The enchantment on Mjolnir seems pretty emphatic, but as time goes on there seems to be an increasing amount of wiggle room to whether or not they apply. When speculating on various scenarios involving Thor's hammer, it's only natural that fans of sci-fi and fantasy would let their imaginations run wild and ask what on the surface appears to be a ridiculous question: What would happen if a Jedi from Star Wars tried to lift Thor's hammer?
The immediately frustrating answer, of course, is that the Jedi would or would not. There is no try. While completely side- barring the issue of whether a worthy Jedi could directly lift Thor's hammer (the solution to that seems obvious) there are several important factors to consider when imagining if a Jedi could use the Force to lift Mjolnir. To know how the rules can be exploited, however, we need to take a look at the rules themselves.
"Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." Those are the words inscribed on the side of Thor's mighty hammer, and the effect, in general, is that only those meeting the nebulous criteria of "worthiness" are even capable of lifting the hammer. No matter how strong someone is or how much power they put into it, Mjolnir remains firmly in its place until someone worthy of the weapon lifts or summons it. But over the years, the loopholes in that enchantment have gotten bigger and bigger.
Most obviously, of course, is the male pronoun in "if he be worthy." Jane Foster has been more than capable of wielding the hammer, so right off the bat, it's clear to see there is some wiggle room with how the enchantment applies. The boundaries of just how the enchantment works is one that the MCU already touched on in Avengers: Age of Ultron. After Vision lifted the Mjolnir, and later used it in battle, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers discussed whether or not Vision even qualified as a person at all. If he were an elevator, they reasoned, he wouldn't need to be worthy to lift the hammer.
The same question was one that popped up for fans in Thor: Ragnarok, when early in the film Thor hangs the hammer on a coat rack in Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Is the hammer already lifted if it's hanging on the rack, so anybody else could pick it up from there? What would happen if the coat rack broke? All the apparent questions paled in comparison to the one risen later in the film during Mjolnir's destruction. The movie's villain Hela catches Mjolnir mid-throw, holding it in her hand before destroying it. Surely she wasn't worthy to wield it, right?
What the coat rack and Hela's catch seem to indicate is that if Mjolnir itself isn't set down then there is a window of time where others can hold it or, at the very least, affect it. This would bode well for a Jedi's ability to affect the hammer with the Force, as would the numerous instances of powers affecting Mjolnir in the comics. One notable example would be Sentry, who was capable of stopping the hammer mid-flight with reality-manipulation that dropped the hammer straight to the ground.
Perhaps most classically, the villain Radioactive Man was one of the first foes of Thor to find a counter to the mighty Mjolnir. By producing a specific radioactive frequency with his powers, Radioactive Man was essentially able to create a force-field that specifically worked on Mjolnir. While not quite the same as directly using the hammer with one's powers, it does show the enchantment can be circumvented by creative means.
What would most seem to clinch the issue would be evidenced in a fight between Magneto and the Avengers in 1975's Super-Villain Team-Up #14. The Master of Magnetism, at the time an over-the-top villain with very little of the pathos understood about him in the modern era, could not have been further from the worthiness necessary to use Mjolnir. So the mutant's solution was to not even bother, he used his ferrokinetic powers to manipulate Mjolnir while it was still in Thor's hand. Sure, Magneto himself may not have been worthy, but the enchantment doesn't even come into effect if it's already in a worthy person's hands.
All of these considerations seem to make a pretty solid case for a Jedi's ability to use the Force to affect Mjolnir. Far from unprecedented, the hammer has been levitated or affected by similar abilities before, and there are clearly a number of workarounds to the enchantment. Were a Jedi to catch the hammer mid-flight, or to Force Push it while it was still in Thor's hands, the enchantment's effects would not even come into play.
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Of course, once the requisite worthiness is circumvented only further possibilities start to occur. Why must the Force-user be a Jedi at all? Siths are equally capable of levitating objects using the Force, and much like Hela or Silver Age Magneto, there are clearly ways that evildoers can still affect the weapon. The next time a Star Wars fan argues with a Marvel fan over who could beat Thor in a fight, they may want to take a second to consider what happens when Thor's own hammer gets used against him.
Gwenpool, short for Gwendolyn Poole, adopted humor as a defense mechanism just like Deadpool. Originating as Spider-Gwen, as a cover joke, she drew a lot of flak from the audiences, but there were fans who appreciated her character. But you know what they say, there is no such thing as bad press. Thereafter she slowly introduced in the Prime Marvel Universe as the main hero.
Gwenpool was given her own solo series. She may not be out there as much as other characters are. But she's a character that rides high on that 'can't stop won't stop' theme. With that being said, there are facts that you didn't know about her.
First introduced as Spider-Gwen, she became a superhero on being bitten by a radioactive spider. Her introduction on the cover drew a lot of flak from the audiences. But many members responded positively to her induction.
In one of the comic book covers, she appeared as Gwenpool. Her Deadpool version instantly struck a chord with the fans. Marvel was quick to milk the cow and she was thrown into the mainstream overnight. She appeared in Howard The Duck, and eventually got her own series. Gwenpool is an example of how fans impact comics.
Gwenpool's first solo series, The Unbelievable Gwenpool, Volume 0 was written by Chris Bachalo and Christopher Hastings. The series consisted of 26 issues, beginning from 0 to 25.
Volume 0 served as her intro. Given that her origin was so confusing, Gwenpool was given extra love and effort in the intro itself. The series ran from June 2016 to April 2016.
Gwenpool's costume backstory is just as interesting. She went to the tailor for superheroes to get herself a costume. Her name was accidental, she wasn't even supposed to be called Gwenpool.
But as Gwen filled out the form for her super suit, Ronnie the tailor assumed she was going for Deadpool cosplay. And that's how she got her name. In all fairness, she is based loosely on Deadpool, so no harm there.
Everything for a character like Deadpool Gwenpool. It's fairly simple to deduce that her appeal lies in her name. It should be mentioned that there are fans who absolutely hate her name. Yet there are fans who think her and Deadpool are two sides of the same coin.
Some even call her an over-saturated Deadpool. But the success of her series suggests otherwise. Gwenpool is definitely a millennial who built Marvel.
You read that right. Gwenpool comes from our universe. That means she is a comic book reader. She's religiously read comic books and somehow ended up becoming a superhero. It's a tad confusing. Consider Christopher Hastings like Christopher Nolan. In that, both these men fail/ choose not to address fan quandaries.
This Daredevil, average-superhero who blazes guns in peoples' faces will confuse the holy hell out of you. But that's where her appeal lies. It's good not to know how Gwen ended in the Marvel Universe.
If Marvel decides to bump Gwenpool to the main cast and gives her her own series, she is sure to get a supporting cast. Her cast consists of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Patsy Walker aka Hellcat. MODOK makes his appearance in the first few issues.
While The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (a cross between squirrel and girl) has defeated every foe in the Marvel Universe. Patsy Walker, The Hellcat is an all-American superhero. She dreamt of being a superhero and she became one. MODOK, on the other hand, is an organism designed for killing.
The task of engineering Gwenpool's identity fell on Doctor Strange's shoulders. This was done to transport a couple of parts of her life into Marvel Universe so she could get a Social Security number and other benefits.
The sequence was one of the most Heartbreaking scenes written in series. In order to do that, Gwen's family was involved in memory erasure. Memories of her birth were erased forever by the Sorcerer Supreme. Gwen responded to the fair warning by saying, "That's probably for the best."
It gets better. During the course of this memory erasure, Doctor Strange was shown his own movie. Doctor Strange calls the whole thing as fascinating. That the people and events (in the supposed real Marvel) world, leave footprints in the human world.
Doctor Strange, upon discovering Benedict Cumberbatch played him, says, "Benedict Cumberbatch, eh? Sure, I could see that."
Gwen's transportation to the Marvel universe from our universe has confused everyone, including herself in the beginning. As she blazes a gun in the face of enemies, she claims she hasn't been a superhero for long. There are parts of her that think being a superhero is a make-believe job. She tries to act like a superhero at first.
Gwenpool becomes reckless as a result. She kills without thinking about the consequences of her actions. This is partly attributable to the fact that her character is based on Deadpool. You can't take away the Deadpool from Gwenpool. Although, later in the story, she realizes her mistakes and starts to act responsibly.
What did I tell you? Gwenpool is just a normal girl who got transported to the Marvel Universe. She wasn't given any superpowers originally. She's no Deadpool in that sense. Gwenpool is just as an adrenaline junkie who flies out of helicopters. There's immense plot armor that gets her by.
As Ronnie the tailor learns of Gwen's future course of action, she tries to warn her. Gwen responds by saying, "No I won't die. This is like issue One. Or maybe it's another backup or something."
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Detective Comics #1016, by Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Tyler Kirkham, Keith Champagne, Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, David Baron and Rob Leigh, on sale now.
Detective Comics has redefined the tragic life of Victor Fries, aka Mister Freeze, in the wake of his revival of his wife, Nora. Issue #1016 revealed why she betrayed him for a solo life of crime: she's been mentally corrupted by the Bizzaro serum Lex Luthor gave Victor in Year of the Villain, making it even more difficult for him and Batman to round her up.
Victor's still heartbroken and wants his wife back, but the Dark Knight is treating her like an even more dangerous version of Harley Quinn. And by the time the issue ends, Nora has established herself as the coldest, cruelest and most selfish of all the Bat-rogues out there, spurning every advance Victor makes to bring her back to his side.
To say her message to the Bat and Vic is mean is an understatement. When they track her to the Gotham cemetery where she visited her parents, they realize Nora's hitting up sentimental spots. That takes the new Dynamic Duo to the Museum of Arts where Nora admires the Little Dancer statue. She loves the statue because she's a ballet dancer herself.
However, before the Caped Crusader and Vic arrive, Nora demonstrates how destructive she can be by freezing the museum security guards to death and crushing one's body into ice blocks. What makes it all the more sadistic is she rearranges the frozen body parts into a morbid sculpture, turning death into art and enjoying every second of it. It's something you'd expect from the Joker, and Nora's actions affirm she's past the point of no return.
When Batman and Vic arrive and fight her, Vic's emotions get in the way. He doesn't want the Bat to take her in. He incapacitates the vigilante, but Nora then proves she doesn't love the man who revived her anymore. She sticks him with an overheating syringe from his own lab, which puts him into the state of living death she experienced. Batman's left scrambling to save Vic while Nora gets away, licking the falling snowflakes in victory.
Nora prances off to Canada where she takes up residence in a cabin with a snow globe of the Little Dancer, gloating that the world is about to become a colder place. Seeing her this unhinged, ready to subject her husband to pain and torture, reiterates how maniacal she is. And with a win over the Bat, she can't be underestimated anymore.
Batman reminds Vic in his cryogenic chamber in Arkham that he gambled and lost, and now has no one to love him. Nora put him there and won't be coming to his rescue.
Yet, Nora's perspective is somewhat understandable. Vic didn't want to let her go so he kept her from dying. Then, when she was brought back, he wanted her to obey his rule, taking away her independence and agency. This is a huge part of the reason for her gripe against Victor; Nora's never gotten to live life on her own terms, and now that she has the power, no man will rein her in again.
In a sense, it's feminist but it's also troublesome because Nora's on a warpath and making up for lost time with love turned to hatred. She feels she's been wronged by her husband, and now that Batman is trying to stop her as Mrs. Freeze, you can bet your bottom dollar she'll do anything and everything to prevent anyone encroaching on her freedom.
Vic turned his wife into a monster, but it's something she didn't ask for. This is why Nora wants to have the freedom to follow her own agenda now. For Mrs. Freeze, a permanent winter seems to be the ideal solution.
Detective Comics #1017 goes on sale Dec. 11.
Knives Out has received praise for its fresh take on a classic whodunit set up. However, according to star Daniel Craig, the movie is much more than a modern adaption of the mystery genre.
Speaking to NPR, Craig spoke about how the movie compares to other mystery films and stories, saying that the star-studded cast elevates the film to an entirely new level.
"Rian's a fan of — as I am — of Agatha Christie, and certainly of the sort of big movies that came out when I was a kid, like Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile," he said. "They were event movies with lots of big stars in them ... just sort of grand pieces of entertainment. And that's what, I think, this movie sets out to be and succeeds in doing."
In the film, Craig stars as Benoit Blanc, a private detective who is hired to investigate the murder of mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer).
Written, produced and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Ana de Armas, and Jamie Lee Curtis, Jaeden Martell, Katherine Langford, Frank Oz, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, and Riki Lindhome. It is in theaters now.
The redesign for the controversial Sonic the Hedgehog movie design has undoubtedly gone over well, but the quality of the film itself is still up in the air until its release. It’ll undoubtedly have some stiff competition on its race to the franchise’s bottom, however. For as prolific and iconic as the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is, it’s had a litany of stinkers both in and outside of gaming.
Chief among those is the 1999 animated series Sonic Underground. Completely removed from any other continuity of Sonic media, including the two DiC produced animated shows before it, this series is possibly the best signal of the end of Sonic’s popularity in the 90s. Here’s a look back on this not very fondly remembered series, and what exactly made it so bad.
The plot bore the slightest resemblance to previous and current Sonic stories, with Sonic facing off against the mechanical machinations of Dr. Robotnik. Beyond that, however, the series is almost completely original, featuring a bizarre, poorly written attempt at epic fantasy. Sonic is apparently the son of Queen Aleena the Hedgehog, who was forced by way of an esoteric prophecy to abandon Sonic and his siblings, Sonia and Manic. This happened during the rise of Robotnik, whose subsequent deal with the aristocrats of Mobotropolis allowed them to continue to live high on the (hedge)hog, while normal citizens were roboticized into slaves. From there, Robotnik would conquer Mobotropolis and rename it Robotropolis. The prophecy says that one day, Aleena will reunite with her children to overthrow their new dictator, but for now, she remains in hiding.
The hedgehog triplets go on a mad dash to find their mother, armed with abilities and weapons that help them along the way. Sonic has a guitar, Sonia has a keyboard, and Manic has a drumset, all of which can both transform into laser weapons to use against Robotnik, as well as be used as normal instruments for the siblings’ rock band, the titular Sonic Underground. Sonic also has his trademark super-speed, while Sonia has super strength.
As displayed in the basic premise, the show’s bizarre prophecy-based storyline is pretty poorly written, as it confuses being complicated for being complex/deep. There’s no real rhyme or reason given for why this prophecy made Aleena go into hiding, or how her hiding somehow saves the world that’s being roboticized anyways. Whatever level of depth that this premise blindly attempts to grasp at is immediately undercut by the outlandish secondary premise of the three hedgehogs having a rock band, let alone the fact that they use their weapons for the instruments. Tonally, the previous series featured darker, more epic plot elements much better, while the first Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog series was much better in its use of zany, wacky elements.
On top of that, besides Robotnik, an occasionally appearing Knuckles the Echidna, and Sonic himself, pretty much everything else is completely removed from the Sonic the Hedgehog mythology. Notably missing are Tails and Amy Rose, Sonic’s sidekick and his usual love interest. Also gone are the Freedom Fighters, namely Princess Sally Acorn, who appeared both in the concurrent Archie comic books, as well as the previous DiC series, Sonic the Hedgehog (referred to as SatAM Sonic by fans). To top it all off, the animations and designs were very wonky, to say the least. Particular offenders in this regard are the lame redesigns of the SWAtbots from the comics and previous animated series, as well as Robotnik, who looked goofier than ever, despite having received the much cooler Sonic Adventure redesign in the games by that point. The animation disasters also abound, with one episode featuring a scene where, after Sonic saves Knuckles from falling off a cliff, he’s suddenly twice the size of the echidna.
For a series based around music, the show doesn’t particularly excel at it. The admittedly epic theme song does a much better job of illustrating the story’s supposed epic nature than any other element of the show, but it’s all downhill from there. The episodes typically have lame songs toward the end performed by the hedgehog band, with their performances interwoven with the equally as underwhelming action. This is all in contrast to the previous and succeeding Sonic cartoons. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog used remixed music from the games, while Sonic SatAM also had good music throughout. Conversely, Sonic X’s theme song gave the franchise one of its most memorable lines, whereas all Sonic Underground has served as is a punchline. The voice acting is equally grating. Jaleel White not only voices Sonic again but also both of his siblings. Sonic and Manic sound fine (aside from Sonic’s occasional Southern drawl), but Sonia literally sounds like White’s more famous performance as Steve Urkel!
There are apparently fans who wish to see the series, or at least its basic premise, revived in some capacity. This could, however, simply stem from unfounded nostalgia, as well as the show’s cliffhanger, unresolved ending. For making as much ado about the prophecy, the show certainly doesn’t put forth much narrative effort to fulfill it. There’s also a notable lack of any real impact on the overall franchise from the show, with Sonia and Manic never appearing again. This may be due to rights issues, but fans certainly haven’t lamented their absence like they have the Freedom Fighters. In the end, the hedgehogs’ mother never was found, and with the Sonic franchise now trying to return to its glory days, perhaps this show should remain lost as well.
Ever since All Might Detroit smashed his way on to manga and anime scene, fans have been absolutely enamored with the world’s number one hero. And while fans have gotten a pretty clear image of the number one hero’s values and morals through his heroic deeds, there hasn’t been much information revealed about the eighth inheritor of One For All.
So perhaps it’s time for fans to get a better image of the man who would one day become the number one hero in the world (and the number one mentor to a generation of new heroes).
Anyone who has become a fan of the manga or the anime series is likely aware of the fact the creator Kohei Horikoshi takes very careful consideration when it comes to naming his characters. All Might, for example, has his name created with the kanji used for the English words eight, tree, genius and law.
Any fan of the series will recognize the importance of these symbols. Eight, which represents that Toshinori is the eighth inheritor of One For All. Tree which could either come from an iconic Captain America quote of the fact the All Might Remains firmly rooted like a tree in his values. Genius and law clearly representing All Might’s incredible capacity as a hero of justice.
With My Hero Academia, Horikoshi has taken his love of both manga and western comics and transmuted them into a truly spectacular series. One of the characters that Horikoshi took inspiration from while creating All Might was, of course, Goku from Dragon Ball Z.
Horikoshi has stated that during the Frieza arc, Goku was noticeably late to the show, but when he finally arrived, all of his friends immediately knew that things would be alright. In this, he wanted to have All Might have the same effect on the people around. With his resounding signature line, “I Am Here!” All Might announced to everyone around that they can rest easy because they are now safe.
Horikoshi has gone on record as stating that, to him, good character design is when the audience can tell exactly who the character is just by looking at them. And it is with this thought in mind that Horikoshi creates all of his characters.
When it comes to All Might, it is clear that the character is meant to reference certain golden age heroes, heroes who had yet to become so dark and gritty. With All Might’s eyes, clear, brilliantly blue eyes, Horikoshi wanted fans to understand that this man was a true hero through and through, pure as a cloudless blue sky in both nature and intent.
People in comics and manga fandoms often like to compare heroes and theorize who would win should heroes from different universes somehow meet up and fight each other for some reason. One such popular match up is the iconic Superman versus Goku argument. This means that when My Hero Academia was released, fans immediately began theorizing who would win in a fight between Superman and All Might.
However, there is no need to theorize, as Horikoshi himself has already stated that All Might would definitely be overpowered by the man of steel. At least in terms of quirks, Superman’s advantage comes in the form of the laser that he shoots from his eyes. If All Might had lasers that he could shot from his eyes, however...
The official stat book is a reference that rates heroes on things like power, intellect, stamina and speed among other things. These stats are all ranked on a five-point scale, five being excellent and one being very poor.
While heroes like Sir Nighteye may rank a five out five in areas like intelligence, and heroes like Gran Turino may actually rank a six out of five in speed, All Might scores a shocking six out of five in every single category. A feat meant to illustrate just how incredibly and overwhelmingly powerful the number one hero is.
When he is introduced to fans in My Hero Academia, it is clear to see the All Might doesn’t really have much to his super suit in the way of hero support. In fact, he’s essentially just wearing some material and a cape. However, that wasn’t always the case.
Throughout the years has had many different costume changes, and some of those costumes did, in fact, have some hero support gear (gauntlets and such). As All Might later explains to Izuku though, this gear was often incredible bulky and really only served to weigh him down, which is why he would later abandon the support gear entirely.
Though All Might is well-known as Japan’s (and the world’s) number one hero, he certainly doesn’t look very Japanese. It is speculated the Toshnori’s father was Japanese, but his mother may have been from America, which could be the reason behind his blonde hair and blue eyes.
While this hasn’t officially been confirmed, it is confirmed that All Might did spend some time studying to become a hero in America. Fans will just have to wait until Horikoshi dives into All Might’s background a little more before finding out the truth of his heritage.
While it’s been previously mentioned that Horikoshi drew inspiration for All Might from Dragon Ball Z, All Might actually has another connection to the iconic series where the English dub of the anime is concerned.
In the English dub, All Might is voiced by a voice actor name Christopher Sabat. Fans of Dragon Ball Z may recognize this name as the person who voices Vegeta, Picollo, Shenron, Yamcha and like, half of the other characters throughout the landmark anime series.
My Hero Academia is a series that has already drastically changed places and people here on Earth, but beyond that, the series has actually changed things out in vast darkness of space.
After falling in love with the series and All Might, a fan not only purchased a galaxy on behalf of the series, but he also named it after the number one hero, All Might. After receiving the certificate, the fan took it one step further and gifted the certificate to Horikoshi during one of his appearances.
Though All Might is not much of a sight to behold outside of his muscle form, when he is in his muscle form, the hero stands at a whopping seven feet two inches tall and weighs in at an astounding 255KG (or 562.179 pounds)!
Now for reference, take the actor who played The Mountain in Game Of Thrones, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who stands at an six feet nine inches and weighs in at an inhuman 425 pounds. This fact means that All Might stands taller than even a real-life mountain. No wonder the villains are so afraid of him.
Long ago, in the far-gone days of... 2002, there was once an obnoxious ninja who wanted to be Hokage. Who knew that someday this man would actually do it and pass on his dream to his son Boruto. We're of course talking about Naruto, better known these days as Boruto's dad. This Ninjutsu-based series was one of the big three for the longest time, reigning in the love under the spotlight along with One Piece and Bleach.
In fact, it just recently had a new game announced! And, no one can argue that Naruto has poorly-designed characters. In fact, it's a lot of the reason people were drawn to the show initially. And, Naruto loved to give characters costume changes whether it was through movies, time skips, or other events. So let's go through some of our favorite outfits/designs in the series overall.
We'll start things off simple with one of the most striking and memorable designs in the show, Gaara of the Sand Village. Another Jinchurriki, like Naruto, Gaara stands out in any crowd. This is in part due to his gigantic gourd, red hair, and dark rings around his eyes. Most of us remember him best from his fight with Rock Lee or Naruto, but Gaara actually plays a decently sized part in the story overall. Personally, we think Gaara's design is the best example in the series of combining fashion and function. It's not too loud, or too garish, but it is absolutely striking nonetheless. Personally, the katakana on his head is the only aspect that's a bit overboard, but otherwise, 10/10.
And, speaking of Naruto, let's talk about his costume change from the OG series to Shippuden. It isn't a huge change, but it is absolutely an improvement. One of the long-running complaints about the show is how colorful these "ninja" are. How can a shinobi master the art of stealth if he's always in a bright orange and puffy jacket? To be fair, the kid can still beat most fictional ninjas. In any case, author Kishimoto gave us a little something by taking out the blue in his old costume and adding in some black, finally.
Honestly, there's not much to say about this costume, as it really just cleans up most of the issues with the original. It looks slimmer, cleaner, and overall more adult, which is perfect for a Naruto that's much less annoying than before.
Of course, we couldn't make a list about Naruto costumes without including the one that's probably been cosplayed the most. The Akatsuki are the villains for a large portion of Shippuden, they're a group of Rogue Ninjas working under "Tobi" who are striving to harness the power of all ten Jinchruiki. And they can be seen in any crowd thanks to their striking black and red robes. These full-body robes are simple, yet the red clouds add just the right amount of flair. It's not one of our favorite costumes, but we realize that the fans love it, so we made sure to include it all the same. And of course, out of all of them, Itachi pulls it off the best.
Tobirama Senju was the second Hokage of the Hidden Leaf who played a huge part in establishing the city and its military might. We first see this Hokage in the flesh during the Orochimaru Invasion arc, but late in the story, we find out his past. Tobirama, frankly, has one of the best designs in the show, and we wish he played more of a part in the story. It's odd how adding a fur collar to any costume instantly makes it 10x better, but even more, than that, his design just works! Are the red scars a bit much? Sure. But they're not super loud, and the overall cohesiveness of the rest of his costume more than makes up for it. Give everyone fuzzy collars!
Poor Shino, one of the most beloved characters, who is seemingly despised by the author. Finally, Shino gets to spend his days in the spotlight due to becoming a teacher in the Boruto series, but most of the time spent here is as a pathetic comedic relief. But enough ranting, let's talk about how amazing Shino's design is. As a kid, his high colors work well to distinguish him from the rest without going too far, and as a teen, his hood is even more cohesive.
Then, finally, as an adult, for some reason he goes full Cyclops and gets a visor. While we aren't huge fans of his adult design, no one can argue that Shino is one of the best-restrained designs in the entire franchise.
Next, it's time to talk about our boy Killer Bee. This man has it all, he has the charm, the representation, and even the power! Killer Bee is one of the most hardcore characters in the show, all while remaining likable and prominent in the events of the story. Bee is possessed by the eight-tailed octopus Jinchurriki, and as such he carries eight blades. Any design that can nail having the character carrying eight different weapons while not looking overly complicated is automatically a win in our book.
Instead of talking about the outfit of a specific character, let's talk about a series of outfits worn by those working for Orochimaru. These beige and purple costumes are radically different from the garb worn by any other village, so they stick out well in any scene. The Shimenawa bow is the tell-tale sign of these costumes, and it does a fantastic job of making them feel sacred yet sacrilegious.
Of course, Orochimaru wears it best, but Sasuke's variation on the costume is probably his best design outside of the movies.
It's a shame that Anbu plays such a small role in the story because boy, do they look like actual shinobi! These black ops ninjas are essentially the elite force of the Hidden Leaf. Their costumes are always simplistic, black, and feature an animal mask that hides the wearer's face. This slight variation is enough to make every Anbu member feel individual and we personally just adore their aesthetic as a whole. Plus, Kakashi was in the Anbu at one point! The White Wolf of the Leaf Village. Oh, and Sai was too, though it seems like his shirt might've shrunk in the wash.
It's only fair that Naruto's on here twice, considering he's the main character of the show and he has tons of different forms/transformations. There's his kid design, teen design, adult design, fox chakra shroud form, Sage of the Six paths form, full fox form, and finally his Frog Sage form. And, out of all of them, the Frog Sage form is the best. This is the form Naruto takes when he utilizes natural Chakra. It's just different enough from the original to feel special, yet doesn't go way overboard like his "pure Chakra" forms tend to do. The horizontal pupils, more complex robe, and red makeup all combine to make it his most simplistic striking costume in the whole series, and we couldn't gush about it enough.
Naruto: The Last might be one of the worst movie titles we've ever heard. Hopefully, they never plan to make anything Naruto related again after this, or this movie will sound even more ridiculous. Obviously the intention is that this movie would be the final piece of Naruto media before they fully transition to Boruto, but still. In any case, the designs for the cast in this film are absolutely some of the best in the series. Adult Sasuke for example, is the best he's ever looked by far. And, after over a decade, Naruto is finally wearing an all-black outfit. All it took was literally the end of the franchise for this spunky Hokage to actually dress for espionage. Who would have thought it?
Anime is an amazing medium, but it's also one of the trope-iest. Power of friendship, Deus Ex Machina, willpower pushes trough, and time skips. These are just a few of the thousands of tropes rampant in most anime. That's not to say that they're all unenjoyable or anything, just that some are usually detrimental to the writing, while others work to enhance it.
One of the most commonly debated devices is the Time Skip. This is when an anime suddenly leaps forward by at least a couple of months to move the story to a new stage and massively progress the growth of the main cast. Most times, it's incredibly hype, but there are also plenty of examples where a Time Skip basically ruined the show. So, let's take a look at both sides.
One Piece still reigns supreme as the most popular Manga franchise of all time. It's on its 963 chapter (as of November 23rd) and has no signs of stopping anytime soon. Surprisingly, the story is so well constructed by author Eiichiro Oda that most fans still feel the story is fresh and that the show doesn't rely on tropes too often.
It only had its first tournament Arc after 700 chapters after all! Even games fall prey to that trope sometimes! But, the Two Year timeskip at Sabaody Archipelago is one that's constantly debated between fans. Was it needed? Did the introduction of Haki ruin a lot of the creativity behind combat? Frankly, even if it did, the Timeskip was still an overall plus for the franchise as a whole.
Fairy Tail's Timeskip might be one of the worst ever done in Manga. Basically, instead of using the passage of time to fast forward the cast's strength or character progression, Fairy Tail does the opposite. The guild gets frozen in time and the rest of the world passes them by for 7 years. It was a way to make the already overpowered cast a bit weaker, which is fine, but the narrative was weak in order to facilitate that. Plus, they immediately catch up in less than an arc anyway.
In contrast to Fairy Tail, Naruto's skip was only 2 and a half years, but it did a lot more for the characters. A timeskip is a convenient way to surprise the readers with a big power jump, but that's not all. The most important part of a timeskip is character progression or development. While Fairy Tail's skip is based on an interesting concept, it has issues. In contrast, Naruto's timeskip, while a bit less drastic, massively changes the temperament of many of the Ninjas in the Hidden Leaf, Naruto especially. Sure, he's still plucky, but Naruto at the beginning of Shippuden is a much calmer man than his pre-pubescent self.
Finally, the third seat of the Big Three in the early 2000s. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach. Any anime fan knew all three of these names, there was no avoiding them. And, while most fans of the medium agree that Bleach had a downwards curve in quality, there's no doubt that the concept of its world is one of the best. Plus, those openings!
Anyway, Bleach has multiple time skips, a 1.5-year skip and a 10-year skip in the final chapter. The first skip is alright, but not much changes for the characters. While the second skip encompasses all the problems fan had with the fall of Bleach, and it really almost tied up none of the loose ends of a series that was rushed to completion.
It's almost impossible to watch Triggers Magnum Opus Gurren Lagann without feeling the hype. The series just exudes such a massive amount of positive energy! Kamina might be the most stereotypical yet beloved character of all time, and Simon's growth throughout the series is second-to-none. Usually, when a character like Simon is pushed into the spotlight, it isn't well received. Especially since Simon is timid by nature and Kamina is the ultimate extrovert. But, Trigger's multiple timeskips proved to us time and time again that they know what fans want from this trope.
Death Note is one of the most well-regarded mystery thrillers out there. Especially because we, the audience, know the answer by the end of episode one, but the journey is waiting to see if anyone else can figure it out. It's a story of intellectual warfare between Shinigami owner Light Yagami and shut-in genius detective L. These two characters and the war between them is what most people come to this franchise for. So, when this war comes to an end and the series skips about 5 years to introduce two new detectives, we were bummed.
Berserk is one of the longest-running manga properties of all time. The tragedy of Guts and his journey to find himself, to find his revenge, and to find a place in this world is one of the deepest and most beautiful stories we've ever read. It's hyper-violent, hyper-sexual, and hyper-beautiful considering the Author Kentaro Miura might be one of the best artists...well, ever.
And, Berserk has a couple of time skips as well. But the biggest one is the time between the Golden Age Arc and the Black Swordsman Arc. Before the time skip, Berserk is based in reality. Yes, there are fantastical elements, but it is used sparingly. After the timeskip, Berserk gets 10 times as metal and stays there.
Evangelion is a character study, not just a giant-mech power fantasy. In fact, it's widely known that the mech aspects of the series serve as a deconstruction of the genre. So, when we watching the third Evangelion movie where time jumps forward 14 years to become a war movie, we became disinterested. Yes, we understand the implication is to have Shinji be just as confused as us, the viewer. But with a story as complete and final as End of Evangelion, did we really need to jumpstart the series again? The way these new Evangelion properties are going, they might as well be a new IP entirely.
This isn't necessarily fair, considering Jojo's Bizarre Adventure wouldn't have a second season without a timeskip. The backbone of the entire franchise is the idea that the main character of each season is a new entry into the Joestar family line. But, could you imagine a 5 season adventure starring Jonathan Joestar? He's a great first protagonist, but we couldn't put up with him for anything more than a single season. Without timeskips, Jojo wouldn't have Stands, international representation, the wide array of memes, or half the charm.
Finally, we want to talk about a manga that was canceled from Shonen Jump after its timeskip failed to stir up any new sales or views. Robot X Laserbeam is a sports series, and with that name, you might infer that it's about a futuristic sport involving machines and lasers? You're wrong. It's all about golf. So right away, golf is a boring sport. But, the series did a decent job keeping us interested with its unique characters. But, when it suddenly jumped 3 years in its first 32 chapters, we knew it wasn't long for this world. Using a time skip that early in a series is very telling of how desperately the publication and author are trying to keep the story relevant. So we weren't all too surprised when the story was forced to "end" not long after.
Since his debut, part of what has made Batman so popular is that readers can relate to him. Not only does the hero accomplish so much without any powers, but he continually struggles with his mortality and his limitations as a human being. Though Batman’s situation is definitely unique, the character refuses to let obstacles beat him down.
Granted, over the years, Batman has faced a lot of obstacles and taken a lot of beatings, some of which have been painful in ways that aren’t just physical. While the Dark Knight almost always emerges victorious, there have definitely been a few times where he has failed.
Alfred has barely been dead for a month and his passing is easily going to be one of the most impactful events in Batman’s history. Alfred has been a solid parental figure in Bruce’s life for years. Despite his disapproval of some of Bruce’s methods, he is always incredibly loyal, doing whatever he can to help Bruce on his crusade.
With recent events from the “City of Bane” storyline, Alfred sacrificed himself in order to help Bruce take down Bane. Though Alfred was able to give Bruce the advantage he needed, it is now clear that he will remain dead following the arc, and that Bruce isn’t being tricked. While it is entirely plausible that Alfred will return at some point, his death will undoubtedly continue to haunt the Dark Knight.
Despite being a lesser-known Batman storyline, “Venom” continues to have an effect on Batman’s mythos today. After failing to save a young girl, Batman begins taking a smaller dosage of the drug that gives Bane his strength. However, Batman becomes more and more reliant on the performance enhancer to the point where he is clearly an addict.
Not only does this story serve as a prelude to Bane, but it also shows Batman overcome a very unique challenge. One could easily argue that the Batman that emerges from the end of this story is still the same determined, headstrong Dark Knight that is around today.
During the ever-so-popular “Knightfall” storylines, Batman suffers from one of his greatest defeats ever. After weeks of tracking down many escaped Arkham inmates, Batman is finally confronted by Bane in the Batcave. Exhausted from the weeks prior, Bane was easily able to break Batman’s back, paralyzing him from the waist down.
After the mantle of Batman was passed to Jean-Paul Valley, a man who became a much darker version of Batman, Bruce Wayne made a miraculous recovery and was able to take the title back. Though he overcame this defeat, the events of this story still get mentioned on occasion, making it one of the most important defeats Batman has ever suffered.
After Joker enacted one of his deadliest plots against Gotham ever, both he and Batman were presumed dead, as both were missing in the aftermath of “Endgame.” In one of the most brutal brawls between the two yet seen, Batman and Joker actually did succeed in killing each other, only to be resurrected shortly afterward.
While this event had immediate repercussions in things like Jim Gordon becoming Batman, the story has still had some lasting effects to this day. Not only did it set up the current Rebirth era for the character, but it remains one of the most devastating attacks on the city yet seen.
The death of Damian Wayne was one of the most impactful events of the New 52 era for DC Comics. After disobeying Batman and joining the fight against his mother, Damian is stabbed by a clone of himself. While the young Robin wasn’t dead for long, the fact that he is Batman’s son made the tragedy all the greater.
Before being resurrected, Batman went down one of his darkest paths yet. Seeing the character in that way was heartbreaking. Since Damian’s return, his relationship with his father has actually been improving (for the most part). However, Damian’s death still has some effects on both him and his father in regards to their actions and decisions.
Towards the end of the first arc of Detective Comics in the Rebirth era, Tim Drake made the ultimate sacrifice by facing off against an army of weaponized drones. As Batman and other members of the Bat-Family raced to help him, Tim did everything he could to fight until the very end. Though it was revealed almost immediately that Tim had actually survived the encounter, it has continued to haunt the Batman titles.
Since making his return, Tim has undergone costume and name changes and has also tried to distance himself from the rest of the family. Though he is back as one of Batman’s most trusted allies, Tim’s supposed death was one of the worst things to happen at the time, especially following so closely to Damian's death.
Like the other Robins, Dick Grayson met a tragic end. During the Forever Evil event, Lex Luthor killed Nightwing in order to stop a bomb from going off. However, Luthor then revived the hero almost immediately. Because of everything that happened though, Dick had to quit being Nightwing and went undercover as an agent of Spyral.
Even after making a return to the Nightwing suit, Dick Grayson would be hit by yet another tragedy after suffering a bullet to the head from KGBeast. Now going by “Ric,” Grayson continues to fight crime, but without his memories of who he was before. While the character is set to assume the Nightwing role once again in January, there’s no denying the impact of his past on Batman.
In one of the biggest losses of Batman’s career yet, he himself met a tragic end at the hands of Darkseid towards the end of Final Crisis. Later, it is revealed that Batman was actually blasted back in time, but Dick Grayson actually assumed the mantle during Bruce’s absence. For years after it seemed as though this event were behind him.
That is, until Dark Nights: Metal began to come out. Pulling heavily from the Grant Morrison run on Batman, Dark Nights: Metal proved just how impactful the events of Final Crisis truly were. Furthermore, since Metal continues to have a major effect on the DC universe, it is safe to say that this story continues to haunt the Dark Knight.
Batman himself has often noted that he considers Jason todd’s death to be his greatest failure. Thanks to the young man’s impulsive and reckless nature, Jason met a tragic end at the hands of the Joker during the “A Death in the Family” storyline. Jason’s death meant so much that Bruce himself became an incredibly darker version of Batman, only getting better after Tim was introduced into his life.
Even after Jason returned as Red Hood, Batman chose to have his tattered Robin suit remain in the Batcave noting that, “This doesn’t change anything.” effectively, Jason’s death was such a loss that even his return couldn’t make up for Bruce’s failure. Though the two are on relatively good terms from time to time, this is still one of the biggest losses Batman has ever endured.
Obviously, the biggest loss that haunts Batman to this day is the loss of his parents. Ever since he was a child, this has been the single greatest loss Bruce Wayne has ever suffered, motivating him for his entire adult life. Virtually every decision Bruce has made as Batman is in reaction to the vow he made to his parents.
While that vow often gets in the way of his personal life, Bruce has become one of the best heroes in the DC universe, as well as all of comics. Furthermore, as many times as Bruce has been beaten down and broken, this is the one loss that he has never truly recovered from. For all that Batman has endured over the years, the loss of Thomas and Martha Wayne is easily the greatest.
