What Makes Someone a Superhero?

We have thousands of superheroes in comics, movies, television, and books. Decades of stories. People think they know what a superhero is. I don’t think they do. I think a lot of people get it wrong.

If you have powers, a costume, and a cool name, you must be a superhero, right?

Not necessarily.

Those things may be part of being a superhero, but they don’t define one.

I’ve not only researched this topic, I’ve written four superhero books using what I’ve learned. And I’ve come to believe that being a superhero isn’t as simple as getting a power and using it in public. It takes more than that.

Everyone who has ever written a superhero story should understand what makes a superhero a superhero. Somewhere along the way, however, we’ve either forgotten that, or we’ve decided that the idea itself needs to be discarded.

So here’s my definition:

A superhero is a person who accepts an inescapable obligation to use their abilities to protect and help others.

Or, in other words:

With great power comes great responsibility.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of great superhero stories out there in the world. But lately, I think the superhero genre as a whole has lost its way.

Comic book fans have gravitated toward the dark, brooding vigilante, or even worse, a deconstructed version of the hero who is just as bad as—or sometimes worse than—the villain they’re trying to stop.

Television and movies have followed suit. They market their shows and movies as gritty and realistic, adding a TV-MA rating so their characters can cuss a blue streak that would make a sailor blush.

The so-called superhero fiction novels might be some of the worst offenders. They take the superhero genre and combine it with stories that have very little to do with traditional heroism: LitRPG, romance, romantasy, satire, and the list goes on.

I’m not saying those genres are bad. I’m saying that putting a superhero costume on a story doesn’t automatically make it superhero fiction.

True superhero fiction, in my opinion, is built around something much more fundamental.

A superhero has an inescapable obligation to the world.

These people have been given a gift—an ability to do things ordinary people can’t. They can shoulder burdens that would overwhelm society. When a villain comes through their city, they may be the only person capable of standing between that villain and the innocent people who can’t defend themselves.

So they stand there.

They put themselves in harm’s way knowing they might not come out alive, and they do it anyway.

Not for gratitude.

Not for money.

Not because they expect a reward.

They do it because they can help, and therefore they believe they must.

It’s an old-fashioned idea.

But some ideas should never get old.

Spider-Man understands this. He learned it the hard way, and that lesson changed him forever.

Superman understands it. He could easily take control of the planet and rule it with an iron fist. Instead, he was raised by parents who taught him right from wrong, and he carries those values with him as he protects the world.

Captain America understands it. He chose to alter himself so he would have the strength to stand between the enemy and the people who couldn’t stand against them themselves.

There are plenty of people with powers in comics and other media. But a superhero isn’t defined by the power.

The superhero is defined by what the power obligates them to do.

That’s why these characters continue to resonate with people after decades of stories.

People want to see the good guy win and the bad guy lose.

Deep down, underneath all the cynicism, we know there is something right about that.

No matter how many deconstructed comics you’ve read, or how many gritty, realistic movies you’ve watched about psychologically damaged heroes doing bad things for supposedly good reasons, the fundamental idea remains.

Good and evil exist.

Sometimes the bad guy really is the bad guy.

And sometimes the good guy really is the good guy.

There are plenty of different kinds of superhero stories in the world today, and there’s room for many different interpretations of the genre. But when it’s all said and done, what we really need from superhero fiction is remarkably simple:

A good guy standing between the villain and the innocent.

A hero willing to put himself in harm’s way.

A person with the ability to make a difference accepting the responsibility to do so.

A superhero.

And maybe that’s something we shouldn’t have forgotten in the first place.