What's with black superheroes and lightning powers?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

Title pretty much sums it up. Watched a video recently where someone was asked to name a black superhero that didn’t have lightning based powers and while I could name a few it made me realize just how prevalent three trope is.

But why?

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imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨minute⁩ ago
Never heard of this trope.

Off the top of my head: War Machine, Black Panther, Blade, Cyborg, Bishop, Storm, Spiderman (Miles).

The only black comics character with lightning super powers I know is Electro from The Amazing Spiderman who also used to be white in old comics.

Is this really a trope? Can someone name 10 black superheroes with lightning powers?

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impudentmortal@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
This article does a pretty good job of explaining the history of black superheroes with electrical powers.

To summarize, the popularity of Black Lightning along with copyright issues lead to the creation of a few copycat heroes (ex: Black Vulcan in Super Friends, Juice from Justice League Unlimited). There’s also the possibility of electricity being a versatile power and the popularity of Storm from X-men and Static.

Someone in the comments section also noted that it could also be an artistic choice since the colors of electricity would contrast better with black characters than lighter skin characters. That seems like a stretch to me but that is another theory.

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- zout@fedia.io ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  A pornstar from my country (decades ago) said that she preferred working with black men because of the contrast on screen. Totally unrelated tidbit, but it makes sense to me that the same goes here.
  
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  - k0e3@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Big Black Contrast.
    
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  - ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨22⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    New bit idea: guy who insists he doesn’t have any internalized racism to confront, since he doesn’t have a sexual preference for interracial scenes, he simply believes they are better from a composition and cinematography perspective
    
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- snooggums@piefed.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Great article!
  
  I also think the contrast reason is very plausible for the early designs as colors and contrast are a massive part of design in comics.
  
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prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨23⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Because of Usain Bolt

Probably

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jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Started really with Storm in 1975, although, yeah, her powers are weather control, not specifically lightning, but lightning is definitely her power move.

Before Storm, you had Black Panther, Black Goliath, and Luke Cage, not electrical powers.

But AFTER that…

Black Lightning - 1977

Black Lightning is a great character, but Tony Isabella holds the rights to him so it gets complicated doing stuff with the character.

As a result, you get Black Lightning knock offs that can be used without the rights entanglement.

Black Vulcan - 1977 (Super Friends animation)

Static - 1993 (comics), 2000 (animation).

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bizarroland@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I personally think that it started with the fact that the contrast of the yellow lightning worked really well against black skin in the comics.

Then I’m assuming that it became a trope.

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kersploosh@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Frozone

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early_riser@lemmy.world ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
TV Tropes has an article on this that probably does a better job explaining than I could.

tvtropes.org/pmwiki/…/ElectricBlackGuy

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- ChickenZenphyre@lemmy.world ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Nice, the first example given was naruto.
  
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  - Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    The first example given is literally called Black Lightning?
    
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- dubyakay@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Holy shit. How can a dot org site enshittify itself so much?
  
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  - early_riser@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I don’t think the top level domain of the site has much to do with its platform decay, but yeah the ads are beyond obnoxious.
    
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TabbsTheBat@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Hey I watched a video years ago :3

I think it basically boiled down to they all have lightning powers, because the first black hero did, and then everyone copied it (and also good contrast or something)

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Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Ink contrast?

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- fiat_lux@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  It probably also helps that the dense clouds appear black, and dense clouds mean a more severe storm. I wonder if the ink contrast is more of a perk than the primary reason, compared to darkness being a convenient power metaphor for storms.
  
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  - Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    It’s really not worth that much thought.
    
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- Chais@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Probably not the worst explanation.
  
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  - Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    That’s high praise on Lenny
    
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DomeGuy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The question may be better phrased as the complimentary of what you asked.

Not why do all these black superfolk have lightning powers, but instead why are so many superfolk with lightning powers black?

I suspect the answer is kin to why so many characters with fire-themed powers have red hair, or why so many superheroes with facial hair are wizards.

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setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
The fact that you’re getting so many replies about other characters should be a sign the premise of the question is faulty. You’re asking people to stop giving you examples that contradict your confirmation bias.

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- impudentmortal@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  It’s not confirmation bias but rather slight functional illiteracy from commenters. The original question is basically asking what’s the connection between black superheroes and having electrical powers; or in other words why is it a trope.
  
  Nowhere in the title or the short note did OP ask people to name black superheroes without electrical powers. He only says that he saw a video that asked people to do that.
  
  Even if you ignore the note, the title itself isn’t asking for examples of exceptions but rather for an explanation. It’s kind of like if someone asked why so many members of Congress are old and white, and the responses were just listing non-white and/or younger representatives.
  
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- ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Except I stated that I know other black characters exist that don’t have lightning powers. I know not all black superheroes have lightning powers but there’s enough of them that I’ve noticed it’s a trope.
  
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SolidShake@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Black panther

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- Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Miles Morales has the Venom Shock.
  
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- ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.
  
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- Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Green Lantern can have lightning powers 🤷‍♂️
  
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- nocturne@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Spawn, Shadowhawk, Bishop, Titan, Cyborg, Deathlok, War Machine, Steel, Blade, Cloak, Falcon, and Sunspot
  
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  - DagwoodIII@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    What’s Misty Knight? Chopped liver?
    
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fox2263@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Blade

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- ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.
  
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  - fox2263@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    I think there’s only a handful and can’t really be called a trope when you’ve had just as many examples of black superheroes without lightning powers.
    
    There’s a few white ones too. Thor for example. Shazam. Flash. Wonder Woman
    
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LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
about your edit: Posting anything on social media is an invitation to contradict your premise, regardless of how emphatically you say what the real point of your post is.

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DamienGramatacus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Storm (not lightening based, just a part of her power set), Bishop, Cecilia Reyes - just off the top of my head.

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- ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.
  
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  - DamienGramatacus@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Yeah, I commented before reading the whole post. Apologies.
    
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neidu3@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
That guy from Mystery Men who could turn invisible if nobody was watching… he was black, wasn’t he?

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- Janx@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  I don’t think clear is a skin color.
  
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- content_educator_94@thelemmy.club ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Yes, Invisible Boy was black
  
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  - boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Now if that isn’t a great metaphor for institutional racism, I don’t know what is
    
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lordnikon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Wait till see red heads being turned into black characters pattern.

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- ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  … Who besides Wally did that happen to?
  
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  - lordnikon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Iris West, hawkgirl, jimmy olsen, Starfire, batwoman, Jim Gordon, Mary Jane
    
    That is just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
    
    Note I don’t mind them at all changing the race of a character. But swapping gingers for another race just doesn’t seem like progress to me. Just shows they are only willing to make superficial changes. Instead of making awesome characters that just happen to be black or any other race or identity. Them writing a black sidekick or supporting character makes them just one dimensional.
    
    I would like characters of all color, shapes, sexual preferences where their trait they don’t have a choice in becomes their whole personality.
    
    That’s why old school star trek got it. Uhura was not on the bridge to tell black stories. She was there to be apart of the team that just happened to be black. It could have been better in terms of screen time but the core idea is still relevant today. A more modern example of them doing this really right was Brooklyn 99 with Captain Holt. That show showed him being a Captain and a father figure first. Him having a husband and being gay was shown as being what it is, Normal.
    
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HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
I don’t really think it is. I know you don’t want a list of non lightening but like I can’t think of any except black lightening and static shock who sorta seemed to be just a teenage copy of black lightening. I guess you can include storm but her powers are around the weather which lightening is just one aspect. Honestly hers is the only real lighening as the others are electric powers. Just in recent movies we have black panther, falcon, luke cage, war machine, and cyborg showing up in films. Not sure if John Stewart has shown up in dc’s green lantern related stuff but anyone who read comics will be familiar with him.

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- usualsuspect191@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Miles Morales is an interesting example of the trope though, as the other spider-heroes don’t have the electrical powers while he does.
  
  On Spider-Man, Electro isn’t black in the comics but was in Amazing Spider-Man which is also maybe a point of interest.
  
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  - HubertManne@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Yeah I still don’t see it as much a trope. Much like the storm its like ok he got another power above and beyond the main spider powers. I mean its like someone mentioned that then green lanter has electric powers. I don’t think I saw the amazing spider man with the black electro but then again while I never thought it would happen Im kinda done with the main comic and sci fi ip.
    
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djdarren@piefed.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Apropos of, well, this thread: If you aren’t aware of Black Lightning by The Bellrays, then you really ought to be.

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