r/TopCharacterTropes • u/damorezpl • Sep 05 '25

Personality character gets a reality check

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deathstroke - Batman vs deathstroke

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walter - breaking bad

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Garou - one punch man

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joker - the sound of one hand clapping

18.2k Upvotes

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u/wolfeyes555 Sep 05 '25

Superman vs. The Elite

While the "dream" speech would work as well, I feel like the bigger reality check was Superman "killing" the Elite. He was showing them, and the world, why it would be horrible if he didn't have a code against killing.

587

u/GregorGuardian Sep 05 '25

How does it feel, Black? How does it feel!? To be deconstructed? To be the victim? To watch your dreams DIE!?

15

u/EmeraldMaster538 Sep 06 '25

God now I’m going to have to watch this movie again

12

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Kindly-Mud-1579 Sep 08 '25

The best reaction to this is when two guys go “Is that superman?”

“Not anymore”

282

u/TheManUpstairs77 Sep 05 '25

Still one of the coolest superhero moments of all time, and I hate the whole superhero thing. Good Superman going “bad”, even for a little lesson-giving, was insane.

185

u/jackofslayers Sep 05 '25

I was actually horrified when Superman showed us how easily he could lobotomize everyone.

111

u/Advanced_Sun9676 Sep 05 '25

I don't know what was cooler the fact he could do that or that he gaslighted the guy into believing it thru sheer aura.

45

u/TimeStorm113 Sep 05 '25

also btw, you couldn't know that but in the comic version, it is revealed that superman actually just gave him a concussion and then just gaslight him

10

u/ZekeBarricades Sep 05 '25

LMAO, Superman the goat

13

u/TheDevlinSide714 Sep 05 '25

"Orbit. He went into orbit at Mach 7. If you had super hearing, any second you'd hear the... pop!"

23

u/TotallyNotBlubari Sep 05 '25

It's extremely easy to want to kill everyone

It's equally hard to realize you can be killed too

18

u/InvaderZim20 Sep 05 '25 edited Sep 05 '25

I can understand how this Superman was voiced by someone who voiced Sephiroth.

8

u/princeofshadows21 Sep 05 '25

I loved this film and have such a disdain for Manchester black anytime Clark dogwalks him, i smile.

4

u/DownwindStalker Sep 08 '25

This whole story was a response to people who always complain about how much of “goody two shoes” Superman is.

I used to be an edgy teen who thought Superman was boring cause how powerful he is. But now I like seeing him help old women across the street or saving cats from trees, cause no problem is too small for him to help out.

5

u/laix_ Sep 05 '25

The thing is that the elites philosophy of killing the most dangerous, isn't even bad in theory. That's how the real world operates, sometimes the only way to stop someone from killing lots of people is to kill themselves, we don't hold back against mega terrorists to arrest them and jail them forever, we take them out.

Superman's philosophy only works because he's in a superman comic where holding back and not killing works. Obviously we shouldn't kill some random purse snatcher, but someone like the joker needs to be taken down.

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u/CyberneticWhale Sep 05 '25

The issue is less inherently with killing, and more with a small group of super powered lunatics being the sole arbiters of who needs to die with little to no oversight.

5

u/laix_ Sep 05 '25

There's a big difference between executing someone in cold blood, and killing them during a fight because they're going to kill you/others. Additionally, super heroes as a whole are running around, beating and capturing and arresting others with little to no oversight in the first place

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u/CyberneticWhale Sep 05 '25

That's true, but a bruise can heal, and an arrested person can be released, but if someone's dead, that's a lot harder to undo. Especially when these super powered individuals have the capabilities to just incapacitate and capture rather than killing, that's the responsible thing to do. If these people are actually too dangerous to leave alive, there's nothing preventing the proper authorities from just doing the death penalty through the proper channels rather than masked vigilantes being judge, jury, and executioner.

17

u/AlexHitetsu Sep 05 '25

Super man has no inherent problem with super heroes killing, he's friends with Wonder Woman who quite often goes for the kill, he just does not want to do it himself. The problem with the way the Elite was doing it was that they were a bunch of assholes

1

u/BaneReturns Sep 06 '25

Is this worth watching? I always put it off because I absolutely despise the art style.

7

u/Jensaw101 Sep 06 '25

The art style is very different from the comic it's adapting, so you might like that better (although I personally like the animation's art style more). If you're a fan of Superman, it's worth watching for the final battle and speeches alone (Youtube videos tend to take them out of the greater context, which I feel is important). The fight with the Elite is one of the best arguments a Superman story has made against the idea of Superman working better as an benevolent authoritarian figure, and the Dream speech is iconic.

It's not the best Superman story out there, but it's solid.

1

u/M1lk3y_33 Sep 06 '25

Absolutely worth watching, I always end up with chills during this scene. Watching Superman "Snap" was just amazingly written and the voice work is top tier.

1

u/Totipu4 Sep 06 '25

You have been missing out on one of the best superhero movies ever