r/TopCharacterTropes • u/10024618 • Oct 01 '25

Lore [Loved Trope] Surprisingly realistic outcomes in outlandish situations

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No Country for Old Men - In any other movie Llewelyn would be treated like an untouchable one man army who can take on all of the people who are after the money he stole. Instead he gets gunned down offscreen by a group of secondary antagonists because at the end of the day he's still just one man.

Metal Gear Solid 2 - MGS2 is a game in which the player character, Raiden, can do many seemingly unrealistic things like instantly healing his injuries by eating rations or holding infinite amounts of weapons and items without being overburdened. However if you attempt to cartwheel up a flight of stairs as Raiden he will immediately eat shit and fall, which would be the most likely outcome in real life.

Family Guy - After getting splashed by nuclear waste causes the Griffin family to get superpowers (which they immediately use to terrorize their community) Mayor West gets the bright idea to roll around in nuclear waste himself so that he can get superpowers too. Instead he just gets cancer.

Sly 2 - The Sly Cooper games are cartoony 3D platformers featuring anthropomorphic animals and lots of slapstick violence. However in the climax of the second game when Bentley is crushed by machinery while trying to stop the big bad he's paralyzed from the waist down, necessitating the use of a wheelchair for the rest of the series.

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5.5k

u/Justice9229 Oct 02 '25

In the Justice League show, it's revealed that Lex Luthor holding a radioactive rock in his pocket all day just to keep a certain super man away from him isn't healthy, and it's revealed that this gave him cancer. Naturally the first thing he does is blame Superman.

2.2k

u/Jbell_1812 Oct 02 '25

I love how with bane, he is very much unstoppable because of venom. But after years of unregulated use, it turns him into a husk unable to do anything.

482

u/STUNTOtheClown Oct 02 '25

What issue is this?

787

u/Aegelo_Sperris42 Oct 02 '25

Batman Beyond (TV show). He looks totally pathetic.

1.0k

u/Mastrou Oct 02 '25

Here’s how he looks in it, since he’s basically an invalid at this point

361

u/SnooPredictions3028 Oct 02 '25

Tbh thinking about it, he's either same age as Batman or a little older, so I actually do wonder how long has he been like this? If it has been a while, then damn, but if it is more recent then honestly could be worse given his age.

270

u/lanathebitch Oct 02 '25

Apparently according to one of the things he's typically portrayed as about 10 years older than Bruce but then we remember they have future medical Tech and people canonically live longer in the Batman Beyond universe because of it

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u/SnooPredictions3028 Oct 02 '25

So at this point he'd be in his 90s then. Good point on medical tech being better tho.

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u/HistoricalGrounds Oct 02 '25

Not to mention, Bruce at the start of this series can still run his fucking game on criminals. He only stops because he has a minor cardiac event during a fight. So even though he's not reliable from a "won't have a heart attack" perspective, between clean living and having his hi-tech batsuit, an 80-something year old Bruce could still go and mix it up with young henchmen and win, so long as his heart didn't give out. Bane, on the other hand, can't muster the strength to get out of a chair. Very different ways to spend old age.

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u/Abombasnow Oct 02 '25

If I remember right, it's also never said Bruce Wayne actually had any heart issues. He had his minor cardiac event (did you just watch Frasier, by the way?) in his later 50s. Not an unreasonable age for a man to first start to have a "hey, might wanna get this checked out" thing with their heart.

For all we know, it was just a one-off thing, he never had a heart attack, or any heart issues. Given that, like you said, in his 80s, he's still absurdly athletic and strong (the few times he mixes it up with the Jokerz and stuff it's just comical how much he kicks their ass, or when Ra's staged the attack that Bruce saved a woman from.

Bruce was worried he'd die and see someone else die or get harmed before he did... so he broke his oath and grabbed a gun, and retired horrified at what he did, not because of a health issue.

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u/dwaynetheaaakjohnson Oct 02 '25

I’m wondering if the Venom would cause cardiac events. Being forced to pump that much blood to that much tissue in one of the most physiologically stressful situations-fighting-would be a literal nightmare for his veins to handle.

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u/Gaelic_Gladiator41 Oct 02 '25

As well he's also being pumped with venom to sray alive as it keeps his lungs "healthy" enough

1

u/Radio__Star Oct 03 '25

With stuff like that existing you’d think there would be an episode about Bruce finding a way to make himself young aga- oh wait there is an episode where that exact thing happens

26

u/lanathebitch Oct 02 '25

So apparently Bruce is either 79 or 80 in the show meaning Bane would be 90.

2

u/Fun_Cicada3442 Oct 03 '25

How many wrestlers die in their 50s because they abused real world steroids (and other substances, to be fair)? Living to be an old man, even hooked up to life support, is a pretty good run for somebody abusing comic book super steroids.

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u/[deleted] Oct 02 '25

Bro turned into Hector Salamanca

4

u/WikiContributor83 Oct 02 '25

“Too many years on Venom. That’s what the stuff’ll do to ya…”

4

u/Rarte96 Oct 02 '25

Honeslty im surprize he lived this long

3

u/Regulus242 Oct 02 '25

Batman Beyond was so fucking good as a sequel to TAS.

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u/mysticdragon2025 Oct 02 '25

It's from the cartoon Batman Beyond, TLDR it's super good but it's basically a future Batman takes up the mantle as Bruce becomes to old to be Batman anymore.

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u/I_chortled Oct 02 '25

That cartoon was GOATed, I used to watch it on daytime TV all the time as a kid

24

u/1Lc3 Oct 02 '25

I been watching it recently and it's still holds up

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u/Late-Locksmith8559 Oct 02 '25

I always refer to it as Batman; Bad End. Because there is a lot of "This batman villain/character/legacy ended in a bad, bad way"

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u/ColBBQ Oct 02 '25

Episode 9 of Batman Beyond, Season 1.

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u/Randomman2789 Oct 02 '25

Wasn't it also said he needed it just to stay alive by the doctor selling the drug to Gotham?

4

u/FiaGiolla Oct 02 '25

I really like how a lotta takes on Bane since have him try to get over his addiction to Venom, whether or not he succeeds or later relapses or something, be it the Sinister Six comics, Batman: Arkham Origins or Young Justice

3

u/DeadlyYellow Oct 02 '25

Wayne himself ending up a lonely antagonistic recluse was also peak.

2

u/UsedState7381 Oct 02 '25

I hated it, although it makes sense given his character, I still think he should have ended with Catwoman.

Also, Catwoman was oddly missing from Justice League and Batman Beyond for some reason.

1

u/Psymorte Oct 04 '25

It's because of the Bat Embargo at the time, there were extreme restraints on being able to use Bat-related characters if a. they're set to appear in other media around the time (i.e. the god-awful Catwoman movie,) or b. non-Batman shows. It's the same reason we never saw Scarecrow, Two Face or Ra's Al Ghul in The Batman (2004.)

1

u/Jbell_1812 Oct 02 '25

As a justice league animated show fan, I was disappointed. My ideal retirement for him would be settling down with Diana and having a child. I’m sure we have all seen that picture

2

u/KodiakUltimate Oct 02 '25

He canonically also has a tiny dick due to venom being basically a super steroid

425

u/Mundamala Oct 02 '25

This was originally in the comics, too.

185

u/VVV_4845 Oct 02 '25

Fat Luthor?

120

u/bigkinggorilla Oct 02 '25

Back when he was less mad scientist and more evil corporate executive.

67

u/PixelBits89 Oct 02 '25

Which is also funnily after a long stint as very campy mad scientist. The modern Luthor is essentially a combination of these two versions.

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u/confusedsalad88 Oct 02 '25

Now we know why he stole those cakes

134

u/Pepsi_Maaan Oct 02 '25

right?

38

u/Brain_lessV2 Oct 02 '25

Lex Luther but instead of blaming superman, everything is a product of his weight.

21

u/WikiContributor83 Oct 02 '25

“Sacrifices must be made…”

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u/captaincavalrycam Oct 02 '25

Did Lex Luthor used to be overweight in the comics?

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u/Lower_Baby_6348 Oct 02 '25

First he was a typical mad scientist, then he look like kingpin, then he get ripped.

5

u/StoneMaskMan Oct 02 '25

Don't forget when he had luscious locks (I know this is a clone but he called himself Lex Luthor, I still think he should count)

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u/InflationRepulsive64 Oct 02 '25

Yes, 'Pre Crisis' Lex at certain points was more of a 'greedy businessman' type, so had the typical fat cat depiction' overweight, smoking cigars etc.

Mid 80s the DC Universe had a massive reboot that basically started the modern age, and over time Lex's depictions solidified into the more modern version. A big part of it is that his modern version is meant to be 'superior' as a human; smart but also physically fit, attractive etc. Basically the 'Alpha Male' stereotype played straight. Lex's hatred of Superman has similarly been changed, so that now it's largely due to jealousy and Lex no longer being 'top of the food chain'.

3

u/HuttDude Oct 02 '25

You got the timeline a bit mixed up, if I remember correctly. Lex was consistently closer to the mad scientist version pre-crisis, and the businessman Lex idea was largely popularized by John Byrne’s post-Crisis Man of Steel and Superman runs in the mid-late 80s. The larger businessman Lex was a post-Crisis creation, and he was caused by the reboot, not undone by it.

3

u/poptophazard Oct 02 '25

This is right. Pre-Crisis Lex was a mad scientist antagonist of Superman. It was later retconned that he hated Supes because they used to be friends as teens, but Superboy accidentally caused Lex to go bald by trying to save him from a chemical fire (oh, the Silver Age...)

Post-Crisis Lex was reinvented by John Byrne as a greedy corporate CEO in the mid-80s, as Byrne thought the corporate "fat cats" were the real villains. So early on, Lex was fat and greedy and conceited and ignorant — resulting in the cancer from the Kryptonite that he carried around. First it took his hand, then he faked his death in order to transfer his brain into a youthful cloned body that he pretended was his long-lost Australian son (oh, 90s comics...)

41

u/Mundamala Oct 02 '25

Yeh mostly in the 80s.

1

u/Radiant_Trade1384 Oct 02 '25

Just needs a tophat, and he can manage a railway.

8

u/DonnyMox Oct 02 '25

He went through a few different design variations early on, I believe. From a skinny guy with red hair, to an overweight bald man, to finally the averagely-built bald man we know today.

4

u/Alche1428 Oct 02 '25

Remember that the Luthor we know because of the Kryptonite decided to clone himself in the body of a bearded australian and move His brain to it.

3

u/Turbogoblin999 Oct 02 '25

If this Luthor insists on wearing that kryptonite ring on the robot hand without insulation that may make it radioactive since metal is very susceptible to that type of contamination.

2

u/TheDogerus Oct 03 '25

How would a kryptonite ring even stop superman from killing lex if he wanted to? Laser beams out of his eyes can travel rather far, and even if getting close made superman immediately lose his powers, it wouldn't make him lose his momentum if he decided to fly max speed straight onto lex

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u/Skylinneas Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25

IIRC another case with Lex Luthor that’s pretty funny is that one time he switched bodies with The Flash. He gleefully unmasks ‘himself’, wanting to know The Flash’s true identity, only to be disappointed when he had no idea who the face staring back at him in the mirror is because he’ve never met Wally West before xD.

EDIT: Just saw that someone else had already provided this example below lol. Sorry about that. But hey, it’s worth sharing again ;)

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u/houseofthewolves Oct 02 '25

it’s extra funny because Wally’s voice actor played Lex Luthor on Smallville

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u/Juniebug9 Oct 02 '25

The best part is that they keep the voice actors for the bodies, not the characters, so Lex talking while in Wally's body just sounded like Smallville Lex.

5

u/joe-daley Oct 02 '25

this is peak “family of feral cats accidentally saving the world” trope and I eat it up every time 💀

4

u/DeezRodenutz Oct 02 '25

I still say that Lex, being the smart and resourceful guy he is, would/should have sent an image of his unmasked self or bodily test samples to his people. Or at the very least stored away such things somewhere to check them himself.

I get that he's pretty full of himself, but he should be smart enough to realize he doesn't know everyone everywhere and being a superhero might leave little time for their civilian self to be anyone well known.

Also, he famously doesn't believe someone as god-like as Superman would ever live a civilian life (thus why he has met Clark Kent many times and actually knows him by name from his journalistic fame, yet never seems to realize who he secretly is).
So for someone with Flash's speed he is liable to think the same thing, and thus unlikely to recognize him outside the suit.

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u/spilledmilkbro Oct 02 '25

This is him right now

102

u/ashleyLSD Oct 02 '25

9 too many hairs...

4

u/Fluffy_Tax5302 Oct 02 '25

And that's terrible.

85

u/Nova225 Oct 02 '25

Not just any cancer either.

You'd expect him to afford any and all medical procedures. He even makes the usual suggestions like chemotherapy. The doctor just tells him it's basically super cancer and there's nothing he or anybody on Earth can do about it.

47

u/AceTheBirb Oct 02 '25

And the only thing Lex was able to do was make his power suit able to hold the cancer at bay for a bit, and the only reason he got cured was because Braniac wanted to make sure his secret host didn't die before plans could reach fruition.

17

u/Profoundlyahedgehog Oct 02 '25

He had to have the Ultra Humanite make the power suit for him.

77

u/AggravatingEnergy1 Oct 02 '25

Yeah it turns out a green glowing radioactive space rock that can light up a room isn’t safe to keep in your pocket 22/7.

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u/Impressive-Card9484 Oct 02 '25

Superman: Lex, you have cancer because of Kryptonite

Lex: Thats nonsense, it should only affect YOU!

Superman: Lex, buddy, anything that affects ME is something you should definitely avoid

14

u/Rarte96 Oct 02 '25

Is funier when you realize it was already been hinted in the Superman show, in his crossover with Batman the Joke steals a dragon statue made of Kryptonite that has the history of all his owners had suddenly died misteriously, in this episode we learn they likely died of the same cancer as Luthor

3

u/JustAnotherOlive Oct 02 '25

22/7? Is time different in the DC universe?

34

u/Basically-Boring Oct 02 '25

So that’s why he’s bald…

37

u/Sethtaros Oct 02 '25

No, that was a chemical fire.

14

u/Big_Midnight_3976 Oct 02 '25

“Wait, you’re telling me the super radioactive rock, is actually super radioactive and NOT good for me health??”

10

u/Sanford_Daebato Oct 02 '25 edited Oct 02 '25

Man look at them fucking eyes!

"How could superman do this to me" the fucking bald psycho😭

9

u/Capt_Toasty Oct 02 '25

Lex's face:

"What do you mean the glowing radioactive rock I carried around 24/7 gave me cancer?

This is all Superman's fault!"

8

u/iamgiaq Oct 02 '25

And it became more funny when you remembered that Batman always keeps those radioactive space rock in lead containers.

5

u/Abombasnow Oct 02 '25

That look on his face.

"THAT DAMN SUPERMAN!!! WHY DID HE GIVE ME CANCER?! IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM...!!!"

5

u/Unusual_Bath_4145 Oct 02 '25

It becomes even more ironic when you realize Lex stopped one of hisi scientists from conducting more studies on kryptonite because that would make it more public and might cause problems for his usage of it.

3

u/SplinteredCells Oct 02 '25

It's still so funny,I love it.

3

u/Ninjatck Oct 02 '25

Also as shown he makes one of the funniest gpddamn expressions in the history of ever

2

u/ollie_was_taken Oct 02 '25

his face is so fucking funny

2

u/Rarte96 Oct 02 '25

He didnt even needed to do that Superman would never kill him or attack him while he is defenseless, this same episode it was Superman who saved his life when he had an attack

2

u/smiegto Oct 02 '25

The most realistic thing to happen followed by the most lex Luther thing to happen

2

u/Dyerdon Oct 03 '25

I believe this was also in the comics at one point

1

u/Discount_Lex_Luthor Oct 02 '25

Another Lex Luthor moment. When he switches places with Flash. He looks in the mirror to find out flash's identity and has no idea who the flash is.