In Dark Champions 5e, there's an intro by Steve Long that explains as a Builder-type of player, he was dissatisfied with the "four-colour "fight them lock them up, they escape, we fight them again" cycle. He created the Harbinger to have a positive effect on the game world (and drive GMs crazy) and then wrote the original Dark Champions as a source book for "dark heroes" like the Harbinger, feeling they had got short shrift in the main Champions book.
Well, Steve, I'll see your Harbinger and raise you the Shadow, even without the powers of hypnotism that the radio shows gave him.