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How Much Life Support Do Some Comic Book Characters Have?


Cassandra

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First up Hulk

 

I know that he has LS: Intense Cold and Intense Heat because the Marvel guide says he's not effected by temperature extremes.  Does he have High Radiation?  I know his cousin She Hulk is effected by Radiation in regards to her transformations.  Can he survive in outer space or in deep seas (Low Pressure/Vacuum and/or High Pressure).  How long can he hold his breath?

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I'm guessing he does have a fair bit...I vaguely recall a story that had Hulk surviving a fall from orbit. So maybe LS: No need to breath: Must hold breath (no Recs) ? After all the Leader does not try to capture him with gas, so there must be a work around. I personally would write him up with LS: Radiation, maybe spend less than 3 points for "resistant to" ?

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During the Cosmic Spider-Man storyline (when Spider-Man had the Captain Universe powers), Spider-Man accidentally punched the Gray Hulk into orbit.  He was more concerned about dying when he changed back into Banner at sunrise than he was about running out of air himself.

I would say that while he needs to breathe, if he has the opportunity to take a breath he can hold it for a long time.

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re Radiation. It's been shown that Gamma Radiation can SuperCharge Banner's Hulk same as it does his cousin. He just gets bigger(and stronger) where she completes her transformation into a more bestial form (which implies that the Hulk is already in his final bestial form).

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Superman: Almost all of them, except for breathing, eating, sleeping and Immortality (I've seen many issues where he has visibly aged- give him a level or two of Longevity, however). I also recall a weird issue from the Seventies where he'd caught some sort of sentient alien virus, so it doesn't keep him safe from extraterrestrial sources of contagion, however.

 

Most of your major heroes appear to never get a cold or flu, so give them the appropriate Immunity (Common Colds and Influenza). Doesn't keep them from getting Ebola, though.

 

Regenerators like Wolverine might actually have near-total levels, aside from the need to breathe, eat, sleep, etc. (Why does Wolvie smoke cigars? Because he can, with no ill effects!)

 

Many of them, especially the most powerful ones, also appear to have at least one level of Longevity (you can define this as "Their Universe Resets Every Ten to Fifteen Years" as a side effect SFX, however)

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It's going to depend upon which era of the hero, honestly.  Superman today is different from Superman of 10 years ago.  Superman in the 70s would have full life support, no question.  Any incident involving "alien viruses" or something like that would be best represented by being affected by a Power, not a natural virus.  Buying immunity to heat doesn't stop you from suffering the effects of a 25D6 Energy Blast.

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Superman: Almost all of them, except for breathing, eating, sleeping and Immortality (I've seen many issues where he has visibly aged- give him a level or two of Longevity, however). I also recall a weird issue from the Seventies where he'd caught some sort of sentient alien virus, so it doesn't keep him safe from extraterrestrial sources of contagion, however.

 

Most of your major heroes appear to never get a cold or flu, so give them the appropriate Immunity (Common Colds and Influenza). Doesn't keep them from getting Ebola, though.

 

Regenerators like Wolverine might actually have near-total levels, aside from the need to breathe, eat, sleep, etc. (Why does Wolvie smoke cigars? Because he can, with no ill effects!)

 

Many of them, especially the most powerful ones, also appear to have at least one level of Longevity (you can define this as "Their Universe Resets Every Ten to Fifteen Years" as a side effect SFX, however)

 

Eh, keeping your immunity system strong fends off the cold and flu. Heroes tend to be exceptionally healthy. No immunity required.

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Eh, keeping your immunity system strong fends off the cold and flu. Heroes tend to be exceptionally healthy. No immunity required.

Not entirely. The soldiers who caught the so-called "Spanish Flu" were quite fit, well fed and with decent health care. Sometimes viruses target younger people more frequently and lethally than somewhat older people, who normally have better-equipped immune systems. It's almost as if the virus knows the young adult is a better target. (It's a minor argument against extensive vaccination of younger people - the theory is up to a certain point, you want them to develop a robust immune system themselves, without depending on a needle to do so. Of course, certain things like polio and smallpox should still be protected against, but you also shouldn't fret every time they make mudpies or get a few scratches on the playground.)

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One of the best examples of life support was an issue of Power Man and Iron Fist, where they were trapped in a container and had to wait until rescue, but the air was running out.  Danny Rand meditated, slowing his metabolism until he was nearly dead, and Power Man toughed it out.  Power Man eventually passed out but survived because he was so tough, and Danny survived on tiny amounts of air (extended breathing for both).

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eh, no?

 

When their ship was blown up and the gas started venting into their meeting room, they both took a deep breath. And waited for the doors to open. At which point they attacked the droid clown troops before venturing further into the Trade Federation ship. Cutting through the blast doors came later.

 

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Newer versions of the various Lantern Corps have Life Support (Self-Contained Breathing, Safe in Intense Heat, Cold, Vacuum, High Pressure, and Radiation) (and likely immunity to toxic/poisonous gasses as well) through their ring's personal fields. In addition to having said Life Support package purchased Usable as Attack and linked to hard-light constructs used to englobe targets. Which makes me wonder if (Code vs. Killing Aside) a Lantern could purposefully suffocate a target they've englobed in hard-light.

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