8. Barry Alan The Silver Age Flash
The Origin: Barry Allen, a mild-mannered police scientist, is struck by lightning while working in his lab and splashed with chemicals from a conveniently present cabinet of chemicals. These chemicals react with his body, presumably in a way that has never before been seen or even considered by scientists and combined with the energy from the lightning bolt, they bestow Allen with super speed, amongst other abilities.
In Reality: Although death only occurs in around 20% of the known cases, getting struck by lightning perhaps quite obviously can cause irreparable damage. Lets say for a second that Allens heart doesnt immediately give in to cardiac or cardiopulmonary arrest; survivors typically report memory loss and difficulty with processing information, making it all but impossible to multi-task. There are also common reports of headaches, tinnitus, nausea, dizziness and insomnia. In reality, the Flashs superpower would more likely be vomiting on his foe, before collapsing, shaking into a corner and forgetting where he is. And not only would he be suffering the devastating symptoms associated with being struck by lightning, hed also have to deal with having been covered head to toe in a 50 litres of unknown chemical youve got to imagine at least something in that cabinet would have been toxic enough to cause at least a rash. Far from getting Superspeed, in reality, Flashs origin would have left him slower than ever.