As a huge fan of the character Gladiator I always feel that he is not written well. If you read his profile you would think he was one of the most powerful characters in the marvel universe. I have read just about every story Gladiator has been involved in and it seems that he is usually used to make another character look good. As a fan of Gladiator it always bothers me how he is written. Gladiator has the same abilities as Superman but he has also been trained in the arts of war unlike superman. It seems that alot of Gladiators powers never come into play when being written. For example when fighting another foe he never uses his super speed, if he used his super speed combained with his strength I would think he would have np taking on someone such as The Hulk. Anyways I was just wondering if anyone else noticed this trend when it comes to Gladiator.

That happens to a lot of characters, but it's makes the story better in most cases. It's no fun if Gladiator just swoops in and destroys every threat. Superman can do it more because he's the star, the main character. Gladiator isn't as popular and is often a supporting character so he doesn't get to shine as much. As long as he's just a supporting character he's probably not going to get the level of exposure that you want to see because it just wouldn't work.

Gambler says:

"I agree, I mean I like Gambit and all but there's no way he should be able to pull this off (but I still think its cool) "

Yeh I suppose that is why he is written the way he is. It just gets annoying when you know he shouldnt be beaten, atleast not as poorly as he always is. Kinda like watching Darth Mul die, it just makes you cringe.

I like him as more of a background character, a Superman type who's not the star of the show, just a good soldier.

Yeh my basic point wasnt that I want Gladiator to be a main hero all the time but I tire of him being used as a tool. When the invisible women got the uni power she was able to punch Gladiator so hard he was sent into another building. When the uni power joined with Gladiator he was knocked out by a force field. It is the way Gladiator is written that bugs me.

I would like to see a small series starring Gladiator. They had done a Imperial Guard short series but it was pretty bad.

Gladiator says:

"Yeh my basic point wasnt that I want Gladiator to be a main hero all the time but I tire of him being used as a tool. When the invisible women got the uni power she was able to punch Gladiator so hard he was sent into another building. When the uni power joined with Gladiator he was knocked out by a force field. It is the way Gladiator is written that bugs me. I would like to see a small series starring Gladiator. They had done a Imperial Guard short series but it was pretty bad. "

Like Buckshot said, he should be a background character but like you said, he shouldn't just be there to get knocked around. It's harder to write a character who should be able to defeat almost anyone he goes up against. You either have to hold him back and only use him in stories where the other side has someone on his level or you have to have him be a very cautious character who lets the other side have their say or get their attacks in, while he tries to understand what they're trying to do.

If he comes in like a weapon, then you cant use him at his full power or he wipes out the X-Men or whoever else he is facing. But if he comes in like an adult playing with toddlers, and trys to figure out what they are up to before instantly punishing them, then you could get some good use out of him without turning him into a tool.

Some very good points made here. Im glad to see that im not the only one that has noticed this trend. I remember there was a story where Gladiator and Wolverine fought, i think it lasted 7 days or something ending with Gladiator breaking one of wolverines claws. Till this day i cant figure out how wolverine lasted 7 days against Gladiator. The writers just need to come up with more creative ways to write Gladiator if they are going to use him in stories.

Poo poo.

Gladiator is very much a "yardstick" character. Like when Jet-Ass, I mean Cannonball beat Gladiator in Uncanny X-Men, that was done so Jet-Ass would seem like a more formidable character. Also, I can't stop calling Cannonball Jet-Ass. Gladiator is obviously Claremont's Superman knockoff with a mohawk and an attitude problem, but he should be used better. Really, he's a great character.

MAD is the man says:

"Gladiator says:

"Some very good points made here. Im glad to see that im not the only one that has noticed this trend. I remember there was a story where Gladiator and Wolverine fought, i think it lasted 7 days or something ending with Gladiator breaking one of wolverines claws. Till this day i cant figure out how wolverine lasted 7 days against Gladiator. The writers just need to come up with more creative ways to write Gladiator if they are going to use him in stories. "

I know this is an old subject, and I agree with most of what was written but you might be underrating wolverine. For one point and we don't know for a fact but wolverine is probably much older than Gladiator and has been fighting before he was born. He has been in fights with others lasting days such as Omega red. Gladiator could knock him across a few states so he would need to keep wanting to fighting, but Wolverine could take it and keep going. In my very one sided opinion Wolverine could best super man him self...maybe not but he could fight him for 7 days and brake a claw. "

are you crazy? that's why people say wolverine is overrated. wolverine shouldnt be able to do anything against gladiator and certainly not superman! i'm not trying to attack you, cause i dont know you ;), but you should be able to look at their powers and know that wolverine should have no chance against either of them.

Gladiator needs a little 4 part series showing him to be the henchmo that he is. Wanna see him move planets, kill Armadas, blow out stars and generally ruin everybody. I had hoped he would be in the first Annihilation and given a boost like all the characters involved in that [loved Annihilation gave Ronan and Super Skrull the respect they deserved].

Does anyone have a more recent Official Handbook entry for Gladiator. I have an old one but it is really lacking in any kind of good detail and still supposes a lot about him.

No i think it was the real Gladiator in that pick he was mind controlled by a Skrull Xavier. That Gladiator was weird as anything, Warbird [a 6 tonner ?] managed to hurt him in close combat, and claimed she was as strong as him.

Lilandras sister is it Deathbird or warbird...which is it?.

sum 1 said that the reason that wolverine could last 7 days is because he is older than glads and has been fighting since before he was born but i am pretty sure glads is at least a few thousand years old!