nexus Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 What images and concepts do you get? Personality wise, morals wise and basic nature? Is just having powers enough or is there a certain mindset required in your opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... In my opinion, definitely a mindset of a certain type required. The sort of person who fits the Good Samaritan routine. My idea of Hero just can't walk by someone else in trouble and shut him or her out completely. He has to act. They almost instinctively make the right ethical and moral choices, and when they do make the wrong ones, they make amends. The super part does make me visualize powers or at least a costume and a lot of chutzpah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When I think about superheroes the first characters which spring into my mind are Captain America and Superman. These are characters which have strong ideals and are willing to sacrifice for them. To me that is the essence of being a superhero: living up to your conviction and ideals of goodness at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanguard00 Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When I think about superheroes the first characters which spring into my mind are Captain America and Superman. These are characters which have strong ideals and are willing to sacrifice for them. To me that is the essence of being a superhero: living up to your conviction and ideals of goodness at all times. What he said, almost to the letter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Gotta agree with Mitchell and Hermit. When someone says "superhero", I see capes, tights, and generally a Golden Age or Silver Age attitude. (Silver age for me means players are allowed to have problems or "real life" issues, but they overcome them and do the right thing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Attitude comes first. If the character is not dedicated to an ideal, if he does not put the welfare of others ahead of his own, he's not a Superhero. Superman or Batman (when written correctly) would risk everything to protect the life of a single innocent person. They accept responsibility for their worlds. The powers and.or costume may add the Super, but the Hero comes first. Except when you're writing the word. Superman is The Superhero, but I also class Buffy as a Superhero. They are willing to sarifice themselves for others, and they have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. Some versions of Heracles or Monkey are also Superheroes, especially modern versions, but just as often in the old myths they were portrayed as thugs with powers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When I think about superheroes the first characters which spring into my mind are Captain America and Superman. These are characters which have strong ideals and are willing to sacrifice for them. To me that is the essence of being a superhero: living up to your conviction and ideals of goodness at all times. Exactly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... I see someone who isn't afraid to fail. A Superhero is willing to place the needs and good of society in front of their own personal gain. A Superhero isn't blind - they're willing to question the morality of a situation and do what is best, or try. A Superhero never just stands by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metaphysician Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... I once saw a hero defined as "someone who suffers tragedy, and responds 'I will not let this happen to anyone else again.'" Works well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justicebringer Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Not just character but strength of character. Not just having powers but being able to be in control 24/7... not just doing the right thing at the right time but doing the right thing everytime. What is the difference between a superhero and a supervillian. It could just be one bad day.... You go out and rescue puppies, create a negative vortex to lesson the effects the last few hurricanes, etc... and then you have one bad day.. someone in the drive through behind you is playing the bass on their stereo so loud you can't even order your Mcfries and BAM! You are now a supervillian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpira Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... The funny thing about me is that when I think about it, I never think about Superman or Captain America.I think about the Golden age Atom or Wildcat or the 70s' Green Arrow. I think about the guys without the powers or superserum running through their veins. The little guys who stand up and do the right thing no matter the cost to themselves not because of some personal tragedy and not because they are gifted with powers. The guys whom when asked why they do it, simply shrug and reply, "Someone needed to." This is a superhero to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When I think about superheroes the first characters which spring into my mind are Captain America and Superman. These are characters which have strong ideals and are willing to sacrifice for them. To me that is the essence of being a superhero: living up to your conviction and ideals of goodness at all times. To be AOLish - yeah, what he said. - Edit: And sigged too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Attitude comes first. If the character is not dedicated to an ideal, if he does not put the welfare of others ahead of his own, he's not a Superhero. Superman or Batman (when written correctly) would risk everything to protect the life of a single innocent person. They accept responsibility for their worlds. The powers and.or costume may add the Super, but the Hero comes first. Except when you're writing the word. Superman is The Superhero, but I also class Buffy as a Superhero. They are willing to sarifice themselves for others, and they have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. Some versions of Heracles or Monkey are also Superheroes, especially modern versions, but just as often in the old myths they were portrayed as thugs with powers. The Monkees were superheroes?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... The Monkees were superheroes?!? In one episode, yes. But I meant this monkey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When ever I think "Superhero" I think Stephen Lynch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... What images and concepts do you get? Personality wise' date=' morals wise and basic nature? Is just having powers enough or is there a certain mindset required in your opinion?[/quote'] I think of Superman or Spider-Man. I also think of a world in which accidents and crime run rampant. I mean, really, assuming I'd been granted Great Powers , I have yet to encounter a situation where they'd have been needed. Convenient? Yeah, sure. When moving, superhuman strenght would be handy. When doing chores, superspeed would be useful. But I've never in all my 46 years run into a situation that I might have taken care of with superheroics. But give Clark Kent or Peter Parker (or Steve Rogers or Tony Stark or...) superpowers, and they can't go for a walk around the block, stop for a pizza, cash a check or try to go on a date without stumbling across a crime in progress or a disaster in the making that needs averting. Clearly, superheroes exist where higher highs (superheroes) are matched by lower lows (rampant crime and safety stats that don't bear considering). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodstone Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Superman is one of the first characters that comes to mind for me too, but I think that's kind of a loaded question since the character has the word super in his fricking name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewings Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Clearly' date=' superheroes exist where higher highs (superheroes) are matched by lower lows (rampant crime and safety stats that don't bear considering).[/quote']Or maybe they all have Physical Limitation: Trouble Magnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psm Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... When I think of "superhero" I think of Marvel and DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZootSoot Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... I do not think of people who "always do the right thing," I think of people who try to make the world a better place. A flawless hero of the Superman/Captain America model bugs the hell out of me. First I don't believe it's possible for them to be flawless. When Superman was fighting Doomsday and the kid yeled for him to come save his little sister under the truck we are supposed to applaud Superman for doing and believe that no innocents died in Doomsday's rampage because Supes took that break. Heroes have to have feet of clay in my view or they wind up being self-righteous prats. Superheroes in particular need such flaws (all hail Tony Stark) or they lose all empathy with normal folks and become nightmares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchellS Posted November 2, 2005 Report Share Posted November 2, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... A flawless hero of the Superman/Captain America model bugs the hell out of me. First I don't believe it's possible for them to be flawless. I don't believe anyone said they were flawless. They have the courage to live up to their ideals when many others will bow to pressure. They have an understanding of what it means to be a hero and they will not sway from that; and they will not let the ends justify the means. That's the difference between Superman and Batman. Batman doesn't care about how many rules or laws he must break as long as he gets his desired outcome. When Superman was fighting Doomsday and the kid yeled for him to come save his little sister under the truck we are supposed to applaud Superman for doing and believe that no innocents died in Doomsday's rampage because Supes took that break. At super-speed that might not have taken more than 2 seconds. Heroes have to have feet of clay in my view or they wind up being self-righteous prats. Superheroes in particular need such flaws (all hail Tony Stark) or they lose all empathy with normal folks and become nightmares. And again, I think both Captain America and Superman have flaws. They're just not obsessive playboys who use their money to build Batmobiles and powered-armor suits when they could be spending that money on charities which help people for a much longer-term then just being saved once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Posted November 4, 2005 Report Share Posted November 4, 2005 Re: When you think "Superhero".... I don't know about anyone else, but I associate pose as much as anything. I get an image of a colorful figure leaping into action. The details get blurred by the motion, but the figure remains iconic as well as dynamic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Attitude comes first. If the character is not dedicated to an ideal, if he does not put the welfare of others ahead of his own, he's not a Superhero. Superman or Batman (when written correctly) would risk everything to protect the life of a single innocent person. They accept responsibility for their worlds. The powers and.or costume may add the Super, but the Hero comes first. Except when you're writing the word. Superman is The Superhero, but I also class Buffy as a Superhero. They are willing to sarifice themselves for others, and they have powers and abilities beyond those of mortal men. Some versions of Heracles or Monkey are also Superheroes, especially modern versions, but just as often in the old myths they were portrayed as thugs with powers. I would add to this that it can also be someone in transition to these ideals. I see many acceptable superheroes as starting as self-serving or otherwise anti-societal but so long as their storyline is to bring them into understanding and accepting of some sort of societal responsibilties then I find this definition inclusive. To me, "a superhero" is more often someone who overcomes themselves to serve that higher ideal. Although that's not an exclusive definition, it can be someone who naturally serves such ideals with no barrier whatsoever. Although I also sometimes see "superhero" as meaning any human-at-essence with powers, since so often that is also the way it is actually delivered in fiction, and so depending on context that can just as easily come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynnlefey Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: When you think "Superhero".... "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797) I see heroes as those who don't sit idly by. The difference between super-heroes and heroes is only a matter of scope. I place no other constraints on someone to be considered a superhero. They do not have to be morally perfect. I like characters with flaws. They do not need to be competent. Every hero has to start somewhere and learn their trade. They do not even have to be right. What one person sees as evil, another may see as perfectly acceptable. A hero, IMO, needs to perceive some evil, and act against it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenn Posted August 17, 2006 Report Share Posted August 17, 2006 Re: When you think "Superhero".... Well since the term "super hero" was named after Superman (not the other way around) it stands to reason that he be the ultimate archetype of the super hero. In my own experience, I find I have MORE interest in the so-called flawless types like Superman or Captain America than I do with someone like Spider-Man. Because there is too much empathy, really. Job woes, sick realtives in the hospital again, problems with friends or with romantic relationships? I don't need to read comic books to find all that stuff. I get that crap by getting up in the morning. Why would I want to read about someone else's problems in great detail? Now that doesn't mean the characters for whom that stuff is detailed aren't heroic. Actually, they very clearly are. I'd simply prefer to see less of the human problems and more of them while they are transcending the problems. When they're being the person I want to be, not while they're being the person I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.