Super Reflexes: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

One of the [[Stock Super Powers]]; a person with Super Reflexes can react to situations faster than normal. This is typically used to allow him to dodge or cancel threats that would otherwise blindside a regular character.

Super Reflexes is often a [[Required Secondary Power]] for [[Super Speed]], but the two are ''not'' equivalent; just because a character can dodge a flurry of fists doesn't mean he can run halfway across a field in the blink of an eye. Expect this power to be revoked the moment it becomes inconvenient for the plot; witness [[The Flash]] being able to clean an entire house in a tenth of a second one page and slam into a villain's outstretched arm on the next.

** The 4th Raikage can use [[Lightning Can Do Anything|lightning]] to boost his reflexes so much that even the Sharingan has difficulty keeping up with him, while the 4th Hokage apparently had comparable reaction time ''naturally''.

** Tsunade and Sakura's style also revolves around having super reflexes and move prediction to make up for their lack of speed.

** Played straight with Wrath/{{spoiler|King Bradley}}, whose [[Evil Eye]] grants him the ability to accurately predict the movements of anything he can see, though even when he's not using it, [[Badass Normal|it's still nearly impossible to hit him]].

* Kallen from ''[[Code Geass]]'', being a combat mech pilot, has incredible reflexes, which tend to act up even when she is playing an [[Ill Girl]] [[Wake Up, Go to School, Save the World|in school]], e.g. in one episode, when Rivalz accidentally sends a champagne bottle cork right into her face, she notices it even before he does and deflects it with her hand.

* This is one of the effects of the [[Psycho Serum]], Bloody Eye in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', with both the minor villain, Asimov Solensan and the [[Big Bad]], Vicious being notable users.

* A common power for various enhanced humans in [[Humongous Mecha]] shows, seeing as how something as complex as a giant humanoid fighting machine would probably be nearly impossible to control without them in [[Real Life]]. Notable examples include [[Gundam|Newtypes]], [[Gundam Seed|Co-ordinators]] and [[The Five Star Stories|Headdliners]].

* Taken [[Exaggerated Trope|to insane heights]] in ''[[Bleach]]'', with one of Mayuri's inventions including a [[Super Serum]] that was made for this purpose but is far, ''far'', '''far''' too strong: he mentions that if you dilute the sample he had (stored inside of [[Opposite Sex Clone|Nemu]], who is assumably immune) to one part per 250,000, one ''drop'' would be enough to be significantly increase your fighting ability. If you take the whole thing (which {{spoiler|Szayel}} does by accident) it will make every second seem like a '''''century''''', roughly 3 billion times normal speed, and [[And I Must Scream|thus make co-ordination of movement utterly impossible.]]

* Vivio in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] ViVid'' gains this when she's using [[Amplifier Artifact|Sacred Heart]], letting her react, dodge, and deflect attacks that [[Super Speed|move too fast for her to see]].

** [[Spider-Man/Characters|Spider-Man 2099]], Miguel O'Hara, has enhanced perceptions that happen to tune in more quickly to what's pertinent, although "what's pertinent" could be anything from an immediate danger or a more general plot point. Unlike [[Spider Sense]], it's limited by what his attention is focused on, and he could still be caught flat-footed.

* [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]] has blocked plenty of bullets and energy attacks over the years, even those fired at point blank range. In ''Journey Into Mystery #100'', Thor deflected two bullets fired simultaneously with one swing of Mjollnir.

* [[X-Factor|Shatterstar]] is often shown to use his Super Reflexes to augment his swordfighting skills.

* In the ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' comic books, Headmasters are Transformers who have mentally fused with a human (or Nebulan) partner. The combined minds work in tandem, usually giving Headmasters faster reflexes and/or better tactical assessment skills. They are usually depicted as a single entity, though sometimes the two personalities will discuss and argue with each other as the story requires.

* Arguably, [[Indiana Jones]] uses this to dodge many of the deathtraps he ends up in.

* In ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'', Jane's cybernetic implants, allegedly, grant her this ability, [[Informed Ability|but nothing she ever does makes any use of the skill]]. On one occasion, Johnny even had to push her out of the way of a falling car that she didn't even notice.

* A common ability for the robots in ''[[I, Robot (film)|I, Robot]]''

{{quote|''' {{spoiler|Sonny:}}''' By the time you have fired, I will have moved {{spoiler|Dr Calvin}}'s head into the path of your bullet.}}

== Literature ==

* Gentleman Johnny Marcone has this a [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]. The list of things he can't dodge/out react probably includes bullets and next to nothing else.

* In [[Discworld]], the History Monks have a technique called "slicing time" that allows them to do this. The problems with [[Super Speed]] are also deconstructed, as the monks have a number of requirements to avoid the "solid air" problem. At deeper levels, you see red/blue shift and have to keep moving so the air in your personal time pocket won't all get used up.

* Possibly the first example ever of Super Reflexes appeared in the 1956 Science Fiction Classic (and proto-proto cyberpunk novel), ''[[The Stars My Destination]]'' (aka ''Tiger! Tiger!''). In it, the anti-hero protagonist has his nervous system and musculature rewired to allow a state of accelerated movement. It is notable in that it had a relatively realistic look at the effects and problems of the state: The color spectrum shifts down to red, energy expenditure means that you will starve to death if the state is held too long, and engaging in hand to hand combat with another accelerated fighter is essentially suicidal for both of you as the collision is nearly instantly fatal.

* Appears in [[Philip K. Dick]]'s novel ''The Counter-Clock World''.

* The ''[[Percy Jackson]]'' books explain that the demigods enhanced "Battle Reflexes" are the reason so many of them end up diagnosed with ADHD. (This an a similar explanation of dyslexia being the result of having a brain hardwired for ancient Greek were written in for the benefit of the authors son, who has both ADHD and dyslexia.)

* In [[Timothy Zahn]]'s ''[[The Cobra Trilogy|Cobra]]'' trilogy, the Cobras are an elite unit of [[Super Soldiers]] with unbreakable bones, servo-powered joints, concealed lasers, and computer-enhanced reflexes, among other changes. Unfortunately, the computerized reflexes include responding "lethally to anything that even ''looks'' like an attack." And when the Cobras tried to go back to civilian life, ''none'' of those enhancements could be removed. Including the lasers.

== Web Original ==

** This is the primary superpower of the villain Whiteout ([[Don't Explain the Joke|he's an albino assassin]]). His reflexes are fast enough to dodge bullets (and pretty much anything else) if he knows they're coming. He doesn't move with [[Super Speed]], though.

** Arachne, being a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Spider-Man]], can do this by way of a danger sense.