Welcome back, nerd squad.
Where would our heroes be without flaws and relatable moments?
Without those they would be too unreachable for us.
We'd read their stories and feel no connection to them.
In order to make a story memorable, you need to ground some of it in reality.
People can have super strength and we can accept it as long as we still get to them
struggle.
The struggle can be internal or external, that's not as important.
What is important is that it feels like something we can understand.
The more we can identify with the characters, the more drawn to the story we'll be.
Hence why superheroes need to mess up every now and then.
Because it's relatable.
Who among us hasn't one failed at something and felt some shame or embarrassment around
it?
That's what we'll be examining today in the world of our supers as we count down top 10
superheroes who embarrassed themselves.
And if you enjoy this video, you should ask us for a supervillain one.
Supervillains have to be quite flawed in order for them to be defeated so often.
And defeat can lead to some pretty great embarrassing moments.
Trust me.
Be sure to stick around for some bonus content at the end of this video.
Alright, let's get counting.
10 Robin
Although Robin could classified as a sidekick, this moment happened when he was the leader
of the Teen Titans.
So I'm going to consider him a superhero for the sake of this video.
In vol 1 issue 4 of the Teen Titans, in the 1960s, Robin went to the 1964 Olympics with
the rest of the team plus additional guest member, Speedy.
He went there to help encourage Davey Bradley compete in the Olympics.
However the team come up against the agents of Diablo and are knocked out a trapped, having
to be saved by Bradley himself.
The fact that they are saved by a shy Olympic runner is not the embarrassing part.
The part where Robin is defeated by hurdles is.
Not by doing them unfortunately.
But still pretty hilariously by having them thrown at him.
He gets all tangled in them but the panel before shows him with both hands free.
Isn't Robin supposed to be nimble and strong?
They acknowledge his Impossible strength in this very comic!
And yet he cannot catch the hurdles.
Instead, he gets all tangled in them.
Oh the 60s, a time when superheroes could pretty much be stopped by a banana peel.
9 Hal Jordan
So there are many good moments when it comes to the Green Lanterns embarrassing themselves.
Guy Gardner has almost done enough jerkish and embarrassing things for the rest of the
entire corps just by himself, like that time he mooned Batman.
Though I'm sure to him it was not really embarrassing.
But he's not the only one to be involved in embarrassing acts.
Hal Jordan has also had a few moments I'm sure he wished never happened.
Namely one in All Star Batman and Robin where Batman proved how much of a next level jerk
he was when he and Robin donned yellow and then while Batman was having an argument with
Hal, had Robin paint the entire room they were in yellow.
And embarrassing weakness of Green Lanterns is the colour yellow.
This ridiculous weakness was later explained as having to do with Parallax being imprisoned
in the Central Power Battery.
The cherry on top of this moment was when Batman encourages Hal to try the lemonade.
Savage.
All Star Batman is such a bully.
8 Reed Richards
While Richard's may not have embarrassed himself in the literal sense, here.
I'm pretty sure he embarrassed his comic book counterpart.
The 2000s Fantastic Four film, the Rise of the Silver Surfer, features a scene where
some of the team head to a dance club.
He goes out onto the dance floor, surrounded by gorgeous ladies and finds himself awkwardly
shuffling.
They encourage him to loosen up.
And, I think you know what comes next.
He starts stretching all over the place, dancing like only Mr Fantastic can but also in a way
that no one needed to imagine or see.
Oddly enough everyone seems very impressed by this ridiculous display.
Until Sue Storm walks in and then Reed Richard's seems to feel pretty embarrassed about wrapping
his stretched limbs around all those ladies on the dance floor.
At least this version of Richard's seems to register when he's made a fool of himself
in front of Sue.
7 Tony Stark
While Tony Stark has seen a huge resurgence in popularity because of Robert Downey Jr's
portrayal of him in the MCU.
He wasn't always so great.
In fact in the comic world, he is well known for being a big jerk half of the time.
Even young Tony Stark after the death of evil older Tony Stark who was working with Kang,
manages to somehow be a jerk.
His older self dies, and his reaction, though somewhat warranted is simply to shout, "Aaamazing!"
Yeesh.
Alcoholism has also lead to a few embarrassing moments for the hero, even in the MCU, like
in Iron Man 2 when he peed himself in his Iron Man suit after DJing and dancing around
like this.
[link in script] He may have not felt the embarrassment then but Pepper Potts and Rhodey
were definitely feeling it for him.
6 Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is an insanely powerful superhero.
She has superspeed, super strength, can fly, she is telepathic to an extent, can speak
any language and is one of the few heroes with super breath.
With all those superpowers she doesn't really need a shield but she still sort of gets one
in the form of her bracelets.
Her bracelets allow her to deflect almost any kind of attack.
In her standalone film we saw her use them to deflect an insane amount of bullets, maybe
more than the actual shield she was armed with.
But as much as her bracelets are a strength they are also an embarrassing weakness.
Any time she allows herself to get captured by a man and they chain her bracelets she
becomes completely depowered.
It's like her Kryptonite.
Why?
Because Amazon law wants her to feel shame and embarrassment at getting captured by a
man.
Definitely a law made women.
Punishing you with shame!
How dare.
5 Superman
While Superman has managed to perform surgery and has powers that allow him to speed read
and learn faster than almost anyone on the planet, it is embarrassingly easy to fool
him apparently.
At least it was once upon a time.
Way back in the comics, Lex Luthor had a plot to become a seamster of sorts in order to
create a new costume for Superman.
He manages to convince Superman to let him do so while in disguise and builds a costume
for the hero that has within it Kryptonite.
Is it somehow sewn into the fabric?
How does Superman not notice it?
Because Luthor sews the lumpy rock into the lining, encasing it in lead, the only substance
Superman's X-Ray vision does not work on.
Still though, wouldn't he feel it and wonder what it was?
Notice he couldn't X-ray through to see it and be suspicious and at least ask.
Nope.
Embarrassingly Superman appears to dumb to notice.
Like, I know Lex is supposed to be a super genius and all but that's a pretty embarrassing
defeat for Superman.
4 Gladiator
Remember that time Rocket Racoon defeated Gladiator just by telling him he could?
Okay, so he also had a really big gun, more specifically a zarthian-built quantum cannon.
Still Gladiator is a really strong superhero.
He is one of the few Marvel heroes with super breathe.
He can fly, is near invulnerable.
Beyond that he can move faster than the speed of sound.
If he had wanted to, he could have just dodged the shot from Rocket's cannon.
But his power level is intrinsically linked to his self esteem.
So Rocket was able to defeat him simply by saying he could.
This statement put doubt in Kallark's mind in regards to him being able to beat Rocket.
So for all his amazing powers and strength, he was defeated by a mere taunt.
3 Wasp
While there are many advantages to being able to shrink yourself like Ant-Man and the Wasp,
there are some negatives.
Especially in the comics coming out of the 60s, during a time when even female superheroes
were painted as damsels in distress constantly.
Janet was such a victim in this embarrassing time in comics.
While fleeing a battle, she is almost killed by a sparrow.
Yeah, a sparrow almost ate her.
Of course, she comes up with the smart plan of growing larger just as it lands to take
a nibble.
This saves her from being eaten but her weight causes the branch she's sitting on to snap
and she falls to the ground and is knocked unconscious.
Fortunately there isn't anyone really around for her to embaress herself in front of.
Except for all of us readers of course.
2 Alan Scott
Alan Scott was the first Green Lantern and in All American Comics issue 16 in 1940.
He shared similar abilities with those Green Lanterns that would come after him, however,
due to his Green Lantern ring.
But one thing that he experienced that was quite... different was a strange weakness.
A weakness for wood.
Actual wood, of course.
He found this out soon after his adventures when he was beaten with a wooden club.
Embarrassingly Alan constantly found himself troubled by any wooden weapon that villains
tried to use on him or lob at him.
One panel even shows him just getting his with a log.
Much later in the comics around in volume 3 of Green Lantern from the 90s, DC would
attempt to retcon his story but not fix this weakness, but to justify it.
Leaving Alan Scott to be pretty much embarrassed for eternity.
1 Spider-Man
While Alan Scott may have a weakness that causes him many embarrassing moments, no one
can compete with Spider-Man.
Being a teenage superhero pretty much equals always being embarrassed.
Beyond the embarrassing moments, Peter has experienced in the comics.
Like giving a speech on how he'd saved the day after possibly snapped Gwen Stacey's neck
while attempting to save her or Black Widow throwing up after kissing him.
Many of his embarrassing moments have involved ladies.
This one may come from a film and not a comic yet it still also involves Peter's not so
smooth moves.
In Spider Man 3, Macguire plays Peter who attempts a weird jazz dance sequence involving
Gwen in order to make his ex, MJ jealous.
While the entire scene is embarrassing, the worst part is that it doesn't even work in
regards to impressing either lady.
Also Spider Man 3 is full of embarrassing dance scenes.
Remember when MJ and Harry did the twist?
Thank you so much for watching.
I hope you all weren't too embaressed on your superheroes behalf.
It really is great that heroes get to have these moments written in.
For many of them, what shames them makes them accessible.
Like Gladiator's lack of self esteem.
Sure, it's a little silly sounding in comics.
But self doubt and lack of self worth are supe relatable feelings.
These characters make us feel like we are not alone when it comes to turning 12 shades
of pink when we otherwise might feel alone.
Speaking of not feeling alone, let's turn that bonus content which is coming at you
in the form of comments from one of my latest videos, Top 10 MCU controversies you won't
believe!
Allan Reele says "No Black Widow clones?
Says the Black Widow clone...
Just kidding, Amanda."
I promise I am not a Black Widow clone.
I actually don't even think I really look like Natasha myself but ScarJo & Black Widow
are both gorgeous.
So thank you to all who make that comparison.
I'll take it. <3
Christian Start says "I cried when Natasha died in the movie.
F you movie!"
Me too, me too.
I was like nooooo, first Gamaro now Natasha.
I can't deal with this stupid soul stone.
If they don't find a way to get Natasha or Gamora back, I'm going
to be so sad forever.
And that's all the time we have for comments today.
How do you feel about superheroes when it comes to embarrassing moments?
Are there any super embarrassing superhero moments that you feel we missed?
Comment below for a chance to have your comment potentially featured in a future video.
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This has been top 10 nerd and I'm your host, Amanda McKnight, reminding you as always to
stay nerdy, YouTube.