Wattpad brings you a guest post from Tom Andry, author of Bob Moore: No Hero.
So you want super powers, huh?
We’ve all thought about it. Flying around like Superman, turning invisible and finding out what our friends really think, having super strength so that bully on the bus thinks twice before coming after you…we’ve all imagined the possibilities. With the slew of comic book inspired movies hitting the big screen, who hasn’t considered how cool it would be to fly around in Iron Man’s armor or grab some thug by the shirt and growl, “I’m Batman!” I know I have.
I grew up with comic books and super powers bouncing around my head. My brother and I would spend so much time at dinner talking about the latest comic books that my parents eventually banned comic book talk from the table. When I decided to write my first novel, comics and super beings were the first thing I thought of.
But my question wasn’t, “How cool would it be to have super powers,” but “What would someone do if they DIDN’T have powers and everyone else did?” This question led to the creation of Bob Moore, a lowly Private Eye with no powers, dealing with supers on a daily basis. How does he survive? By being one step ahead of the supers, of course!
Flying, invisibility, strength…these are all powers we’ve dreamed of. But, when writing stories set in a world of supers, I’ve had to think about a lot of other powers. And they can be pretty cool too.
Universal Translator
I’ve done a lot of traveling around the world (backpacking on just about no money) and I quickly realized just how cool it would be to be able to understand not only the language of every person on Earth, but their culture as well. Sure, it sounds like a one way trip to the United Nations as one of those translator people, but hear me out. If you could, instinctively, understand everyone around you, you could manipulate them. You would know exactly what sort of cultural pressures you could place on them in order to get them to do what you wanted. How many wars have been started because two cultures didn’t understand each other? Tons! I believe someone with a Universal Translation skill could be the greatest leader the world has ever seen (or, more likely, the villain most likely to try to take over the world).
Shadow Walking
Any fan of ninja movies would love this power. This is the ability to walk into one shadow and out of another using the darkness like doors. The ultimate stealth power, Shadow Walking would make you pretty much impossible to follow, nearly invincible at night, and only slightly less so during the day (there is always a shadow somewhere). With our instinctive fear of the dark, the Shadow Walker can be a nightmare come to life or the one that saves you when things look the bleakest. Plus…the cool-factor on disappearing into a shadow is pretty much pegged at AWESOME! Any power that lets you sneak up on Batman gets a thumbs up in my book!
Breathing Water
Aquaman may be the butt of every super joke but the fact is that breathing water would be awesome. Sure, maybe he isn’t Justice League material, but, in reality, there is a lot of potential in the ability to breathe water. James Cameron just spent a bazillion dollars to go to the bottom of the ocean. If you could breathe water, you could do that anytime. All those creepy, crazy animals of the deep? You’d know all about them. Colossal squid, Loch Ness Monster? No mystery to you. With a planet that is 2/3rds water; being able to breath it means you rule more square footage than any person in history. Ever.
Absorption
This power stems from the old childhood saying, “I’m rubber and you’re glue.” The person with Absorption cannot be hurt. Anything you send at them, be it bullets, speeding trains, or death rays, is absorbed and can either be reflected back or transformed into another power. Usually, this other power would be strength. So, the more you beat on them, the more you shoot them, the stronger they get. But it doesn’t have to be strength. What if they change all that energy into explosive blasts that they shoot from their eyes? The applications are endless. Plus, someone with that power is about as scary as they come. They could jump in front of a train to save a kid or rob a bank in broad daylight daring the cops to start shooting at them.
Learning
This is an oldie but goodie. One of Captain America’s arch-villains is the Red Skull, a super that can do any physical activity he sees. I’ve always thought this was the coolest power to have. How many times have you been to a sporting event (or seen something on late-night ESPN) and thought, “Man, I wish I could do that!” We all have! I wish I had taken gymnastics so I could do back handsprings (a lowly goal, perhaps). Maybe you’ve always wished you could dive like they do at the Olympics. Or archery. Or snowboarding. The possibilities are endless. And all these skills are only a YouTube video away!
So, what are powers do you think would be cool to have? Let me know! I’d love to hear them.
Read Bob Moore: No Hero on Wattpad!
Super powered humans started appearing 30 years ago. Now, they are everywhere. Bob Moore, Private Eye, dares to investigate those who could incinerate him with a thought. When he is called to help a super from his past, however, he’ll be pushed to his limit. When supers and the police think there is no crime, can he get to the truth? Will he want to for the man that destroyed his marriage?