Better International Heroes

[DShomshak]

I'd say there's a strong argument that stereotypes in fiction can even serve a good purpose.  This is a comic book world after all.  If your heroes are going to go visit Transylvania, maybe it should look like a set from a 1940s Universal film.  With like castles and peasants and stuff.  Having it be a modern place with free wifi and a Starbucks just kinda ruins the fun.

I actually did this in writing my share of an adventure supplement for Vampire: the Masquerade. (Lair of the Hidden, if anyone's interested.) I began by saying, "This is the World of Darkness version of Transylvania, which is the Universal Studios/Hammer Films version of Transylvania. Only, decades of Communism mean there are ruined factories as well as ruined castles."

 

Dean Shomshak

[DShomshak]

Even if the superhero genre is peculiarly American, the classic Marvel and DC Universes include lots of international heroes. So, settings that follow those models need them as well (even if they are, as Massey suggests, based on shallow, as-seen-from-America images of other countries). Granted, those characters often appeared because they turned up in New York (or its DCU clones). That's OK; NYC is pretty much where the entire world meets IRL, and comics aren't just US-centric, they are pretty strongly NYC-centric. (The Avengers go to the Kree Galaxy or Latveria; they've probably never been to Virginia or Texas, let alone Iowa or Maine.)

 

Of course, we are also not bound by past models. Progress in any art form or genre comes through creative misunderstanding.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Christopher R Taylor]

I don't actually have a problem with stereotypes, the concern is with bad, lazy stereotypes (das Wall?  really?).

[freakboy6117]

its interesting the reason the super hero Genre became the defining genre of american Comics was the comic code authority which killed off a lot of the other more popular Genres true crime horror etc .

 

in the countries where that wasn't the case you had very different stories being told but there are still a lot of super powered or costumed individuals in these countries. in america characters that would not have been considered super heroes got rolled into those titles and changed by them. think Jonah Hex The black Hawks and Nick Fury. other nations stories are more diverse the british kids comics

 

The Beano , Dandy or whizzer and chips are full of people with super powers like desperate dan Billy whizz or Faceache but they tell very different stories. 2000ad has a long list of superpowered and super human characters but again very few are classic super heroes (even the ones that are are bad at it E.G. Zenith or the Balls Bros) .

 

Tintin lucky Luke or Asterix and Obelix in america might have been rewritten as characters in a super hero comic just like Conan and red sonya fought with and against spider man .

 

looking at the League of Extraordinary gentlemen through that lens is fascinating these aren't super heroes they are classic literary characters but reimagined through the tropes of Super heroes they become a super team despite the lack of  spandex suits.

 

the question then becomes what is a super hero what is the difference between Harry Dresden and Dr Strange or better yet John Constantine.

 

Is Lara croft a super heroine or does her lack of a mask and code name make her different from Black widow say.

[steriaca]

Japan has a lot of 'superhero' comics, but of course they come from a different culture, and this a different place than American superheroes.

 

Japanese superheroes in manga don't fight normal crime. That is the job of the police. They are not 'solders', cause Japan only has a self defense force in modern times.

 

Japan is a culture of conformist. Even there rebels have to conform into certain stereotypes (like the grim but beaut lolita, the school delinquent who only fights other delinquents, the otaku shut in, ect). It is no surprise that there superheroes follow suit. For example, the various Rangers all are dressed in simular costumes.

 

They also have different superstitions. You never see a superhero team with only 4 or 6 members, unless they ate following the budiest idea of the Four Kings Of Heaven.

 

As for the American idea if a code against killing, that is not the Japanese Way. American Spiderman would be disgusted with the Japanese Spiderman with his willingness to kill one to save hundreds mentality, and the Japanese people would think the American Spiderman to be a wimp.

 

As for masks and other idenitys...that is something manga don't do well. Shure, they have there Sailir Moon, Cutie Honny, and Keiko Karmen. But for every costumed superpowered individual, there are at least seven non-costumed superpowered individuals. The idea of wearing a mask to protect your love ones is not in the mentality of the Japanese. They believe in fate and karma. If someone is fated to be killed because you started a career if fighting crime, then it don't matter if your masked or not.

[DusterBoy]

And can we, for the love of whatever gods there are, have an English hero that doesn't have an origin to do with King Arthur?

[DShomshak]

Heh. Kingdom of Champions had its limitations, but there were several heroes with no Arthurian connection at all!

 

Dean Shomshak

[assault]

And can we, for the love of whatever gods there are, have an English hero that doesn't have an origin to do with King Arthur?

 

One based on Robin Hood could be very cool.

 

Heroes actually published in Britain are rarely stereotypes - except for oddities like Big Ben ("The Man With No Time For Crime!")

[dmjalund]

Manchester Black had absolutely no connections with King Arthur

[steriaca]

Manchester Black had absolutely no connections with King Arthur

One of Eagle's martial arts moves from Street Fighter Alpha 3 Gold, I think.

[massey]

And can we, for the love of whatever gods there are, have an English hero that doesn't have an origin to do with King Arthur?

 

[Lord Liaden]

Played by a Canadian, but hey, we're all Commonwealth.

[CaptnStrawberry]

He also played international villains of mystery - Dr. Evil (Belgian), Fat Bastard (Scot) and Goldmember (Dutch). 

[BoloOfEarth]

Those Canadians are insidious...

[Kharis2000]

The only foreign heroes I used in my last Champions game were a British WW2 team that the party encountered while time-travelling into the past [They were presented with the problem by Dr. Destroyer that someone was attempting to destroy and replace him (proved to be an act of insane hero worship by Professor Muerte, who wanted to *become* Destroyer) using time-travel, and, since he could not return to the past and defend himself and prevent a total unraveling of the timeline, he required heroes to do it, since sending villains into the past posed too many risks to the present since they were, well, villains. (I recall the 'WTF?' moment when that dropped on the PCs was epic)]

 

Had to hunt up my notes, but they were: Big Ben, a working-class growing brick with levels and extra defense triggered by interposing to defend allies (and the lone 'traditional British themed' hero); Clockwork, a female noblewoman gadgeteer hero with a clock/clockwork theme (who was always irritated that she was viewed as Big Ben's 'sidekick' when he reverse was more accurate); Skyman, a Canadian 'action scientist' and expert pilot with an advanced aircraft capable of hovering and transitioning to a submarine (similar to the aircraft Angelina Jolie flew in 'Sky Captain'); Devil Dog, a WW1 American Marine expat infantryman/werewolf who packed conventional military weapons to back up his fur and fangs (a reskinned Black Fang from Arcane Enemies); Guardian Key, a Jewish physician and goetic mage whose family was still trapped in Poland (a reskinned Astralle from Arcane Adversaries); Thunderhead, an female Irish storm-based flying energy-caster that had political issues with Clockmaker and Big Ben, but felt the Nazis were a greater threat; and 'The Marquis,' an ironically-named, streetwise and cynical anything-goes Cockney brawler/boxer (a reskinned Brahama from Predators).

[BoloOfEarth]

I've had my players encounter numerous heroes from other countries.  Most recently, they looked into the disappearance of Libertador, that country's version of Captain America. 

 

In the process, they talked to Peruvian superheroine Kina Dinamita, though in fairness this was not my creation.  She's a comic book superheroine based on an actual Peruvian boxing champion (Kina Malpartida).

 

Heroes in past Champions campaigns of mine have worked with the Sentinels (from the Champions of the North book), the Zen Team (the Japanese team from Allies), numerous British heroes (from the Kingdom of Champions), and I'm sure I'm missing some others.