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Inexperience

12 Sep 2020 07:46 #69143 by Thefirstone
Inexperience was created by Thefirstone
How much would lack of experience using superpowers affect how a character uses them?  The example in my head right now is a spoiled young woman from a planet ruled by a genetically modified superpowered (perhaps all-female, perhaps not) upper class.  By earthly standards she has godlike power, but she’s been pampered her whole life to the point of never needing to seriously use it.

On a related note, one thing I enjoyed about Man of Steel, and which reminded me of my own experience living with autism, was the treatment of super senses.  For those who haven’t seen it, it’s shown Clark had problems with sensory overload as a child, something he uses against Zod later (“You’re getting everything.  And it hurts.”).  An autistic person with that kind of power could be in for a very unpleasant experience.
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14 Sep 2020 22:35 #69160 by Woodclaw
Replied by Woodclaw on topic Inexperience

Thefirstone wrote: How much would lack of experience using superpowers affect how a character uses them?  The example in my head right now is a spoiled young woman from a planet ruled by a genetically modified superpowered (perhaps all-female, perhaps not) upper class.  By earthly standards she has godlike power, but she’s been pampered her whole life to the point of never needing to seriously use it.


In my book?
From a lot to everything depending on the day of the week. I've been practicing martial arts (both armed and unarmed) for the better part of 30 years and I can tell you that the difference between "being strong" and "being strong and knowing what you're doing" is insane. In actual fact, having an insane physical advantage over an opponent might even be a problem while learning how to fight or how to use your powers, because it pushes you to exploit this natural edge, resulting in dimishing returns.

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14 Sep 2020 23:21 #69161 by shadar
Replied by shadar on topic Inexperience

Woodclaw wrote:

Thefirstone wrote: How much would lack of experience using superpowers affect how a character uses them?  The example in my head right now is a spoiled young woman from a planet ruled by a genetically modified superpowered (perhaps all-female, perhaps not) upper class.  By earthly standards she has godlike power, but she’s been pampered her whole life to the point of never needing to seriously use it.


In my book?
From a lot to everything depending on the day of the week. I've been practicing martial arts (both armed and unarmed) for the better part of 30 years and I can tell you that the difference between "being strong" and "being strong and knowing what you're doing" is insane. In actual fact, having an insane physical advantage over an opponent might even be a problem while learning how to fight or how to use your powers, because it pushes you to exploit this natural edge, resulting in dimishing returns.


That was a theme that interested me at various times in comics. How someone who has always depended on having insane strength compared to others would fare when encountering someone of even lesser power who was fantastically trained. 

Some flavor of that was always in the Superman/Wonder Woman relationship. She's not going to beat him at arm wrestling, or anything else that involves raw strength, but she was often shown as being able to defeat Supes in a fight by virtue of having much greater skill that was learned while she had similar strength to the other Amazons. 

It also showed up here and there in PowerGirl stories, where she depended too much on raw strength and not enough on skill.

In human terms, could a Mixed Martial Arts fighter beat a bodybuilder who has much greater strength but no skill?  Seems pretty obvious to me that the answer is yes.

Shadar

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15 Sep 2020 01:38 #69162 by Raa
Replied by Raa on topic Inexperience

shadar wrote: In human terms, could a Mixed Martial Arts fighter beat a bodybuilder who has much greater strength but no skill?  Seems pretty obvious to me that the answer is yes.

Shadar


There are a couple funny video's like this comes to mind.  She made him her bi#$@!  HAHAHA

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