Shooting Superman: Difference between revisions

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** Could be justified by Kryptonians having the same basic injury-avoidance reflexes as humans do, which would have protected them from harm ''on their native planet'' where they weren't invulnerable. Such instinctive reflexes would still exist in Superman, and make him duck when an object is thrown at him, even if ''intellectually'' he knows he won't be harmed. Bullets move fast enough that he can't dodge them without invoking [[Super Speed]]—an ability standard Kryptonian reflexes wouldn't allow for—so those he can ignore without instinctively ducking aside.

* In the ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode ''[[Prince of Space]]'', the villainous aliens constantly attack the titular hero with their laser weapons, despite his constant insistence (''and'' demonstrations) that these weapons cannot harm him.

{{quote|'''Crow''': Don't you get it? [[This Is Sparta|Your weapons! Don't!]] '''[[This Is Sparta|Work!]]'''

'''Servo''': [[Never Heard That One Before|Have I mentioned that?]] }}

** Only in the American dub. The original Prince dodges and hides from the weapons, but he's not immune to them. The problem was getting a bead on him.

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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* Justified in ''[[Dungeons ~~and~~ Dragons]]'' - and many other role-playing-games - in which literally any attack will hurt literally anyone as long as the attacker rolls a 20 on a 20-sided die (or a similarly rare optimal roll in games that use different dice for resolution). If you're using ''D&D'' rules, if 10 thugs empty out revolvers at Superman, on average three of those shots will actually hurt him! Depending on how the used flavour resolves the "successful" hit, however.

* Justified in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' - and many other role-playing-games - in which literally any attack will hurt literally anyone as long as the attacker rolls a 20 on a 20-sided die (or a similarly rare optimal roll in games that use different dice for resolution). If you're using ''D&D'' rules, if 10 thugs empty out revolvers at Superman, on average three of those shots will actually hurt him! Depending on how the used flavour resolves the "successful" hit, however.

** AD&D 2 rules listed as one of events calling for a Morale check (to see whether they run or try again) when NPC or monsters find themselves "Fighting a creature they cannot harm due to magical protections". There are also adjustments, such as penalty for the side who didn't manage to take down any of the foes yet. And for casualties.

** Going by D&D rules, Superman would likely have a huge Damage Reduction (which a natural 20 does not nullify), rendering them just as ineffective as before.

** Also, some more amorphous entities, like golems or the undead, are immune to critical hits. Since crits are supposed to represent getting a lucky hit through your target's defenses or directly in a weak spot, this obviously wouldn't apply to a [[Determinator]] that doesn't stop short of [[Critical Existence Failure]].

* Appears with varying amounts in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer ~~40000~~]]''. In the current edition of the later, if a unit's toughness stat is four points higher than the strength of an attack thrown at it, the attack can't hurt it. In the former, any unit can be harmed by an attack if it rolls a six. Interestingly, the current editions actually favor a big group of Mooks attacking a single powerful unit, since not do their mass of attacks and numbers mean they can beat it a battle of titration, but they get automatic bonuses to their combat resolution meaning they can win without inflicting any harm on target.

* Appears with varying amounts in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' and ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''. In the current edition of the later, if a unit's toughness stat is four points higher than the strength of an attack thrown at it, the attack can't hurt it. In the former, any unit can be harmed by an attack if it rolls a six. Interestingly, the current editions actually favor a big group of Mooks attacking a single powerful unit, since not do their mass of attacks and numbers mean they can beat it a battle of titration, but they get automatic bonuses to their combat resolution meaning they can win without inflicting any harm on target.

* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' encourages a GM to still have bad guys attack a player character with something said PC is immune to now and then. This is for the dual purpose of the trope being a staple in the genre the system attempts to imitate, and to avoid making immunity useless (what point is there buying immunity to bullets if it just means everybody stops using bullet based weapons).

** The game also has an 'Impervious' extra you can pay to add to your Toughness, that prevents attacks below a certain threshold from even rolling an attempt to penetrate your damage. It's intended for exactly the purpose of this trope; to allow a powerful super to just remain completely oblivious to damage from less powerful sources.

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[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:~~Shooting Superman~~]]

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