How NOT to write Speedsters

Speedsters and bad writing, the ultimate power couple. Superpowers are awesome, and they can be found across all forms of media from comics through to anime and movies. But there's one superpower that's naturally more overpowered than most, so OP that it can break a plot just by existing: Super speed.
Characters like the Flash, Quicksilver, and just about anyone who can outrun a speeding train? Overpowered as hell, but they're usually written as idiots to compensate.
Trying something a lil different this time, a video in a similar vein to my pure evil villains video. Wonder Woman video is probably next.
Link to the Madvocate Flash playlist:
• Quicksilver Saves Ever...
Music used:
Jipang - Dragon Quest 11
Miss Monomi's Lesson - Danganronpa 2
Dark Reality - King's Quest 4
Ma'Habre Streets - Fear and Hunger
A Woman - Persona 5
Corridor - Persona 4
#dc #dccomics #theflash #theflashmovie #movie #theflashcw #videoessay

[@Here_is_Waldo]

You don't even need to be that fast. A character who can run at 100mph is basically untouchable.

[@speeddemon5339]

That’s true, even when someone uses a 50bmg round, which travels at 2000 mph, and if a speedster is standing 15 feet away, then they can move 1 foot in the opposite direction, before it hits them. Most people also can’t accurately shoot something moving at 100mph.

[@bforbiggy]

​@@speeddemon5339I know this is old but couldn't resist doing the calculations and the number is closer to 25 feet which is really good in outdoors combat but really bad in indoors combat.

[@EdgyTheHedgy891]

In my opinion there is at least one good solution to this problem If a character is overpowered, just go nuts and make the odds insane The good example of this is Sonic, game continuity Sonic to be more specific Most of the enemies in those games aren't even a threat - Sonic just takes them out in a single hit So instead of fighting one generic enemy you fight armies of those generic enemies And more serious threats are usually something like extremely powerful beings who could manipulate reality, or strate up ancient immortal gods, their power levels varying from wiping out a civilization to destroying the multiverse, or other speedsters but with additional powers Sonic doesn't have, or at the wery least just a really big robot Enemies that can't be defeated by just punching them really really fast Although that is how you usually defeat them, but you get the point Insanely powerful character needs insanely dangerous odds to compensate

[@Reseptics]

this is a perfect example and i've made this point myself numerous times. a lot of people seem to default to the response of nerfing the absolute shit out of the speedster's actual speed and abilities. and while that's completely valid and would work, it's also completely possible to do the opposite and make them as powerful as you want. it just becomes a balancing game of giving them foes that are competent enough to challenge them and requires you to be more creative with the powers those foes have.

[@kakashi6957]

​@@Resepticsthe main difficulty of that tho is that they have to make it actually good for it to work flash is one of those main things as reverse flash zoom savitar and even devoe were somewhat decent good enemies but before we even got to that point we had to watch Barry get cucked by a generic villain to increase run time instead of possibility using it to develop more characters

[@Reseptics]

@@kakashi6957 savitar and devoe were ass because of how stupid they were. reverse flash and zoom were gold for the most part though. but barry should've been dunking on almost every other meta he came across most of the time.

[@kakashi6957]

@@Reseptics I mean with savitar in made some sense if Barry could see things and have memories than savitar could intercept them and as for Devoe yeah it was pretty stupid on how he somehow got as powerful as he got but the main 4 seasons had some entertaining villians before it went to shit

[@kakashi6957]

@@Reseptics I mean savitar was running so fast he was going into the actual speed force as a gateway portal

[@czms922]

Y'all think our ancestors power scaled Wolly Mammoths to giant sloth?

[@johngr1747]

I mean yeah. I guess they needed to recognize how much effort it takes to kill each animal, either in self defense or for their meat or fur

[@Doctor_Odin]

The most simplest and best way to limit a speedsters powers is the calorie burn, with the consequence for greater feats requiring immediate extremely higher calorie intake.

[@Reseptics]

this speedster slander by writers needs to stop. i'm sick and tired of what is essentially the best super power being mishandled and poorly represented by writers who are either completely incompetent, or have no idea what to do with characters who have it. speedsters who are op usually only lose to bad writing or other speedsters. it's very rare that you'll see a speedster be pushed in a way that is non contrived if they aren't fighting another speedster or someone else on that level of being op. people usually say to nerf the speedster's actual speed. and that's a good idea if you want to make them a side character or B list hero. but for characters like the flash and x-men quicksilver? they should be given enemies who match them. or use the basic bad guys of the week to show how op they actually are and treat the characters and the audience with the respect they deserve. someone else in the comment section pointed out a perfect example of a speedster who's op while still being extremely entertaining and having enemies who aren't push overs.

[@venerablewu8744]

It's a mid super power Omnipotence >>>>

[@Reseptics]

​@@venerablewu8744 bait used to be believable.

[@renardbennett75]

The problem with comic book characters specifically is that they have to be written with the idea in mind that other standalone storylines exist in the same world. For instance, in a world where Flash and Superman exist, what is the actual purpose of someone like Batman?

[@zettovii1367]

Think the best way to limit speedsters, is to emphasize the fact that their speed is not inherent to them. Like they gotta consciously change their perception to have faster reaction than a normal person. While even then not give them anything akin to spider sense, so it is logically possible to catch them off guard. Also would help if they added downsides to each speed level, like being unable to see when they move faster than light, or being able to hear anything when they move faster than sound. There also could be a matter of friction where after a certain speed level, things will just get torn apart the moment they touch them, so certain speeds are only used for very specific things which dont apply for average use.

[@Abominatrix650]

Oh, no way! You included a clip from Horrible Histories! That feels so personal! I love that show! Thank you! Also, Persona 5 OST? Freaking Madarame's Palace theme? You are a man of taste!

[@shamluis2125]

Flash is also dumb because i think warpzone or college humor show that flash thinks faster so he perceives time that everyone is slow so anyone beating is even funnier watching every punch hit him in slow motion

[@ianyoder2537]

My plan for how to balance a competent superhero speedster: Go the comedy route, she's the only competent member of the superhero team and is constantly saving/ cleaning up after/ fixing the mistakes/ adult baby sitting the other members of her team.

[@Aang22559]

There’s no arguing with this, he’s right

[@AAHumann_]

The reason speedsters get hit by normal people is because they have to slow their concentration to not have everything feel like a year

[@KonnRrr]

nope

[@pullcarsmelly8051]

Uhhh. No. The real reason is because of plot.

[@AAHumann_]

@@pullcarsmelly8051 nope actually The flash is a talker, not really a fighter So he has to slow down his concentration to normal people's speed so he can talk to his enemies.

[@pullcarsmelly8051]

@@AAHumann_ nope. You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Anyone who can react and think in less than an attosecond has more relative time at their disposal than the full age of the universe.... Times a million. So again. PLOT.

[@AAHumann_]

@@pullcarsmelly8051 dude you're ignoring the flash's whole thing of rehabilitation and talking you're thinking that the flash doesn't wanna talk about anything and just goes in to fight. He talks more than he fights to small villains/criminals. If he was just another fight first talk later hero, then you'd be right. But he's a talk first, then talk, then talk, THEN fight hero.

[@therod789]

I feel like simply making contact while at superspeed a point of contention would narratively limit the practicality of superspeed. Maybe punching a guy faster than he could react would instantly kill him, or break your hand. That could explain people reacting fast enough to do something, because a speedster would have to purposely slow down to avoid major consquences. Or maybe the speedster is just fragile in general, like they cant really do much but run and observe, like in real life. Its like writers want all the fun but none of the plot downsides.

[@youtubestudiosucks978]

Speedsters have to bave the durability to withstand their speed or they would break their bones everytime they ran and catch fire due to sheer friction. You cant have superspeed without having the nessesary durability to handle it.

[@champloo933]

speedster protagonist vs invulnerable antagonist is perfect

[@unknownchoujin1436]

7:55 Same, blud was so stupid, my brain cells decided turning that sh*t off to preserve what little intelligence I had left. It was a good choice.

[@indatube]

Flash shouldn’t be super strong. He should easily break his wrists punching in ways beyond human limitations. He shouldn’t be able to spin his arms really fast and generate more than moderate uncontrollable undirectable gusts. If they stuck to just speed running speed reading, running on water or up walls, phasing, and left time travel ONLY capable with external (Cosmic Treadmill) means then you could have a more compelling character.

[@joshgroban5291]

I definitely like that idea

[@Rengokuo4o6]

He shouldn't be phasing either.

[@indatube]

@@Rengokuo4o6 debatable. Phasing was leeway I was granting, it’s plausible. It can also be taken away.

[@Rengokuo4o6]

@@indatube okay but most of the time phasing isn't written well atleast to me. How is Barry able to vibrate fast enough to go through a door but not immediately plummet towards the earth's core? Never understood that. Or how can he can remove a bullet from someone's body while vibrating but is still some how intangible.

[@indatube]

@@Rengokuo4o6 it’s science fiction. It’s also selective, just like Kitty Pryde phasing - they can choose to keep their feet solid or affect the bullet and make it intangible as he grabs it while not harming anything else

[@Zora_TheSideCharacter]

I have four speedster characters in the story ive been writing. I think ive done an ok job at balancing them. Cobalt is the strongest character in the whole story do to his rediculouse speed and electricity armor, but hes dead, so hes only in flashbacks. Silva is teh second fastest, but shes nerfed by only showing up once and thats as a one time villain part of team that was going against a slightly larger team that also has a speedster Pebble is limited by the fact that while he is a speedster, he doesnt have the refelxes of one, so he primarily uses his lightning based ability to shoot lighting bolts at people rather than go fast, and only goes fast when he needs to Sulfur has the same abilty as Cobalt, but he is just a scientist and doesnt have much combat skill, so he might as well not even be a speedster

[@phu9340]

This video is so good tysm

[@matityaloran9157]

2:11, that’s not so much telepathy being less powerful as it is the writers being smarter about it

[@Kevin-ck6bu]

Great video

[@baruchbelmont5821]

Characters are only as smart as their writers, and the CW Flash could have easily been better if the villain of the week wasn't as easily found every. Single. Episode.

[@theking8347]

You don't have to be smart yourself to write a smart character, that idea has been debunked numerous times.

[@baruchbelmont5821]

@@theking8347 Depends on your definition of smart though, you can be considered smart but still bad at writing.

[@matityaloran9157]

@@theking8347True. It’s not like Mary Shelley knew how to reanimate the dead or H.G. Wells knew how to build a Time Machine. They still created characters who could do those things. You definitely can create a character smarter than yourself

[@zettovii1367]

In terms of how OP Super Speed is as a power, honestly think it depends on the speed in question. Obviously anyone that can move at the speed of infinite km in 0 seconds can blitz anybody before anything ever happens.... But being able to move 3x faster than world record athelets is also technically super speed, yet that's kinda a weak power on its own, as it is still very manageable by anybody with a gun. The problems with Speedsters is that their power is often exaggerated out of proportion compared to everything else, but that's not because Speed is OP by itself, as much as you are pitting lvl 99999 speed min-maxers against lvl 10 everything else. If you want balance the speed at a level where it's faster than everything but not unmanageable without applying hard limits, then a reasonable way is to either only use a level of speed where none speedsters can still react/counter, or give every important antagonist some level of super speed, and just have the speedsters be specialist in it. Like have the difference between them be like Agile Ninja vs Armored Knight instead of Bullet vs Snail.

[@jasondiend4248]

It simple you know how you limit a speedster even a smart on not all of them are smart. Then you limit what their powers actually protects. It protects them that is it. Needing special equipment for clothing. Wally even wears speedforce costume he makes himself. The simple answer is if you hit someone you're hitting them at that speed. No non-kill hero with super speed would just zoom the fuck in and nudge anyone they'd turn them to paste. So they need to slow down thus giving a window for more crafter villains schemes to work.

[@FixTheLightsPaco]

MCU quicksilver may have been nerfed from the X-men movies and especially the comics, but that speed of barely cracking mach 1 was "realistic" and had stakes, unlike FOX'S quicksilver, who is too OP for the limited-compared-to-the-comics foxverse, MCU did a good job balancing the speed for its own verse, and I'd like to see more limited speedsters like the fast kid from incredibles, also me personally, if i had superspeed, id prefer it to be limited to racing car speeds as i don't wanna be trapped in the slow-motion abyss, I've read that X-Factor comic lol (Also yapping warning for below, TL;DR: comic quicksilver wouldn't end up like the well enough balanced MCU quicksilver, despite what some say to defend his unneeded death in AoU lol) (And yes i implied if MCU QS was more comic accurate outside of looks and personality, he would've done something similar to the FOX'S version of quicksilver when faced with those jet bullets, despite what some say about MCU QS's slow and realistic speed being "comic accurate", comic QS wasn't that slow outside of an inaccurate 80's handbook saying that most marvel speedsters were as fast as a car lol, QS even before and in the same era of that handbook had speed feats way above just 175mph or mach 1 or 10, like a moment similar to the X-men apocalypse scene, in an X-Factor comic, where he evacuated an entire military complex full of soldiers in the literal blink of an eye, or that 60's avengers comic that had him searching and scouring a 10 mile area in around 1-3 seconds, never mind the three FTL feats from these eras, as well as more FTL and way beyond feats since the late 90's that handbook is malarkey, and for anybody who'd treat it like the bible, it even says that spider-man can only lift 10 tons, which contradicts the 50 ton and above tank and building lifting feats that spidey did from those eras, just like how the 175mph for QS is easily contradicted by feats from the time And if more official or direct means of gauging QS's speed is needed: 1. QS's speed rating on the official marvel website is a 7, the highest rating, which means FTL 2. 2a) the many times other characters referred to QS as "the fastest man alive" which would be impossible for a 175mph to mach 1 or 10, and even impossible for a near lightspeed speedster, like northstar, as there are many FTL and way beyond characters on marvel's earth alone 2b) a writer statement that says that quicksilver is at least among the top fastest marvel universe characters, see point 2a for how even a near light speedster can not crack that list Anyway, comic QS's speed isn't too OP for the main marvel 616 comic verse, as there are lot of extremely powerful characters there, unlike the movies, where the MCU did a good job balancing power levels compared to the FOX verse, although they went a little overboard killing him off lol And before anyone says flash is faster, well i know that, it's shown in the crossovers where wally outclasses pietro multiple times lol)

[@jayde4872]

If I had super speed, I’d be happy with topping out at most at 70 mph. Fast enough that with some skill I can still make tight turns but not so fast that I need to slow down significantly.

[@FixTheLightsPaco]

@jayde4872 for me it'd be around racecar speeds like 200-300mph, just fast enough to be untouchable for people and compete against vehicles, but it's not OP fast like seeing bullets in slo mo or moving whatever-illion times faster than light If I had to be a superhero with those specific powers, I'd call myself "F1" or something associated with race cars, with an outfit that has race car motifs or race car driver motifs

[@jayde4872]

@@FixTheLightsPaco you’ll need wind resistance or something as a secondary super power since at those speeds you’ll effectively be dealing with 200-300 mph wind. Anyway. My speed preference is because that’s crazy fast for normal humans while slow enough to still be able to enjoy what I enjoy about driving: being able to see the world and listen to my music.

[@FixTheLightsPaco]

@@jayde4872 it's the acceleration that gets ya, so I'd just have it so that pretty slow acceleration is a "flaw" in "my" powers

[@millo7295]

This is why we need realistic powers You're a speedster? You can't perceive that speed unless you're lucky and cash ANOTHER power that makes your brain work faster as well But then with the split powers you'll get someone who has super strength but their body heals normally, so they start out injuring themselves with one punch and can't fight the next villain because they have to heal for a few weeks

[@kyclerealman]

That is the exact opposite of what we need

[@camdenthompson4307]

Honestly just finding ways that speed can be a detriment would also work just as well as finding ways to use it. delayed reflexes, motion blur (kinda like that one insect which I don't remember, but moves so fast it actually blinds himself), causing bodily functions to move at an increased speed and potentially speed up aging, heck with one of the characters I have who's technically a speedster, his weakness is that 1. he's limited to only going in one direction at the speed of light, and 2. the inertia of his speed still carries over, making it so he either has to aim his attacks or use the environment, such as buildings, vehicles, etc. to bounce off of.

[@Here_is_Waldo]

Real life physics. He can run at 10,000mph, but a fireball explodes his clothes off and the shockwave destroys everything he passes. If he bumps his toe against a wall, he shatters his leg and detonates his foot. He has to limit his speed, but could still stop and think quickly if needed.

[@camdenthompson4307]

@@Here_is_Waldo I do like that. I should have specified this, but the character I wrote's main thing is not just moving faster than light, but rather him gaining the properties of light (hence only moving in one direction, and the bouncing off of stuff). I kinda made it that way not only to help explain other stuff like him not being hurt by small objects while running or even flying quickly, why his punches don't have infinite inertia, and why his body literally doesn't destroy itself when he does move at that speed Another idea I thought of for speedsters was actually making them fight characters to can actually counteract their powers, which in context of mine would be someone who can move through darkness and someone who can create stuff like tachyons and pseudo black holes, as well as other minor characters

[@mrblakeboy1420]

they shouldn’t be dumb, they could be unwise. if the character doesn’t realise that they can just punch really fast and make the other guy die, that’s dumb. if the character walks just outside the visible explosion of a nuke “just to look cool” and then dies of radiation poisoning, that’s unwise

[@ueihgnurt]

Speedster are so OP that kill someone with mind can't compete with him. Let me introduce Takatou Yogiri. Guy is the end itself. he can end any definition include dead or the world itself. Even if the opponent is faster than what Yogiri can react, his powers activate automatically to retaliate them before any harm is done.Yogiri can kill hypothetical beings.The author implied that Yogiri's true form is inaccessible to higher dimensions, no matter how many of them are stacked, as it can destroy all of those things.No matter how much defenses or resistances one has to instant death abilities, it is all meaningless in front of Yogiri's power. Yogiri can use his power for as much as he wants, even when asleep.Yogiri's power automatically activates against abilities that tries to manipulate his mind.

[@Sauxeaholic]

5:08 spoiler warning But yoriichi vs muzan is one of the best examples of a speed blitz muzan didn’t get a thought in and was chopped into hundreds of pieces in a second

[@ZERO10989]

I really with Sonic movie 1 didn’t have a stop time scene either. It just causes a barrage of inconsistencies later on and raises unnecessary questions Like why didn’t sonic just use this overpowered ability to solve most of the problems that happened in sonic movie 2?

[@venerablewu8744]

IS THAT BURTA THE FASTEST IN THE UNIVERSE

[@GPlul616]

Dude imagine how boring it would be to solve everything in litterally less than a second(which almost every speedster could do). The show wouldn't exist ,it'd be a youtube short or a tiktok per episode. The show sucks in the later seasons, but it's a fun show to watch with your brain off, don't look for imperfections and you'll have a good time.

[@ChristianProtossDragoon]

Or limit his powers.

[@TheLittleLife]

hm

[@arbelcohen8280]

RAAHHHHH COMMENT TO DRIVE UP VIDEO ENGAGEMENT SMALL KZbinRS RISE UP

[@nodinitiative]

Sub #2.45k - 26-04-2024

[@FootballersJourney]

+200

[@moegainz6678]

bro your voice puts me to sleep, talk faster

[@xzkilerymax8395]

naw