In literature, mythology, and comic books, heroes often have a “kryptonite” or “Achilles’s heel”, basically a weakness that makes them vulnerable. I’m curious, what would be considered Superman’s “kryptonite”?

      • DUMBASSEnglish
        9•2 months ago

        He hates green rocks I think, specifically ones that look like the guts trophy.

          • DUMBASSEnglish
            4•2 months ago

            Why do you think superman never entered it? He could easily dominate the Aggro-Crag, but it’s made entirely of kryptonite.

            • @[email protected]
              4•2 months ago

              Now I’m picturing Superman watching Guts.

              At the end when the host asks the signing off questions. “No if’s and’s, but’s these kids got guts. Do you have it? Guts!”

              Superman quietly sobs into his hands and gentle cries, “…no…”

    • @[email protected]
      11•2 months ago

      As a life long Superman fan with like 4 notably good Superman stories to read in his 87 year history. Fuck you… but yes.

        • @[email protected]
          4•2 months ago

          The truly classic ones I’ve read are Red Son, All-Star Superman, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, For the Man Who Has Everything, Kingdom Come, and the Death of Superman.

          I also like the New Krypton/War of the Supermen storyline though.

  • @[email protected]English
    3•2 months ago

    Now I wonder what the “Achilles’s heel” would be for the immortal great hero Achilles

  • @[email protected]
    17•2 months ago

    Per Glen Weldon in his book Superman: The Unauthorized Biography, kryptonite representing the destructive force of nostalgia and survivor’s guilt, reminding us that clinging to the past can undermine the present.

    Siegel and Shuster had created the Man of Steel as the ultimate immigrant, the personification of the promise America represented to them. His abilities are metaphors for limitless potential and opportunity, for new horizons stretching out before us: the American Way.
    It seems fitting, then, that the only thing capable of harming him would be a reminder of the Old World he left behind, a past that is irrevocably gone. Only the past—our past—can hurt us.
    To this day, kryptonite functions in the Superman mythos as the physical manifestation of both survivor’s guilt and a particularly toxic kind of nostalgia, a reminder that when we dwell on what we’ve lost, we can kill what we have.

    • Secret MusicEnglish
      5•2 months ago

      First time I’ve ever read of this interpretation and that’s super fucking cool.

      • @[email protected]
        1•2 months ago

        It’s a really great book that I recommend to even the most casual Superman fan and especially people who think Superman is just an overpowered boy scout. It explores how Superman has evolved over the decades through the influence of different writers and artists and how their personal experiences and cultural shifts helped to evolve the character. He also examines the character’s transformation across other media, including radio, television, and film. Like how the now cheesy sounding, “It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman” originated from the radio broadcasts that had to adapt a comic to a non-visual medium. Or why they didn’t just write a Superman comic in the 40’s where he goes and defeats Hitler, because they didn’t want to take away from the GIs or give kids false hope that Superman could just swoop in and save the day in a real life situation. But they also didn’t want kids to think Superman would ignore what was going on, so that’s when they started introducing a lot of off-world stories.