History Main / FlyingBrick

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Due to the prevelence OnePersonOnePower in this series, it's very rare for someone to have multiple powers. However, there are a few examples of characters who fully or mostly qualify for this trope.
** Resident SupermanSubstitute, All Might, is a downplayed example. All Might has most of the standard powers of the trope including SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, and SuperToughness. However, instead of having true flight, All Might has NotQuiteFlight, which is possible thanks to a unique application of his super strength. All Might's super strength is strong enough to create [[BlowYouAway blasts of wind and air]] that are powerful enough to even change the weather as seen early on in the first chapter/second episode. In addition to using this as a long range attack, he also uses it to achieve psuedo flight by punching and/or kicking the air and then allowing the momentum of the air blast to propel him in the opposite direction. This can be seen during the Final Exam Arc, in the finale of the [[Anime/MyHeroAcademiaTwoHeroes first movie]], and during his final battle against All For One in the Hideout Raid Arc.
** Having inherited [[SuperEmpowering One For All]] from All Might, Izuku Midoriya has the same power that he has and is able to do pretty much everything he could do. This of course includes super strength and speed, air blasts attacks and the ability to achieve pseudo flight. However, because Midoriya is still learning to control his power, the only time he used pseudo flight was during the climax of the Internship Arc when he temporarily unlocked the usage of One For All at 100% power during his fight against Overhaul. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that One For All absorbed the Quirks of previous users, with Midoriya being the first to unlock the usage of these extra powers. This includes Nana Shimura's Quirk: Float. Meaning that Midoriya can achieve both true flight by using Shimura's Quirk, and pseudo flight by using All Might's technique once he learns to use One For All at higher percentages.]]

** All Might's predecessor, Nana Shimura, is a more straight example of this trope. Shimura had her own Quirk prior to receiving [[SuperEmpowering One For All]] called Float, which allowed her to achieve true flight unlike All Might.
** Having inherited One For All from All Might, Izuku Midoriya has the same super strength power that he has and is able to do pretty much everything he could do. This of course includes super strength and speed, air blasts attacks and the ability to achieve pseudo flight. However, because Midoriya is still learning to control his power, the only time he used pseudo flight was during the climax of the Internship Arc when he temporarily unlocked the usage of One For All at 100% power during his fight against Overhaul. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that One For All absorbed the Quirks of previous users, with Midoriya being the first to unlock the usage of these extra powers. This includes Nana Shimura's Quirk: Float. Meaning that Midoriya can achieve both true flight by using Shimura's Quirk, and pseudo flight by using All Might's technique once he learns to use One For All at higher percentages.]]
** Star and Stripe uses her RealityWarper powers to grant herself All Might's strength and speed and has Near High-End Nomu's ability to grow wings.

** Resident SupermanSubstitute, All Might, is a downplayed example. All Might has most of the standard powers of the trope including SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, and SuperToughness. However, instead of having true flight, All Might has NotQuiteFlight, which is possible thanks to a unique application of his super strength. All Might's super strength is strong enough to create [[BlowYouAway blasts of wind and air]] that are powerful enough to even change the weather as seen early on in the first chapter/second episode. In addition to using this as a long range attack, he also uses it to achieve psuedo flight by punching and/or kicking the air and then allowing the momentum of the air blast to propel him in the opposite direction. This can be seen during the Final Exam Arc, in the finale of the first movie, and during his final battle against All For One in the Hideout raid Arc.

** Having inherited One For All from All Might, Izuku Midoriya has the same super strength power that he has and is able to do pretty much everything he could do. This of course includes super strength and speed, air blasts attacks and the ability to achieve pseudo flight. However, because Midoriya is still learning to control his power, the only time he used pseudo flight was during the climax of the Internship Arc when he temporarily unlocked the usage of One For All at 100% power during his fight against Overhaul. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that One For All absorbed the Quirks of previous users, with Midoriya being the first to unlock the usage of these extra powers. This includes Nana Shimura's Quirk, Float, which Midoriya can use to achieve true flight just like she could. Meaning that Midoriya can achieve both true flight by using Shimura's Quirk, and pseudo flight by using All Might's technique once he learns to use One For All at higher percentages.]]

** Resident SupermanSubstitute, All Might, is a downplayed example. All Might has most of the standard powers of the trope including SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, and SuperToughness. However, instead of having true flight, All Might instead has NotQuiteFlight, which is possible thanks to a unique application of his super strength. All Might's super strength is strong enough to create [[BlowYouAway blasts of wind and air]] that are powerful enough to even change the weather as seen early on in the first chapter/second episode. In addition to using this as a long range attack, he also uses it to achieve psuedo flight by punching and/or kicking the air and then allowing the momentum of the air blast to propel him in the opposite direction. This can be seen during the Final Exam Arc, in the finale of the first movie, and during his final battle against All For One in the Hideout raid Arc.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
** Due to OnePersonOnePower, these are extremely rare. However, there exists a MasterApprenticeChain of Flying Bricks between Nana Shimura and Izuku Midoriya, the seventh, eighth, and ninth wielders of [[SuperStrength One For All]] respectively. Nana wielded One For All alongside her original Quirk, [[NotQuiteFlight Float]]. All Might's apprentice, Izuku [[spoiler:inherited Nana's Quirk alongside the Quirks of all the past wielders. By the time of the final arc, Izuku's power is comparable to All Might in his prime.]]

->''"My generic set of superhero abilities include enhanced vision."''
-->-- '''The Captain''', ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}''

** ''ComicBook/KryptonNoMore'': In addition to the heroes -Superman, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and Krypto-, most of the villains found in this story count: Protector, Radion and the J'ai aliens are pretty strong and can fly.

* Hawkgirl, as portrayed in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. (The comicbook versions of the Hawkfamily are a case of ClothesMakeTheSuperman.) Her edge is that she fights with an [[SwissArmyWeapon Energy Mace]], which, in addition to [[DropTheHammer smashing things]], is very useful for deflecting lasers, disrupting energy fields, and [[AntiMagic negating magic]].

-->-- '''The Captain''', ''Comicbook/{{Nextwave}}''

** In ''Comicbook/WarWorld'', Superman and Supergirl fly across the galaxy faster than light and withstand the impact of explosions that can obliterate a planet.

** In ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', Kara gets a [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Red Lantern ring]] temporarily. She gains the ability to vomit burning plasma, and her ring gives her an extra set of powers: creation of light constructs, force-fields, space warping...
** In the first issue of ''Comicbook/SupergirlRebirth'' Kara shows her flying brick skills: she survives being hurled into the Sun, flies back to Earth in a matter of seconds, and wrestles a super-strong werewolf.
** In ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'', Kara Zor-El and Linda Danvers fight Rebel, a one-time villain who is super-strong and can fly.
** In ''Comicbook/SupermanBrainiac'', Kara demonstrates her Flying Brick skills when she chases a missile that [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Brainiac]] shoots at the Sun.

* [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]] from the Comicbook/TeenTitans, though her superhuman strength is often downplayed in favor of her energy blasts and [[MsFanservice babe status]]. She's tough, but not outright invulnerable, so she straddles the line between this and FlyingFirepower.
* Kate Spencer, Comicbook/{{Manhunter|DCComics}}. [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Her supersuit gives her the strength and near-invulnerability, and her staff allows her to fly]]. She is also the granddaughter of Iron Munro (a {{Retcon}} CaptainErsatz of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Superman, though he couldn't fly) which helps with the near invulnerability part.

* Milestone hero, Comicbook/{{Icon}}, was purposefully made to be [[SupermanSubstitute Superman but if he was black]]. As such, not only does he share his origin of being an Alien, he also has most of his powers too such as Flight, SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, etc. Superman himself at one point commented that Icon is one of the few guys he knows who can fight toe to toe with him.

* Characters/TheSentry. Generally comparable to Silver Age Superman, in both raw power and power set. A weakened version was easily beating ComicBook/{{World War|Hulk}} [[Characters/IncredibleHulkBruceBanner Hulk]] before he lost control -- and that loss of control pretty much leveled Manhattan.
** Also has a lot of subconscious PsychicPowers such as giving the entire world LaserGuidedAmnesia about himself, and turning his headquarters -- a tower on top of a Manhattan skyscraper -- InvisibleToNormals.
** Also has complete control over every molecule in the universe and may or may not be either God himself or the Angel of Death. Or... something.
** [[MultipleChoicePast No one has any idea what the hell the Sentry is. Current theories include one that he subconsciously rewrites history to make his origin... whatever it is at the moment.]]
** Despite having all this power, he's practically useless as a hero since he has a lot of psychological problems and a SuperPoweredEvilSide. Which says a lot about the difference in tone between the Marvel and DC universes.

** Mar-Vell: Twist: He's a '''supersoldier''' among his kind. The Kree typically only possess twice the strength, endurance, stamina and with some invulnerability. However, various scientific experiments along with cosmic powers increased his capabilities to greater amounts while gaining his "cosmic awareness" (allowing him to know exactly what he needed to know at any moment) along with being able to absorb and manipulate energy (he usually relies on solar, but can do so with others.) Other neat tricks include some form of telekinesis, faster healing and at one point, ''changing size'' after overabsorbing massive amounts of energy through a wrecked star.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]], before her powers were permanently leeched by Rogue. But then she became Binary after being experimented on by the Brood, gaining a whole new set of powers including manipulation of the entire electromagnetic spectrum and some gravity control. And then got her old powers back with some new energy powers. She has flight, super-strength, resistance to injury, and the MostCommonSuperpower. Twist: She can absorb ambient and directed energy, and project energy blasts from her fists (though she also had a sort of "[[SpiderSense seventh sense]]"/[[BornLucky luck power]] for a while), but despite her impressive power level she has always been something of a second-stringer. This was played with in the ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' event, where in that AlternateUniverse she was the greatest non-mutant superhero in the world. And since people [[RippleEffectProofMemory kept their memories]] of the House of M reality, her knowledge that she ''could be'' that good has spurred her to new heights, her own monthly title, and leadership of Comicbook/TheAvengers.
* ''ComicBook/AdamLegendOfTheBlueMarvel'': Blue Marvel (no relation to Ms. or Captain) is another SupermanSubstitute with a similar basic set of powers. He doesn't appear quite as overpowered as Sentry or [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Supes -- though he managed to hold his own with the former for a while, but is still probably one of the most powerful [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] in terms of raw strength. Blue Marvel had the misfortune of starting his superhero career at a time when the public didn't like the idea of a black superhero. When he was accidentally unmasked, the public uproar resulted in the President asking him to retire. He got back in the game in modern times. Twist: In addition to the standard flying brick package, he is also a living '''antimatter reactor'''. He can manipulate negative matter energy from antimatter to fire energy blasts and create energy constructs. He can also manipulate matter on the molecular level, which he is more than intelligent enough to do so.
* Gladiator, from the Shi'ar empire. Twist: His actual level of power [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve depends on his confidence]]. It's implied (though the specific term isn't used) that his powers come from "tactile telekinesis" like the later version of Superboy, and he may or may not actually be aware of how his powers work.
** At full power, he's easily matching high level Thor.
** His son has the same powers, with the added caveat that he's a {{teen|sAreMonsters}}ager. Nothing, not even briefly being turned into a Brood (which he thought was awesome to the point that he didn't want to be turned back to normal), can shake up his confidence.
* The Captain in ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'' not only has these standard powers, which he [[LampshadeHanging refers to]] as his "generic set of super-hero abilities" at one point, but he also mentions the addition of telescopic sight. Twists: the first thing he did with his superpowers was beat the crap out of the [[TouchedByVorlons aliens who gave them]] to him. Once called himself "Captain ☠☠☠☠" for lack of a better name; got seven kinds of it beat out of him by Characters/{{Captain America|TitleCharacter}} for using that language. The original joke to The Captain was that he had been all of the obscure "Captain ____" flying brick heroes in the Marvel Universe, of which there are several. Did you know there was a Captain Rectitude? There is. This was somewhat recharacterized in the actual comic.
* For a time, [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' was a Flying Brick, drained from Ms. Marvel as mentioned above. The only time her other power got used during this period tended to be when she literally took off the kid gloves. Twist: Rogue has only one natural power--that of being to temporarily drain the powers (and memories, and LifeEnergy) of others. If she holds on too long, though, it can become permanent...Her ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' counterpart was also a Flying Brick, though in that continuity it was the result of a very specific application of the magnetic abilities she had stolen from Polaris. As of ''ComicBook/UncannyAvengers'', Rogue is once again a Flying Brick thanks to her absorption of Wonder Man's essence.
* [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]], the God of Thunder. Though rarely displayed, he's got SuperSpeed coming out the wazoo, being able to easily fight at faster than light speeds when the situation demands. Twist: Can't actually fly. Instead, he throws his hammer, which he can do with unerring accuracy for almost any distance... but doesn't let go. When he wants to stay in one place in mid-air, he spins his hammer around above his head like a helicopter. (His hammer, if you're wondering, can also float.) Also extraordinarily long-lived and has all the powers one would expect of a [[PhysicalGod God of Thunder]].

* Though ComicBook/IronMan himself is powerless (aside from being [[GadgeteerGenius a genius]] [[CrimefightingWithCash billionaire]] [[ReallyGetsAround playboy]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 philanthropist]]), all his superhuman powers are, naturally, in his high-tech PoweredArmor, which lets him fly and at least hold his own against, if not overpower, supervillains and other superheroes alike. Tony's allies Rhodey and Pepper have also donned PoweredArmor designed by Tony to become Flying Bricks as War Machine and Rescue. War Machine was equipped with a lot of firepower, while Rescue had electromagnetic abilities.
* Characters/SilverSurfer. Granted but a portion of the Power Cosmic that is [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]]' to wield, he is incredibly strong, fast, and tough. Twist: Can fly himself, but also has a high-tech "surfboard" that allows him to do so without expending his own energy, enhances his maneuverability, and seems to increase his potential top speed beyond the speed of light. Similarly, all other Heralds of Galactus, though SS is the only one with a surfboard.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonetStCroix M]], of ''ComicBook/GenerationX'' and ''[[Comicbook/XFactor2006 X-Factor]]''. Twist: In addition to those powers, also possesses telepathy, the ability to [[spoiler:FusionDance with her siblings, [[RetCon sort of]]]], arrogance, and fashion sense. (Only M could have "arrogance" as a fully-fledged superpower.)
* ComicBook/CaptainBritain. Twist: Only while in Britain or in costume. More recently, though, he's lost the geographical/costume-based weaknesses, and his strength is now dependent on his self-belief, much like Gladiator. The impact is that he's now potentially stronger than ever, but the minute his self-belief fails, he becomes powerless. [[FridgeBrilliance A bit like Britain itself, really]]. His alternate universe teenage self Kid Britain introduced in ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' has the same confidence based powers, which he fuels by being a JerkJock bully at the Braddock Academy. [[spoiler:He meets his end when the triple whammy of realizing he was manipulated by his girlfriend, being insulted by the girl with whom he cheated on his girlfriend, and actually being hurt by the guy he used to bully often weakens him enough that he gets his head cut off.]]
* Centennial, from ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight.'' Twist: He's [[CoolOldGuy 97 years old]], and shows his age. He's also got the ''other'' powers that sometimes come with the package, like heat vision.
* ComicBook/TheEternals are an entire race with this power set, in addition to {{Immortality}} and other assorted individual powers that each develops through millenia of practice and training.
* This trope was {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in volume 1 of ''Astonishing X-Men'', where a young mutant with flight describes how he broke his legs the first time he landed because he assumed he was invulnerable too.
* ComicBook/{{Nova}} (the male one from the ComicBook/NewWarriors) got his powers from an entire Nova Corps of HumanAliens with Flying Brick powers. They were kind of like the Green Lanterns, but then they were wiped out, all but him...[[AllYourPowersCombined and he got all their powers combined]], catapulting him to a top-level hero (in power, if not in fame).
* Hyperion of the ComicBook/SquadronSupreme, as an atomic-powered CaptainErsatz of Superman. From the same comic, Princess Zarda, the WonderWomanWannabe with twists and limitations similar to Wonder Woman's above (and one version of her is AxCrazy.)
* Cannonball from the ComicBook/NewMutants. His mutant power literally IS flying brickitude: he's invulnerable, but only when flying. And a good thing, since he ''steers'' like a brick, too. He can't hover at all and has very little control over his speed or direction.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsXMan Nate Grey]] can, or could before being [[DePower de-powered]], achieve this by channelling his telekinesis through his body, allowing him to tank punches from Captain Britain and Colossus without being more than pissed off and [[BareHandedBladeBlock catch Ares' axe]]. among other things. With his psionic armour, he actually managed to hurt Thanos (or one of the Thanosi).
* Longtime Avenger ComicBook/WonderMan is super strong, can fly, and even shoots beams from his red eyes. Twist: After falling into a coma due to the side-effects of the procedure that empowered him, his body converted itself into ionic energy. While he still looks human, he's an {{Energy Being|s}}. This granted him energy-based powers and [[TheNeedless removed the need for air, food, or water]].
* Ethan Edwards, otherwise known as Virtue or The Tiller, is basically a Skrull version of Superman. As such he posses this power set along with the standard skrull shape-shifting ability. And apparently now he has the power of intangibility. The end of his arc with Spider-Man also has him gain HealingHands.
* Captain Ultra can fly, has ultra-strength and endurance, and will faint at the slightest sign of a fire.
* One of the Avengers most dangerous foes, Count Nefaria, has this power set after being imbued with the ionicly charged powers of Powerman, Whirlwind, and The Living Laser. Needless to say it takes an entire Avengers team to even slow him down.
* [[Characters/YoungAvengersTitleTeam America Chavez]], aka Miss America, has super-strength, super-toughness, super-speed (the level of which [[DependingOnTheWriter varies significantly]]), and flight. Twist: she also has the ability to [[ThinkingUpPortals create portals]] (often by kicking them open), which allows her to transport herself and others anywhere from a few miles away, to one of Marvel's many {{Alternate Universe}}s, to other dimensions and planes of existence ''outside'' the multiverse.
* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' had the Liberators invade the United States with ''thousands'' of Flying Bricks. The twist? Their [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman super-suits]] had to be bonded to their bodies, and shortened their lifespan to mere months. The European heroes the Liberators presumably stole the designs from have nonlethal removable suits that give them similar powers.
* Characters/JessicaJones (debuted in the Marvel MAX series ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'') is a {{downplayed|Trope}} version of this. She can fly, but she gets airsick and she's bad at landing. She's also stronger and tougher than the average human, though in effect this just means she can trash ''human'' opponents with ease: her backstory includes catching a haymaker from ComicBook/TheVision (ItsALongStory[[note]]Jessica (as her former superhero alter ego Jewel) was captured and {{Mind Control}}led by the Purple Man for several months. In a fit of rage at a news story about his nemesis Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}} the Purple Man ordered her to fly out to the Avengers mansion and kill Daredevil (mistakenly assuming he hung out there). Jessica, partially recovered from PM's CompellingVoice, mistakenly punched out Characters/ScarletWitch (Vision's {{Love Interest|s}}) instead, and was chased down by Thor and Viz as she tried to flee.[[/note]]) that "only" put her in a coma for several weeks (it's strongly implied a baseline human would've been killed instantly). In ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'' she once warns an ArcVillain not to shoot at her because she's ImmuneToBullets, but her InternalMonologue says she doesn't actually know if she's bulletproof and isn't interested in finding out.

* Marvelman[=/=]Comicbook/{{Miracleman}} and family. A CaptainErsatz of the DC [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], with the twist that he and his family and his enemies were {{retcon}}ned as [[spoiler:deliberately created this way after his creator was inspired by a discarded [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] comic]]. He's very much the Flying Brick with speed, flight, strength and invulnerability, but the series indicates that his powers are mentally based, and he could develop new powers. At the time he was revamped into his modern form, for him to be so far along the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism was also an innovative twist.

** ''TabletopGame/HaltEvilDoer'' has Divinos and other Mithrans (AlternateCompanyEquivalent Kryptonians) as well as Ultimatum and Valkyrie, the setting's version of the Comicbook/{{Shazam}} Family.

* ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}

** Carol Danvers, before her powers were permanently leeched by Rogue. But then she became Binary after being experimented on by the Brood, gaining a whole new set of powers including manipulation of the entire electromagnetic spectrum and some gravity control. And then got her old powers back with some new energy powers. She has flight, super-strength, resistance to injury, and the MostCommonSuperpower. Twist: She can absorb ambient and directed energy, and project energy blasts from her fists (though she also had a sort of "[[SpiderSense seventh sense]]"/[[BornLucky luck power]] for a while), but despite her impressive power level she has always been something of a second-stringer. This was played with in the ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' event, where in that AlternateUniverse she was the greatest non-mutant superhero in the world. And since people [[RippleEffectProofMemory kept their memories]] of the House of M reality, her knowledge that she ''could be'' that good has spurred her to new heights, her own monthly title, and leadership of Comicbook/TheAvengers.
* ''ComicBook/BlueMarvel'' (no relation to Ms. or Captain) is another SupermanSubstitute with a similar basic set of powers. He doesn't appear quite as overpowered as Sentry or [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Supes -- though he managed to hold his own with the former for a while, but is still probably one of the most powerful [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] in terms of raw strength. Blue Marvel had the misfortune of starting his superhero career at a time when the public didn't like the idea of a black superhero. When he was accidentally unmasked, the public uproar resulted in the President asking him to retire. He got back in the game in modern times. Twist: In addition to the standard flying brick package, he is also a living '''antimatter reactor'''. He can manipulate negative matter energy from antimatter to fire energy blasts and create energy constructs. He can also manipulate matter on the molecular level, which he is more than intelligent enough to do so.