Mythbusters: CBUB

[Marvel Man]

The CBUB.

 

To some, a bloody battlefield, where epic characters can clash with one another in battles which we have all imagined. A place in which heroes and villains alike are free from comic restraints. Where teams of legendary status can be formed.

 

To others, it is a creative wonderland, where one can express their writing fantasies. Where one can write for fun, or for glory. Where characters are all shared. Where storylines are crafted.

 

But even in this place, there are certain flaws which keep us from reaching the glory that the CBUB holds. Chief among them is ignorance. Without the proper knowledge, writing quality declines, debates crumble into flame wars, and obscure characters are left to rot.

 

There's only one solution.

 

And that's to bring down the hammer of justice. That's why I'm officially creating the CBUB Mythbuster Squad, which will work to bust popular CBUB myths relating all types of characters. Hopefully, this will help drive logic into the maddened mobs which wander the CBUB. With luck, it will also give courageous CBUBers the right tools to survive CBUB debates, and thus, create a new class of CBUBers.

 

Alright, it's Go Time!

 

Here's the first myth:

 

Storm Troopers are terrible shots.

 

Now, if you have proof or reasons that will help prove or bust this myth, post them here. If you have a certain question/myth, please pm me and I will gladly post the new myth. A new myth will appear once this one has been busted/proven.

 

Now Go!

[Guest Zreth]

Unlike a gun the blaster moves in a straight line and it also has high tech targetting equipment yet they can still miss.

[C.T.]

Obi-Wan says this and I quote "These blast-points... Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise."

 

Plus...in the beginning of New Hope...the stormtroopers board and capture the Tantive IV in mere moments. They killed pretty much all of the resistance.

The scene About three minutes into the vid.

[Guest KevinDWolf93]

Precision and accuracy are 2 different things, grouping many hits and hitting bullseye w/ 1 or 2 shots.Obi-s at jedi truths again.Also possible obi-wan may not've known they switched to reg people and thought they were clones w/ new armor.

Also They were facin less exp. rebels.Plus Vader was there.

 

On other hand in games imperial blaster is fairly innacurate. Also at least in 4 they let leia escape so could be tailed

[Skirmisher]

Ok, here's my logic

 

The Stormtrooper Effect

 

 

There are many points to consider, and many facts that are overlooked when people talk about the marksmanship of the Stormtrooper.

 

The first and most easy answer is that being the bad guys "Mooks" they cannot possibly hit the Main Characters of the story, it is this Character Shield and that reduces their skill with the Blaster.

 

But that is only an outside the Universe answer... There are several In universe that explain this effect.

 

 

First is that Simply the Stormtroopers were ordered to miss. During the escape from the Deathstar, Vader and Tarkin hatched a plot to find the hidden rebel base. By planting a homing beacon on the Millennium Falcon. That beacon would have been useless if Luke, Han, Chewy and Leia were dead.

 

The second time this effect can be seen is in Cloud City. Though at first this was just a trap for Luke, After he had escaped Vader, Luke needed his friends help to get off the bottom of the city. As such the Stormtroopers were once again ordered to not kill Leia, Chewy, and Lando, so that they could rescue Luke.

 

 

There is also a second suggestion as to why Stormtrooper Marksmanship it poor, and it has to do with the Guns and not the soldiers. It appears that a weapons manufacturer for the Empire may have either had a bad quality control supervisor or could have been sabotaged by the rebels. As certain weapons that made their way into Imperial service had defective prismatic crystals, which could throw off the accuracy of a weapon by 20%. I'm not sure how widespread this defect could have been, but it is possible that it affected more than just the KK-5 pistols.

 

 

Yet a third suggestion is that Stormtroopers just have very bad helmets... with either problems in whatever HUD they use (if any) or with the fact that their vision is restricted by having only tiny eye pieces. There are two very noticeable events in the first film to back this theory up. The first is when Luke donned the Armour and stated that he couldn't see very well with the Helmet on. The second time and most comical was when a squad of Stormtroopers entered the hanger control room where C3PO and R2D2 were hiding. One of the Stormtroopers doesn't notice the obvious low clearance height of the Door and bonks his head while entering.

 

 

Lastly, another reason is that most of the inaccurate Stormtroopers could just be either non-cloned troopers who were recruited, or even the poorer quality clones of the Spaarti Cloning process. Such recruits could posibly never hope to be as good as the super clones of the Kamino, and the Spaarti clones have been described as "little better than meatbags to be thrown at the enemy in overwhelming numbers."

 

 

There you have it Four answers to the question of Stormtrooper accuracy or the lack thereof. Personally I belive that it is a mix of all of these answers, that the Stormtroopers were mixed in with poor quality troopers, that they received defective weapons and armour on top of being ordered to "shoot to miss"... A Perfect Crap Storm for the Stormtroopers, as it were.

[Guest Culwych]

This myth is all about relevance.

 

Take all the examples already listed (being ordered not to kill etc) and the fact that they are shooting for the most part at jedi's who can deflect shots....

 

..... and now compare them to the bad guys in an Indiana Jones film. They are shooting at a man past his prime, who whilst being pretty funny etc, is still just a man!

"

Now, compared to those guys, the stormtroopers are bloody good shots I'd say. At least their "bullets" occasionally have to be deflected.

[Guest KevinDWolf93]

This myth is all about relevance.

 

Take all the examples already listed (being ordered not to kill etc) and the fact that they are shooting for the most part at jedi's who can deflect shots....

 

..... and now compare them to the bad guys in an Indiana Jones film. They are shooting at a man past his prime, who whilst being pretty funny etc, is still just a man!

"

Now, compared to those guys, the stormtroopers are bloody good shots I'd say. At least their "bullets" occasionally have to be deflected.

 

Only one problem, in original trilogy all of 2 good guys have had lightsabers(Kenobi and Luke). I cant recall them deflecting lasers more than 1 or 2 times(if ever)

 

Those are the events in question.

[Marvel Man]

Well done! I thank all of you who have worked to solve this myth.

 

Still, I haven't found a new myth on which we can focus our energy and time. If any of you have suggestions, please pm me.

[Guest Zreth]

What's the worth of a single power level from DBZ?

[Guest Shockwave]

What's the worth of a single power level from DBZ?

 

 

That I can answer easily. It's completely pointless, as it was dropped shortly after the Freeza saga, and even before that, Vegeta stated that they were useless.

 

The Power Level scale cannot be done in numbers. Therefore, the tier levels come into play.

 

Top Tier: These guys are the cream of the crop, they are beyond anything else. Warping Reality is easy for them. They can turn back time without a machine, create life on planets that they just created, destroy things by wishing it in their minds, and the rest of reality simply bows down to them. Characters in this are Haruhi, Tenchi Masaki, Lord of Nightmares, Shenron, and others.

 

High Tier: These guys are strong. They can blow up a planet with ease, travel faster than light, but are unable to warp reality or do the high tier stuff without assistance. They know how to take a beating and continue to fight. Characters in this are DBZ-class.

 

Mid Tier: These guys are just not as strong or fast as the High Tier. They can move at fastest about Light Speed, at best blow up the planet, however they are above normal metahuman powers. Characters in this class are Yu Yu Hakusho, Eneru of One Piece, Most of the Slayers team, and others.

 

Low Tier: These guys are just above Peak Human and metahuman. That means that they can go Supersonic at best, at max blow up a mountain. Characters in this are Naruto, Black cat, and some others.

 

Bottom Tier: These guys can only move at fastest faster than the eye can see. If you are going to say that's faster than light then move your hand in front of your face and look at your fingers. They're a blur right? That's just how it works. They also are unable to lift beyond what's humanly possible. Characters in this are Ippo, Kenichi, Rurouni Kenshin, and others.

[Marvel Man]

Alright, the verdict has been found.

 

 

Storm Troopers are actually good shots. Without Character Shield, the Star Wars Heroes would've been covered in blaster-holes.

 

I want to thank everyone who participated. Now, we must move onto our next myth...

 

Superman is just as fast as the Flash!

 

 

Is he faster than:

 

1) Jay

2) Barry Allen

3) Wally West

4) Bart Allen

 

And, would it matter if he ran instead of fly?

 

You decide!

[Guest Kinetic War]

This rocks! CBUB's own Mythbusters! Now, if only we could have our very own Kari Byron, the hottest nerd chick ever...

 

Superman as fast as Flash? The legendary myth? Boy, oh boy. Hurts my head.

 

1) Jay Garrick. He should be able to run at around light speed, but there have been times when he could only reach the speed of sound. His age hinders him from using his power to the fullest without resulting in physical injuries of some kind, so he probably won't be running as fast as the others (though he could if he wanted to). Bart once called Jay the fastest man alive, but the truthfulness of this has yet to be confirmed. Superman is quite likely as fast as Jay. Myth plausible.

 

2) Barry Allen. This was usually left undecided. In an early race, Superman and Barry tied on purpose to foil the plans of two criminal organizations who had both placed their bet on the other hero. Quite a fun story, actually. I don't think either of them ever outran the other, but that was most often due to outside forces. Myth plausible.

 

3) Wally West. The fastest of the bunch. Their first race left Wally winning by a small margin, and I do believe Superman has lost every race to this incarnation of the Flash. Wally is faster than Superman. Myth busted.

 

4) Bart Allen. I don't know much about Bart, but I doubt he's ever raced Superman. From what I've gathered from Internet sources, he contained the Speed Force for a while (before his comic book death and resurrection), but he's yet to get as fast as the others. Currently, Superman might even be faster than Bart. However, since they have never raced, I can't give a definite answer, and I'll just have to go with my gut. Myth plausible.

 

And the last question: Would it matter if he flew?

 

This was answered in AoS #463 (I think I still have that issue somewhere, can't seem to find it right now). Flash is more used to running than Superman, who has the option of flying and often uses it. A character like the Flash (no matter which incarnation) has to get used to running, since he can't just suddenly rest his legs and fly like Supes.

 

Thus Superman flies faster than he runs, and the ease of flying might just give him the needed boost to win. I'd say that's cheating, but then again, I don't make the rules.

 

A FEW QUICK NOTES:

1) The speed of every Flash depends much on what's going on in the comics. I don't read Flash regularly, but I think that right now, all the Flashes are close equals due to some Speed Force thingy going on. It's... complicated.

2) Superman's speed seems to actually depend on whatever speed Flash travels at at the moment, since they are usually quite evenly matched. This is proven by the fact that at one time, Supes and Flash could both go faster than the speed of light. After the Crisis, their speed diminished at an equal rate. After Wally regained near-light speed, Superman was once again able to run at an equal speed. Go figure.

 

The verdict? I'll vote for plausible. If Superman has the option of flying, I'll lean towards confirmed.

[treacherous]

The clear and obvious answer is that most of the time it was Tad and Bink shooting the blasters. You don't know who that is? Look it up. You're on the internet.

[Marvel Man]

Great response Kinetic War. I'm waiting to see if anyone agrees or disagrees.

 

As for Treach, I might just look that up...

[treacherous]

Might!! Look it up, NOW...Hurry!!

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_and_bink

[Guest Kinetic War]

Stop the press! I wish to rephrase what I wrote earlier. After realizing that I need something to back up my claims with, I started looking for scans. What I found might turn this whole affair upside down.

 

1) Jay Garrick is exactly as fast as Superman. I found rare footage of their race here. As the pictures show, Superman can keep up with Jay just fine. It also proves that neither of them is fast enough to outrun a slowed-down Wally West. It was only after Jay stole Superman's speed that he got the needed boost to catch up with Wally. Myth confirmed. So far so good.

 

2) Barry Allen is actually much faster than Supes. After returning to the DC universe after a lengthy absence (coughcomic book deathcough), Barry reveals he had been holding back during all their previous races. "Those were for charity, Clark."

 

Looks pretty self-explanatory, doesn't it? Myth busted.

 

3) Wally West doesn't need proof. He's the fastest man alive, or he was before Barry's past was retconned. Myth busted.

 

4) I've found nothing concrete for Bart, but as he seems to look up to the other Flashes as well as still be learning the ways of speedsters, I don't believe he's faster than Jay. Myth plausible.

 

But wait, there's more:

 

1) When flying, Superman is able to reach a speed considerably greater than the speed of light, but he usually tones it down when flying near inhabited areas. Read here.

 

2) Apparently, Flash could run significantly faster if it wasn't for the Speed Force barrier. Wally can, however, ignore this barrier, and therefore he's faster than anyone else.

 

So, whether or not Supes is as fast as Flash depends on the incarnation. Since Barry and Wally are the 'official' Flashes in town, and writers these days have started taking the 'Fastest Man Alive' issue pretty seriously, I'd say that at this time, Superman would lose to Flash in a running competition. If Superman is allowed to fly, he has a chance, but as Flash has grown considerably faster over the years, the chances might still be pretty slim.

 

My updated verdict, in the light of new evidence: Myth totally busted.

 

I need a nap.

[Guest KevinDWolf93]

Stop the press! I wish to rephrase what I wrote earlier. After realizing that I need something to back up my claims with, I started looking for scans. What I found might turn this whole affair upside down.

 

1) Jay Garrick is exactly as fast as Superman. I found rare footage of their race here. As the pictures show, Superman can keep up with Jay just fine. It also proves that neither of them is fast enough to outrun a slowed-down Wally West. It was only after Jay stole Superman's speed that he got the needed boost to catch up with Wally. Myth confirmed. So far so good.

 

2) Barry Allen is actually much faster than Supes. After returning to the DC universe after a lengthy absence (coughcomic book deathcough), Barry reveals he had been holding back during all their previous races. "Those were for charity, Clark."

 

Looks pretty self-explanatory, doesn't it? Myth busted.

 

3) Wally West doesn't need proof. He's the fastest man alive, or he was before Barry's past was retconned. Myth busted.

 

4) I've found nothing concrete for Bart, but as he seems to look up to the other Flashes as well as still be learning the ways of speedsters, I don't believe he's faster than Jay. Myth plausible.

 

But wait, there's more:

 

1) When flying, Superman is able to reach a speed considerably greater than the speed of light, but he usually tones it down when flying near inhabited areas. Read here.

 

2) Apparently, Flash could run significantly faster if it wasn't for the Speed Force barrier. Wally can, however, ignore this barrier, and therefore he's faster than anyone else.

 

So, whether or not Supes is as fast as Flash depends on the incarnation. Since Barry and Wally are the 'official' Flashes in town, and writers these days have started taking the 'Fastest Man Alive' issue pretty seriously, I'd say that at this time, Superman would lose to Flash in a running competition. If Superman is allowed to fly, he has a chance, but as Flash has grown considerably faster over the years, the chances might still be pretty slim.

 

My updated verdict, in the light of new evidence: Myth totally busted.

 

I need a nap.

 

Yeah ill bet u do....totally deserve it too.

[Guest MarvelFan15]

Next Myth: Superman is stronger than the Hulk.

[TroytheRobot]

I never understood that idea. Hulk's strength is unlimited, as is superman's. So arguing that one is stronger than the other is like saying, "Superman's unlimited strength is more unlimited than Hulk's!"

 

Before you say anything, yes I realize that at certain times both of these characters have failed to lifft certain things, but given the right circumstances neither of them have a strength limit.

[Guest KevinDWolf93]

I never understood that idea. Hulk's strength is unlimited, as is superman's. So arguing that one is stronger than the other is like saying, "Superman's unlimited strength is more unlimited than Hulk's!"

 

Before you say anything, yes I realize that at certain times both of these characters have failed to lifft certain things, but given the right circumstances neither of them have a strength limit.

 

Agreed,but I see(for originals at least) hulk is very strong,but his draw is that his power rises(as he gets angry) at a rate.So characters stronger than base stats(abom,rulk,thor?) can possibly(and have) take/en him out quick before he enrages(or is even banner still)

 

Thats why I think supes,which is more or less constant(except for will power or holding back moments) could win if he realizes threat of pulling punches(that and added bonus of superpower lottery).

 

PS MM can the next one not be bout supes

[Marvel Man]

Alright, I think it's been proven that the Superman/Flash myth depends on certain variables. In Barry and Wally's case?

 

 

I'm still considering what the next myth will be. PMs and ideas are appreciated.

[treacherous]

Myth: Real heroes never die or Popular hero characters in main stream comics (notably the big two) never really stay dead. (EX: Superman, Batman, Colossus, Captain America, Hawkeye)

[treacherous]

My myth can't be busted?

[C.T.]

Most of Alpha Flight stayed dead when the Collective killed them(going by my limited knowledge.)

[treacherous]

Most of Alpha Flight stayed dead when the Collective killed them(going by my limited knowledge.)

 

Heh, I said popular heroes. hee hee.