Man of Kryptonite: Difference between revisions

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If a character has an [[Achilles Heel]] -- and especially if they have a [[Weaksauce Weakness]] -- inevitably an opponent comes along who is basically made of or otherwise works solely in the medium of Weaksauce. Examples abound, especially in [[DC Comics]]. This trope is essentially the ultra-specific, ultra-literalist version of [[Good Hurts Evil]] or [[No Man of Woman Born]]. Less commonly, a character with no existing vulnerability ends up against a character who introduces a unique weakness of theirs.

If a character has an [[Achilles' Heel]] -- and especially if they have a [[Weaksauce Weakness]] -- inevitably an opponent comes along who is basically made of or otherwise works solely in the medium of Weaksauce. Examples abound, especially in [[DC Comics]]. This trope is essentially the ultra-specific, ultra-literalist version of [[Good Hurts Evil]] or [[No Man of Woman Born]]. Less commonly, a character with no existing vulnerability ends up against a character who introduces a unique weakness of theirs.

For obvious reasons, this is primarily a [[Comic Book Tropes|Comic Book Trope]].

Closely related to [[Kryptonite Is Everywhere]]. Counterpart to the [[Kung Fu-Proof Mook]]. Combine both to create a [[That One Boss]] or worse. Contrast [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman]], which occurs when a situtation is tailored to ''avoid'' a hero's [[Weaksauce Weakness]] and utilize their [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|lame power of heart]]. If the hero manages to defeat this character anyway, it's a form of [[Scissors Cuts Rock]].

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== [[Comic Books]] ==

* [[Superman]], of course, has met several iterations of the [[Trope Namer]], a villain called the Kryptonite Man, who is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]. Metallo and, currently, Reactron also have their primary power as being walking Kryptonite delivery systems, a kind of combination of this trope and [[Weaponized Weakness]].

** Also Kenny Braverman, aka "Conduit" a cyborg powered by kryptonite radiation who's innate power was kryptonite blasts. And for a double whammy, he knew that Clark was Superman leading to the "Death Of Clark Kent" story arc.

** In ''[[JLA-Avengers]]'', two [[Marvel]] villains (Radioactive Man and Solarr) become this, [[Lex Luthor]] having told them about Superman's twin weaknesses of Green Kryptonite and red solar radiation.

* This is both played straight and inverted in ''Supreme'', where Ethan Crane is given his powers by exposure to Supremium but proves weak to it when later faced with the Supremium Man. {{spoiler|It was eventually seen that Darius Dax, caught in a time loop, became both the Supremium Man and the original chunk of Supremium, giving Supreme his powers, making him weak, and becoming his greatest enemy, all at the same time.}}

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* The original Venom was [[Spider-Man]]'s worst enemy because he had all his powers, wouldn't trigger his [[Spider Sense]], ''and'' knew he was Peter Parker. If the symbiote didn't have a few weaknesses of it's own it would have been unbeatable.

** The second type of this trope is the basis of original Venom [[Spider-Man|Eddie Brock's]] new identity Anti-Venom, whose primary power is to destroy the Venom symbiote. However, Brock also has more general "purification" powers that remove any foreign or artificial enhancements from others. In essence, he's a type 2 [[Man of Kryptonite]] for ''everyone''.

** The black suit that eventually became Venom had two weaknesses: fire and sonic attacks. Wouldn't you know it, the short time he had the suit was the only time [[Spider-Man]] encountered Humbug, a villain whose power was sonic attacks.

* Nemesis Kid, a ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' villain, ''consciously'' adapts whatever power he needed to defeat a single foe. If he guesses wrong, he's screwed. He ended up having his neck snapped by a vengeful Queen Projectra, having adapted immunity to her illusion powers, and she used the martial arts training her husband (the aptly named Karate Kid) had given her over the course of their marriage to kill him with her bare hands.

* [[Marvel Comics]] demon Nightmare fears one being above all others: the monster Gulgol, who never sleeps and is therefore utterly beyond Nightmare's dream-manipulation powers.