Obsidian Fire
Ahk Morn!
- AKA
- The Engineer
Someone had an interesting perspective on the "superhero registration act" angle on TvTropes:
The most realistic take on this that I've seen would be the web-novel Curveball where while there isn't an official registration act per say, "metahumans" are only officially recognized as superheros (with all the perks involved with that term) if they're open to government oversight. This has lead to superheros forming their own micro-nations, and "vigilantes" getting warrants for their arrests for major property damage even while violent crime rate plummet in the areas their working in.
My response ended up being this:Every time superhero stories mention a registration act - a rather reasonable idea when dealing with supernaturally empowered behemoths and self-appointed enforcers of justice - it's invariably for the idea to be condemned, no matter how many leaps of logic it takes. The big two superhero films coming out this year both revolve around the issue of accountability, but you can bet dollars to rubles that the conclusion will be the one enforcing the status quo - namely, that anonymous civilians are perfectly justified in operating military-grade weaponry (or inherent biological equivalents thereof), frequently in foreign states, and that anyone trying to curb such heroics is totally badwrong.
The superhero registration act thing is more of an American reaction to the idea then anything else. Being required to inform the government about something that often the person has no control over having (as opposed to using it) is going to ping the personal freedom radar no matter who is in charge of the government.
It would probably be presented a lot differently if the superhero genre had gotten started in Europe instead of America.
The most realistic take on this that I've seen would be the web-novel Curveball where while there isn't an official registration act per say, "metahumans" are only officially recognized as superheros (with all the perks involved with that term) if they're open to government oversight. This has lead to superheros forming their own micro-nations, and "vigilantes" getting warrants for their arrests for major property damage even while violent crime rate plummet in the areas their working in.