History TheReasonYouSuckSpeech / Superman

'''Dru-Zod:''' You love to lecture. To drown others in words. Two years ago, I saved your life. Today I saved your name. You know what two words I've never heard from you? 'Thank you.
* In Part 7 of "[[ComicBook/SupermanPhillipKennedyJohnson The Warworld Saga]]", Superman finishes off his PatrickStewartSpeech to Mongul with

* ''ComicBook/TheKillersOfKrypton'': Kara cuts off Empress Gandelo's self-righteous rant by stating she is one of the worst monsters she has ever met.
-->'''Supergirl''': I've fought my fair share of monsters in my time-- But you are neck and neck with Darkseid on the pure evil scale. Tell me, Gandelo, how do you drown out the screams of your victims? Do they haunt you? Because the voices of Krypton-- of Kandor-- I hear them always. And I do this for them! They demand justice.
* In ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', Klax-Ar -a Kryptonian criminal who attempted to blow Krypton up but failed and lost his natural powers in the process-, demands Supergirl transfers her powers to him on grounds of being worthier of them than her. Supergirl rapidly fires back he is not entitled to have powers, no matter how big his delusions are.
-->'''Klax-Ar:''' You have no right to Kryptonian powers! But I-- I am a native-born Kryptonian! Power is mine by inheritance!\\
'''Supergirl:''' Bunk! You sold your birthright when you turned against your home planet!
* In ''ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron'', the eponymous and usually smug villain begs for mercy when he is being beaten up by Flamebird. Flamebird mercilessly denounces him as a coward, unrepentant bully who preys on the weak mercilessly and grovels when he is facing a superior foe.
-->'''Reactron:''' Stop... Please...\\
'''Flamebird:''' No. Murderer of my people. You deserve no mercy. You show no remorse, no pity. The sincerity of your words is birthed of cowardice and hatred, nothing more. And I shall not suffer you to exist.
* In ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'', the Phantom Zone criminals give Lex Luthor powers and talk him into allying himself with them to take Superman and Supergirl down. Of course, they fully intend to betray him before long. Nonetheless, Lex Luthor anticipates and ruins their plans, calling them out on being foolish enough to talk about doble-crossing him where he could hear them.
-->'''Kru-El:''' But I thought the Gold Kryptonite had taken away their super-powers!\\
'''Lex Luthor:''' Fools! Did you really think I'd bring you Gold Kryptonite after my Super-Hearing detected you plotting against me? You tried to double-cross me, so I decided to work with Supergirl against you!

!!''Franchise/{{Superman}}''

* In ''Comicbook/WarWorld'', Comicbook/MartianManhunter chews Franchise/{{Superman}} out for being too arrogant and impulsive.

* ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'': Superman gives Darkseid one of these:

-->'''Dru-Zod:''' ''"All that science. All that progress. Where do you think it ends up? I've fired your science from the barrel of a weapon more times than I can remember. Than I want to remember! I know what I've done and to whom! Do you?"''\\
'''Jor-El:''' ''"..."''\\
'''Dru-Zod:''' ''"You love to lecture. To drown others in words. Two years ago, I saved your life. Today I saved your name. You know what two words I've never heard from you? 'Thank you.'"''

-->'''Superman''': And you say that ''I've'' learned nothing? I've never seen such ''blindness''. Such ''arrogance''. You think caring for others is a ''weakness'', but ''underestimating'' them is yours. That's why we'll win.

!!Spin-offs Comics

TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in this [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} series]].
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* In the "Superboy: The Boy of Steel" arc of the 2009 edition of ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'', Superboy goes on a quest to come to terms with his nature as a hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor by determining whether he's more like Superman or Luthor. After he befriends Luthor's niece Lori, Luthor holds his own niece hostage and agrees to cure her mother of her paralysis only if Superboy follows his instructions. [[BaitTheDog Luthor does follow through in curing his sister, but then undoes the cure just to be an asshole]] and [[EvilIsPetty refuses to reveal how he made the cure until Superman dies]]. Disgusted by Luthor's duplicity, Superboy gives him a vicious beating and chews him out for being so cruel to his own relatives.

'''Superboy:''' And I'm not like '''you'''. I'll never be like you. To do that to someone. To crush their hopes. To '''ruin''' lives.

* In the "Superboy: The Boy of Steel" arc of the 2009 edition of ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'', Superboy goes on a quest to come to terms with his nature as a hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor by determining whether he's more like Superman or Luthor. After he befriends Luthor's niece Lori, Luthor holds his own niece hostage and agrees to cure her mother of her paralysis only if Superboy follows his instructions. [[BaitTheDog Luthor does follow through in curing his sister, but then undoes the cure just to be an asshole]]. Disgusted by Luthor's duplicity, Superboy gives him a vicious beating and chews him out for being so cruel to his own relatives.

'''Power Girl''': Because a hero doesn't hurt other people to get what she wants. There's a name for people who do that. They're called villains.

TheReasonYouSuckSpeech in this series.

* In ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', Superman gives one to his cousin after ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} went off on him, pointing out that she's clung to her anger for so long that she can't get rid of it now, and she always pushes him away even though she constantly complains that she's alone:
-->'''Superman:''' You know what, Kara? Ever since you showed up on Earth, you've been trying to get me to do one thing — leave you alone to let you live your own life. You've been so focused on just being angry — yes, you lost your home, and that's terrible, but you can't bring it back.\\
'''Supergirl:''' What are you saying?\\
'''Superman:''' You've been choosing anger instead of acceptance for so long that you've become anger. You want to be your own person? Good. Be your own person. I just hope you like who you turn out to be.
* ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'': Supergirl gave a short and blunt speech to Batgirl after the latter insulted her family and her idealistic mindset:
-->'''Supergirl:''' They mean the world to me: Lex... my family...\\
'''Batgirl:''' Spare me! The Society's not a family. It's the gods of Olympus looking down on the little people below. You have no clue what real life is!\\
'''Supergirl:''' And you do? Living like a worm underground?
* In ''ComicBook/Supergirl2005'', Lois Lane gives Catherine Grant a very scathing - and very accurate - speech, calling Cat out on having become a war-mongering tool.
-->'''Lois Lane:''' Are you even a '''reporter''', Cat? Don't you have a '''shred''' of integrity? Or is '''pandering''' with lies and innuendo just that much '''easier''' for you? This '''isn't''' journalism! It's '''PROPAGANDA'''! And '''that''' makes you a '''tool'''. How you can '''stand''' to look at yourself in the mirror, Cat?

* ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'': Superman gives Darkseid one of these:
-->'''Superman:''' Of course, none of what I've said has any meaning to you. You only know death. A blackness that has brought you nothing.\\
'''Darkseid:''' It has made me a god.\\
'''Superman:''' No. It has made you vulnerable.

* In ''ComicBook/WhoIsSuperwoman'', the titular villain attempts to murder Supergirl after framing her for murder and [[BullyingADragon finds she's bitten more than she can chew]]. Superwoman asks for mercy but she only gets an enraged retort in return:
-->'''Supergirl:''' You're asking for mercy? Like Agent Liberty got?! Like poor Mister Henderson!? Like my father!? You don't deserve mercy, you deserve a beating!
* In issue #26 of her book from the 2000s, ComicBook/PowerGirl faces a villain named Rana whose planet Aranta was enslaved by warlords. She fled to Earth and drains the abilities of Power Girl whom she had concluded was the most powerful female hero of Earth. Rana claims that her actions are for her people but Power Girl doesn't buy it:
-->'''Power Girl''': Oh, cut the crap. You don't want to be a hero. You want to be ''super''.\\
'''Rana''': What's that supposed to mean?\\
'''Power Girl''': This isn't about your people at all. [[ItsAllAboutMe This is about you]]. [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist If all you really cared about was helping your people, you would have gone about this in a vastly different way.]]\\
'''Rana''': I'm doing this to save my people!\\
'''Power Girl''': That's what you tell yourself. [[BelievingTheirOwnLies But much smarter people than you have deluded themselves into thinking they're helping everyone else, when really they're just helping themselves]]. A guy named Lex comes to mind. Ever heard of him?\\
'''Rana''': How dare you? What makes you so sure?\\
'''Power Girl''': Because a hero doesn't hurt other people to get what she wants. There's a name for people who do that. They're called villains.

-->'''Superman:''' I saw a man so consumed by his own madness that he almost killed himself this time! How many fiendish plots and death-rays are there going to be, Luthor? How many billions of dollars are you going to waste? You were blessed with a brilliant mind. You could make the world such a wonderful place. Stop wasting your life trying to destroy it.

* Issue 27 of ''ComicBook/TheSupermanAdventures'' has Superman give Luthor a scathing rebuke on how Luthor [[YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood could have used his genius to help people]], but instead insists on wasting it on schemes to kill Superman.

-->'''Superman''': And you say that ''I've'' learned nothing? I've never seen such ''blindness''. Such ''arrogance''. You think caring for others is a ''weakness'', but ''underestimating'' them is yours. That's why we'll win.

!!''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

--->'''Superman:''' You once said that you could perform miracles -- ''transform'' the world -- if only you didn't have to deal with ''me''. Well, you ''didn't'', not for a year. [[ArmorPiercingQuestion And what did you]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion do?]]'' Found yourself a ''big, destructive machine'' so you could break things. What have you ever done but ''destroy'', Luthor? But ''enrich'' yourself, and ''pretend'' to be doing good?

--->'''Superman:''' You know what, Kara? Ever since you showed up on Earth, you've been trying to get me to do one thing — leave you alone to let you live your own life. You've been so focused on just being angry — yes, you lost your home, and that's terrible, but you can't bring it back.\\

--->'''Supergirl:''' They mean the world to me: Lex... my family...\\

--->'''Lois Lane:''' Are you even a '''reporter''', Cat? Don't you have a '''shred''' of integrity? Or is '''pandering''' with lies and innuendo just that much '''easier''' for you? This '''isn't''' journalism! It's '''PROPAGANDA'''! And '''that''' makes you a '''tool'''. How you can '''stand''' to look at yourself in the mirror, Cat?

--->'''Superman:''' You might wonder sometimes -- I know I have -- what life would have been like had we... had you and I... Had it been '''you''' instead of Lois. And you might have wondered why it '''wasn't''' you instead of Lois... Lois would never have pushed that button.

--->'''Superman:''' Hold it! Men are dying, Kalmbach — getting cancer from working in your vats — and you say that risk is acceptable? NO! People like you are destroying this planet, killing its people, ruining its future — and for WHAT? Profit — Greed — and some sick illusion called "Progress"!

--->'''Superman:''' Forgive me, J'onn... Looks like I failed you!\\

--->'''Superman:''' Of course, none of what I've said has any meaning to you. You only know death. A blackness that has brought you nothing.\\

---->'''Morgan Edge:''' No backtalk, Kent! I call the shots around here and when I decide I need a man to do a report from Chile that man goes to Chile-- hear me talking, Kent?\\

---->'''Superman:''' The instant I defeated Amalak and Brainiac, you switched bodies with Amalak, knowing I would imprison him far from Earth... where your superiors would soon release you! Only they won't bother freeing a failure! You'll stay here... along with the real Amalak!

--->'''Supergirl:''' You're asking for mercy? Like Agent Liberty got?! Like poor Mister Henderson!? Like my father!? You don't deserve mercy, you deserve a beating!

--->'''Power Girl''': Oh, cut the crap. You don't want to be a hero. You want to be ''super''.\\

--->'''Superman:''' No, we can't have trash like you cluttering the streets-- or wouldn't you love to have someone trip over you and get hurt? Isn't that what you live for... Menacing innocent people with your insane gimmicks? Face it, Lex Luthor... The future would be better off without you! You're a menace! Look at your latest trick! Or did you ever stop and think what would happen to the world without a Superman to protect it? All the disasters the future holds that only I could handle? I'd be doing the world a favor by putting an end to you right now... Before you grow up to be an even greater menace!

--->'''Supergirl''': I've fought my fair share of monsters in my time-- But you are neck and neck with Darkseid on the pure evil scale. Tell me, Gandelo, how do you drown out the screams of your victims? Do they haunt you? Because the voices of Krypton-- of Kandor-- I hear them always. And I do this for them! They demand justice.

--->'''Klax-Ar:''' You have no right to Kryptonian powers! But I-- I am a native-born Kryptonian! Power is mine by inheritance!\\

--->'''Reactron:''' Stop... Please...\\

--->'''Kru-El:''' But I thought the Gold Kryptonite had taken away their super-powers!\\

--->'''Superman''': And you say that ''I've'' learned nothing? I've never seen such ''blindness''. Such ''arrogance''. You think caring for others is a ''weakness'', but ''underestimating'' them is yours. That's why we'll win.

* ''ComicBook/WorldOfKrypton2021'': During an argument, General Zod complains that Jor-El regards soldiers as savages, despite them using his science to protect Krypton.
--->'''Dru-Zod:''' ''"All that science. All that progress. Where do you think it ends up? I've fired your science from the barrel of a weapon more times than I can remember. Than I want to remember! I know what I've done and to whom! Do you?"''\\