Glossary:R
From Marvel Database
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Radar Sense
An extrasensory means of perception by which the brain generates electromagnetic waves which travel outward, bounce off objects, and are again picked up by the brain, which thus determines what its surroundings are.
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Reality warper
Reality warping is the ability to alter reality, and is often regarded as the ultimate superpower among comic fans. Generally, it translates as the ability to reshape matter and energy, turn a person's thoughts or desires into reality, bend time and space just as the Phoenix Force does to travel across timelines, and bend, twist or possibly even rewrite the laws of physics. The Joker, wielding the power of Mr. Mxyzptlk as "Emperor Joker", was even able to rewrite logic itself, for example, making the whole world believe that 2 + 2 equals "fish".
Some of the most extreme reality warpers, like Mxyzptlk and James Jaspers, are not even limited by their own physical bodies and can alter their own stature and appearance at will to become whatever they want to be, no matter how bizarre it might be. This ability seems to go far beyond anything that "ordinary" shapeshifters like Mystique and Morph could even think of in their wildest imagination. Most reality warping individuals, at least in Marvel comics, tend to be mutants.
Marvel's Mutant Reality Warpers Some Marvel Mutants with potential for reality warping encountered in Marvel comics are, amongst others:
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For a list of reality warpers, see Category:Reality Warpers
Reboot
Reboot, means to discard all previous continuity in the series and start anew. Effectively, all previously-known history is declared by the writer to be null and void and the series starts over from the beginning.
This differs from a creator producing a separate interpretation of another creator's work; rather, the owner of the creation declares that the rebooted continuity is now the official version.
This term is often applied to comic books, where the prevailing continuity can be very important to the progress of future installments, acting (depending on circumstances and one's point of view) as a rich foundation from which to develop characters and storylines, or as a box limiting the story options available to tell and an irreconcilable mess of contradictory history. Such large continuities also become a barrier to introducing newcomers to the fandom, as the complex histories are difficult to learn, and make understanding the story very difficult; a reboot gives the chance for new fans to experience the story by reintroducing it in smaller and easier to understand installments.
Examples
- In the mid-1990s, Marvel Comics turned several of their titles over to studios affiliated with Image Comics, and these titles (Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Avengers, and Iron Man — the Hulk would be included in this trend only as a character, but without his own title) were rebooted in their own separate universe, while the rest of Marvel's line maintained the original continuity in which the affected characters were presumed to have died in a cataclysmic battle. The rebooted titles lasted only a year, at which point the heroes involved returned to the original universe. See Heroes Reborn.
- In addition, Marvel Comics also published Spider-Man: Chapter One by John Byrne, which was meant to be a complete reboot to the Spider-Man series and was treated as such until editorial changes caused the series to reboot itself, making all changes null and void.
- In 2000, Marvel launched the Ultimate Marvel line of comic books that rebooted the Marvel Universe. The Ultimate series was intended to modernize the characters, to rewrite the individual characters into a more cohesive universe, and to make the series more appealing to non-Marvel fans; the huge back-story of the Marvel Universe, made it very difficult for newcomers to understand the characters and storylines. Unlike most reboots, however, the original Marvel Universe continued to publish as well. This makes the two lines appear to be parallel Universes rather than a true reboot.
- Between 2003-2005, Marvel ran Supreme Power, a modernization of Squadron Supreme; like the Ultimate Marvel line, Supreme Power ran concurrently with the main Marvel comic lines as an "Alternate Universe", instead of replacing them.
(See Also: Canon, Retcon)
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Reflexes
The ability to react to danger with great speed or hightened abilities. For example the Taskmaster has Photographic Reflexes and can reproduce anything he sees to aid him.
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Repulsor
A Repulsor is an electronic device which uses particle beam technology to project a blast of concussive energy. Repulsor blasts may be directed by magnets and focused by electrostatic lenses, although they may also be self-focusing. One of the luminaries of repulsor design technology is Anthony Stark, who has incorporated them into every iteration of his patented Iron Man armors. Constructed using micro-circuitry, these repulsors are implemented into the palms of his battlesuit and are one of the armor's primary offensive tools.
(See Also: Anthony Stark; Iron Man Armor)
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Retcon
A retcon (short for retroactive continuity) is, in a nutshell, a storyteller's tool that adds previously unknown material to an event in a previous story. As with any tool, the quality of the finished product depends on the user's skill and intent.
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| A retcon can be a good thing. If your favorite villain seemed to die in his last outing, you might prefer to believe that he didn't really die, so that he can make another appearance. A writer can (and usually does) oblige you by "resurrecting" that villain. Suppose that Doctor Doom, when you last saw him, was clinging to an asteroid on its way to the edge of the solar system. You would have to assume that he died, although you wouldn't know it for certain. Now suppose that, months later, another writer wants to bring Doctor Doom into another story. It would strain your credulity to see him alive with no explanation. Continuity, an element of good storytelling, demands that the writer explain how Doom returned from his trip into space. The writer tells you something you didn't know at the time—"of course Doom has a jetpack built into his armor"—problem solved. With few exceptions, a writer will leave some ambiguity in these situations, precisely so that later writers can use the character again. A retcon can also solve problems created by other writers. In a serial medium such as comic books, the creative teams change from time to time, and each team has its own conceptions of the characters. If the previous team made a change that doesn't fit in with the new team's ideas, they can explain it away. In an extreme example of such a retcon, an entire season of the television series Dallas was undone by retroactively presenting it as a bad dream of one of the characters. On the other hand, a retcon can be a bad thing. The only rule in writing is that there are no rules, but there are guidelines. Guideline #1: play by the rules. All fiction depends on suspension of disbelief, your willingness to accept a story on its face. It may violate the rules of our world, but you ignore the impracticality as long as the story is internally consistent. In this type of bad retcon, someone does something out of character, or something happens that directly contradicts what previous writers have accepted as true. In other words, the retcon involves something inconsistent with the accepted "laws" of that fictional world. Guideline #2: use them sparingly. A retcon pulls you out of the story for a moment, forcing you to evaluate it in light of what you already know. If it's plausible and consistent, you'll accept it quickly and go on with the story. Further retcons keep pulling you back out of the story and ruin the experience. Guideline #3: keep it simple. A retcon adds new material to an old story. If you have read the old story, or first read it at a later time, you will feel cheated because so much was "left out." Guideline #4: show respect. Some comic-book events have become legends. Changing them retroactively cheapens them. |
For a good example of bad retcons, see the Clone Saga.
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Robot
A mechanical entity sometimes but not always possessing a humanoid configuration. Compare with android, cyborg, synthezold.
This could include androids, synthezoids, artificial intelligences and golems.
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