Misused: Person Of Mass Destruction

This one has had problems for a while. It's supposed to be Human As Weapon. Doctor Manhattan from Watchmen, the Contractors from Darker than Black, the otome from Mai-Otome, that sort of thing. It's being used as “character has powers that make them a walking nuke.”

Obviously, there's going to be more than a little crossover there (Doctor Manhattan and the otome would count for both), but I think it's distinct enough for a split. For example, most Contractors don't have WMD-level powers, but they're still human weapons, and Superman has powers of that level, but is usually not a human weapon.

Any other opinions?

edited 15th Apr '13 10:49:32 AM by Discar

Is that what it's about? The description is too long and the name is misleading.

Huh, the trope description and name are all about Mass Destruction, not just a generic weapon.

So we can at least agree that the description needs a major overhaul, right?

Rewriting it to be clearer? Sure.

So what's the difference between being a weapon and having the powers of a weapon? I'm not familiar with the examples in OP.

One is about intent to kill, the other about ability to kill.

Also whether other characters treat them as a person, or as a tool or force of nature to be aimed, fired, and kept under control.

I think I can make a YKTTW for splitting the trope. Maybe called "Humanoid Weapon" or "Humanoid Bioweapon"(for the intended meaning) while keeping Person of Mass Destruction for characters that are walking nukes by nature instead of by intention. What do you think?

edited 17th Apr '13 11:37:17 AM by MorningStar1337

I think that's a good idea, but does anyone else have any opinions?

I like @9.

That fits the pattern of usage better, so that works.

Alright. I'll start the YKTTW as soon as I can and link you when the entry is made.

Okay, let's get started on the new description for Person of Mass Destruction.

On a related note, my laconic suggestion is "Person with weapon of mass destruction-level powers."

...and done I think it Needs A Better Decription then what I can give it so if you have any idea let me know.*

edited 17th Apr '13 4:56:30 PM by MorningStar1337

^^ I've been wondering, but what's the difference between that and One-Man Army? One-Man Army claims it's a video game trope. Both descriptions are much too long and neither seems keen to point out the differences.

edited 17th Apr '13 4:59:33 PM by Arha

Something is wrong with that link.

It's a matter of scale, like Really 700 Years Old versus Time Abyss. Shizuo Heiwajima is fully capable of fighting off an army by himself, but he couldn't really do too much to actually destroy a city (for example). That description does need work, but it can probably be solved in the "Description needs help" thread.

edited 17th Apr '13 4:57:42 PM by Discar

I already fixed it in my post. but if you missed it: here's the link

Someone on the YKTTW asked what the difference was between my YKTTW and Super-Soldier, so I'll state my response here: I think the fact that this trope is Symbolism of WM Ds whereas One-Man Army of Super-Soldier is not. Also I think One-Man Army may have evolved/flanderized to the point that it can bee seen as a general trope not exclusive to video games.

edited 17th Apr '13 5:16:49 PM by MorningStar1337

You know. You can help me with my YKTTW by adding examples of a person being treated as a weapon from Person Of Mass Destcion, like Discar did with two anime examples.

BTW does anyone know how to hook the YKTTW to this thread?

edited 18th Apr '13 9:53:55 AM by MorningStar1337

I already touched on this in the YKTTW thread, but as there were proposed redirects that wouldn't make sense I'm just going to say this real quick here. "Humanoid" means "human shaped" or "has human characteristics." It does not mean "is a human" nor is it an adjective that means "is a human." The current name for the YKTTW is fine (as far as I'm concerned), though, since "human" is an adjective that means "of, relating to, or characteristic of humans," "consisting of humans," or "having human form or attributes".

I asked about Fi from Skyward Sword fitting this trope and was told it wouldn't fit this trope. Even though Fi is literally a human shaped weapon—a weapon in the shape of a human. A humanoid weapon. The name "Humanoid Weapon" would lead to misuse; the current one also might, but that's much less likely (see "consisting of humans").

(To propose other names and not be a useless jackass, Militarized Person or just Human As Weapon.)

Does anyone know how to hook my YKTTW to this thread?

You can't hook a YKTTW to a thread. Only link it.

great. Can anyone check to see if any of the examples in my YKTTW fir the "Person working for the military being treated like a weapon" definition? (I find the Batman, Firefly and FF 4 examples dubious at best)

edited 23rd Apr '13 12:43:04 PM by MorningStar1337

I like the idea of making a Humanoid Bioweapon trope to separate it from this one.

I approve of the idea to have POMD as someone with the ability to cause massive destruction.

Wait, was there a crowner? I am against the proposed changes and 'new' trope. If one wants to talk about super powered people there is an index, for about 'powerful' there is Super Weight (keeping that nonsense off Power Levels and Person of Mass Destruction). No more human weapon tropes, I Am Not a Gun, Person of Mass Destruction and Tyke Bomb are enough.

If there is a new page it should be a sliding scale for the scale of super powers, even though Super Weight kind of already is that, this one would not be Just for Fun (not that Super Weight deserves that banner more than any other sliding scale or sorting algorithm).