—, Fantastic Comics #14 The observation that in some genres, characters can have fantastic technology far beyond our own, yet this technology only gets used to solve equally fantastic problems. Will never make it rain in drought-stricken areas, or stop the rain during terrible flooding, or stop a heatwave. A person who can will never douse bush fires or burning buildings, or And a (such as of the ) can save the life of starving demi-god beings like, but will never take a weekend to duplicate and market Doctor Doom's burn-victim cure device or release his inventions that could solve a variety of real-world problems (and earn their creator millions of dollars). All potential solutions to real-life problems will only be done in novel (fictional) situations — useless., and the status quo of the real world even more so. It's the same reason. There are several typical motivations for this: • This is particularly common in an, superhero, or other series whose setting is superficially similar to the real world. Unlike, say, or, one of the key draws of the series is that it could take place right outside the reader's window, which is lost if you make the fictional world too fantastic in comparison.

This is particularly common in comic books, where major modifications to the world are only done to fictional locations, and often only to current levels of technology.. • To ensure that there's some level of drama in the story. If the super science or magic can literally do anything, then there's no reason the heroes can't just figure out a creative way to get them out of any jam. Goodbye potential conflict. In the case of, there were tons of things the replicators and should have been able to do which would have ruined the plot of half the episodes, necessitating a lot of to maintain drama. As well, it could very easily be that the technology itself has some limitations, as 'It can do anything you can imagine' is quite a bold statement for anyone to make.

Other times, the is in the first place to avoid flooding the setting with. • To avoid trivializing real-life problems. Fantastic actually does cure HIV in the, there will be plenty of real people still HIV-positive, and plenty of researchers still investing untold millions of dollars and work hours to fight HIV when they finish the comic. This can make creators wary of tackling such issues, as it can be considered insensitive to have such a heavy burden in real life be casually miracle-cured in fiction. Also, in the interest of representation, disabled people exist in universes where science should theoretically be able to cure their handicap.

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However, either the disability is so ingrained as a facet of the character's portrayal or curing them could be seen to detract from their mass-market appeal as someone that other disabled readers can relate to. This is probably why always ends up back in the wheelchair after regaining use of his legs. Similarly to point one, this is generally more of a concern if the world is supposed to reflect the real world closely; if it's explicitly an or, or the future, then there's greater room to play with this without potentially causing offense. • To keep multiple titles within a consistent with one-another; comic book universes would approach a new level of and if writers had to keep track of every published book in their universe for which major diseases/blights had been cured by the heroes and which ones weren't. • The technology does exist but is being. Reed Richards, for example, has developed countless mundane inventions that would shut down entire industries overnight, leaving countless people out of work.

As a result, companies often pay him millions not to put his gadgets on the market. • The character may simply not be interested in mass production. In the real world, any sort of new medical device has to undergo years of rigorous testing to prove that it is both safe and effective before it can become available to the general public. Other inventions may have other concerns; your miniaturized nuclear reactor or tiny batteries have to be demonstrated to be safe and that they won't catch on fire, explode, or undergo a deadly meltdown.

A character may simply lack interest in dealing with the bureaucracy involved, and may not trust anyone else to bring their products to market on their behalf. Especially given that half of the major corporations in these worlds seem to be run by villains. Or the needed to make the device work is too expensive and/or rare for mass production: a suit of impenetrable super-metal armor might be a great idea for equipping soldiers with, but if that single suit represents 80% of the known stockpile of the metal and cost more than an aircraft carrier, it's not something that can really be issued to the troops. This trope is often associated with the that these problems don't have easy solutions in the real world, and any proposed sci-fi solutions will have negative side-effects or potential for abuse that justifies completely abandoning all hope of trying to solve the problem. However, during times when superhero comics especially begin to explore the ramifications of their characters on real-world settings more closely, this question is raised and addressed more frequently. It is sometimes as making people ' on superheroes: good thing that Jonas Salk didn't feel that way.

Smaller-scale continuities such as newly-created universes with a single author to explore the fictional world in 1 or 2 titles are more likely to avert and examine the concept of super-technology's effect on modern society, especially if the writer is trying to make a geopolitical statement. Larger superhero continuities, such as and, are established to have upheld this trope as their Earths have been explored in extensive detail. The trope can be inverted by having a hero 'inventing' a technological revolution that already exists (for example, the apparently invented the player). An explanation that is often used is that the invention is a product of; either the inventor couldn't remember how it works after they come out of their inventing frenzy, or their notes were incomprehensible, or it simply doesn't work for anyone else because it is really or something similar. This is more commonly found in, such as, where explaining this sort of plot element is a part of the purpose of the story. See and for aversions, and for a.

When gods are the ones not doing anything, it's. When applied to supervillains, see. • In, the inventions made by both Kuroda and Yayori's father could change the world in many ways and make them very rich if they were to patent them and sell the designs to the proper company or the government.

• At the end of (the first series), Yamato is saved from Desler's final attack by a reflective force field Sanada erects just in time to deflect the beam back at the Gamilon flagship. This reflective forcefield never appears again, nor is it incorporated into Andromeda or the rest of the new EDF fleet (who do however get their own Wave Motion Guns). It would have made the battles between the Comet Empire, Dark Nebula, Bolar, and Dinguil a lot less bloody hence a lot less dramatic. But most likely, they didn't realize that Yamato would see a popularity surge three years after it's unsuccessful run (the original series was truncated due to low ratings). • Deliberately invoked by Academy City in. They are estimated to be several decades ahead of the rest of the world in terms of technology, and some of the stuff they take for granted could easily revolutionize various sciences and solve a ton of problems.

However, they also want to remain on top of the tech tree, so they refuse to share their technology until after they've made it obsolete. But even then it's still cutting-edge to the rest of the world. • Justified in, where futuristic giant robots exist but most civilian technology isn't terribly more advanced than what we have in the real world. It's noted that the Evangelions are horrendously expensive to produce, and after Second Impact some countries can barely feed their citizens, much less create innovative new technologies. There's a bit of with this in the manga: in the reset world where Second Impact never occurred, the technology and fashion seem more in line with the real world version of the 21st century, rather than what the show predicted in the 90s.

• points out in his of the After that it makes no sense why the scientist who created 8 Man (a robot-human hybrid), has been withholding drugs from the world that allows people to receive cybernetic limb implants without going insane. • In, scientists have developed special particles that allow.and the only use this technology sees is in high stakes duels using plastic model kits.

By the character, who enters the Gunpla Battle tournament to investigate the Plavsky Particles and see if they can be used for other, more practical pursuits. : • The biggest examples of this trope in DC, or even comics in general, have to be Johnny Thunder and his successor, Jakeem. Here are two guys who had a Genie at their command, with no limitations on the number of wishes, and they only ever used it to fight crime? There was a storyline where he started to feel bad that he wasn't doing more to solve people's non-crime-related problems and - against the advice of his elders in the - he decided to start granting wishes for anyone who wanted his help.

Lines formed around the block, near riots broke out if he tried to take a break; it soon occurred to him that if he kept it up, he would be spending the rest of his life granting other people's wishes 24/7 (hey, he can wish to not have to sleep, right?). The people waiting in line for wishes considered this an acceptable sacrifice; Jakeem, not so much. • in general has often wrestled with the fact that he can't use his superpowers to simply force away wide-ranged problems plaguing humanity. Attempts to bring about world peace by disposing of nuclear weapons in or of. His attempt to cure starvation in poverty-stricken countries is detailed in the graphic novel 'Peace On Earth'. This results in being that these are things that will only be solved when all of humanity chooses to solve them. There are often short-lived depictions of him going too far in forcing humanity to follow his ideals to solve these problems, thus becoming a.

• A famous story by, 'Must There Be A Superman?' Involves the subtly hinting to Superman that there is a real danger of his doing too much for humanity, and stunting our society by making us too dependent on him; he sees the wisdom of it and reluctantly takes their advice to heart, resolving not to try and solve some problems people are better off fixing with their own two hands. The theme is revisited a few years later in 'Superman's Day Of Destiny,' when Destiny note Yep, Destiny was a character long before he appeared in himself shows up to reiterate the point. • A similar point is brought up in the story 'Last Family of Krypton', where Superman's parents also escape Krypton's destruction. Jor-El uses his advanced knowledge to help humanity, but the Guardians point out that he's stifling human progress by making them reliant on him.

They also mention that the House of El's interfering in human events has robbed Earth of three great heroes (,, and ) by preventing the events that lead to their genesis note Lara saved the Waynes, Jor-El's satellites rescued Oliver Queen from the desert island almost immediately, and their twin children prevented the lightning storm that gave Barry Allen his powers. • In, Superman privately admits that he fears the JLA may be stunting humanity's growth and they're doing too much for the world.

('s fear is the opposite - that the Avengers can't do enough.) • This trope was used to justify Barbara '/Oracle' Gordon remaining wheelchair-bound despite the ready availability of possible cures. She doesn't want to receive special treatment and therefore dishonor public servants who were disabled in the line of duty; either a cure becomes available for everyone, or she stays in the chair. That raises the question of why the numerous cures can't be made available to the public. The New 52 reboot, having her undergo a procedure to restore the use of her legs. • Lampshade hung, and almost subverted in James Robinson's, where the original Starman (the title character's father) dedicated his later years to turning his cosmic rod into a more general energy source that would revolutionize the world.

Although a visitor from the future claimed his success led to him becoming a scientific hero on the level of Einstein, it never actually happened in the present day DCU. • Stories set during explained why the superheroes didn't just Blitzkrieg into Berlin and end the war: Adolf Hitler had acquired, which he could use to control any superpowered being that entered the boundaries of the Reich.

(The same was true of Imperial Japan and the.) Later, Hitler's belief in the Spear's power was discussed in an episode of. • The was unable to stop the attack on Pearl Harbor because they had been transported to another dimension by an Axis sorcerer during the attack. However, no convincing reason has been given as to why the Justice Society was unable and/or unwilling to stop the Soviet conquest of Eastern Europe. • In 's, the title character contemplates using his powers to restore the ecologically damaged areas of the world. However, Swamp Thing states that if he would heal all of humanity's wounds, humans would further abuse the environment to maximize profit knowing full well that Swamp Thing was there to correct all the mistakes. • In #7 (third series) asks the Spectre why he doesn't cure his HIV-positive friend Amy Beiterman. The Spectre responds that if he cures Amy, then there is nowhere to draw the line in curing the millions of sick people worldwide.

At that point, the Spectre asks 'Where do you draw the line? Abolish death itself?' • Likewise, the Alan Scott Green Lantern was outright terrified of his ring in a few continuities. In a Batman: Black and White story, he joins Batman in searching a group of gangsters who nearly burned down the Gotham Broadcasting Building. In it, he effortlessly turns Batman invisible, travels back in time to save the gangsters (with zero timeline repercussions), uses the standard Green Lantern constructs, and more. He confesses that he eventually came to fear the sheer power of the ring, and that was the precise reason he abandoned Gotham - the city needs a hero. • Nightshade from the has lent her ability to transport instantly through the dark dimension.

This power could revolutionize space exploration but most people are scared senseless if not driven insane by passing through this dimension. Chimpanzee (Aka Detective Chimp) once got a hold of 's helmet (and all of its mystic powers) and quickly pondered about using his newfound powers to solve all the world's problems. However, his powers also showed him the terrible after effects of such a change in the world's balance (for example, deleting a disease from existence would open the way for a newer, deadlier disease filling the gap). Eventually he gets rid of the helmet and uses his remaining powers to help people by solving as many unsolved crimes he could while his mystical powers last.

• In the JLA story 'Divided We Fall', runs into a type of extradimensional wish-granter named Id, and upon doing so, is wowed by all the possibilities open to him on improving the world, tempted to fix all of life's problems with simple wishes. But he's enough to know that since Id is a and has seen the wishes he grants always occur in the most horrible ways (like seeing that a boy's father because the kid made incorrect wording on his wish), it'd be safer just to turn him down.

• In the Hawkworld Armageddon 2001 annual, the corporate backers of the Chicago PD offer to build and Hawkwoman more efficient jet packets. In order to do this, the company says that they need access to Thangarian technology. Hawkman says that Earth is. • One of the biggest examples in the DC Universe is The Brain, of the original Brotherhood of Evil lineup (from ), who remains, despite the wide variety of cybernetic body parts. Although, back in the 1960s, he did have a body made out of pure energy for a while.

• In the Batman story 'Ticket to Tragedy' (Detective Comics No. 481), Alfred's cousin, the heart surgeon Sir Basil Smythe, develops a revolutionary heart surgical procedure. However, Smythe is so depressed with all the inhumanity in the world that he thinks about burning all his notes on the procedure. He promises to share it with the public if Batman finds the man who murdered his friend. Batman succeeds in capturing the criminal. • Explored in Dennis O'Neil's writing of Justice League of America back in the late 1960s/70s where the titular characters discuss the ethics of participating in the research study of this one psychology professor.

• In the above-mentioned JLA/Avengers crossover, Superman notes how civilian technology in the Marvel Earth was substantially behind that of DC Earth. At the time of the story, Metropolis was a futuristic city built on Brainiac technology, a RARE, non-handwaved example of this trope being inverted in the DC Universe (at least until it was undone in 2004). • Sentient battle androids (the GI Robots) have been constructed since WW II for the Allies, yet this seemed to have NO effect on consumer electronic technology.

• In 's review of Rise of Arsenal he points out the titular character getting a robotic arm transplant and wonders just how available robotic limbs are to the DC Universe's general public. Linkara also asks if the DC superheroes can clone body parts, then why is still stuck in his cybernetic body. Note Cyborg actually was in a cloned body at the time of Linkara's review. For a while in the 90's, he looked perfectly human, and had the ability to switch back and forth between his organic and armored forms at will.

Then hit, leaving him permanently trapped in his armored form, which was done to make him look closer to his original, iconic appearance. • Lampshade hung with (2004 series, Kate Spencer version) in which the titular character tells her technical support and former supervillain weapons designer, Dylan Battles, to imagine what would happen if he focused his talents on curing cancer. • Discussed when Lex Luthor dated Lana Lang/Matrix. Lex noted that if Supergirl's shapeshifting molecules could be duplicated, then it would ruin the fashion industry. •: The Legion of Doom start using their skills to help humanity, such as Captain Cold creating oases in the Sahara. They call out the superheroes for not doing the same.

Turns out they're controlled by Brainiac and are just using their humanitarian aid as a vector for his mind-controlling bots. Universe: • Upon regaining his human form, (Alec Holland) tries to replicate the eco-restorative formula that originally gave him his superpowers. Alec then decides to destroy the formula, believing (from his own experiences as Swamp Thing) that the plant world is quite violent and that submerging the Earth in it would be a bad thing.

• assassinates a philanthropist who is reverse engineering super-villain technology for benevolent causes (e.g. Using freeze guns to reverse polar ice cap melting). No reason is given for Deathstroke being hired to kill the philanthropist. •: One anti-ballistic personalized force field costs $2 billion to make and $500,000/day to operate. Not something the normal person can afford. • Team 7: A floating (seemingly inescapable) prison, powered by inertial fusion, is created to hold metahumans.

The alternative energy is prohibitively expensive, and the prison fails to protect its workers and inmates from an Eclipso infestation. • After cures a boy's brain tumor, our titular character offers to cure the wheelchair-confined Dr.

Megala declines, saying that having full possession of his physical faculties would distract him from his subatomic research. Megala also states that there are other ways to get out of the chair. Atom eventually undoes the cure, feeling that it puts him on a slippery slope towards power abuse. • In the first issue of David Walker's, a group of disability activists are shown protesting outside S.T.A.R. Labs, asking why the scientists haven't shared the tech that saved Victor's life with the public. It turns out that Congress hasn't approved the use of cybernetic technology to replace lost limbs, though there are back alley surgeons willing to provide cybernetic prosthetics for a price. • In, Batwing uses his engineering know-how to create an arsenal of advanced, non-lethal weapons to be used by Gotham's police force.

Quickly points out that while the weapons are effective, they're so expensive to produce that no police force on Earth could actually afford them. • Similarly to the page image, reveals that the Justice League has access to universal translators that are designed to work across dimensions. They still haven't distributed it to the republic and Robin actually pilfered one for his own use. DC's Animated Universes: • The beginning of the animated movie lampshades this, as it shows Supes unsuccessfully trying to cure cancer; he comments how odd it is that, even with all of Kryptonian technology at his disposal and all of the unbelievable things he's done, he's never been able to help Earth beyond 'being its resident strong man'. His immediate reaction to every threat the movie throws at him after that is 'hit it with my fists until it stops moving', so maybe that's his own fault. Caddo Parish School Board Drivers Education. Contrast with in the film, who is shown having completed a one-dose cure for any type of disease. Then starts working on a way to make it a life-long treatment for a specific disease so he can get more money for each dose.

• has the seemingly retired, former Blue Beetle convincing the current Blue Beetle to help put the alien technology that gives him his powers to greater use via a fleet of perpetual-energy machines and robots that'll irrigate the Sahara, end world hunger and turn the world into a paradise. It doesn't work out that way, but neither Batman nor the Blue Beetle stops to wonder if such a plan really wouldn't be better than just using it to beat up crooks.

The former Blue Beetle was actually dead, this guy was an impostor, and he planned to use the robots to conquer the world. • In both the heroes and the villains (most visibly, Lex) have super-advanced technology coming out the wazoo, and there are only two attempts made by any character to use their technology and/or abilities to make the world a better place in a way that doesn't involve hitting things until they stop moving. The first is Wally running a new heart across the US for a transplant (and that was the only time it was ever even considered, and even then only because the recipient was a Queen) and the other is the Reach, who are only doing it to soften up Earth for an invasion. : • The is Reed Richards, better known as Mr. Fantastic, leader of the. Commander In Chief Geopolitical Simulator Crack there.

A certified super-genius and one of the smartest people in the whole universe, he regularly invents mind-bending devices that tell physics where to shove it, but almost never devotes his considerable talents to anything other than superheroics. While Marvel has attempted to justify his lack of in various ways, including that his inventions are too expensive and that nobody else can understand them, the real reason is that allowing him to make a real difference would make the world far too different to reality. The justification being used in Jonathan Hickman's run on Fantastic Four and F.F. And by Bendis in the universe, is that it's his family which prevents Reed from putting all his efforts into changing the world. He has to choose between being a loving father and husband and devoting himself to advancing humanity (although why Reed can't take a middle ground has yet to be explained). It's implied that the world is lucky when Reed takes the first option since, if he doesn't or if things don't work out between him and Sue, he becomes a (Hickman's books) or full on villain (the Ultimate 'verse).

• Other justifications given (making this both the and the ) is that while a lot of Reed's stuff does get patented, he avoids a lot of dangerous superhero stuff like the death rays and portals to hell that can't be trusted to the general public. Also, many companies pay him explicitly not to patent his stuff because they know they can't keep up with his inventions, which would put millions of people out of work. In, it's revealed that prior to his, Reed had been involved in numerous lawsuits regarding the unauthorized use of advanced technology he'd been developing. It's stated that the combined amount of money he'd gotten from his patents and lawsuits was well over 5 billion dollars. • has a healing ray machine that can regenerate full-body third-degree-burn patients to full health in a day. Being the bad guy, he hasn't released it.

But Reed hasn't even tried to duplicate or reverse-engineer that project. And Reed not only knows about the device (it appeared in Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, Reed's had possession of Doom's castle at least twice since that story arc. This gizmo appears to have been derived from Battleworld technologies that can revive people to full health so long as any remote spark of life still exists in their body, which makes the lack of creation of similar technology by Richards look even worse by comparison. • Tony Stark a.k.a. Is, depending on the invention, one of the more justified versions of the trope.

Regarding his signature invention, he constantly has to struggle between the potential good of releasing or mass-producing his Iron Man suit and all the related technological advancements behind it for the good of the world, with the potential harm it would do if all the supervillains out in the world reverse-engineered it and turned it on its head. (The Armor Wars storyline actually dealt with the ramifications of the latter.) Several stories have dealt with the trade-off and it rarely is as much of a as with most heroes capable of producing such revolutionary inventions. Although, when the series started in the sixties, technology still used transistors and vacuum tubes. Iron Man's armor worked with a set of miniaturized transistors. What is a set of miniaturized transistors? We owe modern computers, cellphones, and almost all the electronics that we have now to. • As points out, the same thing happened with the.

Because the is such a, Reed Richards actually invented years before any of these appeared in the real world. • The graphic novel The Death of hung a lampshade on this by claiming that every (mortal) sentient race has a disease similar to cancer, and many of the races had already found a cure for their race's version of the disease. Furthermore, when Rick Jones appeals to the superheroes who are scientists and doctors to find a cure for Mar-Vell's cancer, they find themselves uncomfortably realizing they could have made this kind of effort beforehand for others.

The superheroes do manage to develop a tunic that slows down Captain Marvel's cancer by 20%, although no explanation is made if they developed a similar device for humans. • The fictional African nation of Wakanda is, due to a surreptitious abundance of as a natural resource, more advanced than even first world nations. This does not extend to any other part of Africa we see, though this is probably why writers don't show it very much, although to their credit from fairly early on they attempted to justify it by having the Wakandans have a policy of isolation that goes back centuries, due to a belief that and would only use their tech for evil. Fair, but that doesn't explain why they refuse to share non-harmful inventions.

For example, the Wakandans have also cured cancer but are holding out on the rest of the world; when Captain Mar-Vell was dying of cancer, the was there and said he could do nothing due to the long term effects of Mar-Vell's nega-bands. But that still doesn't explain why Wakanda withholds its cancer cures from the rest of the world.

During ' run, Black Panther and Iron Man were seen signing documents to allow portions of their tech to be shared with the world for the betterment of mankind; nothing ever came of this, and the documents were never mentioned again. • During the storyline, reveals that he has the cure for cancer, too. Except he decides to use it on after the Merc With A Mouth goes on a for Osborn stealing his thunder at the end of. • 's webbing. Real life spider silk is, pound for pound, stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar, as flexible as yarn, and incredibly lightweight.

It's also prohibitively hard to manufacture, as spiders don't 'farm' well. Peter Parker somehow has managed to manufacture synthetic spider silk that's cost-effective enough for him to always be in supply; while it does dissolve after about an hour, no adhesive company seems interested in buying the formula and tweaking it to last longer. • Parodied in: Spidey explains to the students in class how instead of and the students ask why he didn't just patent his webbing and make millions that he could donate to needy charities. Spidey counters that he'd have to give up his secret identity to patent it, but one of them points out he could have used proxies in the form of shell companies to hide the source of the webbing note It's justified for his youth since when he was starting his career as a hero he was a poor student without the money, connections or knowledge of business law to be able to pull it off. Now he rubs elbows with the likes of Tony Stark and, both highly competent businessmen. • He did once attempt to sell his webbing to an adhesive company early in the comics history, but they turned him down when it dissolved.

He even tried to explain that he could tweak the formula to last longer, but they wouldn't hear it and sent him on his way. Note This isn't as far-fetched as it sounds.

There are many, many examples of companies. • See also in the Film section. • Spidey himself lampshades this trope in an X-Men crossover when he points out to Sauron that if he's smart enough to rewrite people's DNA and turn them into dinosaurs, he could use the same technology to cure cancer. Sauron: But I don't want to cure cancer.

I want to turn people into dinosaurs. • Amazingly, in the era, Peter is actually averting this trope via his Parker Industries.

So far, we know that he's developed a watch that acts like a much more hi-tech iPhone which is incredibly popular around the world. This aversion is also present in the Horizon Labs period, where many of the inventions Parker creates to fight super villains are turned to civilian use, like cryo-cubes for organ transport. He created the cryo-cube technology for use against Hydro-Man.

• This premise is partly explained by the Marvel Universe's Watchers' intention not to interfere in the affairs of other races. They originally shared their scientific knowledge with a primitive alien race who used the newfound knowledge to become spacefaring.

Eventually this alien race with abundant technological gains declared war on a race far more powerful than them and were obliterated as a result. This led the Watchers to being non-interventionists. • Naturally, all of Marvel's brains turn up useless.

In, none of Marvel's brains were able to prevent Aunt May's death (or remember the things which have healed much worse injuries). Including, who (totally removed from his ability to alter the fabric of the universe at w.