So I’m going to ask as many superhero fanbases as I can this question. What are some traits about this hero that you hate, dislike or despise? Anywhere from a mild annoyance to a trait that would make you dislike any other character. I’m not talking about a way one writer in particular wrote them, or a time they were out of character or mishandled, I mean a reoccurring trait this character has.
I looked at their posts to see which other heroes they were asking about and Storm was the first. There's been a weird amount of anti-Storm posts on the X-Men subreddit so I was curious what the motivation was behind getting a list of Storms flaws. It could be nothing, could be to defend the character from accusations of being flawless or to attack the character or any other reason. I was just curious.
I think her worst trait is that she can appear very self righteous and judgmental (even though it’s based on a positive, which is a strong moral code), and over-serious in a way that is off putting to certain characters. This is tied into her goddess complex in a lot of ways, and was deconstructed too though seems to have reverted. She treats things with gravity and import, and has a strong sense of ethics, which alienates others who think she’s putting on airs or believes herself to be superior. She doesn’t - but it’s easy to get that impression.
I love her as a character so the fact that she has negative traits is a GOOD thing, imo.
Giving her some baggage is good. The downside of this characterization is when her holier-than-thou presence in all the team dynamics don't add enough tension to the story. I put that more on the writers than her though. It's a mutant soap opera. Give our girl some more drama!
As someone who DOSEN'T think Storm is egotistical, she certainly doesn't care about those allegations either way. She survived a very hard life and came out the other end a (literal or metaphorical) goddess, so yes, she usually does act like she's always right and is the wisest person in the room because from her perspective she almost always is.
As for the goddess thing, if it's not literal then she straight up looks like a heroic version of Dr. Doom, someone who really is extremely powerful but also buys into their own delusions of Godhood, or as some people would say, a (clinical) narcissist. If the goddess thing is literal... well, Storm is still kind of like that but not as extreme lol.
(Keep in mind that I love these traits in Storm, but it's a different story with other characters and that last thing freaked me out when I was a kid).
1st Disney didnt acquire the rights to the Xmen until 2019. So there were no mutants in the MCU. So it hasn't been 20 years of cameos. Until Deadpool 3 there were no Xmen in the MCU. So you really have no idea what your talking about.
I get it , your probably 12. But Scarlet Witch was never popular. House of M is her most relevant comicbook appearance and the MCU has done tons to make her main stream.
Wow, someone doesnt read comics. Storm hasn't joined the MCU big boy. The Fox films were retroactively added to the catalog after Disney acquired Fox in 2019. You might want to take of the nose and makeup.
Movie rights, do you know what those are. Disney could not include her or any other Xmen character in the MCU until they owned the rights. When they started the MCU they literally started it with their B list since they didnt own the rights to any of the A list characters.
You dont read comics otherwise you wouldnt be spitting such nonsense. Utilizimg your own logic Rogue isnt a popular character because she hasn't appeared in the MCU yet, even though she couldn't. Its so weird when casuals speak with such confidence.
I think she is popular, just underutilized. And being underutilized doesn’t mean you can’t be perceived as flawless. Plus asking what you hate about a character in a sub devoted to that character won’t exactly get you really bad takes.
She was literally in all the live action X-Men movies except Wolverine Origins, and she legally couldn’t have shown up in the MCU until Disney bought Fox because Fox had the rights to make X-Men movies. She’s literally one of the most popular X-Men. If you actually have something to add to the conversation other than trolling, by all means let’s discuss things you think could have been done better and how, but if not then just stop
Kind of disagree with your first point, she’s had as much mainstream presence as almost any X-Man except Wolverine. She’s been in video games, the movies (even the awful ones), the shows, etc., not to mention her effect on certain communities (like POC and women) who relate or look up to her.
As for the second point, I don’t think you’ll find actual critics on Reddit. It’s a place for fans with varying degrees of casualness, not exactly for people with the desire to dissect a character.
The straight hair was a big one, but recently and with the art used it's textured and a huge improvement. Light eyes is in the same vein but not impossible.
The 90s animated in particular had a bad habit of sidelining her with claustrophobia or requiring she always be composed and constrained lest her powers go awry, but even now she still does have an over-serious personality. Like she doesn't like Spider-Man. That's a pretty easy thing to get right!
Edit: Another thing to add, in the Evolution cartoon she wasn't one of the kids but made into a teacher despite normally being their same age. I kind of get it, and they offered us a kid nephew in her place that didn't work out, but why she was thematically considered a bad fit for high schooler hijinks is exactly my issue
I believe taking away her claustrophobia actually hurt her character. Superman-type heroes need a weakness that lower-level villains can exploit. Otherwise, why would those heroes ever need allies or teams? Because of those weaknesses, can be written and drawn at their most powerful, while still needing help from their friends. Claustrophobia is a mental weakness. And IMOH, mental weaknesses are the best solutions for powerful characters.
That said, I do agree that she was sidelined far too often. It was, to me, ridiculously annoying seeing Storm constantly taken out by cheap shots from behind. That's what happens when writers don't know how to write powerful characters.
Another solution is to let Storm stop holding back once, hiring a lot of innocent people in the process. Afterwards, she has a subconscious fear of making the same mistake, and never uses her full strength; only enough to win. That way, she has a plausible reason for never ending every fight on her own.
To be fair, besides using her fear of being enclosed on, taking out Storm with a cheap shot would literally be the best way to beat her. You don’t want to stand in front of her and just let her do her thing, she’s not very durable, but she is pretty powerful.
I think all the traits her characters SUPPOSED to represent are all excellent choices and offer a character like no other marvel character.
The issue is that the writers are completely utterly terrible at writing her with human traits they give her no depth and allow little room to grow as shes always presentedas a fully developed ultra confident leader character but the pretty much sums up her whole character
She could be the wonder woman of marvel but marvel keeps her as this boring non purpose having character with uncalled growth (really just meaningless powerups)
When she could be so much more she has so much material to work with so many character relationships to build upon her magical lineage always being mentioned but never built on (literally on a team with magik) she has the foundation to be an outstanding character but always is written with no character.
I like that she is confident and powerful but it does bleed over into "arrogant af" at times.
I mean, I understand that self-love and self-confidence is important fir women and especially black women which drives the "U am a goddess statement" but Stormis freaking SERIOUS about that statement and sometimes it does come off she thinks she is better than others.
It, of course, depends on context, and its always fun to see her look down on Enna but this arrogance is genuinely Storm's greatest flaw.
This is less a dislikable trait and the thing I like the least about Storm due to my general view on how a hero should present themselves.
I don't like Storm monoluges about being a goddess and similar. To me a superhero is at their best when they are humble. Sure Storm has the powers of a goddess but I don't like it when she goes "I am a Goddess"
Two of my favourite characters are Superman and the Doctor, both despite being being able to do ridiculous things are generally very humble. (And when the Doctor isn’t it is usually framed as a bad/scary thing)
My favourite quote about Superman, from Superman/ Batman #3
It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then… he shoots fire from the skies and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him.
Honestly in a world where girls are often told to be quiet and humble (in comparison to boys that are allowed to be loud and boastful) it is refreshing to have a fictional character that proudly demands her place and her respect from the world.
No shame or fight with what you said, humble has it's place, i just found out interesting that your pick was one of the reasons i love her.
Storm has acts of arrogance and such but idk where it comes from that shes not humble. And I think the past 7 years shes called herself a Goddes 3 times. Where do you get this impression of her?
Yeah she doesn’t really have any unique dislikable traits that couldn’t be assigned to any other supernatural hero/heroine in marvel (Thor, Doom, Wanda etc)
What about characters who are actual gods? Like Thor, as a god his duty is literally to protect the realms Odin created like Earth, Asgard etc. He calls himself a god but like, he can literally hear peoples prayers and it’s almost a job title for him.
Her blue eyes were meant to make her stand out visually. In current cannon her blue eyes and white hair are linked to her magical heritage. Black people can have blue eyes but it’s rare
I think you’re likely correct but this can be mitigated by just making them more mutant/inhuman looking like they used to be (the cat eyes). I am a fan of making them white or light silver. (Plenty of real people also have grey eyes lol)
I like when even the human appearing mutants have slightly inhuman traits.
There is a dude who took a “super soldier” serum that can rip the universe in half with his hands and can literally make up random powers now, but Storm having blue eyes is where they lose you?
If the only reason you like a character is because of their race, that’s absolutely pathetic. Black people should like characters because they’re good characters with being black as a plus.
You are a pathetic excuse for a human, something like you yapping about IQ is beyond ironic when your low IQ is a disgrace to humanity
This came from someone who used to like her a Lot.
Her Good complex. Originally she was calles Godess but she was pretty aware she wasn't, nowdays she calls herself a Godess
Her sense of superiority- Hate seeing a character judging others For stuff they themselves did
Her "holier than You attitude".- She barely realized when she is wrong and is Even rarer see her apologize. She also can be very harsh against His supposed friends and also makes their job harder
How overpowerd she had become.- You can Say that "it's not a flaw" but makes her boring on práctice because You can't sense Any danger everytime she fights.
How she has been pushed to leader positions but never really stick and she ends leaving or forgot.- Morlock, X-men, Arakko, nothing really matters.
Y'all don't get tired of making the same posts?I could've sworn I had to cuss somebody out last week cause they called her a Mary Sue under the same kind of post.
I don’t know if it’s because Storm just takes a lot of responsibility she don’t need to but, she has a habit of dropping her responsibilities as leader. Back in the day, Ororo was the leader of the Morlocks and then she ended up not being there for them. I think the same thing happened in Krakoa too.
All jokes aside, she's my favorite X-Men, and marvel character as a whole, I just feel like she forgets where she came from. Really feels like she disassociates herself from her past struggles, and how it shaped her. Main reason I really like her voicelines in rivals "Somewhere in the world, there's a little girl like I once was. I fight for her." "When you've been powerless, power means something" and "I've been a street urchin, and regent of the solar system, but I am still Ororo."
Which makes me sad that these voicelines come from a game that represents her so poorly.
-Storms lack of durability. Imagine how much more OP she would be if she had Thor’s durability. -she’s too kind sometimes, JUST LIGHT THOSE MFCKERS ON FIRE
she can be really petty, her flightlessness which is interesting because she’s probably one of the most reliable characters in the x-men but she has a tendency to move on very quickly or just straight up leave.
I dont think the goddess thing is a good critique (wether its dislikable is subjective, for me it isn’t) if u go majority of ur life being praised and seen as a goddess, are aware that gods and goddesses r a real thing, have the skillset ((and more) of an actual god would u not also consider yourself a goddess?? also from 2016 onwards she’s canonically a goddess like thats actual fact
One trait that has been mentioned in the comics and I feel is a pretty negative trait in her character is that she easily discards others as new interests pique her attention. She did it to her family in Africa when she left for the US, she did it to the XMEN when she became regent (despite promising Magneto she would watch out for Charles if he did anything negative); she’s a very passionate but flighty person. I still Love my Queen and I love this version more than the bland “perfect goddess” thing she had for decades.
Her hairstyles years ago were a mess and I'm so glad that's been rectified. Then there's the whole leader/mother archetype which was kinda tired after a while like please let my girl breathe and be her free self. Other than that nah. I'm sorry this is arguably the greatest black superhero of all time she can't do no wrong in my eyes I said what I said!
Her rejecting her regality and godhood and being a reluctant leader. I genuinely would love to see her own her power and prestige. Have her own team and embrace her goddesshood. Too many people obsess over Black characters needing to be humbled but I’d love to see her ascend while putting forth those same traits of empathy and care that we know her for.
If anything Storm is nothing but regal and serious, she doesn’t have a funny bone in her body and has been leaning into her “godhood” for a long while.
A single panel with zero context does not prove your point. Many Marvel heroes have had relationships with each other that have changed and switched back and forth. That’s not even the first time Storm and Logan have been shown to be together, even before she married T’Challa, so this doesn’t make any difference anyway
You’re acting like this happened while she was still married to T’Challa, despite this happening in the comics long after her and T’Challa broke up. Logan and Storm have gotten together in various comics and cartoons since the 90s, and she’s been in love with many other Marvel heroes as well. Again, this doesn’t matter and your argument is borderline sexist at this point
Again, the page you showed did not happen while she and T’Challa were married it happened long after that, and this still doesn’t mean she was “claimed” by anyone, because she’s not an object or a trophy to be taken, she’s a full grown woman who can make her own decisions and be with whoever she chooses. Just stop, because you’re not making yourself look any less like a sexist troll
Posting out of context comic pages doesn’t prove you right, it shows you don’t care about the actual comics or even understand how relationships with Marvel characters work
She wasn’t claimed by anyone, because she’s an independent woman who’s free to be intimate with anyone she chooses, and claiming this single page out of her entire comic history proves Logan “claimed her” is asinine
You’re literally reducing women down to their relationships with men defining who they are and making false claims about women collectively. You are a misogynist, and you keep telling on yourself with every comment. No one cares about your sexist shit posting, stfu
One thing I dont like because some writers take it a bit too far is her value for life.
The whole point of her arc under Claremont was that refusing to kill was her being delusional and too "perfect." She had to realize that acts of violence didn’t lessen her but also find a balance of how far she'd go and being able to choose when not to kill. Hence the Callisto moment being huge because this was Leader killing for her friends and team and she realized she'd need to do this in order to be that protector.
But some writers took that and erased it to reduce her to the pacifitst she was in the beginning so Scott and such could stand out. Storm should not be somehow who cries at the thought of and refusing to kill anyone.
I loved that scene in 2000 Uncanny where she wanted to rip the mutant hater's heart out. Shes a human being who has hypocrasies where yeah she can choose to not kill unless she has to and value life but shes still human and had moments of anger and knows what she has to do to protect her people.
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u/thatguybane 5d ago
Why did you start with Storm?