Woe is me! These cursed superpowers!

Ardent Kat · Sep 1, 2009

I'm sure this is a matter of personal preference, but it bugs me when a SF/F protagonist is "cursed" with special powers and bemoans his/her fate at length.

Don't get me wrong. I'm sure there are major downsides to having special powers like telepathy and I can't realistically imagine those downsides until I've experienced them first-hand. But at some point, shouldn't a character buckle down and get over themselves? How much pity does the author expect a SF reader feel towards such a character? Are we expected to say, "Yes, you poor thing! If only you could be rid of those special powers so you could go back to your boring mundane life."

This is especially within the SF/F genre where these special powers are most common. Personally speaking, I read/write SF/F because I'm attracted to the idea of the supernatural, the Other, and something beyond human. Ever since I was young, I liked to dream of what it would be like to have wings, to read minds, to have telekinesis. I'm sure I'm not alone; that's part of the appeal of the SF genre.

So to take a protagonist and give them powers and then have them whine about it... It's kind of like having a character that gets a huge windfall of good luck and then complains about it incessantly. (Especially when said "cursed power" is something the protagonist could easily avoid and simply not use)

I understand the draw of the "reluctant hero" who "didn't ask for this!" and who wants to reject his role as the Chosen One, or whatever, but yeesh, authors. Go light on the complaining. Most of your readers probably wish they were in Whiny Protagonist's superpowered shoes. It's getting to the point where I stop reading if a character won't stop griping about they've been cursed by their supernatural circumstances. I can't help but think, "Yeesh, lady. If you don't like it, hand those powers over here. I'll take 'em off your hands." I find myself resenting the protagonist more than pitying or empathizing with them.

Even in tragic stories where the protagonist truly is in an ugly situation and the power is a curse, there's got to be more to the story than that. Work through your problem instead of complaining about it. I tried reading Wasserman's Skinned at the recommendation of friends, but I wallbanged it because 75 pages in, the MC was still just hating the world and sulking about her circumstances. Regret and bitterness are an understandable flavoring for a tragic story, but it doesn't add up to a story in itself. (I couldn't finish Dan Simmon's Hollow Man for the same reason--the protagonist was self-pitying to the extreme, incessantly judging the Big Bad World around him in light of his 'curse' without owning up to any of his own personality flaws.)

What do other people think about the self-pitying superhuman protagonist? When does it work? When is it too much?

Kitty Pryde · Sep 1, 2009

Hmm, well, in general excessive whining in a book is displeasing, whatever the cause. I'm not sure what books you are reading in particular that have lots of whiny superheroes in them.

But very often the superpower, in addition to being Teh Awesome, is used as a proxy for being The Other. Like, in X-Men for example, you can read mutant powers as being an extended metaphor for being a persecuted or poorly tolerated ethnic minority, or for being gay. For some individual mutants, it's a metaphor for a physically obvious disability. Lots of vampire stories use vampirism as an extended metaphor for homosexuality or HIV or other diseases. Etc.

So you can't just go, oh yays, now I can fly/throw fireballs/see the future, how rad. It's not realistic and it also doesn't serve any thematic purpose. (You don't NEED to use powers to support your theme, but I will argue that it's preferable to do so.) Yes, I can fly, but if I fly around everyone will hate me/hunt me down/send me to a lab/send me to gitmo/send mulder and scully to capture me. I am the other and I have to hide that fact. Being The Other is such a universal theme that so many people can relate to in various ways, and I think that's why it's often used.

One less pleasing use of the whiny superhero is to balance out someone's powers. Supers who have very strong powers need to be weaker in other ways, like they're nutty, or dumb, or they make bad decisions, or they're bad under pressure, or they have an actual disability. Scott Summers (Cyclops) is a super-whiny X-Man. If he was less powerful (his eyes shoot lasers which cause massive explosions), he wouldn't need to do so much whining and self-pitying. They even gave him the Marvel Universe's Most Frequently Dying Girlfriend to increase the whining to epic levels, so his superpowers wouldn't outdo everyone else's.

Smiling Ted · Sep 1, 2009

You might want to check THIS out.

Mr Flibble · Sep 1, 2009

Excessive whiny is bad, I agree with that

But so is a superpower with no discernible downside. Unrealistic, see? There should always be a cost. But I prefer it if it's not so much whining as 'blimey, I hadn't thought of that. Maybe I don't want that cool superpower I thought was awesome'

For instance I have a heroine who discovers that she's empathic. Cool huh? She thinks so. Until she has to hunt. Feeling something die makes her stomach turn when it comes to eating it.

So yes, she's perturbed, and doesn't like it quite so much as she did. But not whining.

Liosse de Velishaf · Sep 1, 2009

Kitty- In some ways, your argument concerning themes is a very good one. In others, not so much. If you want to explore misfortune, you can still use misfortune to do so. You don't have to use something most people would see as good fortune. Conversely, you can enjoy a power as well. I think I would find flying quite thrilling. Yes, there is the possibility of becoming the object of scientific study, but most bad guys in that sort of story act much too credulously. "Gee, Arthur, did you see that fellow flying through the air last night?" "Why yes, let us capture him for study." Yeah... no. Another point to keep in mind is that there are different kinds of discrimination. AIDS and vampires actually share quite a few reasons; but being black and, say, being able to fly involve some (not all, but some) very different reasons for discrimination and/or persecution. Portraying a negative through a positive can be a dangerous game.

I think I'm agreeing with the responders so far when I say that whining is not good.

Kitty Pryde · Sep 1, 2009

Liosse de Velishaf said:
Kitty- In some ways, your argument concerning themes is a very good one. In others, not so much. If you want to explore misfortune, you can still use misfortune to do so. You don't have to use something most people would see as good fortune. Conversely, you can enjoy a power as well. I think I would find flying quite thrilling. Yes, there is the possibility of becoming the object of scientific study, but most bad guys in that sort of story act much too credulously. "Gee, Arthur, did you see that fellow flying through the air last night?" "Why yes, let us capture him for study." Yeah... no. Another point to keep in mind is that there are different kinds of discrimination. AIDS and vampires actually share quite a few reasons; but being black and, say, being able to fly involve some (not all, but some) very different reasons for discrimination and/or persecution. Portraying a negative through a positive can be a dangerous game.

I'm not saying the writer ought to use superpowers to explore themes of otherness/persecution, I'm saying the writer ought to use superpowers to explore themes period. And otherness/persecution is a really common and obvious one, to explain why the OP runs into it so much. Just having superpowers because blowing stuff up is awesome, or whatever, doesn't really move me, and I think doesn't take full advantage of the glorious spec fic genre.

There are all sorts of ways in which drawing a direct parallel between various minority groups and fantastical/science fictional races/species/groups can be problematic, which is a separate thread unto itself. But it can be done for great effect. Again, X-Men is my example of it being done really well, and in a way that appeals to a large audience.

Ardent Kat · Sep 1, 2009

Smiling Ted said:
You might want to check THIS out.

Haha! "Cursed with Awesome"--this is fantastic. Exactly what I'm talking about.

...if not used carefully, then a character being Cursed With Awesome carries the risk of plummeting straight into Wangst or Deus Angst Machina territory, as nothing is guaranteed to piss an audience off more than a character complaining about having abilities that are, on the face of it, utterly fantastic and that the audience would kill to have.

Exactly. Anime is rife with this sort of thing--awesome powers with no drawback, or busty women throwing themselves all over the protagonist who only complains about how tough life is being a babe-magnet.

Kitty Pryde said:
I'm not saying the writer ought to use superpowers to explore themes of otherness/persecution, I'm saying the writer ought to use superpowers to explore themes period.

Completely agreed. And a story in which there are powers for the sake of it "Cause blowing stuff up is awesome!" would be self-indulgent and puerile.

I think Liosse hit on it with "If you want to explore misfortune, you can still use misfortune to do so."

X-Men is a great example, but in that circumstance, it's the social stigma that they regret, not the powers themselves. (Much the way I don't like the stereotypes and stigma attached to being female, but that doesn't make me hate femaleness)

In all cases, great powers should be counterbalanced with weaknesses or you run into Mary Sue/Marty Stu territory. In my first book, a post-apocalyptic SF western, there were mutants with genetic mutations that frequently beneficial, but the greater the 'gift', the greater the physical mutation. The very powerful also tended to be very deformed (and--gasp!--unattractive) and the only mutants who could readily conceal their mutation had powers so weak they were not worthy of mention.

Even in circumstances where there is a brutal stigma attached to the mutation/power, and that Otherness is symbolic for a different sort of alienation, I'd still like to see the character grow and move forward in spite of their adversity. Get off the pity pot and keep moving.

Maybe I just hit a vein of bad luck, but 4 out of 4 of the last SF and UF books I've read, the protagonist keeps sulking about their woeful circumstances that just aren't that woeful. (And even if it was, why won't this character move on and grow as a character?) I'd rather read about a character that copes with or overcomes adversity instead of just pointing out the unfairness of it all.

Mr Flibble · Sep 1, 2009

Liosse de Velishaf said:
I think I'm agreeing with the responders so far when I say that whining is not good.

Well yeah - no one likes a whiner lol

But I don't think they are any more prevalent in SFF than anywhere else. I've read some world class whiners in mainstream. Not for long, obviously.

It's probably one of them writers rules. You know 'Thou shalt not make a Mary Sue. Thou shalt try and be original, cos banal crap bores everyone. Though shalt not have your MC be an annoying little goit that makes me wish they were dead'

Liosse de Velishaf · Sep 1, 2009

Kitty- My main points were that a) you(hypothetical/general "you") have to be careful when you draw comparisons, and b) it would be nice if authors would have characters regretting the results and not the powers themselves. (I was also probably rambling a lot, sorry.) I agree, superpowers need to do more than just look awesome.

IRU- I had actually started to say something else, there, then changed my mind, and then got a bit confused. Oh well.

On your last comment, did you mean "try to be original"? Not correcting your english or anything, just making sure I interpreted properly.

Salis · Sep 1, 2009

Pretty much agree, at least thematically.

In fact, the character I've written recently who has (pretty strong) powers is more enamored/seduced by them than not. If anything, I think the realistic thing is for people who have these powers to abuse/indulge in them far too often, which makes for a much more interesting story in and of itself (not to mention if the usage takes a permanent/nasty toll on them they're not aware of at first).

Ardent Kat · Sep 1, 2009

Salis said:
the character I've written recently who has (pretty strong) powers is more enamored/seduced by them than not. If anything, I think the realistic thing is for people who have these powers to abuse/indulge in them far too often.

Oooh... Addiction to one's powers. Dig that angle.

I also like when use of powers takes an immediate and permanent toll on the character. Like a necromancer whose body withers as he uses his powers, or and elf who drains his life force like a battery to use magic. There's a direct cost and it makes the power usage more exciting when it happens.

Salis · Sep 1, 2009

Ardent Kat said:
Oooh... Addiction to one's powers. Dig that angle.

I also like when use of powers takes an immediate and permanent toll on the character. Like a necromancer whose body withers as he uses his powers, or and elf who drains his life force like a battery to use magic. There's a direct cost and it makes the power usage more exciting when it happens.

Yeah, I've always found it weird when people protest too much about being given power, when in real life people are so eager to accept power/responsibility and abuse it.

So this guy is put in that position, and he makes a brief, "Oh, wow this is kind of weird and disturbing" double take, but quickly starts to give into it.

The happy fun time twist is the particular thing that gives him his powers also dooms him to literally losing his mind (psychosis) in very quick order after abusing his powers (he doesn't know this).

DeleyanLee · Sep 2, 2009

My problem with the use/whining about superpowers is that the author never bothers to show me WHY it's not fantastic.

Unlike the OP, I can imagine tons of reasons why I wouldn't want to be tele/empathic (especially if you can't shut it off), be immortal, etc. Personally, I wouldn't want superpowers, would refuse them if I could and, yes, whine a bit if I ended up forced with them (the same way I'd whine about a job that sucked, for instance). I'd find superpowers and the responsibility that society would tie to them highly annoying, distasteful and more than complaint-worthy.

But if someone's got a legit beef, then SHOW me why it's a legit beef. Going into the Marvel Universe again, I can deal with Spidey's whining about life because I understand WHY being a superhero makes his life harder and I can sympathize with him. They did it right--they showed me how superpowers messes things up for him continually. However, I'm glad he's gotten past that in his life and only has the occasional complaint (not the same as whining) as his series has continued.

The hero of my present MIP has superpowers--he's in the process of becoming a god and is actively fighting it. However, since I've dramatized what godhood is, I'm hoping that people will understand that that fate is NOT grand and wonderful as the PR makes it out to be and will understand when he maligns and struggles against that fate. Though he doesn't whine, though he does agnst nicely.

ChaosTitan · Sep 2, 2009

It's funny, but whining about having powers never really tips my meter unless it's extremely excessive. Of course, everyone's definition of excessive is going to be different.

Gaining a unique power, especially if not on purpose, is a huge change for a person. Many people just don't handle change well. Especially when we are forced to change against our will. Our lives will never be able to go back to what they were pre-power. People will look at us differently. Some might fear us. Hate us. Hell, maybe you can never go back to your old life once the power is given.

I expect a character to be a little depressed and whiny and rail against the unfairness of it. If not, I'd probably get very annoyed at the character for being too accepting of this new, crazy situation. I mean, really? You can shoot fireballs out of your fingertips, and you're going about life like it never changed? Huh?

But there should be a balance. Too much is melodramatic. Not enough is unrealistic.

If anyone wants a rec for a book I think does it well, check out Playing with Fire, by Gena Showalter. Average girl suddenly gets control over the four elements. Very good book, without the whiny melodrama.

I think IdiotsRus said it first, but I also very much agree with the notion of great power having drawbacks. Physical, emotional, or personal, I don't care, as long as the person with the power loses as he or she gains. I always give my powered characters a negative side effect to using their abilities--if not, using them becomes too easy.

Ardent Kat said:
Maybe I just hit a vein of bad luck, but 4 out of 4 of the last SF and UF books I've read, the protagonist keeps sulking about their woeful circumstances that just aren't that woeful. (And even if it was, why won't this character move on and grow as a character?) I'd rather read about a character that copes with or overcomes adversity instead of just pointing out the unfairness of it all.

You mentioned you stopped reading Skinned after 75 pages. But if you didn't finish, how do you know she didn't eventually cope with her changes and overcome adversity? *genuinely curious*

Ardent Kat · Sep 2, 2009

ChaosTitan said:
Gaining a unique power, especially if not on purpose, is a huge change for a person. Many people just don't handle change well.

That's true, but in these stories the characters previous 'normal' life is rarely all that desirable. When a character says, "Woe is me! I wish everything could go back to my normal mundane life," I've never known a reader to cheer along with her and say, "Yeah! Normality!" I read SF/F for its paranormal content, so hearing a MC complain too long about magical circumstance is basically the character griping about the very thing that attracted me to the book in the first place.

Do I want to see a little conflict and remorse over this change? Yes, please. I want to know this character is human. But if a character balks against his power or his destiny throughout the whole book, it irks me. It was interest in this power/destiny that made me pick up the book, so quit dissing your own plot.

Smiling Ted's link above is really what I'm talking about. The character is "Cursed with Awesome" when we're shown a character that bemoans a fate that otherwise shows little to no drawback. If we're shown enough "cost" and pain associated with said power, I'll empathize, but I still hope the character's internal conflict over this doesn't overwhelm the story as it did in Skinned.

You mentioned you stopped reading Skinned after 75 pages. But if you didn't finish, how do you know she didn't eventually cope with her changes and overcome adversity? *genuinely curious*

Life's too short to read bad books and if I'm a third of the way through and I'm forcing myself through the pages like choking down bad food, I'd rather stop and give another author a try. If agents judge my work based on the first 50 pages, then I don't mind deciding that an author has 'failed the audition' if s/he hasn't made me like a single one of the characters within 75 pages.

As you said, everyone's definition of excessive is different and to me, 'excessive' is 75 pages of a spoiled rich girl saying, "It's not faaaaair! I hate you, Daddy. I hate you, Mommy. Everyone in the world is an asshole but me, and it's so not faaaaair." Yeah. That's too much. Reading through Unlikable Whiney Protagonist's POV in hopes of finally reaching some character growth was like slogging through the sewers in hope of finding a surprise at the end. The potential treat isn't worth the crappy journey.

Nivarion · Sep 2, 2009

I think that whining in the beginning would be annoying to me. A little bit of wide eyed "Ohz mahz godz, my life will never be the same" stuff is fine. But whining at the end is more reasonable.

Imagine if it kept falling to you to save every person who falls into the pit. You'd eventually get tired of catching the lemmings that keep falling in. At first it would seem cool, but eventually wear thin.

Smiling Ted · Sep 2, 2009

Nivarion said:
I think that whining in the beginning would be annoying to me. A little bit of wide eyed "Ohz mahz godz, my life will never be the same" stuff is fine. But whining at the end is more reasonable.

Imagine if it kept falling to you to save every person who falls into the pit. You'd eventually get tired of catching the lemmings that keep falling in. At first it would seem cool, but eventually wear thin.

Ah...but that's assuming you're somehow obligated to do something constructive with your new powers, instead of just flying around, shooting old beer cans with your eye-lasers.

Sassee · Sep 2, 2009

Liosse de Velishaf said:
it would be nice if authors would have characters regretting the results and not the powers themselves.

This pretty much sums it up for me. I dislike whiny, angsty protags that can't get over themselves and don't realize the entire superpower isn't bad, just the way it was used or the resulting consequence. There are exceptions... for instance, I would never want to be X-Men's Rogue. Can't touch people or you basically kill them? Justified angst. But going back to the example (not a superpower) from an earlier reply post... some dude complains that hot women are all over him all the time? Not feeling any sympathy here, dude, unless you're gay. That's called trying to downplay one's awesomeness in order to relate to all the normal shmucks.

There's one particular author I stopped reading because I got tired of wading through multiple books of the protagonist spewing a lot of self-doubt and self pity. I stopped polishing one of my WIPs because I realized I created the same sort of character (it took me a long time to work that one out... I thought I was just getting frustrated with the story).

In moderation it's fine, especially if the character gets over it. In excess I'm liable to throw the book(s) across the room.

Nivarion · Sep 2, 2009

Smiling Ted said:
Ah...but that's assuming you're somehow obligated to do something constructive with your new powers, instead of just flying around, shooting old beer cans with your eye-lasers.

when I got to "Shooting old" my mind inserted "ladies" at the end.

Eventually your going to use them to start helping someone. Either others or yourself. Eventually will wear thin like a job you've had too long.

MGraybosch · Sep 2, 2009

Ardent Kat said:
I'm sure this is a matter of personal preference, but it bugs me when a SF/F protagonist is "cursed" with special powers and bemoans his/her fate at length.

I agree with you, which is why my protagonist doesn't do much bitching. He's concerned about the responsibilities that come with his newfound powers, and fears the consequences of using those powers to their fullest extent, but Morgan doesn't cry on his friends' shoulders about how his life sucks now that he's got a sentient sword that can supposedly kill gods and a kind of ESP that allows him to use scientific knowledge to manipulate the physical universe. Instead, he resolves to use the weapon as a last resort, and sets about figuring out how to use his preternatural talents.

He eventually decides out that while it's certainly impressive to be able to light a cigarette by mental effort, it's easier to just use a Zippo. Likewise, while he could create a wall of fire through his "magic", it's more convenient to dig a ditch, fill it with napalm, and strike a match.

starchildtrilogy · Sep 2, 2009

I think this is a highly valid point. What's interesting, though, is the psychology behind it. Why would a character want to give up their powers in favor of a mundane life? As has been pointed out, the desire not to be "other" is a strong motivator. Granted, superpowers are definitely a sign of otherness and the stigma attached is prevalent in scifi/fantasy. I think it's important to explore these, but as Ardent Kat mentions, there should be a point of "get over it!" I had that in mind when I started writing my protagonist. There is the natural instinct to bemoan the obligations associated with the powers, but eventually, it has to be accepted.

Art_Sempai · Sep 3, 2009

One reason I got into anime and manga, characters that don't whine about their powers.
The few that do have darn good reasons.

Caramia · Sep 3, 2009

Ohhh, wish I had caught this thread earlier when I had time to read it all. *cackles like a mad marsh-living woman* My current story is about Gods/Goddesses. Big time balancing act but nobody wants less power, they want more...and more..so on. The 'cost' is they need to be responsible with it. Seems simple enough, yet harder than I first thought.

And IdiotsRUs, I have a mortal character with an empathic "curse". The rest of her family attunes to people...she got stuck with critters. Makes for some fun (for me..not so much her) in middle of battles when her group is killing attacking birds.

Mr Flibble · Sep 3, 2009

starchildtrilogy said:
I think this is a highly valid point. What's interesting, though, is the psychology behind it. Why would a character want to give up their powers in favor of a mundane life?

Depends on the person and the power I should think

I've got a guy who's basically inherited a magic sword. However he's not all that keen on using it. Because it's more like it uses him. It wants to kill people. It makes him get the old 'red mist' and considering he has an anger management problem to start with....So, yeah, it's a last resort. He tries very hard not to use it, because he likes it too much. And blood is such a bugger to get out of the flagstones

But he doesn't whine about it. He just stares at it and wonders whether he dare pick it up.

starchildtrilogy · Sep 3, 2009

IdiotsRUs, I completely agree. It always depends on the situation, the character, and the power at hand.

Woe is me! These cursed superpowers!

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