This a story idea: a super hero story but set in Biblical times.
Posted by Ripper691990@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 22 comments
I’m not saying like write it in to the Bible stories itself but have it set during that era. I’ve read SciFi stories that take place in that time period like Tower of Babel by Ted Chiang but never actually a super hero. Any opinions on that idea? And no Jesus doesn’t count.
JoanieC87@reddit
I'm actually writing a novel with this concept. That's why I Googled the idea, to see if anyone else has thought of it.
Ripper691990@reddit (OP)
Do tell. lol
BlockEightIndustries@reddit
You mean like Moses, aka Plague Caller? Or Elisha, aka Bear Summoner?
Ripper691990@reddit (OP)
lol okay good calls
StarsForget@reddit
The Bible already has super speed, super strength, water control, talking animals, reading minds, predicting the future, ghosts, witches, and sentient sea monsters. And that's not including stuff Jesus did.
GoatsWithWigs@reddit
I see your Biblical superhero story and I raise you: Biblical sci-fi
Instead of God being an all-powerful magic old man, God is an extradimensional collective of aliens who attempts to nudge humanity towards a better future. The aliens are the main protagonists that we root for, meanwhile the humans are semi-antagonistic and frequently sabotage themselves
Ok_Explanation_5586@reddit
Not at all this story, but Young's Literal Translation reads like high-concept sci-fi written by someone who's never heard of science. Earth already existed (yes, this is the literal Bible without interpretation) he has to put Adam in stasis to clone Eve, he straight up forgets about Noah being on the Ark for a 150 days after telling him it would rain for 40 days and nights. Wanna know how he knew Cain killed Abel? He could hear his blood SCREAMING from the ground. And this is all just Genesis. I'm still trying to figure out why Noah placed a curse on his son for seeing him naked when he got drunk and passed out. Bibles, am I right?
Ok_Explanation_5586@reddit
Edit: CRYING. My bad. God heard Abel's blood CRYING from the ground.... that uh... yup.
Xygnux@reddit
I would argue that actually superheroes that are the mythical stories but set in modern times.
beardiac@reddit
I like the idea of a pantheon of what we now assume were mythical gods could have been an ancient version of the Justice League / Avengers. Groups like the Egyptian gods would lend well to such a story.
North-Tourist-8234@reddit
Hancock prequel, im down
LazyLich@reddit
The issue with that is... how do you reconcile it with Bible lore? Or, more specifically, where are these fantastical traits coming from?
Then you gotta wrestle with how you want to portray Yahweh. Old Testament he was a pretty bloodthirsty storm god. New Testament you get 'God is love'.
You also wanna consider power-creep. Older versions of the Old Testament imply the existence of other gods, and only later did revisionists first explain away those other gods as demons, and then non-existent at all (there was a whole thing about whether something other than god can grant powers) and Yahweh is literally the only god.
THEN, you gotta decide the powerscale. OF COURSE everyone thought their god was the best, but again, older versions scale him differently.
Around 300ce or something was the whole "god is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent," clearly stated out by a priest, but the scriptures have situations where Yahweh goes things in a very roundabout way or asks questions for seemingly no reason.
You also have to decide how you want to reconcile the whole omni- thing, cause those three traits together create a paradox on Earth.
Garrettshade@reddit
I know you said Jesus doesn't count, but this one was pretty close
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiW1bH0iRag
recoveringleft@reddit
Perhaps a Jesus descendant becomes a captain america like superhero
NeuroDividend@reddit
Read the apocryphal books, that's probably the closest you'll get to a superhero type myth in that location and timeframe. For example, in the Book of Tobit, he fights off a demon with a fish lol. In the Acts of Peter, Peter uses magic to fight a sorcerer, essentially Doctor Strange stuff
handym12@reddit
Honestly, Samson and Delilah would make a great superhero/antihero style story.
Dude gets super-strength as long as he keeps the Nazarite vow - no touching dead things, no drinking booze, no cutting his hair.
He learns of his powers when he tears a lion in two when it attacks him as he's proposing to his fiancée, a Philistine.
He burns all his wife's family's food when he's jilted at the altar, then murders thousands of his wife's family when they burn his family in retaliation.
He falls in love with a prostitute who tricks him into giving away his "kryptonite" - cutting his hair.
The Philistines, who were quite upset at the thousands that he'd killed, gouge out Samson's eyes and force him to work grinding flour at the mill.
Then, in thanks to their god Dagon, they bring him to the temple and perform some sacrifices, but Samson's hair has started to grow back, so God gives him the strength to pull the temple down on all 3000 people inside, including himself.
I'd argue that Jesus is a significant "superhero", but going around making lame men walk, teaching them good morals and treating them to a picnic doesn't have as much of the tension, threat or action that Samson's story has.
jckipps@reddit
Samson would make an excellent story exactly like it's written, but I'd be afraid that too many moviegoers would already know the plot from Sunday School.
Also, anything that can be construed as a Bible story is an almost immediate turnoff for most people, no matter how perfect the plotline is.
Iarwain_ben_Adar@reddit
Gilgamesh is an X-Man.
Ripper691990@reddit (OP)
Oooooooh I just looked him up. It’s fascinating! Thanks
dragon_bacon@reddit
Samson (2018)
Ripper691990@reddit (OP)
But still good to know
Ripper691990@reddit (OP)
Not exactly what I had in mind.