What is the origin of super-heroes? Where did they come from and what inspired their creation? This feature is meant to show the continuity of how the myth of the modern super-hero came to be and how it has been duplicated time and time again. Oft times this duplication becomes so pervasive that the characters become archetypal.
Now, at first glance one might assume that all these creators do is copy one another. And to be sure that DOES happen at times. After all, there aren’t but so many kinds of super- powers to go around. But as you will see, many creators are really combining different heroic and cultural archetypes that have been around since the beginning of time.
As such, different characters created by different companies will often share similar powers, abilities, morphologies and even names. One of the reasons that this happens is because powers and abilities that make super-heroes so unique are exaggerations of what men can do naturally i.e. being strong, or being able to run fast. Or superheroes reflect what nature can do, i.e. give light, spew fire, weather or gravity. As mentioned before, such there are only going to be but so many super-powers to go around.
The heroic myth/archetype has become so pervasive in our modern culture that there are many heroes that can represent the same archetype, but can still be very different in their creation and morphology. Below are some examples given by a popular role-playing
game.
The Brick (e.g., Superman, Captain Marvel, Hulk, Thor, Wonder Woman).
The Energy Projector (e.g., Cyclops, Black Lightning, Photon).
The Gadgeteer (e.g., Doc Savage, Spiderman, Batman, Tom Strong).
The Martial Artist (e.g., Batman, Karate Kid, Bronze Tiger).
The Mentalist (e.g., Phoenix, Professor X).
The Metamorph (e.g., Mr. Fantastic, Metamorpho, Goliath, The Atom).
The Mystic (e.g., Dr. Strange, Dr. Fate, Scarlet Witch, Zatanna).
The Patriot (e.g., Captain America, Super-Patriot, US Agent).
The Knight In Shining Armor (e.g., Iron Man, Cyborg).
The Speedster (e.g., Flash, Quicksilver, Johnny Quick).
The Weaponmaster (e.g., Green Arrow, Taskmaster, Batman).
THE PRIME INSPIRATION FOR SUPERHEROES
The inspiration for superheroes are actually taken from reality. It could have only started with the biblical heroes and the amazing things they were able to accomplish by the power of God.
BIBLICAL HEROES PERFORMING GREAT FEATS OF POWER
This set the stage in modern times for the creation of “modern myths” as Stan Lee once
put it. Creators either took directly from myths and made modern superheroes from them, or they combined them with other element to created something entirely different. Below are a few examples.
MYTHIC HEROES AS SUPERHEROES
Myths where then used and turned into superheros.
The new superheroes where dominated by male figures. But creators knew it was time to bring the “fairer sex” into the mix by using the same formula.
MYTHIC HEROINES
It started with power women from the myths as seen below.
MYTHIC HEROINES
It started with power women from the myths as seen below.
