sheerstudd wrote:
> One thing that I find lacking in Hard Heroes is the real feel of
> super heroic peril beyond the costumes. What we see here is really
> a bunch of guys in costume showing up somewhere, and then getting
> either wrestled down or chloroformed. Mind you, I have no problem
> with either, but they're not exactly quite right.
>
> I have always been a big fan of the superheroic weakness. That
> special thing that takes the powerful hero and makes him powerless
> and weak. The Kryptonite-type Achilles Heel that all superheroes
> should have.
>
> It would be hot to see the scenarios worked so that we have the
> sense that the heroes are super-powered. I know that special
> effects are hard to arrange, but minor tricks can be used. The
> heroes should be able to easily break through supposedly locked
> doors and overpower villainous thugs, or even the villain.
>
> But then the villain unveils some kind of "Kryptonite", or activates
> some device, that takes away the studly hero's vaunted powers. Like
> maybe the boys from the Hand, only each subdued through power-
> stripping instead of chloroform. Then the heroes are put into
> bondage together, commiserating about how weak they each are and
> wondering what the villain has in store for them until he comes in
> and actually does it.
>
> The first Hard Heroes had this almost right. Omega's capture with
> the Omeganite rope was good, but too quick. It was over in an
> instant. It would be so much better to see the weakened hero slowly
> sagging to the floor, then crawling, trying to get away as the
> villain comes to tie him up. Speed Demon's capture was pretty much
> perfect, and has not been equalled since. Another option would have
> been when the mind controlled Speed Demon attacked Edge. Maybe
> instead of beating him down. He could have deceived his trusting
> buddy and stolen his power belt, leaving him vulnerable to attack by
> the villain's otherwise ordinary henchman?
>
> These are just some ideas. Anbody have any thoughts?
>
Holy Bat-analyzers! Excellent summation!
One subtle, but important point that you have in your examples, but not
highlighted, involves the element of surprise. Really hot superhero
captures involve surprise that is not merely instantaneous,
jack-in-the-box, "boo!", kind of surprise, but rather a slow realization
kind of surprise. The superhero slowly realizes, too late, that he has
been trapped and weakened, ensnared before he even knew it.
Even better, that he got himself into the predicament, triggered his own
downfall, through overconfidence, and overconfidence that his enemy
expected and used against him successfully. Such overconfidence yields
humiliation, the knowledge that he was responsible for, and even
contributed to, his own defeat.
More ideas?
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