Fic snippet

[dvandom]

The problem with just being able to jump around a lot, instead of actually flying, is that once you're in the air you're pretty much stuck on a ballistic path. Sit through any intro physics course and you'll learn that a ballistic path is really predictable, the center of mass has to follow a parabolic arc. Minion training basic lesson for dealing with acrobatic heroes like me...forget about headshots or anything fancy, always aim for the center of mass. The second we go airborne, we become clay pigeons.

Of course, if you stick around for the entire intro physics course, and you'll learn that you don't have to actually have any of your body at your center of mass at any given time....

Comments

Re last two lines ...

[razorsmile.livejournal.com]

... huh?

Re: Re last two lines ...

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Think of a donut traveling on a path. The center of mass for the donut is located in the location of the hole. So, the donut (the body) has none of its mass at the center of mass at any given time (as long as the donut is somewhat close to being ideal).

Re: Re last two lines ...

[razorsmile.livejournal.com]

So your lead character is a liquid-form shapeshifter?

Re: Re last two lines ...

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Nothing so extreme is necessary. One can change their center of mass by merely bending. If you curve (similarly to how a donut is curved but nothing that pronounced is necessary) your body, your center of mass will be located somewhere outside your body.

Re: Re last two lines ...

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Bend into a diver's jackknife pose, and your center of mass will be a handspan or so in front of your bellybutton.

Re: Re last two lines ...

[razorsmile.livejournal.com]

Okay ... neat. But a V-shaped target is still a target, innit? A weird one, but to meta-level marksmen/snipers, that wouldn't be much of a problem.

Flight and superspeed, that's the ticket!

OR

Rocketboots :)

[jarodrussell.livejournal.com]

This is why you always wear rocketboots!

[thandrak.livejournal.com]

Or, of course, apply aerodynamics to change vectors. Dive! Dive!

[jarodrussell.livejournal.com]

Like a cape?

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Why wouldn't they try to shoot you in the head? It's a more difficult shot but unless your talking about an extremely high caliber weapon, physics-wise, shooting someone at their center of mass doesn't do all that much.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Against a target whose main defense is evasion, you take the easiest shot possible. Once they're wounded, you can go for the killshot. Minions would have a different playbook against bricks, against energy types, etc.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Going through a list of heroes who would be leaping between buildings, across a street, you either find heroes who have the ability to alter their path (i.e. Spider-man, who uses his weblines for that purposed or Daredevil, who uses his Billy Club in much te same way) or are armored along their center of mass (i.e. Captain America, Batman, Robin III, etc.).

While shooting the former type of heroes would seem ineffective, it seems that the most effective way to shoot the latter type of hero by shooting them in a target that doesn't move very much and is not armored. These heroes are all unarmored along their lower mouths, so it seems that the best shot would be taken there.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Their heads move a lot, though, and even against normal folks a head shot is a hard target to hit, which is why soldiers and cops are trained to go for torso shots. Your Bullseyes and Taskmasters will go for the mouth every time, of course, but Bob, Agent of Hydra, will be told to save that sort of stunt for slow-moving targets.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

The torso is a good target, not only because it is a large target but because (as long as the target is unarmored) it can do significant damage. However, this has nothing to do with center of mass, so back to the initial question, why target the center of mass specifically, as opposed to the largest unarmored area?

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Even if the target is armored, a torso shot is likely to throw off their evasion and make it easier for followup shots to unarmored areas.

It's the difference between a one on one fight between equals and a mookfest. In one on one, you might be good enough to take that shot at the face, and you want every hit to count. In a mookfest, Bob ain't EVER hitting the "largest unarmored area" unless the target has already been stunned by a few bullets to the kevlar vest. He's just not that good a shot.

Don't get fancy, just get the job done.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

Well, if it's "get the job done," why even target the center of mass? It's not critical, it may be armored and it might not even have any of the body at that location. Just target the body in general and hope between all the "mooks," that a shot gets in. No "center of mass" physics involved.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Look, you're missing the point by several lightyears and it's starting to look like you're deliberately trolling. Drop it before I have to lock the thread.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

I guess I am missing the point because I'm certainly not trying to "troll" but rather ask why should minions be trained to target a leaping heroes center of mass. I don't see the advantage, although obviously you do. So, would you please explain it to me? I'd appreciate it.

[dvandom.livejournal.com]

Unless they take special care as mentioned in the original snippet, the center of mass will always include part of the body, usually the gut. With the feet off the ground, the center of mass pretty much has to follow a ballistic path, really easy to predict. If you're only concerned with getting a hit of SOME sort, it's a good time to shoot. Once they've been hit, even with body armor, they're likely to slow down enough that you can actually succeed at a head shot.

[mib24601.livejournal.com]

OK, got it. Thank you.

My earlier issue came from the superhero trope that "body armor protects against everything," where a hero is shot in a protected area but seems to feel no effect. Under a more realistic system, I will certainly agree with your premise. This is why Batman-esque heroes should have short lifespans.