Can superheroes ever exist??

[The Question]

Anyway, I did rather like this thread before it got derailed like this. I'd hate to see it die. So, to have a place to re-start from.....

I've had some thought about this, and thus I have a few ideas about the powers of various heroes:

Captain America: Several months of training, surgury to alter the musculature and tendons, and taking the right combination of preformance enhancers could, in theory, make someone into a real life Captain America.

Iron Man: Hell, they've been working on strength enhancing exo-skelitons for years, and recently I saw a video of a working demonstartion of jet boots. All you really need to to is improve upon and combine the two, and you've got yourself an iron clad avenger.

Thor: The strength levels are possible if you use the Captain America method plus the instilation if high powered servo motors on the joints and metal reinforcement of the bones. This would make the subject much heavier, but he's meant to be a tank anyway. The hammer is also theoretically possible. Manipulation of the weather could happen through a manipulation of electromagnetic feilds, but the hammer would have to be quite large and it would only operate on a small scale. However, with the subject's strength, the size of the hammer wouldn't be an issue. I doubt flight through use of the hammer would be possible, but a specially designed cape with glyding capabilities and jet propulsion, like the flight harness recently created by the U.S. military, might be doable. However, his weight might hinder that.

Hank Pym: There realy is no practical way of growing or shrinking someone like that. However, the manipulation of insects is somewhat plausible. If the person in question wore a helmet that emited the proper frequencies of EM radiation, or possibly emmited pheramones, then it stands to reason that he could control insects. Also, while he could not physically grow himself, the possibility of using a mech is not out of the question. However, such a device would be highly expensive.

The Wasp: I'd say a suit with wings and taser like stingers like hers are possible, although I'd think the wings would require too much feul to be practically worn on someone's back.

Hawkeye: He's just a guy with arrows. The only difference between him and any professional archer in the world is that the professional archers don't fight crime.

Black Widow: Just a lady in black leather with guns. Not hard.

Quicksilver: A combination of the Thor and Captain America procedures, but concentraiting entirely on speed. Doubtful that he'd get to Quicksilver's level of speed, but he'd still be damned fast. One way of compensating for the weight of his implants would be to remove all unnecessairy organs, such as his apendix, his tonsils, and one of his kidneys. However, it's quite likely that such a procedure would take too much of a toll on the subjects heart, resulting in his death.

Superman: While his powers, if at least on a less powerful scale, are possible, they would need to be bio engineered from birth to be exactly as they are in the comics. If we're enhancing a fully grown human, then we'd probably be able to pull of the strength, speed, senses, and flight (flying harness), but not heat vision. And none of the powers would be at the level they would be if they were engineered from birth. Basically, Thor without the hammer.

Aquaman: It would probably be a combination of the Superman/Thor procedure and an Iron man type suit designed top work under water if we're working on a fully grown subject. A varient of the Ant Man device that allows him to communicate with sea mamals and slightly more inteligent fish is possible, but would probably be on a limited scale. If we're going engineered from birth, you'd probably get far better results. Assuming that telepathy is possible, that could be included in the engineering.

Martian Manhunter: Possible, but not in any human being. He'd have to be of a completely different speicese. His body would probably be a hive mind of single celled organisms, allowing him to shapeshift, and having telepathy as a natural form of communication.

The Fantastic Four: They'd all require engineering from birth, since the alterations on the human body, with our current technology, would just be impossible. Mr. Fantastic would have naturally more elastic tissues, and instead of bones, he'd probably have high elastic gell sacks that stiffen when necessairy but go limp when he's streaching instead of bones. The Thing would simply be engineered to be really big and strong with a very tough hide. The Human Torch's skin would be covered in plates that can shift to one side, releasing a chemical that ignites on contact with hair. His skin, obviously, would be fire proof. It's possible that he would be able to shoot a stream of this chemical, causing the fire blasts. The main problem would be the flight. I'm not sure how the Invisible Woman's powers would work biuologically. I'm not even sure if they could.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

It's like you're ASKING me to derail this thread. j/k Here's my take.

Anyway, I did rather like this thread before it got derailed like this. I'd hate to see it die. So, to have a place to re-start from.....

I've had some thought about this, and thus I have a few ideas about the powers of various heroes:

Well? Get on with it!

Captain America: Several months of training, surgury to alter the musculature and tendons, and taking the right combination of preformance enhancers could, in theory, make someone into a real life Captain America.

Retrovirus giving Cap incredible strength, speed, and "sponge" muscle, could do a similar job. However, he wouldn't be as fast, strong, or durable as the "real" Cap, but above a human on any standard.

Iron Man: Hell, they've been working on strength enhancing exo-skelitons for years, and recently I saw a video of a working demonstartion of jet boots. All you really need to to is improve upon and combine the two, and you've got yourself an iron clad avenger.

Jet boots don't work as well as one may think. Hell, we can't get a jet pack to work more than thirty seconds, and the application is useless so far. Though, the strength enhancing exoskeleton is more or less energy absorbant on a high level, and moves slow. But the future of these technologies has promise, so easily I could see this.

Thor: The strength levels are possible if you use the Captain America method plus the instilation if high powered servo motors on the joints and metal reinforcement of the bones. This would make the subject much heavier, but he's meant to be a tank anyway. The hammer is also theoretically possible. Manipulation of the weather could happen through a manipulation of electromagnetic feilds, but the hammer would have to be quite large and it would only operate on a small scale. However, with the subject's strength, the size of the hammer wouldn't be an issue. I doubt flight through use of the hammer would be possible, but a specially designed cape with glyding capabilities and jet propulsion, like the flight harness recently created by the U.S. military, might be doable. However, his weight might hinder that.

Thor as he's portrayed? I'd say impossible. It's impossible for the human body to support the strength levels he gives off, unless they're entirely no longer human. The flight through use of hammer is debatable. People have been talking about shrinking space and expanding it as such as a method of transportation. And the theories I, and others, have come up with wouldn't really be useful inside of atmosphere's, and would be rather drastic and destructive. Though, the same application of the "Iron Man" idea would work just fine in that. The hammer itself could emit an electric charge based on the "energy" placed into it from the collision really. So it's not far off. But it wouldn't be "Thor" level.

Hank Pym: There realy is no practical way of growing or shrinking someone like that. However, the manipulation of insects is somewhat plausible. If the person in question wore a helmet that emited the proper frequencies of EM radiation, or possibly emmited pheramones, then it stands to reason that he could control insects. Also, while he could not physically grow himself, the possibility of using a mech is not out of the question. However, such a device would be highly expensive.

Extradimensional addition and subtraction. Though the mathematics behind it would be far too extreme for us to probably see in our lifetime. The distribution of adding mass to an object through an extradimensional method, as well as shunting said matter away, would be a viable method. Sure, we don't know HOW, but if we did, and if other dimensions exist as such, it's possible. Though, not the brain.

And I wouldn't say so much as EMR, as much as a synthesized chemical specific to the bug.

The Wasp: I'd say a suit with wings and taser like stingers like hers are possible, although I'd think the wings would require too much feul to be practically worn on someone's back.

Unless they were grafted as part of her muscles. But then they'd just be gigantic weak points.

Hawkeye: He's just a guy with arrows. The only difference between him and any professional archer in the world is that the professional archers don't fight crime.

Agreed. Hawkeye wouldn't be TOO useful. Or useful at all. Unless he were a super soldier.

Black Widow: Just a lady in black leather with guns. Not hard.

It's the several languages, and perfect accents that are hard.

Quicksilver: A combination of the Thor and Captain America procedures, but concentraiting entirely on speed. Doubtful that he'd get to Quicksilver's level of speed, but he'd still be damned fast. One way of compensating for the weight of his implants would be to remove all unnecessairy organs, such as his apendix, his tonsils, and one of his kidneys. However, it's quite likely that such a procedure would take too much of a toll on the subjects heart, resulting in his death.

Replace his knees with synthetic ideas, get his body to work in sync, enhance his body to take extremes past certain speeds (usually through some form of suit, or another skin type altogether), and not to mention an EXTREME mental upgrade which would cause his mind to operate on that level. Not to mention, his bones and muscles would have to be so much stronger to withstand such impact. Would he look like QS? Nah. But then not many of these hero's would look like their counterpart.

Superman: While his powers, if at least on a less powerful scale, are possible, they would need to be bio engineered from birth to be exactly as they are in the comics. If we're enhancing a fully grown human, then we'd probably be able to pull of the strength, speed, senses, and flight (flying harness), but not heat vision. And none of the powers would be at the level they would be if they were engineered from birth. Basically, Thor without the hammer.

I just couldn't see heat vision from the eyes. That level of heat would cause our fovea centralis to overheat and force our eyes to pop.

Aquaman: It would probably be a combination of the Superman/Thor procedure and an Iron man type suit designed top work under water if we're working on a fully grown subject. A varient of the Ant Man device that allows him to communicate with sea mamals and slightly more inteligent fish is possible, but would probably be on a limited scale. If we're going engineered from birth, you'd probably get far better results. Assuming that telepathy is possible, that could be included in the engineering.

Sonic waves could emulate what some fish say to each other. But I wouldn't say it would be all that useful or anything. More or less just to tell them to get the hell out of the way, rather than help you. And the suit itself would have to be constructed out of some serious future tech, and a metal that we don't currently have (but are working on. Starts with a D, but I can't remember what it is. It's stronger than anything else, but doesn't withstand impacts or pressures really. Sounds odd, but it's chains are stronger nontheless.)

Martian Manhunter: Possible, but not in any human being. He'd have to be of a completely different speicese. His body would probably be a hive mind of single celled organisms, allowing him to shapeshift, and having telepathy as a natural form of communication.

The whole "morphing" aspect is what most consider to be flat out impossible. Changing everything about yourself quickly by altering your DNA would most likely cause metabolic failure, and total brain death. It's not as simple as chemically changing your color.

The Fantastic Four: They'd all require engineering from birth, since the alterations on the human body, with our current technology, would just be impossible. Mr. Fantastic would have naturally more elastic tissues, and instead of bones, he'd probably have high elastic gell sacks that stiffen when necessairy but go limp when he's streaching instead of bones. The Thing would simply be engineered to be really big and strong with a very tough hide. The Human Torch's skin would be covered in plates that can shift to one side, releasing a chemical that ignites on contact with hair. His skin, obviously, would be fire proof. It's possible that he would be able to shoot a stream of this chemical, causing the fire blasts. The main problem would be the flight. I'm not sure how the Invisible Woman's powers would work biuologically. I'm not even sure if they could.

Mr. Fantastic would most likely die of heart failure, since his body just basically over does it on the heart, and he wouldn't really strength that far, and his brain wouldn't be able to stretch, since he'd move it a single inch and become a special bus student. The Thing would probably suffer a similar fate, unless his entire body on the inside and outside were the same, but then his inner functions wouldn't work that well, and it would be like sending a super obese person into a fight. Johnny Storm would literally burn to death because the human body would just overheat all on it's own. Though shooting out "fire blasts" isn't all THAT impossible. But it would definitely hurt his hands. Sue's powers are simply considered a physics impossibility.

 

[The Question]

Retrovirus giving Cap incredible strength, speed, and "sponge" muscle, could do a similar job. However, he wouldn't be as fast, strong, or durable as the "real" Cap, but above a human on any standard.

Interesting.

Jet boots don't work as well as one may think. Hell, we can't get a jet pack to work more than thirty seconds, and the application is useless so far.

I did see a working demonstration of jet boots. The guy flew for a good few miles before he had to refuel. Here's the link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CFj1aDdyIcU

Though, the strength enhancing exoskeleton is more or less energy absorbant on a high level, and moves slow. But the future of these technologies has promise, so easily I could see this.

Of course.

Thor as he's portrayed? I'd say impossible.

I'm not talking about how they're portrayed. A real world facimile.

It's impossible for the human body to support the strength levels he gives off, unless they're entirely no longer human.

Like I said, he wouldn't be anywhere near as powerful as he is in the comics, but he'd still **** you up in a fight.

The flight through use of hammer is debatable.

Didn;t mention flight via the hammer. I said a flight harness like the one the military recently designed.

People have been talking about shrinking space and expanding it as such as a method of transportation. And the theories I, and others, have come up with wouldn't really be useful inside of atmosphere's, and would be rather drastic and destructive. Though, the same application of the "Iron Man" idea would work just fine in that. The hammer itself could emit an electric charge based on the "energy" placed into it from the collision really. So it's not far off. But it wouldn't be "Thor" level.

Of course.

Extradimensional addition and subtraction. Though the mathematics behind it would be far too extreme for us to probably see in our lifetime.

Well, that depends on how long I plan on living, doesn't it? t:

The distribution of adding mass to an object through an extradimensional method, as well as shunting said matter away, would be a viable method. Sure, we don't know HOW, but if we did, and if other dimensions exist as such, it's possible. Though, not the brain.

True.

And I wouldn't say so much as EMR, as much as a synthesized chemical specific to the bug.

That's why I mentioned pheramones. I mentioned EMR because some instects, like locusts, communicate with each other and ditermine flight patterns through electro-magnetic signals. If you could override their signal with your own, you could control them.

Replace his knees with synthetic ideas, get his body to work in sync, enhance his body to take extremes past certain speeds (usually through some form of suit, or another skin type altogether), and not to mention an EXTREME mental upgrade which would cause his mind to operate on that level. Not to mention, his bones and muscles would have to be so much stronger to withstand such impact. Would he look like QS? Nah. But then not many of these hero's would look like their counterpart.

Good ideas. Also, maybe replacing his heart with a mchanical one to help with the stress it would obviously be under.

I just couldn't see heat vision from the eyes. That level of heat would cause our fovea centralis to overheat and force our eyes to pop.

That's why I said engineering from the womb. You could completely alter the ressiliance of someone's tissues with that.

Sonic waves could emulate what some fish say to each other. But I wouldn't say it would be all that useful or anything. More or less just to tell them to get the hell out of the way, rather than help you. And the suit itself would have to be constructed out of some serious future tech, and a metal that we don't currently have (but are working on. Starts with a D, but I can't remember what it is. It's stronger than anything else, but doesn't withstand impacts or pressures really. Sounds odd, but it's chains are stronger nontheless.)

Interesting.

The whole "morphing" aspect is what most consider to be flat out impossible. Changing everything about yourself quickly by altering your DNA would most likely cause metabolic failure, and total brain death. It's not as simple as chemically changing your color.

That's why I said he'd have to be a completely different speicese. A hive mind of single celled organisms.

Mr. Fantastic would most likely die of heart failure, since his body just basically over does it on the heart, and he wouldn't really strength that far, and his brain wouldn't be able to stretch, since he'd move it a single inch and become a special bus student. The Thing would probably suffer a similar fate, unless his entire body on the inside and outside were the same, but then his inner functions wouldn't work that well, and it would be like sending a super obese person into a fight. Johnny Storm would literally burn to death because the human body would just overheat all on it's own. Though shooting out "fire blasts" isn't all THAT impossible. But it would definitely hurt his hands.

That's why I said they'd have to be engineered from the womb.

Sue's powers are simply considered a physics impossibility.

They're not necessairily physically impossible. You could find a way of bending light around someone so they're basically invisible, yet are still able to see. But it would probably be biologically impossible.

 

[Roasty Doom]

Anyway, I did rather like this thread before it got derailed like this. I'd hate to see it die. So, to have a place to re-start from.....

I've had some thought about this, and thus I have a few ideas about the powers of various heroes:

Captain America: Several months of training, surgury to alter the musculature and tendons, and taking the right combination of preformance enhancers could, in theory, make someone into a real life Captain America.

Iron Man: Hell, they've been working on strength enhancing exo-skelitons for years, and recently I saw a video of a working demonstartion of jet boots. All you really need to to is improve upon and combine the two, and you've got yourself an iron clad avenger.

Thor: The strength levels are possible if you use the Captain America method plus the instilation if high powered servo motors on the joints and metal reinforcement of the bones. This would make the subject much heavier, but he's meant to be a tank anyway. The hammer is also theoretically possible. Manipulation of the weather could happen through a manipulation of electromagnetic feilds, but the hammer would have to be quite large and it would only operate on a small scale. However, with the subject's strength, the size of the hammer wouldn't be an issue. I doubt flight through use of the hammer would be possible, but a specially designed cape with glyding capabilities and jet propulsion, like the flight harness recently created by the U.S. military, might be doable. However, his weight might hinder that.

Hank Pym: There realy is no practical way of growing or shrinking someone like that. However, the manipulation of insects is somewhat plausible. If the person in question wore a helmet that emited the proper frequencies of EM radiation, or possibly emmited pheramones, then it stands to reason that he could control insects. Also, while he could not physically grow himself, the possibility of using a mech is not out of the question. However, such a device would be highly expensive.

The Wasp: I'd say a suit with wings and taser like stingers like hers are possible, although I'd think the wings would require too much feul to be practically worn on someone's back.

Hawkeye: He's just a guy with arrows. The only difference between him and any professional archer in the world is that the professional archers don't fight crime.

Black Widow: Just a lady in black leather with guns. Not hard.

Quicksilver: A combination of the Thor and Captain America procedures, but concentraiting entirely on speed. Doubtful that he'd get to Quicksilver's level of speed, but he'd still be damned fast. One way of compensating for the weight of his implants would be to remove all unnecessairy organs, such as his apendix, his tonsils, and one of his kidneys. However, it's quite likely that such a procedure would take too much of a toll on the subjects heart, resulting in his death.

Superman: While his powers, if at least on a less powerful scale, are possible, they would need to be bio engineered from birth to be exactly as they are in the comics. If we're enhancing a fully grown human, then we'd probably be able to pull of the strength, speed, senses, and flight (flying harness), but not heat vision. And none of the powers would be at the level they would be if they were engineered from birth. Basically, Thor without the hammer.

Aquaman: It would probably be a combination of the Superman/Thor procedure and an Iron man type suit designed top work under water if we're working on a fully grown subject. A varient of the Ant Man device that allows him to communicate with sea mamals and slightly more inteligent fish is possible, but would probably be on a limited scale. If we're going engineered from birth, you'd probably get far better results. Assuming that telepathy is possible, that could be included in the engineering.

Martian Manhunter: Possible, but not in any human being. He'd have to be of a completely different speicese. His body would probably be a hive mind of single celled organisms, allowing him to shapeshift, and having telepathy as a natural form of communication.

The Fantastic Four: They'd all require engineering from birth, since the alterations on the human body, with our current technology, would just be impossible. Mr. Fantastic would have naturally more elastic tissues, and instead of bones, he'd probably have high elastic gell sacks that stiffen when necessairy but go limp when he's streaching instead of bones. The Thing would simply be engineered to be really big and strong with a very tough hide. The Human Torch's skin would be covered in plates that can shift to one side, releasing a chemical that ignites on contact with hair. His skin, obviously, would be fire proof. It's possible that he would be able to shoot a stream of this chemical, causing the fire blasts. The main problem would be the flight. I'm not sure how the Invisible Woman's powers would work biuologically. I'm not even sure if they could.

http://io9.com/5789151/future-humans-with-algae-implants-could-breathe-underwater

 

[Thundercrack85]

I'd say the real issue with superheroes is, that even if it is possible, it's very impractical.

Just look at Batman. The sheer cost of being Batman is insane. Not to mention the crazy hours... There are far more cost effective ways to battle corruption and crime if you are a billionaire.

Of course, it does make more sense when there are also super-villains.

 

[KevanG]

What's with all these old threads coming back? I keep seeing posts from people I don't like and go to respond with things I disagree about then think "Wait a sec... They got banned 3 years ago".

 

[THE MR. TERRIFIC]

Can Superheroes exist? Let's get a vat of radio active waste and find out!

 

[Roasty Doom]

Theoretically, superhuman abilities are possible. At least, some of them are. Superhuman strength, speed, durability, endurance, and senses are all possible to some degree. A manipulation of electricity and electromagnetism in the veign of Electro and Magneto is also, theoretically, plausible. There have been reported cases of people who's bodies generate massive amounts of electricity, although limited control if any exists at all, which in of itself is quite rare. Psychic abilities, such as telepathy and telekenisis, while still under much debate, have yet to be disproven due to a lack of evidence that disproves them just as much of a lack of evidence that proves them. This is all because of the limitations of testing claims of these abilities based on current technology. Of course, the likelyhood of such abilities is small, based on either scenario. The first is that, due to some sort of genetic mutation at birth, you possess these abilities. While this is possible, it's highly unlikely. The number of genetic mutations in the world is small, and the number of beneficial ones would be moreso. The other scenario is that these abilities are artificially gained through gene therapy, chemical injections, surgury, bionic enhancements, and other such methods. This is unlikely due simply to the fact that it would be quite expensive, requiring the resources of a highly succesful conglomorate or a government institution. Neither such organizations would atempt it due to the vast cost and limited profit.

If your body can somehow withstand High voltage and can conduct electricity than you can use Gloves that help you control the electricity and project it out just like Surge from the New X-men.

Those people that you mentioned are said to have had "High Voltage syndrome",and some of those people are usually referred to as "Sliders".One of the most notable Sliders was a woman who had electric sparks coming out of her fingertips,And every time she touched somebody with her hand,That person would get knocked unconscious.This ability is very similar to Miles Morale's Venom Strike.

 

[alfredomotenai]

You better stock up weapons, preactice close combat and learn tactics. It's more realistic a vigilnte than a superhero...

 

[CapBoom]

I've had some thought about this, and thus I have a few ideas about the powers of various heroes. I'll go with The Avengers for the moment:

Captain America: Several months of training, surgury to alter the musculature and tendons, and taking the right combination of preformance enhancers could, in theory, make someone into a real life Captain America.

Iron Man: Hell, they've been working on strength enhancing exo-skelitons for years, and recently I saw a video of a working demonstartion of jet boots. All you really need to to is improve upon and combine the two, and you've got yourself an iron clad avenger.

Thor: The strength levels are possible if you use the Captain America method plus the instilation if high powered servo motors on the joints and metal reinforcement of the bones. This would make the subject much heavier, but he;s meant to be a tank anyway. The hammer is also theoretically possible. Manipulation of the weather could happen through a manipulation of electyromagnetic feilds, but the hammer would have to be quite large and it would only operate on a small scale. However, with the subject's strength, the size of the hammer wouldn't be an issue. I doubt flight through use of the hammer would be possible, but a specially designed cape with glyding capabilities and jet propulsion, like the flight harness recently created by the U.S. military, might be doable.

Hank Pym: There realy is no practical way of growing or shrinking someone like that. However, the manipulation of insects is somewhat plausible. If the person in question wore a helmet that emited the proper frequencies of EM radiation, or possibly emmited pheramones, then it stands to reason that he could control insects. Also, while he could not physically grow himself, the possibility of using a mech is not out of the question. However, such a device would be mighly expensive.

The Wasp: I'd say a suit with wings and taser like stingers like hers are possible, although I'd think the wings would require too much feul to be practically worn on someone's back.

Hawkeye: He's just a guy with arrows. The only difference between him and any professional archer in the world is that the professional archers don't fight crime.

Black Widow: Just a lady in black leather with guns. Not hard.

Quicksilver: A combination of the Thor and Captain America procedures, but concentraiting entirely on speed. Doubtful that he'd get to Quicksilver's level of speed, but he'd still be damned fast. However, it's quite likely that such a procedure would take too much of a toll on the subjects heart, resulting in his death.

Cool.
What about Black Canary, Cyborg, Black Lightning, Sandman (Wesley Dodds), Mr. Terrific, The Rocketeer, B'Wanna Beast, and Stargirl?

 

[Edguy]

It all boils down to physics. For example, our bones and tendons can only handle so strong muscles. Of course, this can be engineered around.

When it comes to mutations, think of the body like an essay; If some of the words and characters randomly change, is it more likely to get better or worse? Of course, this is also a matter of engineering. With sufficient knowledge and understanding, and precise technology, incredible things may be plausible.

Iron Man isn't happening because A) the energy required is beyond anything you could realistically mount on it, and even if they had some fancy fusion reactor, or even annihilation plant, the excess head and radiation would far outweigh the usable energy. B) There are major engineering problems with construction an armor that is both solid, maneuverable and has different technological gadgets implemented. C) Aerodynamics is not in favor of something like that flying. D) It would not have near the usefulness required to generate the massive funding most certainly needed to develop and construct such an armor.

 

[The Question]

Hey look, I used to be 16 and scientifically illiterate.

 

[ObakeTora]

Can superheroes exist?

Yes.

 

[Hawkingbird]

Surley superheores can't exist because vigilantism is illegal. Also, because of the popular culture surrounding them, they are purley thought as fictional.

 

[Raoul Duke]

the legality of it doesn't matter. even in the comics certain superheroes don't care about breaking vigilante laws.

 

[CapBoom]

Hey look, I used to be 16 and scientifically illiterate.

You gave me False hope