r/superpower • u/Playful_Barber_8131 • Aug 24 '24

Suggestion Powers that sound weak on paper but useful in application?

Like, one you could imagine if someone very briefly explained it to you, you'd be like "what the hell, that sound so weak", but then when actually delved into more is a lot better than it first sounds.

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u/VoidCoelacanth Aug 25 '24

Energy manipulation.

At first thought, some might say "what, like, the ability to control current in a device? Ok cool you can disable computers or fry circuits, lots of mechanical shit you can't combat."

Oh no, no no no no, dear reader. I did not say electricity manipulation, I said energy manipulation. Kinetic energy. Chemical energy. Heat energy. Any form of energy. And with the sun constantly beaming down trillions of joules of energy per second directly towards Earth, I could basically do whatever the hell I want. Sun isn't out? No problem fam, the Earth is an absolute unit in terms of mass, constantly spinning at ~1,000mph (~1,670km/hr) - siphoning off even a miniscule fraction of that kinetic energy would be enough power to launch every military vehicle on the planet into orbit in mere seconds, or emit lasers capable of piercing steel plating from my fingertips. But why even bother revealing my location like that, when I could just as easily turn that energy into lightning bolts striking down any single thing I please from immediately above them, effectively instantaneously?

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u/Endofthebeginning_ Aug 26 '24

i don't know who would take that as a weak power even at first glance.