Extraordinarily Empowered Girl: Extraordinarily Empowered Girl

Is it possible to have a male version of Extraordinarily Empowered Girl? Perhaps if it's a particularly "feminine" (or at least not really "masculine") boy?

On a side-note, am I the only one who thinks this tropes woefully Needs More Examples for its article, and maybe more wicks? It's only barely above 150 at the moment, and I don't think this character type is that rare.

That is a really vague description.

IIRC it did go through TRS at one point. Don't know what came out of it, though.

It's not completely worthless, but it is really, really vague. (Sorry to sound like a human echo.) I can see the validity of a character whose power lies in between Badass Normal and outright Superhero, but I don't see any reason to restrict it to females only and claim a feminist message. (Apart from the fact that this trope was apparently created before Action Girl, from what I've heard.)

Also, is it just me or does the description seem to think Super Girl is a character type rather than a works page?

I was kinda wondering about that, too. Think this should be sent to TRS?

I am confused as hell about this trope.... really I am not quite sure what this is suppose to be.

It almost sounds like they are trying to make a sexist version of other tropes like Magical Girl or Magical Girlfriend...

Again I am very confused.

Seems perfectly clear to me. Not vague in the least.

Really? Can you explain it?

I'm not getting how there is anything left to explain that is not addressed in the article. It is the Buffy model. Human girl with a little something extra.

What's the something?

Power. Hence the name.

What kind of power? A superpower or something? I'm not purposefully trying to be argumentative but a girl with power doesn't seem very clear.

Yes, an extraordinary power. Hence ... wait. Already used that line.

The issue here is that while we know that the character type is supposed to be technically above non-powered Muggles on the Super Weight scale, we're having trouble defining the line between it and a true Super Hero (or the equivalent outside the Super Hero genre).

In any case, I've brought up the issue on the Trope Description Improvement Drive.

edited 20th Jan '12 11:19:48 AM by MarqFJA

The line is fairly softly defined, I'd say. Comparing Buffy's and Supergirl's powers, though, the distinction seems plain.

I mean, Buffy's powers are within the range of ordinary human athletes. The extraordinary part is she just has that strength without having to look muscly or train like the dickens.

edited 20th Jan '12 11:20:37 AM by FastEddie

Isn't that just Waif-Fu?

No, Buffy has a high level of physical strength, but said strength is supernatural in origin, which I think makes it Super-Strength, just on par with an extremely fit human. That she doesn't need a large build to maintain this (and I think at one point, she was given a "lethal" dose of muscle relaxants that brought her down to normal).

The problem seems to be that this is actually two tropes mashed together. The first is "character who is stronger than a Badass Normal, but weaker than a Superhero". The second is "this character is Always Female and used to impart a more or less overt feminist message".

The first part has no reason to be Always Female: I'm certain you could find male characters who would fit as well as the female ones listed. The second might fall under Girls Need Role Models. (I may be wrong, though.)

edited 22nd Jan '12 1:58:07 AM by DoktorvonEurotrash

The combination is pertinent.

I don't think defining "superhero" as a power level is a good idea for the discussion. Several prominent superheros are classified as Badass Normal, some not even that and count as Weak, but Skilled.

I'll admit I never followed Buffy that closely, but I'm under the impression is that she was not significantly stronger than a body builder, and had physical capabilities in the range of some of the top tier athletes in their fields, as well as limited precog for danger (but it was just a general broadness, right?).

So, would you consider someone like Bat Girl one?

I seem to recall the original decision for what to do with this one was something like cutting it or merging it into another trope. However, that original thread is long gone and I didn't pay much attention to it at the time, so I could be wrong.

Anyway, at the very least we need to tighten up the description. People have expressed difficulty understanding this trope and where it stops and ends, so it can't hurt.

"A Type 2 on the Super Weight girl who's used to impart a more or less overt feminist message."

That's what I get from this.