Recognizable Rogues Gallery Contest

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 7:13 pm

which, admittedly, happens about once a month or so <.<

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:40 pm

I think the interesting part of the divide between the street-level heroes and the cosmic (?) heroes is that they routinely breach that divide with universe-wide crossovers. I mean you have stuff like Shadowlands in Marvel or the Court of Owls in DC.

Then you have the Crises and the Infinity gauntlets and then the incredibly rare DC-Marvel crossovers.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:18 am

no, it's stupid.
why have the divide in the first place, if you can't be arsed to keep with it?
and of course batman immediately knows how to crack the apokolips computer systems and finds out the code for basically self destruct of the whole planet and blackmails darkseid into surrender damn it!

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:30 am

The fact that the X-men are supposedly in the same continuity as the other Marvel heroes is honestly pretty dumb. It simply does not make sense that the X-men are automatically feared and despised but the Fantastic Four are not. Also it seriously calls the hero credentials of everyone else into question when they don't somehow intervene in the whole anti-mutant campaign stuff.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 12:30 am

Do non-western comics count? I think at this point the average nerd would be able to recognize more Dragonball Z villains than, say, Superman ones.

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:06 am

Superman - lex, brainiac, myx, bizarro, parasite, zod, kryptonite-robot-guy, mongul

DBZ: vegeta, freeza, buu, majin vegeta, cell, android 18, 17, 14, etc... . I suppose if you list the different forms then you get shit like, buu, majin buu, cell, super cell,
--

But, I kinda stretched DBZ there even without the different forms just by listing out the weird androids and adding Vegeta to the list twice.

The DBZ villains are more iconic in their looks (to a point) than their names. We could technically count all the non-earth Saiyyans, Coola, Red Ribbon Army, Brolly and all those other guys that I had to seriously rack my brains to remember. I didn't even try to do that for Superman because Superman's villains would still be boring.

John Magnum · Post by **John Magnum** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:39 am

i think you are overestimating the recognizability of Parasite and Mongul

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:54 am

Parasite had a fairly large presence in the Dini-verse Superman cartoon. Since we've already taken to including non-comic media as examples, I figure Parasite could count.

I can see your point on Mongul though.

Concise Locket · Post by **Concise Locket** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:32 pm

FrankTrollman wrote:The most entertaining rogue's gallery is The flash, whose rogues actually have a club and rules and stuff.

It's deeper than that. The Flash's rogues are scientific principles (thermodynamics for Captain Cold and Heat Wave, visual light for Mirror Master, etc.), Batman's rogues are psychological disorders (kleptomania for Catwoman, dissociative identity disorder for Two-Face, psychopathy for the Joker, etc.), and Spider-Man's memorable rogues are freaks of science, like he is.

Mirroring or posing in direct opposition to a protagonist's core message is what makes for a memorable rogue. Magneto is the only memorable X-villain not because he has magnetic abilities but because he's the anti-Charles Xavier. People remember Zod or Bizarro because they're "evil Superman." Characters like Parasite aren't particularly memorable outside of niche contexts as they don't comment on the character's core message.

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 3:36 pm

Following along the same theme: Superman is a friendly alien immigrant and also relies primarily on raw physical power, Lex Luthor is a hostile native who's established himself using social and economic power.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 10:00 pm

name_here wrote:The fact that the X-men are supposedly in the same continuity as the other Marvel heroes is honestly pretty dumb. It simply does not make sense that the X-men are automatically feared and despised but the Fantastic Four are not. Also it seriously calls the hero credentials of everyone else into question when they don't somehow intervene in the whole anti-mutant campaign stuff.

American Dream vs New Aristocracy.

Mutants are born with their powers. You can't become a mutant if you're not.
On the other hand, other superheroes acquire their powers. You can get those. All you have to do is be willing to expose yourself to potentially lethal levels of radiation, or whatever. Most people can't be assed to try, or don't have the resources, but they can still dream of it.

Concise Locket · Post by **Concise Locket** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 1:09 pm

Children vs. Adults.

X-gene mutation kicks in when you hit puberty. A walking low-yield nuclear weapon with the emotional maturity of a 13 year-old is terrifying compared to a scientist who had an accident in a lab or a volunteer super-soldier.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:55 am

Somewhat related:

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Wed Nov 06, 2013 4:57 am

I don't think it's fair to call Jean Grey a villain when she's spent so much time on both sides of the fence.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 1:43 am

At this point and by that logic, one could argue that it ain't fair for her to be called something else but undead . .

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 4:06 am

I don't even keep up with the X-team anymore seeing that I'm not really sure who is on it and who isn't. Is Jean Grey back? Probably but still...

Chamomile · Post by **Chamomile** » Thu Nov 07, 2013 5:40 am

Stahlseele wrote:At this point and by that logic, one could argue that it ain't fair for her to be called something else but undead . .

Well yeah, that's kind of the point. Jean Grey's character has been ripped apart and put back together so many different times that if you're going to divvy people up into the categories of "Hero" and "Villain," she either counts as both or neither. She doesn't have a strong identity as good guy or bad guy anymore.

hyzmarca · Post by **hyzmarca** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:12 pm

Jean Grey is a hero who sometimes goes insane and blows up planets full of innocent people and then commits suicide to protect everyone. Certainly a hero, but a mentally unstable one.

RobbyPants · Post by **RobbyPants** » Mon Nov 11, 2013 12:44 pm

hyzmarca wrote:Jean Grey is a hero who sometimes goes insane and blows up planets full of innocent people and then commits suicide to protect everyone. Certainly a hero, but a mentally unstable one.

This reminds me of the core story of a certain religion.