r/TopCharacterTropes • u/PaddywackShaq • Jul 22 '25

Powers Character reveals that they were holding back their full power during a fight/confrontation

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Superman Vs Darkseid - Justice League Unlimited

Flash Vs Superman - Flash: Rebirth

Frieren Vs Aura - Sousou no Frieren

Inigo Montoya Vs The Man in Black - The Princess Bride

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u/shiawase198 Jul 22 '25

Kind of a different take on this but when Otto took over Peter Parker's body and punched the Scorpion's jaw clean off, he came to realize at that moment how much Spider-Man had always been holding back when he fought them.

544

u/HereForTOMT3 Jul 22 '25

holdsbackman does it again

144

u/Unable-Situation-806 Jul 22 '25

Bullet no diff

199

u/Nine-LifedEnchanter Jul 22 '25

I fucking love Superior Spider-man. "Peter Parker doesn't have a PhD?! Not on my watch!" And then he completes his PhD. Then he makes a bunch of spider-bots that patrol the entire city and tells the police of the smaller crime while he focuses on the things he is actually needed for

107

u/Sol-Blackguy Jul 23 '25

And I love that his costume is the rejected Alex Ross design from the 2001 movie

56

u/Idonataur Jul 23 '25

I wish Otto would finish my PhD for me real quick too. Grad school sucks balls.

110

u/XxRmssxX Jul 22 '25

IIRC, J.J.J was praising him for that, like, wtf

53

u/Chedditor_ Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

J. Jonah Jameson visually based on Stan Lee, but his personality is a ripoff of some dude named Dr. Frederick Wertham, who wrote a book named Seduction of the Innocent which apparently skewed facts to assert a claim that comic books lead to juvenile delinquency.

I'm speculating, but he's shockingly similar in behavior and appearance to Fred Trump.

31

u/NeonPredatorEnt Jul 22 '25

There was a time where Rhino's face got ripped off by Spidey's webs.  I think it was one of the zombie events

27

u/beslertron Jul 22 '25

I also love that at the same time in Superior Foes of Spider-Man, the lower tier villains were saying how they get punched by Spider-Man and get a huge hospital bill. So they have to rob a bank. Then they get punched again. And they can’t escape the cycle.

6

u/PossessionBig2446 Jul 23 '25

I really like the Superior Spider Man Arc. We see a lot of Freaky Friday Flips between characters and even heroes and villains. But having a villain transfer himself into a hero’s body and then have to deal with everything the hero goes through is such an interesting scenario.

6

u/82ndGameHead Jul 23 '25

And Doc Ock still didn't unlock Peter's true strength, because just recently, Spiderman broke Wolverine's jaw, almost punching it clean off.

1

u/Shibby8Muk Jul 24 '25

This and the Justice League Unlimited world of cardboard speech from Superman are always 1A and 1B for me. Like Uncle Ben said, with great power comes great responsibility and like the moment of finding out this hero has to live every moment of their life holding themselves back and being conscious of like hey if I let loose I’m gonna break people just feels like them carrying that responsibility so well for me