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Superhero

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I should start by clarifying that this is not Superman or a redesigned superman costume (though obviously inspired by Superman). This is one of my very own superheroes and his name, funnily enough, is Superhero.

My intentions for this character was to make the archetype superhero (hence his name, Superhero) and he is based off of Superman, mainly because superman IS the archetype superhero.
I have a love hate relationship with Superman. He is the greatest, the most iconic, and aspires to the highest and most perfect ideals of superhero morality. I like how his costume (depending on which superman continuity you look at) is the result of an alien uniform or outfit and not a vain decision to grab people’s attention through bold colours to and notice the good that they do. Fore those reasons I love Superman.
Superman is also overpowered, unchallenged, un-relatable and rather bland. There is also an underlining message in Superman that humans aren’t strong enough to protect themselves from the greatest of threats and that they can’t rise to the pinnacle level that he is on, this is because he is an alien. I feel a separation with superman because of this. In my daydreams I cannot see myself as him because I’m not a kryptonian.
Also using a fictional substance as the only weakness to a character because the character is too powerful is such a cop out. Kryptonite is close to the worst plot devise ever written! Fore those reasons I hate Superman.

There are a lot of holes in Superman and they rob him of the true greatness that he could have achieved for me. I've even done two youtube videos on the subject.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3JuzE…
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDfq8q…

So with this character (Superhero) I wanted to take what I loved about Superman and form the other half to make something new.

Superhero’s powers are; mountain moving strength, nigh invulnerability, incredibly fast flight, super hearing, super vision and he can project stored photons (light) from his eyes (lasers). In other words, the classic powers. I’ve written a fairly detailed universe for this character to exist in (separate to my main superhero universe where most of my currently created superheroes reside). In this universe the development of superpowers is the final genetic evolution for all species in the universe. The evolution begins at a mild level (similar to X men level powers) until it reaches its pinnacle. Fully evolved superpowers are extremely powerful. For example fully evolved teleportation is not limited by range, it works across the entire universe. Superhero was the first Human to reach this final genetic pinnacle. Because these powers are the final genetic evolution for all species in the universe, Superhero is not the only one with serious powers, almost everyone in the universe has them. So unlike Superman who is one of the rare few in the universe to be at the power level he is on (which really doesn’t make sense, were the kryptonians to be the sole protectors of the universe?) almost everyone is at that level. Actually, the powers that Superhero has (the classic ones) are the base, beginning level powers. Most fully evolved superpowered species posses these base powers as well as one other unique ability, from teleportation to gravity, matter or energy manipulation and many more. So though Superhero is one of the few on earth to be at this power level, he is by no means unique in the universe or the most powerful. His outfit was a gift from an intergalactic organisation comparable to the united nations. The galactic community is kind of similar to the political climate of earth. There is a structured economy, trade between races, wars, tension, peace, etc. This organisation’s stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in intergalactic law, intergalactic security, economic development, social progress, species rights, and the achievement of universal peace. They make first contact when a species reaches the final evolutionary point (the development of fully evolved superpowers) and greeted Superhero when he finally learnt how to fully control all of his powers. They gave him an outfit that was similar to theirs, it didn’t have gloves or a cape at that time but it did have a designation on its chest, the first letter of the name they called him (superhuman at that time because he was the first true superhuman of Earth) after his own native language and alphabet, according to their custom. They then greeted the governments of earth with the Superhuman (what he was first called) at their side and introduced humanity into the intergalactic community. Through the story I am writing for him, Superhero rises to be the protector of Earth and adhere to the truest moral principles. He becomes the de facto leader of the superheroes of Earth. In his story he’s going to overcome personal weaknesses to realise his true potential.

So he has the morality, the power level that inspires awe, the cool alien outfit and the iconic presence, that superman has but is also relatable because he is human and carries an underlining message about humanities potential and what we could aspire to. He is not overpowered because most species in the universe, and many other superhumans that come after him, are as strong or stronger and I’m going to make his personality and character dynamic and interesting. Hit’s all the marks in my book ^_^
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© 2011 - 2024 shad-brooks
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buried-legacy's avatar
Nice concept and what you said was very true about superman