[Supers] Counterstereotyping

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Sue ends up being the odd girl out just because she was kind of an afterthought. Her name is "Storm" not because of her powers, but because she was Johnny's sister and so couldn't be named "Glass".

How does that fit in with the four elements interpretation of the FF? It kind of seems as if to have four elements you have to have four characters. For that matter, "storm" isn't that illogical a name for someone with air-themed powers, though invisibility isn't the most obvious way to interpret that.

Bill Stoddard

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by whswhs

How does that fit in with the four elements interpretation of the FF? It kind of seems as if to have four elements you have to have four characters. For that matter, "storm" isn't that illogical a name for someone with air-themed powers, though invisibility isn't the most obvious way to interpret that.

Bill Stoddard

I suppose you're right. "Storm" can apply to both air and fire.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I suppose you're right. "Storm" can apply to both air and fire.

I'd actually say more readily to air. When I hear "storm" I think of atmospheric phenomena; it needs to be preceded by "fire" for me to think of combustion at all (whereas I envision wind, rain, thunder, and lightning without seeing "windstorm" or "thunderstorm").

Bill Stoddard

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

The word "Weir" means a dam.

Yes -- not that the writers would be above a pun for "were". "Dam" suggests a brick, though a weir would be rather a small one. He did have horns with which to head-butt. Capricorn is named just to fit into the Zodiac, as you say; powers were secondary in this case, I expect. ("Does whatever a goat-man can"? What would that be?)

I didn't see any mention of mental powers at all, in either normal or android form.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

("Does whatever a goat-man can"? What would that be?)

Goats are famed for omnivory, lustfulness, and head butts.

Bill Stoddard

[RevBob]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Goats are famed for omnivory, lustfulness, and head butts.

Not to mention their stylish facial hair. ;)

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by RevBob

Not to mention their stylish facial hair. ;)

And we were talking about a villain, if not an actual evil twin.

[David Johnston2]

Atlantis: An industrial power that has taken to dumping toxic gases as a byproduct of their industry into the atmosphere...

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

None of the Summers clan (from X-Men) have any sort of heat/cold or seasonal powers (as far as I know; there's a lot of 'em, apparently).
.

Not really counterstereotyping of course. It's just a case where a name is just a name. Clark Kent's name is just a name as well. Iceman is an interesting case of counterstereotyping though because he isn't cold and dispassionate or slow moving, the stereotypes you'd expect from an ice person. Instead he was an eager impulsive kid the original X-Man who came closest to acting his age.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Not really counterstereotyping of course.

Relatively weak, I agree. The point highlights the distinction between non-stereotyping (the name has nothing to do with the powers) and anti- or counter-stereotyping (the name suggests traits that are the opposite of what the character has). Had there been a Summers with ice-and-snow powers, it would be a proper counter-stereotype. Instead, there's just no correlation.

Also, "Summers" seems like a more common or at least mundane name than, say, "Storm", which affects the punnage the name can carry. If the super were named John Smith, it would seem a pretty weak counter-stereotype if he had a weakness or aversion to worked metal. But it would seem more stereotypical if that were a trait of Sean Cassidy (Banshee).

(We actually started out with personalities rather than names, so apologies if I'm veering too far afield.)