Topic: Calling Bullshit (Discussion of 'powers')

[armybirchguy45]

Or possibly a full brain, just devoid of memories. Essentially a blank-slate copy.

[Sabby]

Without the bone armor and with a blank brain having to redevelop intelligence, I can see it being a wilder Wolverine that has to rely on smash and dash tactics.

...I keep on dragging my own topic off-topic, hehe xD

[Shjade]

They already made a brainless Wolverine.

It's called X-23.

[Sabby]

She wasn't brainless in Evolution o.o

[Shjade]

Sure she was. It just didn't show since Evolution was, itself, brainless, so she appeared normal in the setting.

[Sabby]

D= I liked Evolution! ...just everything to do with Apocalypse was made of retard >.<

[Shjade]

There's nothing wrong with liking brainless things. I mean, hell, I own practically all the Dynasty Warriors games, all of which consist of the following: mash attack button until all the mans die. Sometimes brainless is fun. But it still is what it is. ;p

[Inkidu]

Wouldn't the skeleton also pull out Wolverine's brain?If that didn't kill him, which part would be the real him? The part that grew back everything from the skeleton? Or the part that grew back the skeleton and brain?

Nope, his skull holds his brain. Plus, Magneto put it back pretty quickly.

Edit that is to say I think it works from the bone out, or maybe the nerves were still attached too, I can't remember it's been a while.

[consortium11]

Kill him? o.o Don't think that's possible ^^' but that does raise a good question... if his skeleton were ripped out, along with his brain still in his skull, what would reform? Would the left over meat husk fill out and regrow bones without Adamantium? How many, if any memories would be saved when the brain regrows?

...actually, this could be made into a decent plot o.o his skeleton is ripped out, which grows meat back on eventually, while the husk also reforms but without a completely reformed brain, so is essentially an animal with vague memories. Sort of an evil copy, only without Adamantium.

Wolverine's healing power is similar to the Superman power doctrine... it's as effective as the story demands and as such writers have variously had it powerful to allow him to both grow back from essentially being reduced to a skeleton and weak enough that a gun shot will incapacitate him. It's worth noting that a fairly recent story that had him do one of his "skeleton growbacks" got a lot of heat from fans and it was made clear he could only do so because of taking the equivalent of mutant steroids. Most authors have made it clear that he can die; in the aforementioned event where Magneto pulled the adamantium from his body his powers were maxed out I believe simply to keep himself alive in the immediate aftermath.

Magneto's another one who I'd like some insight on. Again his powers vary as stories demand but on at least one occasion he's used the iron in an opponents blood to give them a stroke. Is that theoretically plausible or is it a case of a comic writer going "science!" and running with it?

[Wyrd]

Also, it's possible to kill Wolverine just by drowning him, their's nothing about his powers that can save him from a wet nap. Just ask Deadpool.

[Hemingway]

I wouldn't even know where to begin with a topic like this. Fact is, even my favorite works of fiction have, as far as physics go, black holes in them.

Mass Effect does fairly well, and they did sort of redeem themselves by swapping self-cooling weapons with thermal clips. But, at the very least, differences in a planet's atmosphere would mean faster or slower cooling of your overheated weapon. At worst, you're in space, and it's useless. It's sort of weird, because with ship battles, they take that into account, and describe them as battles where the duration is usually limited by the weapons' ability to vent excess heat and whatnot.

Of course, I can think of way worse examples than that. I tend to notice these things.

Oh. I have another one that I think I was quite clever to discover. Cloaking devices, in cases where they completely hide the person using them. Usually you get some explanation about them bending light around the wearer. Which seems like a good idea, until you realize you'd be completely blind. If no light is getting to your eyes, then you can't see. If light can get to your eyes, others will see them. Physics, people, they work both ways.

[Hellion000]

Kill him? o.o Don't think that's possible ^^' but that does raise a good question... if his skeleton were ripped out, along with his brain still in his skull, what would reform? Would the left over meat husk fill out and regrow bones without Adamantium? How many, if any memories would be saved when the brain regrows?

...actually, this could be made into a decent plot o.o his skeleton is ripped out, which grows meat back on eventually, while the husk also reforms but without a completely reformed brain, so is essentially an animal with vague memories. Sort of an evil copy, only without Adamantium.

I don't remember what line it was, or what issue... however...

I distinctly recall an alt reality Marvel where the Egyptians never faltered and rose to become the supreme power in the world. All the heros were Egyptian themed- Capt. America was Capt. Egypt or some crazy shit, and likewise all the other heroes- and, Wolverine was present.

A member of some sort of rebel faction, he was caught in a plasma blast saving the main characters from capture. The last panel showed nothing left of Wolverine but his left forearm from roughly 3 inches below the elbow to the hand. He regenerated back from that, eventually, and returned to the comic with full abilities and memories intact.

The only thing I can gather from that is that Wolverine's individual cells contain the sum total of his existence- including memories- in them, so that rather than regeneration, he actually physiologically resurrects after each 'death'. That kinda makes Wolverine some sort of Beast- Jesus, and means that he's pretty much immortal.

[Oniya]

The only thing I can gather from that is that Wolverine's individual cells contain the sum total of his existence- including memories- in them, so that rather than regeneration, he actually physiologically resurrects after each 'death'. That kinda makes Wolverine some sort of Beast- Jesus, and means that he's pretty much immortal.

They've observed something like this in lower invertebrates, including the apparent transference of memory with brain-bits.  The name of the book is 'Shufflebrain'.

Oh, and more related - with an Egyptian theme, wouldn't that make him a Beast-Osiris?  *flees*

[TheGlyphstone]

According to Wolvie's Wiki article, it was canon at one point that whenever he dies, he has to fight Azrael, the Angel of Death, and win in order to be revived.

[Sabby]

Got a new one. Zombies work on basic human instincts, which is why they eat, because finding food is one of the oldest and simplest urges.

If that were true, Zombies would be absolutely terrified of fire, kill each other for dominance, and fuck anything they could convince themselve was a female.

[NotoriusBEN]

Got a new one. Zombies work on basic human instincts, which is why they eat, because finding food is one of the oldest and simplest urges.

If that were true, Zombies would be absolutely terrified of fire, kill each other for dominance, and fuck anything they could convince themselve was a female.

Actually... the Japanese have a few Visual Games of that...

NSFW 'Kansen 3: The Infection'

Zombies are a mixed bag. Before the newer Dawn of the Dead movies, zombies had several immutable laws of existence, which are now... mutable. Before NewDotD, they were slow, craved brains, and simply overwhelmed dumbasses who didnt move faster than a brisk walk or who tripped over *EVERYTHING*.

If you look at the recent popular literature and entertainment:
Books: "Zombie survival Guide", "WW:Z", "Feed", etc.
RPGs: "Outbreak:Undead", and "All Flesh Must Be Eaten"
Games: "Left 4 Dead" and "Dead Rising", tenuous other games
Movies: "Dawn of the Dead" (new and old), 28 Days/Weeks Later, Shawn of the Dead, Pandora, and much much more.

Given the very divergent forms and abilities of zombies in their own seperate universes, its a grab bag what is possible and not.
Lately the trend is what would happen in our world, right now, July 2011. How would/could a zombie be possible?

Most likely, a virus or bacterium that is rabies-like that causes severe degenerative brain damage. You will have zombies that are still technically alive, and very mobile. Congnitive abilities will be low, it can traverse terrain, but maybe a door knob will stump it, maybe not. I have no idea what it would do. Its like a dog with rabies, no idea what will set it off. The "good" news is that it is alive... double tap to the chest and it will bleed out and I've not heard of rabies inflicted dogs choosing healthy over other inflicted. I'd also assume that the majority of the infected would die out from dehydration/starvation/cannibalism rather soon. It would be a hellacious few months thats for sure.

The only tenuous immutable laws I can think of that pertains to every zombie type (save the voodoo kind) at the moment is:
(and given the vast multitude of zombies, even this may be wrong)

-A zombie must have an over-riding desire  to harm the non-zombie
-A zombie completely lacks empathy
-A zombie lacks the ability to recognize or acknowledge any previous connections it had pre-affliction (i.e. emotional ties to husband/wife/bf/gf/son/daughter no longer exist in zombie's mind)
-There is no cure for the afflicted (cure is different from vaccine)

[Sabby]

Expanding on zombies, from the old Day of the Dead film, they explained that the core of the brain rots last, while the rest is unused. If that were true, then wouldn't shooting them in the head not be lethal unless it got that one little bit just above the neck? Blowing half the head off with a bullet to the eye wouldn't do anything, since 95% of that brain mass is unused.

[Oniya]

Actually, when a bullet goes through the brain, it causes a lot more damage than just the track of the bullet.  Think of someone blowing a hole in a block of Jello (I have it on good authority that semi-rotted brain has about that consistency).  The shock wave does massive amounts of damage, so even if you miss the brain-stem with the bullet to the eye, the rest of it ends up turning to soup.

[Sabby]

Ah, that makes sense.

[Wolfy]

Bone at their core, Wolverine's claws operate by resting in genetically devised trenches in the muscles of his forearms, behind the bend of the wrist while sheathed & locked while extended.

Wolverine's claws have often been considered a mystery in their functional nature. Discovered to be bone in Wolverine Vol 2. #75 (1993), the foot-long weapons housed in his forearms sit in trenches created by a series of linked muscles unlike anything in normal human physiology. Each individual claw is surrounded by a silicon sheath to maintain/prevent sepsis from foreign matter still residing on the claws when they retract. This silicon would also promote healing and regrowth of broken bone claws, were they not covered by the Adamantium bonding. The point of the claws rest just behind the bend of the wrist axis, allowing for freedom of joint movement, and the external, Adamantium part of the claw sheath (something that no longer exists in more recent Wolverine illustrations) contains an inert silicone bushing that acts as a resilient body seal.

While Logan can bend his wrists with his claws retracted or fully extended, he cannot, in fact, extend them with a bent wrist. Such an effort would torque the line of his claws' exit point, distorting where they would surface. But more importantly, attempting to unsheathe his claws with an unaligned wrist is impossible, simply because the muscles could not function to push them out. The linked musculature in Logan's forearms operate both consciously and unconsciously, responding to his brain's mental command to extend his claws by tightening themselves into a straightened channel that expels each claw like a trigger. A smaller group of muscles in the backs of his hands (past the wrist bend axis) activate individual locking mechanisms on the claws, so that impact with objects will not drive them back into Logan's arms. Even fully extended, part of Wolverine's claws remain inside his hands and surrounded by the unique set of muscles, creating a foundation to resist trauma (keeping them from being torn out of his body). It is these muscles that pull the Adamantium-coated blades back into his forearms.

There has been some controversy over the point of extraction for Logan's claws, particularly since the development of the X-Men Movies. The claws do not and cannot unsheathe from between Logan's knuckles, but actually from the backs of his hands. Were the weapons to slide out from between his knuckles, it would impede Logan's ability to properly use his fingers, or to utilize his opposable thumbs. Another thing to note about how his claws come out is that they actually pierce his skin every time they retract; Wolverine has no openings for his claws.

Depending upon the artist, Wolverine's claws are sometimes rounded, which is most prominent in his earliest appearances.

Source ; www.comicvine.com
( http://www.comicvine.com/wolverines-claws/12-46496/ )

I seem to remember, even though he doesn't have openings for them, doesn't his Costume provide metal openings for them to come out from?

[Sabby]

Yeah, pity they can't do the same with Spyke... though I find it hilarious that the only black Mutants power (that I know of) is to throw bone spears.

[Oniya]

Um - Storm is African.

[Sabby]

Oh, I forgot her... huh. Thought she was from New Orleans, which would make her powers even more racists then Spykes spear throwing >.<

[Oniya]

Nope.  Rogue is from Louisiana, but Storm was the daughter of a Kenyan princess.  She was born in New York, but went back to Egypt as a small child, during which time her parents were killed.  (That's when her claustrophobia was initiated.)  She became a thief after that, and then lived in the Serengeti for a while, where she was worshiped as a goddess.

[TheGlyphstone]

Oh, I forgot her... huh. Thought she was from New Orleans, which would make her powers even more racists then Spykes spear throwing >.<

What's the racism connection?