Glass Cannon/Comic Books

Examples of s in include:


 * Many telepaths in X-Men, such as Professor X, have powerful Psychic Powers but very weak physical attacks, and aren't of much use against opponents immune to telepathy (like robots).
 * Of course, we all know that Professor X's true weakness is stairs.
 * Lampshaded in X-Men: Evolution: He tells Jean that no matter the challenge they can be overcome. Cut to him at the top of a flight of stairs. "Of course some challenges are easier to overcome than others."
 * Similarly, Cyclops' Eye Beams are devastatingly powerful, but if anyone actually hits him he's just as vulnerable as any non-powered human. Well, any non-powered human in peak physical condition with iron willpower and light body armour, but still—a lot of X-Men fight scenes start with Cyclops getting punched out or shot with regular bullets, because (from a writing perspective) otherwise he could settle the whole business with a look.
 * And, Storm may have god level power, but up and close, she's just like Scott: Hard to hit, but just as easily hurt as anyone else. Same with most of the other X-Men who's specialty is offensive power.
 * In his first few appearances as Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner would often be subdued by a single blow to the back of the head. And he's not the only one; Hal Jordan also fell victim to this more than a couple times. But if you couldn't get behind him stealthily like that, he will fuck you up.
 * Ah, this explains that scene from Justice League when Batman took out Sinestro with a well-timed Batarang...
 * Or the scene in Justice League International when he K.O.s Guy Gardner with "One punch!" (later repeated in Batman: The Brave And The Bold).
 * The Golden Age of Comic Books Green Lantern was prone to this. But then, when your special vulnerability is wood, a Mook with a baseball bat or chair leg has less trouble getting through your force field.
 * One time Batman shoved Kyle, telling him to back off; when Kyle put up his hand to use his ring, he discovered Batman had lifted it during the shove.
 * And Bats pulls the same trick on Hal in 2011's first issue of the "New 52" Justice League of America.
 * Humpty Dumpty in the Fables Spin-Off Jack of Fables is an almost literal example, being a cannon that was bowdlerisation into being an egg man.
 * Goo goo ga joob.
 * Zatanna of The DCU can kill people with a (backwards) word (not that she ever has IIRC, she is a DCU hero). She could turn them into pudding snacks with a (backwards) sentence. Only the stronger magical, divine, or cosmic beings in the DC universe can resist her powers. However, she isn't any more durable than most humans and can be taken down with a single well-placed punch. Overlaps with Squishy Wizard. In Identity Crisis it is even explicitly mentioned in the narration-bubble: She is the most powerful member of the team, if she can get the words out. Slade Wilson (Deathstroke the Terminator, who is possibly the only person for whom that name is not overkill) pokes her the stomach, so lightly that it does not even hurt that much, but once she begins to vomit from the damage to her liver she is out of the fight.
 * Prism, an on and off member of the X-Men villain Mr. Sinister's Marauders, is literally made of glass. He can store light and energy (such as sunlight or Cyclops' optic blasts) and redirect it to devastating effect. But he is still made of freaking glass. Jean Grey killed him once by throwing him into a wall (not even that hard).
 * Sizzle from the third Legion of Super-Heroes continuity is practically a literal cannon, needing a steady power source (ammo) to feed her energy projection abilities. The awkwardness in having to both provide power and cover to Sizzle while watching your own back is the reason she was sent to the Legion Auxiliary along with her Stone Wall friend Turtle.
 * Emp's hypermembrane suit from Empowered. Amazing Super Strength, flight, energy beams, who knows how many other powers...and the durability of wet tissue paper. Good thing it can repair itself.
 * Graviton - a villain most often seen fighting The Avengers can manipulate gravity to such an extent that he can tear buildings from their foundations and restraining someone as strong as the Hulk by making them super-heavy. But, his body is still that of a mortal man (and a rather weak one at that) so should a super-strong hero take him by surprise and manage to slug him even once, he's down for the count.


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