Look. I know this is, like, incredibly niche, considering I’m talking symbolism in two very separate stories, but bear with me.
Ruby from Renegades. Her powers and codename. Jason Todd from the DCU. His story and codename. If you know what I’m talking about on both fronts, you already know what I’m saying, at least a little bit.
Brief explanation for the rest of you:
Ruby, alias Red Assassin (she’s never killed anyone, btw), has one super power: When she bleeds, her blood crystallizes into spikes. She makes use of this by being an incredibly efficient combatant, but her power also has symbolic depth. She is far more dangerous when injured than at any other time. Her powers symbolize the ferocity of a prey animal backed into a corner. They symbolize the rage of a victim.
Quick note: The injuries she sustained when she first gained her powers never healed, and they never stopped hurting. She’s had multiple stab wounds she had to keep bandaged since she was five years old.
Jason, alias Red Hood, does not have super powers… at least not the type that can be used against humans (he can summon magic swords, but that’s irrelevant). He’s dangerous entirely because of his combat prowess and proficiency with a variety of weapons. His story, though, is a point of interest. He grew up in a place colloquially referred to as Crime Alley, spent time homeless, and then became a child vigilante when he was adopted by an adult vigilante. A couple years later, when he was fifteen, he was captured by a villain, tortured, and murdered. He woke up in his grave six months later, dug his way out, spent time on the streets catatonic from brain damage, was semi-adopted by assassins — it’s a long story, but the point is that his story holds much of the same meaning as Ruby’s powers. His motive for both vigilantism and some villainy starts with the fact that he has been hurt. He has the rage of a victim, and I am not the first person to say that.
Quick note: His scars and brain damage were erased by a magic thing (details are irrelevant) that also caused some, uh… I honestly don’t know what to call it. Sociopathy? Insanity? Whatever, there were mental effects. I think the severity/longevity of the effects is a fandom-popular misinterpretation, but I could be wrong.
Anyway, back to my original point:
Red Assassin, who has never killed, whose powers symbolize the danger of pushing someone too far. Those powers being sourced from severe injury, which has never left her.
Red Hood, who has killed, whose story shows the danger of pushing someone too far. His greatest weakness being sourced from the healing of injuries and erasing of scars.
