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DoktorvonEurotrash Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk Since: Jan, 2001
Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk
Apr 22nd 2024 at 5:34:30 AM •••

Unsure about this example (under Theatre):

  • The short play The League of Semi-Superheroes is about a group of heroes each acknowledging the uselessness of their powers as they deal with a financial crisis.

This needs more context, since it doesn't say what their powers are. Also, from the description, it's not even clear whether their powers are stupid.

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
NessaEllenesse Since: Apr, 2015
Mar 28th 2018 at 9:16:42 AM •••

Spider sence.

Never disregard purely defesive powers as lame. They may be boring but pratcal. Spider sence is in fact awesome. Lets get something straight, it isn't telepathy. It is a form of precognition, an early warning system for incoming danger. For you power gamers out there, this is the equivant of a 9th level socerer/wazard spell called foresight only the duration is permantent. In a d20 enviroment it would be a game breaking ability. Second how can you call anything that staves off the idiot ball anything but awesome.

Pardon me for mixing genres but as a long time D&D player, I admit i love flashy evocation spells, but those spells tend to draw A LOT of fire. Survival requires a lot of purely defensive spells. This ability has not only allowed Spider-Man to avoid being caught flat-footed. It is allowed him to turn the tables and catch opponents flat-footed because he knew they were coming and they didn't know he was coming.

DoktorvonEurotrash Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk Since: Jan, 2001
Welcome, traveller, welcome to Omsk
Sep 18th 2017 at 7:51:35 AM •••

Regarding the The Silmarillion entry, am I the only one who interpreted Vairë's role as "the Weaver" as her being essentially the equivalent of the Fates in our world's mythology? Doesn't sound very lame to me.

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird
RubberBekki Latex-Based Troper Since: Sep, 2011
Latex-Based Troper
Sep 5th 2011 at 4:42:40 PM •••

It's fun to just twist a trope into a couple anothers:

—8<—cut—here—

Wheeler: "It's useless, that's what it is! Ma-Ti is the weakest one of all! Haw haw haw!"

  • >BLAM!<* WHEELER falls over.

MA-TI blows off the smoke from the barrel of her pearl-handled Colt revolver, twirls it and flawlessly slides back into her gun belt.

Ma-Ti: "I Heart pearl-handled Colts."

WHEELER writes in agony while clutching his thigh-wound resulting from the gunshot:

Wheeler: "You didn't have to SHOOT me! I was only kidding! I thought you had HEART!"

Ma-Ti: "I Heart irony."

—8<—cut—here—

It's not a totally bad Trope. Satire works great when performing such out-of-character changeovers while keeping it somewhat true to the original Trope. In a literal sense, anyway...

...but I hated that "Planeteers" nonsense. So why not mix in a couple Western-genre tropes to make Ma-Ti a badass? ;-)

Perving up retrogaming with latex since 1990. Hide / Show Replies
Paireon Since: Jan, 2001
Dec 2nd 2011 at 10:51:56 AM •••

Meh, as far as I'm concerned that's just Ma-Ti (who's a he BTW) -and by extension the show's writers- being possessed of a dismally deficient imagination. If it allows him to control ALL animals, that means he can control arthropods (arachnids, crustaceans, insects...) which should give him nigh-inexhaustible firepower... But Wait, There's More!! Lots of microorganisms could be considered animals under standard classifications, so he could be an extremely effective Plague Master... But Wait, There's More!! Humans are animals according to classification, so why couldn't he control them as well (although maybe there was some sort of explanation in-show for that last one, can't remember)?

I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me.
RubberBekki Since: Sep, 2011
May 26th 2012 at 12:46:35 AM •••

Double-meh: They're all a bunch of treehugging androgynites. That includes Ma-Ti (I didn't even bother looking up its piccy, and I won't either for I spent decades bleaching that crap out of my head instilled within me as a kid who didn't know any better).

Anyway, with your stuff in mind then it's all Ma-Ti and its crew's fault for AIDS. That's if these perversions of fiction were real, of course.

Perving up retrogaming with latex since 1990.
Stoogebie Since: Apr, 2011
Nov 13th 2011 at 2:53:33 PM •••

Is there a more mundane/non-superhero version of this? Like, say you've got a group of geniuses, and the one girl on the team excels in art. Of course, she thinks it's pathetic, especially compared to the "cool computer geek". Does it count?

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Paireon Since: Jan, 2001
Dec 2nd 2011 at 10:22:02 AM •••

Well, if it's actually shown as pathetically useless, then yes, it is this trope (as well as about half a dozen Unfortunate Implications, but you already knew that, I believe).

I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me.
Paireon I wear no mask. Since: Jan, 2001
I wear no mask.
Dec 2nd 2011 at 10:15:28 AM •••

◦For that matter, Reed's stretching powers can seem a tad useless in a lot of situations (he's never displayed the kind of limitless shapeshifting abilities of, say, Plastic Man). But Reed's real super-power is being the most brilliant scientist on Earth.

I (and several other people) disagree. Reed's real, bona fide, Game-Breaker superpower is his downright supernatural ability to still be considered a good guy when it's glaringly obvious he's one of the biggest jerkasses in the whole Marvel U.

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.

Edited by Paireon I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me.
dm3588 Since: Apr, 2011
Jul 15th 2011 at 10:28:46 PM •••

The Lost Room has a bunch of items with various effects. Some are useful, others are not. The comb stops time, the flask suffocates people, and the glass eye can heal. On the other hand, the wristwatch cooks eggs, the pencil creates pennies, and the radio makes you three inches taller.

86.161.5.213 Since: Dec, 1969
Aug 2nd 2010 at 10:14:39 AM •••

Removed:

  • For the record, Marluxia's power being "Flower" or "Plant" is a common misconception - his actual power is Death. Which is why his weapon is a scythe, and why he's constantly surrounded by flower petals - those are a Japanese symbol of death. It also explains his Desperation Move, Death Sentence, which puts a countdown over your head that will kill you instantly unless you reshuffle your deck before it hits zero. This knowledge combined with his disturbingly evil plan and his downright alarmingly manly voice makes him actually one of more intimidating members to this troper.

Can someone confirm this as his power rather than just (admittedly, dark when you think about it) symbolism? The 358/2 Days manual specifically refers to Marluxia's ability as the control of flowers...

Edited by 86.161.5.213 Hide / Show Replies
Biffbiffley Since: Jan, 2001
Feb 4th 2011 at 11:49:40 AM •••

smart-ass question.

does the 10 eyed man only have eyes in his head? If not he'd be the 12 eyed man, no?

Edited by Biffbiffley
24.201.137.193 Since: Dec, 1969
Jun 9th 2010 at 1:13:02 AM •••

Title should read "What Kind Of Lame Power Is Heart Anyway", and not "[...] Lame Poweris Heart Anyway" (notice capitalization/space).

Old_Ropes Since: Dec, 1969
Apr 12th 2010 at 4:22:58 PM •••

Where, exactly, is the trope namer? i.e. Captain Planet And The Planeteers ? Also, I wanted to point out that maybe 'Heart' isn't so lame after all: http://www.lukesurl.com/archives/1294

Edited by Old_Ropes Hide / Show Replies
fhqwhgads Since: Jan, 2001
May 3rd 2010 at 5:42:49 PM •••

fhqwhgads: I'm pretty sure the Trope Namer is a subliminal message from the Animutation The French Erotic Film. Near the end they do a parody of Captain Planet with "Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart Spleen!". If you look in front of the spleen, you can see the text "What kind of lame-ass power is heart anyway?"

Edited by fhqwhgads
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