Talk:Super soldier

Order to the list

Shouldn't there be some order to the list of examples ? -- Beardo 05:45, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

Some of the examples fall outside the definition of supersoldier (one whose body & mind is augmented). Suit-wearing soldiers in particular should NOT be listed as supersoldiers unless their bodies have been modified to work with the suits. Examples include Freeman, Mobile Infantry, etc. A soldier in a suit is an armoured soldier, in the same way as fighter pilot, tank driver or AT-AT driver (etc.) is not a super-soldier.

The list is simply arbitrary, and needs heavily cut down. I've tagged it for future work. Chris Cunningham 16:20, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, it should at the very least be ordered by medium (literature, computer games etc.). Scoo 10:22, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

I suggest separating it into categories: Science fiction books, TV/movies, RPG's, videogames, miscellaneous (fantasy?). Maybe add a sentence or two at bottom about battlesuits/MI's, etc., being debateable.

68.58.123.201 04:19, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Done! Noclevername 04:57, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

Edits

I trimmed down some of the extraneous details from some descriptions. If people want to know that much about a story, they can just go to the main article about it. -- Noclevername 10:26, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Actual Supersoldiers

Have any militaries actually experimented with or created supersoldiers? While genetic alterations probably haven't been attempted, perhaps there has been brainwashing and physical conditioning that counts. Ivanov's experiments with human/ape hybrids might also count. Stargate70 02:37, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

None successfully, as it says in the article. If you want to start a sub-article about real-life attempts, please make sure the examples are all well-cited. (Also, brainwashing/conditioning can't make you superhuman, just more-effective-human. Make sure your examples only include attempts to actually exceed human limits.) --Noclevername (talk) 18:08, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Where does the line between "Superhuman" and "more-effective-human" start? Are you super human if you're above the normal human average? Or just if you're beyond the peak human level? Plus wouldn't any method that could make you better than the peak human level, just be another way to make a "more-effective-human"? Wouldn't it only be setting the peak human bar higher? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.157.44.45 (talk) 19:48, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

See the article Superhuman. "Peak" apparently means the highest level of achievement the most talented person in that field can reach naturally, without artificial aids. --Noclevername (talk) 11:29, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

So does anyone have any information at all about any potential real life supersoldier programs? This topic isn't strictly limited to the fictional realm, even if nobody has actually attempted any of these things yet; if anyone has a citation we should at least have a line at the start saying that such things don't (yet) exist, and then take the fictional treatment as the sub-section. Strikes me as being a more encyclopaedic way of handling the subject... Plus, I'm sure there must have been at least some US research into powered armour or something similar which would surely count as part of this. Leushenko (talk) 11:18, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Ender's Game

I took out that example, since while the children are brilliant, they aren't actually superhuman, just very smart humans. They are at the upper edge of the limit of real-life human ability, but still within that limit.

* Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game features genius children who are slected from a very young age to undergo rigorous physical and psychological training by the military in order to defeat an alien enemy.

--Noclevername (talk) 16:33, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

And before the question is asked, yes, I think we should keep in the Clonetroopers. Individually, they are "very good" rather than "super", but the fact that they could be mass-produced in bulk in a relatively short time (compared to normal humans) and were genetically specialized for their task qualifies, IMO. --Noclevername (talk) 16:38, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

I think your standard for what qualifies as a super-soldier are rather high. A super-soldier doesn't necessarily have to be superhuman. Captain America for example has great strength and speed but not true superhero abilities. Mdebellis (talk) 20:39, 10 July 2013 (UTC)

The Great List Loss

I've recovered the examples and am moving them to a separate List page which will be linked from this article. I'm have little experience at doing this, so any help or touch-ups are welcome.--Noclevername (talk) 04:38, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

It was no loss. It was a massive pile of original research, with no particular rhyme or reason to what was deemed a supersoldier, nevermind the utter lack of refs. - A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire | past ops) 05:46, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Except for the examples that were referenced, you mean. Restoring list. Fix what's broken, please don't arbitrarily delete. The list is still salvageable, it just needs work. --Noclevername (talk) 11:24, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

GIGA SOLDIER

any report of anyone that used all the ways to create super soldiers?--201.9.248.89 (talk) 18:26, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

See also section

I think MK Ultra should be removed from the see also section. The program is fascinating but its not really about a supersoldier its about mind control of enemies or neutrals.

fictional examples section

Seems highly problematic to me. As we can see on this very talk page, it seems as though users have been making their own decisions about what is and is not a super soldier. If it requires any judgement whatsoever to make that determination you are engaging in original research. Nothing should be listed there unless there is a source attached that actually uses the words "super soldier". Beeblebrox (talk) 16:54, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

Per WP:SILENCE I have removed the section. Please do not restore it or add new examples without citing sources. Beeblebrox (talk) 05:45, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Relation to reality

Does anyone else feel as though this article isn't necessarily similar to reality? The term "supersoldier" seems to correspond to or relate to known scientific methods of improving a normal human being's means, methods, or performance on the battlefield. The words "traumatic events" doesn't fit with the sentence it's part of and the entire sentence speaking of black magic or extra terrestrial origin seem to be specifically unrelated.

Thoughts? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Opinionatedcritique (talk • contribs) 04:39, 11 November 2015 (UTC)

Requested move 27 November 2023

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved. per consensus (closed by non-admin page mover) – robertsky (talk) 09:35, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

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Supersoldier → Super soldier – WP:COMMONNAME. Google Ngrams shows that "super soldier" is used far more frequently than the single word. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ (ᴛ) 04:30, 27 November 2023 (UTC)

• Support - additionally, all the sources cited in the article that use the term use either this version or a hyphen ("super-soldier"). ― novov (t c) 10:10, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
• Support per nom. BD2412 T 19:26, 30 November 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.