Essay On Superheroes

Division and Classification

For as long as there have been comic books there have been superheroes. These are characters who usually have a power or ability not possessed by your average person. They might be able to fly, swing from building to building, or run very fast. Superhero stories and movies have seen a resurgence in the past decade thanks to the commercial success of the Marvel Universe. There seem to be countless superheroes, but many of them have origin stories which are similar. One method of classifying superheroes is by analyzing their origin stories to determine where their powers came from. By doing so, it can be shown that the character development of superheroes is based in large part on how they obtained their powers.

These characters are heroes who made themselves into superheroes. The best examples of this are Batman and Iron Man. Neither Bruce Wayne nor Tony Stark are themselves superhuman, but they both create superhero characters thanks to their financial wealth and innovation. What defines these characters is that they have made a choice to be superheroes. In the cases of the last two categories of superhero, the ability was usually thrust upon the hero or they are born with the ability. Batman and Iron Man chose to be superheroes and could quit at any time. Without any special abilities they are just like the average person, which is a large part of their appeal. The best Batman and Iron Man stories deal with the consequences of the two men making the choice to put their lives at risk to be a superhero. There are three main ways that superheroes acquire their powers: they may be of alien origin, they are the result of science, or they exist without special powers at all. How they acquire their powers plays an instrumental role in the type of character they are and why they have such broad appeal Superheroes, no matter what category they fall into, challenge humanity to be better than it is. They epitomize our values and help us to address our fears and dreams. Whatever the origin story, superheroes always have and will continue to inspire their