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Well, essentially Thurgood is entirely based in reality: not real strong, not overly tough, his only "power" is a biological response that has happened in short bursts and if triggered at the higher levels, does realistic damage to his body, just has basic weapons and equipment that are actually possible for one to make (if one can get their hands on woven Kevlar sheets) or purchase, and relies on his intelligence, fury, and determination. I guess the only unrealistic thing about Thurgood is the fact that he's a determinator.

Realism goes out the window as soon as characters start slinging powers. Last I checked we can't summon demons or generate Hadoukens, so before we even get into a fight we've already at least one step removed from pure realism.

That's kind of the idea, really; logic and fairness > pure realism. What you have is more of a semi-realism; a "this is mostly grounded in reality, but we're bending the rules here and bending them there because a) complete and total realism is impossible in many instances and b) the use of supernatural elements demands some degree of deviation from reality."

Reality only acts as a baseline or a foundation because it's a common frame of reference that we all know. From there, it can bend, tweak, warp, and generally have a little wiggle room. I'm not saying that you go for broke with your approach - it's entirely possible to say "******** it" and go for total unrealism - but generally speaking, we're not dealing with pure realism in any powered fight. We're dealing with semi-realism, or pseudo-realism.

And, as KB said, fun is the common denominator for everybody. It's okay to bend the rules for the sake of fun; that's the escapism element of roleplay.