Superhuman speed and g-force

There are a lot of superhero movies out there. Many different superpowers are featured. Some are overused to the point of becoming clichés. Among these is superhuman speed.


When you really take the time to think about it, superhuman speed can be problematic. It may not be so bad if you look from the perspective of the superhero. What if you look from the perspective of the people and even objects they are dealing with? The g-forces would be absolutely insane.

Imagine being hit by a semi-truck. While it is true that the heroes have less mass, their abilities allow them to move entire bodies. That is a lot of sudden force to allow that movement.

Stopping is another problem. The sudden nature of stops means that being saved would be like jumping off a diving board into a pool of concrete. The truth is that saving an individual using superhuman speed would likely actually kill the person being saved.

Dealing with various objects would cause similar problems. Very few objects can handle the kind of force being portrayed in the movies. If such a superhero moves something while moving fast, what they are moving will likely be damaged if not completely destroyed. This includes just about any object you can imagine. Simply opening a door would likely rip the door off of its hinges. At least.