Types of Superheroes/Villains

[Cassandra]

This thread is for the discussion of the types of Superheroes and Supervillains that inhabit the various comic book universes.

 

Subject One: Mutants

 

Made popular by The Uncanny X-Men there types of super humans have a number of characteristics. They usually have a Distinctive Feature like blue fur or wings, they registers as mutants on mutant detectors, and they generally have one specific power.

 

For example Nightcrawler is blue, had a tail, and teleports. Angel has Wings. Mystique is blue, has scales, and shape shifts. Wolverine has a feral look and rapid healing. Storm had white hair and weather control powers.

 

There are exceptions to the distinctive features. Professor X has telepathy, but aside from being bald is not distinctive. Jean Grey has telekinesis, and Kitty Pryde can phase but they don't look any different then normal humans.

 

Iceman has cold powers and Colossus can turn himself in metal, but that's only when they use their powers.

 

For some reason the Distinctive Features of being a mutant is an extreme one, causing a major reaction. Why exactly this is aside from being an allegory against prejudice is beyond me. After all, many others in the Marvel Universe have powers like The Fantastic Four and they do not invoke fear from the general public.

 

Because of the fear generate by their statue, Mutants who are not at war with society generally take a secret identity for their own safety.

[psyber624]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

I think the major reaction to Distinctive Features aspect of being a mutant (at least in Marvel) is less about the distinctive feature and more about the label "I'm a mutant" or at least not normal. Also, Distinctive Features, in my opinion, may be quite common for mutants, but I wouldn't classify it as "usual". Plenty have them, plenty don't. The whole people fear mutants too much in Marvel argument has been beaten to death in more than one thread recently already so I won't comment on it.

 

And you are missing one of the most important, key features of being a mutant. Mutants are born with their powers (although they commonly do not manifest till after puberty). That is, after all, what makes a mutant a mutant. Technically I guess one should point out that they are born with powers and abilities "not held by other members of their species" to differentiate them from aliens with innate super powers due to their species (ie Thanagarians and Angel both have wing based flight powers that are innate to them from birth, but they are different types of supers)

[ayinde]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

I always thought it was more of a reputation then a distinct feature.

example: he look its that avenger Beast that is so cool. someone in group chimes in; I herd he is one of those mutants there all terrorists like the magneto guy its just how there brought up. crowd turns ugly. GET OUT OF HEAR MUTANT YOUR KIND ISNT WANTED HEAR

[ayinde]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

basically its a media hype issue.

[KX_Mushashi]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

I don't think the spread of Distinctive Feature is any different then in any other metahuman classification, Take the Fantasic Four Johnny and Reed are both in the same place as Iceman and Colossus and the Thing is in the same place as beast, Nightcrawler and the others. The difference is that there are a lot more mutants then there are most of the other metahumans but I bet the number that are suck looking different is probably close to 25%-35%.

 

I think a more unifying element if the mutants is that they typically are not in full control of their powers, Surge can't turn her Electrical Absorption, Cyclops can't open his eyes without his glasses or taking a city block out, Rogue can't touch most people without almost killing them (I think this is still fixed for her), early on Gambit's powers where out of control. A good number can control their powers just like anyone else can but we tend to see more of the "out of control" or at least from what I see.

 

The other thing I don't think that is done is that in most Mutant stories they are susceptible to having their powers suppressed by technology targeted for them as a whole not individually.

 

The fear of Mutants is mostly an allegory, though does make sense in a way that there is a fear. Does it warrant the major reaction, probably not unless in the story mutants are still a growing breed and are vastly out numbered or there was a major even that caused humans to hate mutants. Though the reason the FF, DareDevil, and other Mutantenic Metas are not feared is that they could have been anyone really that ended up with their powers, and it wasn't as easy of a plot element to say "they were a victim of a horrible event we should hate them."

[BlackEagle]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Mutants would that include the Hulk and SheHulk? Also when I think mutant heros I think of the Ninja Turtals of the 90s. I think mutants have been around as long as superheros in some form or another. Just my few cents.

[Doc Samson]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

As Magneto put it in the First Class movie, "Are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction?"

 

The existence of the Fantastic Four or Spider Man isn't living proof that evolution is about to move on.

[steriaca]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Well, in the curent Marvel Universe, the non-mutant supers have it wrougth (thanks to the Stanford Insident and it's fallout). But at least there is not the sign "Thay are here to replace us" which being a mutant brings. Eventuly, in time, most super-hating normals will calm down. But hateing mutants is something the Klan and the Panthers can agree on. That is forever.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Hulk and She Hulk got there powers from radiation accidents (directly and indirectly). Hulk has ranged from being a simple minded hero to genius cynical gangster but still manages to protect the innocent, so gets a pass.

 

She Hulk is such a good natured heroine that she became popular. I'm sure being a hot green babe had nothing to do with it.

[psyber624]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Technically I believe Hulk and She-Hulk (and several Flashes, all of the Fantastic Four, etc) are called Mutates. I.E. they start life as relatively normal human beings then some circumstance comes along and Mutates them into beings with super powers. Mutants are born with their powers (or with the potential for them, this usually doesn't immediately manifest at birth) and in Marvel anyway all share the X-gene so that they are a distinct species from humanity. It is sort of a grey area at times. Many people over the years have blamed the x-gene's very existence on the amount of radiation humanity is exposed to on a constant basis, among other reasons (if it was ever defined clearer than that I am not aware of it, but while I am a fan of the X-Men I have not been able to collect their comics for years.)

 

I remember an old Supes RPG (I believe it was Marvel FASERIP) that presented classifications for origins of super powers. Note that this list is from memory from 20 years ago so I am NOT saying it is an accurate representation of the information made available in whatever product it was originally from:

 

Mutants: Born with innate powers (X-men)

Mutates: Born normal for their species, but later changed in some way to gain their powers (Flash, Hulk, etc)

Granted: Powers are given to the person by some external intelligent force (Captain Marvel) NOTE: This generally does not apply when the powers are granted through an item.

Tech: Powers are based upon some form of "item" that grants the ability to the user, everything from weapons to power rings to limited Duration drugs that grant super powers (Iron Man)

Mystic: Powers are based upon training and knowledge, everything from martial artists to most Magic Users fit here (If the use of magic requires an essential spark then it also shares origin with either Alien or Mutant, depending upon the campaign. (Dr. Strange, White Tiger)

Alien: Super is a member of a race of beings that all possess similar powers (Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawk-Woman)

 

Those are the ones I can remember, however I feel like I am missing a couple.

 

Of course many supers dip into multiple "origins" to explain all their powers. Batman is Tech/Mystic, Wonder Woman is Alien/Tech.. Modern Era Wonder Woman is Granted/Tech, etc.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

True enough about the Hulks. In fact I think the current explanation is that Bruce Banner was part mutant in order to survive the amount the Gamma Radiation he was exposed to.

 

In the Onion's Our Dumb Century there is a story of Peter Parker dying of leukemia after being bitten by a radio active spider, so maybe they have a point.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

I always thought the mutants were created to give the teenagers of the 1960s someone to relate to. They were put up by society, not knowing their place in the world, bodies going through some really weird changes.

 

This was Stan Lee's genius. He found a way to relate to the readers who never bought into the kid sidekick thing of the golden age.

[psyber624]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

True enough about the Hulks. In fact I think the current explanation is that Bruce Banner was part mutant in order to survive the amount the Gamma Radiation he was exposed to.

 

In the Onion's Our Dumb Century there is a story of Peter Parker dying of leukemia after being bitten by a radio active spider, so maybe they have a point.

 

Ugh, or like the movie he was "genetically modified" prior to birth to be able to survive it.......

[wrestlinggeek]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Ugh' date=' or like the movie he was "genetically modified" prior to birth to be able to survive it.......[/quote']

 

Well, according to official Marvel continuity, he was. All of Humanity was in prehistoric times, by the Celestials. They introduced a modification into the human genome that, when expressed, would allow certain people to survive things that would kill most people, and be changed by the experience. The end result of this is all "radiation accident" origins, the Inhumans, and eventaully, the Mutants.

[Neverway]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Technically I believe Hulk and She-Hulk (and several Flashes, all of the Fantastic Four, etc) are called Mutates. I.E. they start life as relatively normal human beings then some circumstance comes along and Mutates them into beings with super powers. Mutants are born with their powers (or with the potential for them, this usually doesn't immediately manifest at birth) and in Marvel anyway all share the X-gene so that they are a distinct species from humanity. It is sort of a grey area at times. Many people over the years have blamed the x-gene's very existence on the amount of radiation humanity is exposed to on a constant basis, among other reasons (if it was ever defined clearer than that I am not aware of it, but while I am a fan of the X-Men I have not been able to collect their comics for years.)

 

I remember an old Supes RPG (I believe it was Marvel FASERIP) that presented classifications for origins of super powers. Note that this list is from memory from 20 years ago so I am NOT saying it is an accurate representation of the information made available in whatever product it was originally from:

 

Mutants: Born with innate powers (X-men)

Mutates: Born normal for their species, but later changed in some way to gain their powers (Flash, Hulk, etc)

Granted: Powers are given to the person by some external intelligent force (Captain Marvel) NOTE: This generally does not apply when the powers are granted through an item.

Tech: Powers are based upon some form of "item" that grants the ability to the user, everything from weapons to power rings to limited Duration drugs that grant super powers (Iron Man)

Mystic: Powers are based upon training and knowledge, everything from martial artists to most Magic Users fit here (If the use of magic requires an essential spark then it also shares origin with either Alien or Mutant, depending upon the campaign. (Dr. Strange, White Tiger)

Alien: Super is a member of a race of beings that all possess similar powers (Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Hawk-Woman)

 

Those are the ones I can remember, however I feel like I am missing a couple.

 

Of course many supers dip into multiple "origins" to explain all their powers. Batman is Tech/Mystic, Wonder Woman is Alien/Tech.. Modern Era Wonder Woman is Granted/Tech, etc.

 

The Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP) Player's Guide lists the types of possible Super Heroes as:

Altered Human

Mutant

Hi-Tech

Robot

Alien

 

The Ultimate Powers book increased the list to 42 entries (unless I miscounted) including three different types of Mutants (Induced, Random, and Breed - the FF are given as an example of Induced Mutant) and four types of Modified Humans, but no Mutates I'm afraid. Possibly you are recalling nonRPG Marvel material as Wikipedia explains Mutate_(comics) as you do.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutate_%28comics%29

[DShomshak]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

In working on my own Champions campaign way back when, I classified superbeings this way:

 

Innate powers:

Supernatural Being: Gods, elementals, ghosts, vampires, demons, angels, etc. + spirit hybrids (offspring of human and supernatural).

Mutant: Born with potential for powers because of some genetic quirk.

Alien: Comes from a race that naturally has super-powers.

Robot/Android: Artificial entity with built-in powers.

 

Induced powers:

Enchantment: Powers ganted by magic, but innate from then on. Lycanthropes, origin potions, blessings from gods, etc.

Weird Science: Radiation accidents, genetic manipulation, etc.

Cyborg: Powers from artificial bits implanted in the body. (Includes bioengineering.)

 

Trained Powers:

Sorcerer: Includes "psionic training" (old wine in new bottles).

Inventor: People who invent battlesuits, advanced weapons and other super-gadgets.

Martial Artist: What it says.

 

External Powers:

Weapon: Powers come from a device that the character cannot or does not significantly upgrade. Includes characters who build just a few super-gadgets and stick with them, character who obtains a magic item (o item of alien super-technology), and stuff like that.

Mastermind: "Powers" come from having lots of money, status and other social resources, so the character can have other people do things for them.

 

Characters can fit under more than one heading. If a character fit under three or more, I classified them as "Complex" and left it at that.

 

I also did a power breakdown of Brick, Energy Projector, Martial Artist, Mentalist, Other, and Complex, and cross-referenced to keep track of, say, how many supernatural characters I'd created were mentalists, as a way to spot concepts and combinations I'd neglected. Yes, it was a lot of work. Yes, I was insane.

 

Dean Shomshak

[psyber624]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Possibly you are recalling nonRPG Marvel material as Wikipedia explains Mutate_(comics) as you do.

 

Quite possible. It was in my college days (so 1990) when I played in the dorms with some friends. I know we tried out FASERIP and eventually moved to Champions (We always hated the insanely random nature of FASERIP char gen and I am a math geek so Champions just SPOKE to me) Its quite possible that we toyed with other systems before finding Champions but I just can't remember. (Psyber was created in one of those earliest games, and has stayed with me as an online ID for over 20 years now, fond memories)

 

 

[Tasha]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

It seems like there are more types than just Mutants.

 

Originally Mutants were described as "Children of the Atom". The earliest explanation being that the uptick in radiation (and all of the service people exposed to atomic radiation in the 40's and 50's) caused a mutation of the Human Genome. This Mutation caused powers.

 

Later People Like the Fantastic Four, The Hulk etc were described as being latent Mutants. Basically they would have never expressed any powers, until an even triggered their transformation.

 

Later we started to see Characters that were powered up before the first Atomic Blasts. So the explanation had to be changed to fit the new characters (ie Magneto, Wolverine etc). The Inhumans had the Terrogen Mists that triggered their Latent mutations (or killed the subject). Also in CU you had people like The Blood who had always had powers manifest in their families.

 

Funny thing is that the Mutant thing became so popular in Marvel comics. That DC started their own Mutant types. Though not as persecuted as Marvel's Mutants.

 

On the Distinctive Features. Don't forget that there have been Hand Held Mutant Detectors. Which is simulated with a Distinctive Feature (Mutant postive when tested with Mutant Detector).

[psyber624]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Okay yeah, Distinctive Feature for "being detectable as a mutant" is different from Distinctive Feature "freakish appearance that indicates your a mutant".

 

And the whole FF/Hulk being mutants from birth thing has always REALLY bugged me (much like the "Superman's invulnerability is really a skin tight forcefield powered by yellow sunlight" shenanigans). At some point in the history of comics it seems that authors felt they had to justify where powers came from or why so and so didn't just die from their "radiation accident" type phenomenon. Never cared for that particular trend, especially as it still makes about as much realistic sense as it did before.

[esampson]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

. . .Funny thing is that the Mutant thing became so popular in Marvel comics. That DC started their own Mutant types. Though not as persecuted as Marvel's Mutants. . .

That's because DC tried alternately making aliens and then android as the persecuted minority (so that they wouldn't be viewed as copying Marvel's idea). DC doesn't even like using the words 'mutant' or 'mutation' which is why they have the 'metagene'.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

The Tick live action TV show made it a point that superheroes didn't have secret identities because it made them vulnerable. Of course that lead to supers having their own bars where they hang out, and letting their families know.

 

Sometimes I think Clark Kent existed just so he could string Lois and Lana along.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Oops! Wrong thread.

[Cassandra]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

Another well represented group are Magic Users like Dr. Fate, Dr. Strange, Zatanna, and Isis.

 

Some common powers include telepathy, mind control, telekinesis, force fields, and teleportation. Many have to speak the spells, sometimes in rhyme, sometimes backwards. Many have connections to the ancient gods, and others origin comes from a mystic device.

[DShomshak]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

I came to find Marvel's attempts to use "anti-mutant hysteria" as an allegory for other forms of bigotry ham-handed and dubious on multiple levels. Still, Marvel could generate one good story from it, by postulating a smallish country whose people have (both spontaneously and as official policy) decided to accept mutants. As a result, mutants move there. As a result of *that,* the country is rapidly gaining wealth and power. This story arc would be a latter-day retelling of how the Dutch decided to sit out the religious wars wracking the rest of Europe. Not only did the Netherlands avoid squandering its resources in fruitless war, the country's immigrant Jews, Anabaptists and other religious minorities included a lot of scholars, artisans and other folk who helped make the country very rich. A prosperity the Dutch still enjoy, centuries later.

 

Leaving Marvel, I see two important story aspects to super-powered mutants.

 

First, the powers are totally spontaneous and unexpected. In one sense, this makes them a "fair" source of super-powers: Anyone might be a mutant. In another sense, they are deeply unfair in they are completely undeserved. You didn't even have to be in the right place at the right time to have your origin. You were, apparently, a completely ordinary person before you discover, out of the blue, that you have super-powers. What do you do about this?

 

The second aspect is that mutant powers are potentially heritable. That reverses the randomness of the first factor. Instead, you have the potential of a super-powered caste -- an aristocracy whose members are, really and truly, born more powerful than everyone else. Potentially, a very nasty ruling class. Once *that* potential becomes clear, hating mutants becomes a bit more plausible.

 

Dean Shomshak

[assault]

Re: Types of Superheroes/Villains

 

This story arc would be a latter-day retelling of how the Dutch decided to sit out the religious wars wracking the rest of Europe. Not only did the Netherlands avoid squandering its resources in fruitless war' date='[/quote']

 

Off topic, but this caused a bit of eyebrow raising on my part.

 

You seem to have overlooked the Eighty Years' War.

 

ON TOPIC:

Theme villains. In particular:

Theme gadgeteers - usually non-powered villains using weaponry related to a specific theme. Includes "elemental forces" like fire, ice, sound, magnetism etc.

 

These characters are usually glass cannons, who can be stopped by a good right to the jaw, but can present a challenge to even rather powerful characters, either directly or through the use of subterfuge.

 

Virtually every major published superhero has at least some of these in their Rogues' Galleries. Particularly prominent in DC, but Marvel is rife with them too.