Things in the real world that would be lost in a superhero universe.

So, it occurs to me lately that we\'ve never had a topic dedicated to talking about issues in everyday life that would cease to exist, or at least be fundamentally changed, in a comic book superhero universe. This could be anything from law, to society, to human behavior, etc, etc. See also: These Look Like Jobs For The Superman.

So to start off with, I\'ve got:

• Marriage: Specifically because Death Is Cheap (although Death Is Cheap could be used for a number of things, I decided to focus on this). For example, would \"Til Death Do Us Part\" still apply? How would death be anymore of a strict end to a relationship than, say, being trapped in another country or dimension? Would people have to wait for a certain amount of time before they would be allowed to divorce, annul or remarry?
• Tall buildings: Superpowered persons would completely render tall buildings like skyscrapers uninhabitable. In real life, a LOT of thought and consideration goes into the building and maintaining of a tall building, including how to prevent it from falling even if caught in an earthquake. Remember, the fact that the Twin Towers held for as long as they did is considered \'\'remarkable\'\', given the circumstances. If something like \'\'Man of Steel\'\' actually happened, NOBODY would want to spend a prolonged amount of time in them anymore.

Death Is Cheap only really applies to superheroes, super villains, and their close ones. 'Normal' humans, the kind that make crowds and background filler to be saved or killed in superhero universes, still seem to get the 'dead is dead' treatment from the universe, and they'd make for the overwhelming majority of the population.

Right. That was implied, but I should have been more specific.

Even so, it would likely still change marriage law all around. Remember, modern divorce law was pretty caused by one King.

The marriage thing was actually hit on when Mockingbird came back to life. Hawkeye and Mockingbird were never actually divorced but as the death certificate had been filed Clint and Bobbi were legally considered separated by the state they were married in and were therefore no longer married.

"War without fire is like sausages without mustard." - Jean Juvénal des Ursins

I'd say conspiracy theories regarding the existence of magic and aliens will be obsolete due to being proven factual, while theories regarding their occurrence with regard to various historical and current events will be all over the place... and most of them will also be factual, even the mutually exclusive ones.

Moreover, religions will either start to reform around proven divine pantheons, or start waning altogether since miraculous feats are daily occurrences.

And worst of all, the incredible amount of frequent large-scale street-level violence will cause the resurgence and inevitable domination of chick-flicks and fluffy slice-of-life comedies as the most sought-for escapist fiction on the market. Finally, the Comic Irregulars will be making a screencap comic based on Aliens... which will also be factual.

edited 18th Jan '15 6:00:16 PM by indiana404

Well that's kind of the thing. What would a "death certificate" even mean anymore? Death is little else than a slightly deeper coma in comics.

edited 18th Jan '15 6:41:51 PM by KingZeal

People would abuse the heck out of Good Samaritan laws.

"Yes your honour, I did break into the building, but it's because I was concerned for the prosecutor's safety. I was sure she was being psychically tortured by her antique ruby necklace and was just trying to remove it."

"Based on the precedence established in Smith vs Batman, the jury hereby finds the defendant not guilty."

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Also, self-defence classes would be mandatory as there's no way to dispose of superpowered criminals.

Ukrainian Red Cross

Plus, I imagine that schools would begin to offer courses in alien languages, magic, and Galactic History. (Self-defense classes might be mandatory as part of PE in all public schools).

I also imagine that superpowers would result in interesting political upheavals. Assuming that things like the X gene are evenly distributed amongst all demographics, and say .01% of the general pop has an active X gene, that means there are 100,000 people in China with superpowers, and the same situation is in India, which depending on powerset might cause a stir. Storm alone would cause an uproar; if she uses her powers to alleviate the effects of drought in certain African countries, which countries would try to court her and how would a more productive growing season effect an economy and the power balance of the area? Since magic is real, would China be forced to always have a monarch or dictator due to the prosperity of a land stemming from who's on the throne thanks to legends? Would Israel have an army of Golems? Would the USA's high concentration of superpowered people make other countries way nervous, or would countries be very pro-powers to try and attract a greater concentration of powered people to make their nation more prominent?

...I like world building.

The world also has such a wide gap between its most wealthy and most impoverished that poor families might actively start trying to breed mutants. After all, they really have nothing to lose. If they give birth to a mutant healer, that would help them immensely (even if only by selling the child to markets that would research/enslave them). And if you give birth to the next Storm, what do you have to lose?

Superhuman Trafficking is an inevitability, though, no matter if the world is welcoming or hostile to superhumans.

I'd put "Reasonable Insurance Rates" pretty high.

Lafayette Strong

They might have to suspend the laws requiring you to have insurance in new york else no one could afford to live there.

"War without fire is like sausages without mustard." - Jean Juvénal des Ursins

Would intra-human discrimination (i.e. racism between ethnic groups) still be relevant? I'm not saying that people would stop fighting among themselves, but would they eventually realize that skin color or cultural differences would seem insignificant, when there's so many super-powered mutants and non-human beings running around?

Judging by DC and Marvel alone, I wonder if large cities (especially New York) would suffer high rates of emigration due to all those block-busting superhero battles?

You know I have this feeling that if superhumans existed in real life, most of them would be neither heroes nor villains, they'd just use their powers for whatever the hell they want.

Yeah, anything that puts a lot of people in the same place (cities, tall buildings, etc.) would likely be abandoned.

People would be a lot more scattered.

This is something that i wished Wanted touched on, but it never did. The superheroes and supervillains were more concerned with killing each other than dealing with humanity.. for the most part. Hell, they even built a dimensional rift just to kill the superheroes in all the other universes!

I burst into the room, the unmistakable cries of 200 small lizards are heard. (cue dramatic lightning)

Having the right superpower on your resume could probably land you a really cushy job really quickly. After all, a technopath working in Computer Security/R&D/ whatever would be insanely valuable, and telepathic psychologists would probably be cutting edge in their field. As for having the ability to change the colors of things, a red sapphire is known as a ruby and there are certain pigments for ceramics that normally require really expensive ingredients (ex bright red requires gold), or other things expensive to paint. And an omnilingot would have archaeologists, diplomats, historians, and intelligence agencies knocking down their door.

However, with super battles, the death sentence would probably make a roaring comeback. After all, most killers can be locked up in a high security prison. But those who can throw tanks? Might as well just give them an injection to ease the minds of civilians and avoid a prison break scandal. And if Death Is Cheap becomes a thing, then mandatory cremations might as well.

These Look Like Jobs For The Superman

Come to think about it, I doubt that most people, even if they had superpowers, would want to risk their lives by fighting other people. Most of them probably would just use their powers for mundane jobs.