Reed Richards Is Useless: Difference between revisions

** He hasn't been in a wheelchair for years now, thanks to a combination of [[Blessed with Suck]] and [[Cursed with Awesome]].

* In ''X-Men Legacy'' #242, Hellion, angrily, invokes this trope when, after witnessing many incredible events during his run with the X-Men, they are just trying to replace his lost hands with robotic hands instead of finding a way to grow new ones for him.

* In one storyline in the X-Men during the late-80's, a bunch of COLLEGE STUDENTS first try to kill Xavier by mutant bashing him. Failing at that, they then booby-trap his university office with an ANTI-TELEPATHY DEVICE! The apparent implications of ordinary people having access to such advanced technology is never explored. But incidents like this are very widespread in the Marvel Universe, raising the question of why Reed seems disinclined to put most of his technology on the market. Availability of advanced technology is very erratic and driven solely by writer's whims. As a rule, gadgets that can be used to harm superheroes outnumber more practical consumer devices by a fairly wide margin.

** Similar to the inconsistency of the first ''Marvel 2099'' line where a common crime was organ theft. However, at least one issue mentioned that cloned organ transplantations were available to the public (the way it was mentioned also suggested that the cloning procedure was a rather routine operation), thus rendering organ theft redundant.

* Usually played straight in ''[[Astro City]]'', as the author believes that it's important that the stories take place in our world, but the superhero Samaritan was able to stop the Challenger disaster, and there's a story dealing with a lawyer who attempts to defend his client in a mundane case by citing superhuman events - he argues that yes, forty witnesses say that they saw his client commit the murder, but there was once a bank robbery seemingly committed by celebrities who turned out to be shapeshifters, the superheroes First Family were suspected of selling defense secrets, but it was their Alternate Universe counterparts, etc. It ends up actually getting his client off the hook.

* [[Irredeemable|Qubit]], a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Fantastic Four|Reed Richards]]/[[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] has also invented and routinely employs [[Our Wormholes Are Different|teleportals]] to travel around the Earth and to other planets in an instant. He is, however, fiercely protective of the technology, and his fears are proven justified when the [[Insufficiently Advanced Alien|Vespa]] weaponize the technology and use it to stop the Plutonian:

* At the end of David Hine's ''Spawn: Armageddon'' storyline, Spawn is recreating the universe after the cataclysmic battle between heaven and hell. When Spawn is asked if he wants to cure the common cold or end global warming, Spawn says no, for he has done enough for humanity and it is now time for them to solve their own problems.

* Played with in ''The Uniques''. The eponymous super-beings played a major role in all of their world's events since they emerged in late 1930s, but in the end, but no matter how many divergences they created, the end results weren't that different from the real world.

* In her review of ''[[Teen Witch (film)|Teen Witch]]'', [[The Nostalgia Chick]] points out Louise could use her magic powers to fix the world but instead uses it on petty gain.

* In [[Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas|Raoul]] [[That Guy With The Glasses|Puke's]] review of ''[[We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story]]'', Puke has this to say:

* ''[[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|Charlie and The Chocolate Factory]]'': Willy Wonka can make an entire meal come out of gum, an ice cream that stays cold and doesn't melt in the sun, build a chocolate palace without a metal framework, teleport things into TV screens, and has anti-gravity technology - yet he only applies his know-how to candy. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Mike Teavee in the 2005 movie: "Don't you realize what you've invented? It's a teleporter! It's the most important invention in the world! And all you think about is ''chocolate''!"

* [[Scooby Doo]] and the Cyber Chase has a plot built around a couple of these moments.

* [http://www.cracked.com/video_18175_why-batman-secretly-terrible-gotham.html This video] by [[Cracked]] Dan, Katie, Michael and Soren not only made a case of batman’s [[Superhero Paradox]], but implies that Bruce Wayne Is Useless Too: In all his comics, animated and movie incarnations, he is an entrepreneur who is part of Fiction500. If he really wanted to stop crime, he could have tried to boost Gotham’s economy and then crime would naturally fall. They remember the monorail that Bruce’s father built (and Batman himself destroyed) in Batman Begins and the [[Sinister Surveillance]] implemented to stop Joker in [[The Dark Knight]]. They compare Bruce Wayne to an Enron [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] that is using the corporation’s winnings to finance his hobbies (fight crime in his own terms).

* The premise for [[Batman: The Movie]] and [[Batman (TV series)|the Batman TV Series]] is that that incarnation of Batman only is useful to fight supervillains (and nothing more). At the end of the movie, Batman quickly refuses Robin's idea to better the world by making a [[Freaky Friday Flip]] with the United World Organization security council, arguing that they shouldn't try to tamper with the laws of mother nature. Then happens exactly that, (but arguably, the [[Status Quo Is God]] still applies) and Batman takes responsibility just before going out inconspicuously throught the window.

* In the movie ''[[Dungeon Master]]'', the main character has invented a pair of glasses that can control numerous electronic devices such as traffic lights, and ATM machines. He doesn't bother to market the invention, and remains stuck as a low-paid IT assistant.

 

* On the ''[[Discworld]]'', Lord Vetinari keeps Leonard of Quirm under lock and key for the express purpose of ensuring that Reed Richards Remains Useless. It also helps that inventors like Urn realize that they're better off being useless, and that the magical equivalents of things like movies, rock and roll, and guns are [[Powered by a Forsaken Child|powered by evil or destructive forces.]]

* Similarly, from [[Terry Pratchett|Pratchett]] and [[Neil Gaiman|Gaiman]]'s ''[[Good Omens]]'':

She hesitated. It would have been nice to say yes. }}

* Played with in the ''[[NUMA Series]]''. ''Valhalla Rising'' starts off with a ship powered by a [[wikipedia:Magnetohydrodynamic drive|magnetohydrodynamic drive]], which is shortly set ablaze. It turns out to be sabotage to discredit the drive, and it apparently ''works''. The eponymous ship of ''[[The Oregon Files]]''' has those same drives, but it's mentioned that most countries' maritime boards banned them after "a fire" onboard "a ship" with them until they could be tested. The ''Oregon'' flies the flag of Iran, since they have "cavalier" attitudes towards maritime law. There are several revolutionary technologies in the series that don't become available to the public because of this trope. ''Valhalla Rising'', for instance, ended with {{spoiler|Pitt discovering a functioning teleporter.}} Presumably it's still a national secret.