at least KIND OF one of them. They see him as someone who's gone native, I figure. Whistler's just a racist dick to them. I mean, deservedly, they're damn vampires.
Chris: I think it's part of their whole Vampire Superiority thing. Like, they get that Blade's, you know, the Daywalker. All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, bent on revenge. But Whistler's just some regular human dude who spent like 40 years just rampaging on them.
David: That's got to be so dispiriting! Like, some auto mechanic with a whiskey addiction has just annihilated tons of your friends.
What can you do with a character who responds to everything by either punching it or deploying Bat Anti-thing Spray... then punching it?
— Yahtzee Croshaw on Batman
She has no inherent understanding of superscience, no connections to alternate dimensions, no blessings of Abrahamaic deities. She's not a time traveler, nor an android, nor an extraterrestrial, nor a demon. She doesn't control the weather, nor suddenly appear in your dreams, nor shapeshift into different forms, nor pull weapons out of thin air. She's just a human - a perfectly normal human woman with expertises and limitations consistent with known phenomenon. And that's exactly what makes her so damned intimidating!
— CDR Colby Burns, NOAA liaison to the SCP Foundation
, NOAA liaison to the SCP FoundationIn the reboot, he has a similar backstory, but is a bit more heroic, removing his implants in an attempt to take down Ultratech and make an honest comeback. Given that this means now he's a mostly normal guy who beats up dinosaurs, aliens, the undead, werewolves, evil sorcerers, and a Battletoad, this gives him the biggest stones in the entire cast.
Western Animation
Super powers do NOT a hero make!
Martian Manhunter: You really should be resting. I know this must be hard for you, feeling vulnerable. You're the only one of us without special powers, but you don't need to prove yourself. You're a valued member of this team, and we're only trying to-
Batman: I'm taking the shuttle. Unless you want to try and stop me.
Martian Manhunter: ...No. (moves out of the way)
Batman: I'm taking the shuttle. Unless you want to try and stop me.
Martian Manhunter: ...No. (moves out of the way)
Doctor Destiny: You know, I could let you go. You're a distraction now, and it's the others I have the real problem with. We're like insects to them - they step on us, ruin our lives, and they don't even realize it. But you're different. You don't have any special powers.
Batman: Oh, I have one, Johnny. I never give up.
Batman: Oh, I have one, Johnny. I never give up.
Bull Dog: Oh dear, no power? So how do you fight any bloomin' crime then?
Ace the Bat-Hound: I throw things.
Mammoth Mutt: You throw things, huh?
Krypto the Superdog: Hey, h-he doesn't just throw things! He, uh, he throws them... really well!
Ace the Bat-Hound: I throw things.
Mammoth Mutt: You throw things, huh?
Krypto the Superdog: Hey, h-he doesn't just throw things! He, uh, he throws them... really well!
— Krypto the Superdog, "Bat Hound Meets the Dog Stars"
Deep down, I know, that I'm just a human
but I know that I can raise my sword and fight
With my short existence
I can make a difference
I can be there for him
I can be his knight!
but I know that I can raise my sword and fight
With my short existence
I can make a difference
I can be there for him
I can be his knight!
— Connie, Steven Universe, "Sworn to the Sword"
In the end, the world didn't really need a superman...just a brave one.
— Superman's eulogy at the grave of Dan Turpin, Superman: The Animated Series
You're feeling it now, aren't you? What the rest of us live with every day; your own mortality. Don't worry, you'll survive. The kryptonite will work its way out of your lungs soon enough. [...] But I didn't have to go easy on you. A different binding agent, a stronger mix. I want you to remember that. I wanted to remind you to stay out of my way. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember the one man who beat you.
— Batman, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
