Laser/Light Beam Dodging Feats

"Light" or "Laser" dodging is a fairly common trope seen in fiction and often the center of debate regarding characters' speeds, given that light is the fastest known thing in the real universe. This article will set forth the standards of this wiki in determining what is considered a real "light beam" and what to do once the feat has achieved that status.

Standards for laser determination

Most lasers in fiction are not real or provable as real. Often they are supernatural in nature and do not function anywhere close to how real light should. Therefore, lasers/light beams are only accepted as real if they meet, at a minimum, a few of these criteria:

• The beam refracts in a new material, such as a liquid or...
• The beam diffuses in a reasonably realistic way or reflects off a material that it can be expected to, such as a non-magical mirror.
• The beam is called lightspeed by reliable sources.
• It is stated to be composed/consisting of photons or light itself, again by a reliable source.
• It has its origin at a realistic source of light, such as a camera.

Furthermore, there are a few criteria which show a beam is NOT real light:

• It is shown at different speeds in the same material.
• It is tangible and can be interacted with physically by normal humans.
• They do not travel in straight lines (unless you can prove refraction/reflection, see above.)

Please note that the opposite of these criteria do not prove a beam is at lightspeed, merely that it could be, should it meet the first list of criteria. Should there be great evidence in favor of the light being real or lightspeed, comparably minor showing against it being real can be overruled.

Additionally, if a series is very close to lightspeed or exceeds it in several other calcs and scenarios (such as what is seen in DBZ), there is less of a burden of proof to show that the laser is a true laser.

This is not a full list of qualities that can qualify/disqualify a feat as a true laser/light beam, but they are what is taken as basic by this wiki.

In all cases, when light beam feats pop-up, they must be discussed with the staff before implementation.

Calculation

The speed of light in a vacuum is 3.0 x 10^8 m/s, which is the speed that should be used for all calculations involving lasers once they have been proven by the above standards.

To calculate a laser/light beam feat, simply determine the distance the character moved in the same timeframe as the laser/light beam and use the comparative value to determine the character's speed.

For example, if a character were to move 7m while a light beam moved 10m, his or her speed would be 7/10ths of lightspeed or 2.1 x 10^8 m/s.

In manga and other series without visual animation of the movements of objects and characters, it is harder to determine this but one way is to simply find the distance between the source of the light and compare it to distance the character moved. This can be accomplished with angsizing, for one.

However, it is important to note that it is still possible to aim dodge light, so even if the beam is proven to be lightspeed by the above standards, it still may not be usable for character speeds.

Formula for Laser/Light Beam Dodging

Similar to the lightning dodging one:

$\tfrac{\text{(Distance the character moved (m))} \times \text{(Speed of light (m/s))}}{ \text{Distance the light was away at the point character started moving (m)}} = \text{Speed of character (m/s)}$

Discussions

Discussion threads involving Laser/Light Beam Dodging Feats