Don't run faster than the other boys

[Lace Neil Singer]

Just thought I'd point this one out; Spiderman uses his abilities to make him money, right at the beginning. He becomes a masked wrestler, and wears his costume to hide his identity. Then, when he's at his locker, a thief runs past and Spiderman refuses to stop the thief, cuz he thinks it's nothing to do with him. But when he gets home, he finds out that his uncle Ben was killed by an armed robber. He goes after him, finds him, pulls off his mask... and finds out that the robber was the same thief at the wrestling arena, and if he'd stopped him then, then his uncle would still be alive.

With great power, comes great responsibility... Spiderman learns that using his powers for good is a lot better than simply using them to make himself rich. And that applies to a lot of TV programmes, movies, what have you where there's people with powers.

Also, the X-men use their powers in day to day life; they just can't advertise the fact cuz of the fact that mutants are viewed with suspicion by normal people. The bad guys use their powers all the time to further their own interests. So there's an example for you. XD

[Andara Bledin]

With great power, comes great responsibility... Spiderman learns that using his powers for good is a lot better than simply using them to make himself rich.

And Peter Parker still uses his powers to help himself; he gets some really amazing shots of Spiderman, after all.

^-.-^

[jackfaire]

The debate is not about how useful flying is.

Oh I am sorry let me go back and reply,

"yes mmmhmm your right they should know I totally agree"

You didn't say anything in the on topic stuff I disagree with but in the comic/movie world usually knowing someone has an ability would be followed up with, "But you shouldn't be using it to get ahead."

If people knew Superman types his stories at super speed then they would lecture him about how that's "abusing his powers"

[Hyena Dandy]

I can only think of three examples of characters being told that off the top of my head, though I'm sure you can think of others. And all three are given explanations BEYOND 'because you're abusing your powers'.

Green Lantern, The Incredibles, and the witches on Charmed.

The kid from the Incredibles needs to keep his powers secret. Green Lantern is essentially a policeman, and he should only use his ring for policeman-ing, similar to how cops shouldn't use their sirens to go to the supermarket faster. In Charmed, using powers for personal gain will cause the universe to actively try to screw them over. Whether that's GOOD or not, that's an in-universe reason beyond 'don't do it because I say so'.

Also, Superman usually doesn't use his powers for personal gain, but such a huge part of the character is tied up with only using his powers for good that he won't let HIMSELF get away with it. Perhaps he's being unreasonable, but the idea of 'fair play' is engrained so deeply into his character that if he did, he really wouldn't be Superman.

Spider-man does, in fact, use his powers for personal gain as Spider-Man's personal photographer. Daredevil has the power of echolocation, and he occasionally uses it as Matt Murdoch. Usually he avoids it for the reason a lot of heroes avoid it. Because he doesn't want people to know who he is. The X-Men are, its explained, 'in a world that hates and fears them'. They don't want to cause any more hate and fear than they already have.

[Evandril]

Saying Clark can't join the football team or run track because of his powers is BS. You might as well tell Clark he has to sit in a wheelchair even though he doesn't need one because it's unfair to the other boys that he can walk faster than them.

Yes secret identity is always a concern but in the movie it was considered unfair for Clark to compete even though Football is a team sport and just his being better wouldn't guarantee a win if he didn't use anything beyond the scope of human ability.

One of the arguments other than secret ID that I hear is "Well he may forget himself and hurt someone" Then he needs to quit being Superman because the same rules apply. However he has never in the heat of battle, that I know of, used more force than the other person could handle.

Superman playing football would lead to *lots* of injuries, anytime anyone tried tackling/hitting him, they'd hurt themselves fairly badly.

Superman not taking advantage of his powers I'd say falls more under *who* Superman is...It's just not his style. I'd say the big 'problem' with using your abilities for your own gain is knowing when is enough...Since the logical progression of using your powers for your own profit tends to lead to being a super villan, rather than a hero. The nature of your powers makes a difference, as well...Wolverine was a soldier fairly regularly, that being a natural use for his abilities and training. Dazzle worked as an entertainer, using her powers within her show, Iron Man both used his armor for company projects, and his tech for various things. I'll admit, I'd love to see things like "Flash's Delivery Service, $1mil per run!"