The best superhero is actually...

[Bohandas]

and the only superhuman adventurer (at least, he had mild superpowers in the radio serial he starred in, even if he largely lacked them in the pulps, and it was kind of a non-issue in his original appearances as a narrator) was the Shadow, and the Shadow didn't have a 'costume' per se. A distinct look, yes, but a trenchcoat, floppy hat, and scarf over your face do not a costume make.

Yeah, but wasn't his power something that could fill in for a costume

[Scarlet Knight]

Superman, for so many reasons, not the least, because the term "Superhero" comes from him.

[Tono]

I googled it because I was interested. Mandrake the Magician might take that roll if you don't count Hugo Hercules. In a non-comic form there are plenty of others. Not to mention I am sure you can find some mythology of a 'super-being' in disguise helping people. Superman probably has had the biggest and longest effect on the genre though, but it itself was most likely inspired by others in media in and outside of comics.

After I typed that, I also decided to look at the wikipedia article for it. Because nerds live there. Definitions, dates and sources. Supes it aint.

[Legato Endless]

*shrug*

To the best of my knowledge, the only costumed adventurer to precede him was the Phantom, and the Phantom lacks the 'super' part of the equation, and the only superhuman adventurer (at least, he had mild superpowers in the radio serial he starred in, even if he largely lacked them in the pulps, and it was kind of a non-issue in his original appearances as a narrator) was the Shadow, and the Shadow didn't have a 'costume' per se. A distinct look, yes, but a trenchcoat, floppy hat, and scarf over your face do not a costume make.

So if we're going by the most broadly accepted definition of the term 'superhero'- i.e. 'person in costume with superpowers', then I stand by my statement of Superman being the first (and yes, I know that definition disqualifies Batman, I just don't consider that to be relevant to this particular discussion).

I can't find a definition where costumes are necessary. If I told a group of people about a man who goes out and fights crime regularly with superpowers like telekinesis and astral projection, I'm pretty sure 90% of the average room would call that a superhero, since Superman wasn't even the first such character created by Siegal and Shuster.

If costumes are obligatory, and I have no idea why they would be, as that leads to incoherence like Wolverine not being a superhero in solo film outings, Blade not being a superhero at all, and classic Hulk being disqualified among others, Supes still doesn't make it. But sure, if we allow that...

Golden Bat had a costume and cape, similar powers to Supes, and went on adventures fighting villains devoted to world domination years before Cal's debut. Superman as the world's first superhero (within or without comics) only works when one restricts the definition to one in which only Supes counts, and leaves many of the most popularly known characters in the genre disqualified. That doesn't really make sense.

[Kato]

Dude. I was being semi-serious, learn to read the nuances.

Uhm.. So was I.. No need to take everything offensively..

I mean, I would legitimately be much more excited by a version of My Hero Academia that replaces Deku and Uraraka with Kirishima and Tsuya as two of the three leads (Iida can stay), and replaces Bakugo with Todoraki as the main friendtagonist.

OK, I might agree on the first two but replacing Katsuki is an insult. The man is hilarious.

[Ramza00]

Martian Manhunter.

[tensai_oni]

"I have arrived!"


Okay now that I have your attention, I'm going to say that All Might is at his core Superman - when Superman is written by competent writers who remember what the character is all about.

Yes, he has incredible powers and the willingness to use them for good. But what makes Clark Kent who he is, is that he has willingly turned himself into a symbol, both in universe and in real life. A symbol that says, no matter who you are, there is someone out there who is willing to give his all, to sacrifice himself just to help you when you're in trouble. And the presence of that symbol not only assures people, but brings out the good in them as they try to follow in its footsteps. That is probably Superman's greatest strength, not any kind of super power.

A well-written Clark Kent is humane, empathetic, self-sacrificing and socially conscious. He is much more than either simplistic "flying man in cape beats up bad guys" portrayals or edgy ~deconstructions~ would indicate. He may not be my favorite superhero, or one I enjoy most as a character. But the best superhero? Yes he is.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one important point.

Supes doesn't have to follow rules of society and humanity as a whole. He is powerful enough to do whatever he wants, exist outside of society or even rule it by force as some of the edgier stories/what if scenarios show. But he has decided to do it anyway, to willingly fetter himself and tell everyone "there are no two different rule sets in life, one for the powerful and one for the weak. What applies to you will apply to me too". He is the opposite of the Nietzschean ubermensch, who rejects society's morality and builds his own.

A good example of a Nietzschean hero is Saitama from One Punch Man, who basically does what he wants and even is a hero "for fun". I'm not saying he's immoral, but rather that he has his own value system rather than following one established by the society.

[Pronounceable]

Undisputably best superheroes are Squirrel Girl and Booster Gold. The lack of any crossovers starring both is proof that comicbook industry is terrible and misguided and full of hacks and needs to be destroyed.

[Anonymouswizard]

Interesting, frog girl never really stood out to me as particularly interesting other than that she has a fairly unique design for a female hero. I do agree gravity girl is pretty bland. But the only character that I really could do completely without is sticky-bubble boy. And I suppose invisible girl since I think she has gotten next to no character development so far anyway. I do quite like rock boy as well.

But on the whole I don't think I'd change what I've seen too much. It's a good show as is.

I stopped reading/watching after I realised that most of the characters I liked weren't going to be major players. While my favourite is the secondary Rival (and works brilliantly in that position), but otherwise the only major character I actually like is Iida.

This is contrary to One Punch Man, where I hated the early plots but kept with it because I loved both major characters and found the enemies entertaining. I still love it for the characters/

A good example of a Nietzschean hero is Saitama from One Punch Man, who basically does what he wants and even is a hero "for fun". I'm not saying he's immoral, but rather that he has his own value system rather than following one established by the society.

Although his value system does roughly align with society's, that's because he wants it to. Best hero ever.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Superman, for so many reasons, not the least, because the term "Superhero" comes from him.

He didn't come completely out of the blue though, pulp novels of the time included all sorts of heroic and science fiction adventures, the best known character today probably being Zorro, who ended up becoming the main inspiration for Batman, and Supermans costume didn't become a tight fitting standard superhero costume until The Phantom appeared in the same kind of outfit. Famously in the beginning he also didn't have the set of powers he has today, it was mostly just strength and bullet-proofyness. Superman was one of the important innovators of the superhero genre, but he also evolved with it, rather than making all of the innovations himself with all the other supers merely following his lead.

That's more of a side note for the sake of side notes though, I just like how these sort of changes happen. It's not to deny Superman's undeniable influence.

[Friv]

OK, I might agree on the first two but replacing Katsuki is an insult. The man is hilarious.

Ehn.

I mean, different strokes for different folks, but the only funny thing about Katsuki is the way that no one treats him like the super-cool guy he so desperately wants to be. I'm perfectly happy with him and Todoroki switching screen time. You don't have to erase him (or Deku, or Uraraka), just let the Bakugo/Deku thing be a fun side story and have occasional Bakugo absurdity.

But yes, All Might is the best. He's one of the best Superman expies in a long time, because My Hero Academia looks at the trope and considers what it means without tearing it down.

[MikelaC1]

Wonder Woman

[Maryring]

The Flash

If not *the* best then he's certainly very high up there. Scenes like that is what makes a hero. Not their powers, but the good they can do in the world.

[Kato]

Ehn.

I mean, different strokes for different folks, but the only funny thing about Katsuki is the way that no one treats him like the super-cool guy he so desperately wants to be. I'm perfectly happy with him and Todoroki switching screen time. You don't have to erase him (or Deku, or Uraraka), just let the Bakugo/Deku thing be a fun side story and have occasional Bakugo absurdity.

But yes, All Might is the best. He's one of the best Superman expies in a long time, because My Hero Academia looks at the trope and considers what it means without tearing it down.

We're going a bit off topic here but I feel katsuki is way more refreshing than Shoto. The latter is not a bad character but a combination of old tropes. Katsuki is a massive jerk who desperately wants to be a hero. I can't recall ever coming across someone similar.


Also, yes, AM is what Supes once was. Or almost. Hero academia really tackles the superhero story in a well done new way.

[Prime32]

He didn't come completely out of the blue though, pulp novels of the time included all sorts of heroic and science fiction adventures, the best known character today probably being Zorro, who ended up becoming the main inspiration for Batman, and Supermans costume didn't become a tight fitting standard superhero costume until The Phantom appeared in the same kind of outfit. Famously in the beginning he also didn't have the set of powers he has today, it was mostly just strength and bullet-proofyness. Superman was one of the important innovators of the superhero genre, but he also evolved with it, rather than making all of the innovations himself with all the other supers merely following his lead.

That's more of a side note for the sake of side notes though, I just like how these sort of changes happen. It's not to deny Superman's undeniable influence.

He's been mentioned already, but Golden Bat had a ton of those elements and predates The Phantom. I'm not sure when exactly he traded in the Shakespeare outfit for spandex, but he always had the cape.

[Mikemical]

I've been liking Red Hood a lot after New 52. When Jason dropped the angst about his death and started doing Chaotic Good heroics he became a much more likable character than back when he was all "YOU LEFT ME TO DIE, BRUCE!!!"

[Green Elf]

I should have worded that better. Any hero is allowed. I'm just going to count the answers.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

you know, Golden Bat was a good tip for reading up on. And then there are links to yet other pre-Superman supers, like the Prince of Gamma, which seems if anything more Supermannish than Golden Bat, and the Nyctalope, a cyborg crime fighter.

Plus I learned what Paper Theater is and that the pulp period was a thing in Japan as well, and already they were better than us at pushing things to ridiculousness. In hindsight it seems almost obvious that Japanese people invented superheroes.

[HolyDraconus]

Personally, I am going with Static Shock, before DC got ahold of him and ruined him.

[Bohandas]

I like:
-The Mystery Men
-The Powerpuff Girls
-The Mask
-Batman
-Iron Man
-The Phantom
-Sidekick
-Teen Titans Go
-Freakazoid
-Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
-OK KO
-Rocket Horse and Jet Chicken/The Drizzle/any one-shot superhero from ATHF
-Earthworm Jim
-Grrl Power
-Rorshach

[danzibr]

The Question, or maybe Chevalier from Worm.

Of the ones you listed:

Batman has the best most meaningful stories when done well (he also has some of the worst fanwankery in the business when not) and easily the best rogues gallery.

Captain America is probably the closest to what can be seen as a true "hero." His powers make him a step above, without getting into the weird physics wankery that can happen with his moral DC equivalent Superman. He also more adequately addresses the whole problems with placing our values on vigilante violence and a single persons view on what justice is than most other heroes I've seen.

The others fall short for me, for one reason or another.

Hmm. Didn't have to go very far in the thread to find an answer I agree with.

I'm not a big fan of super power super heroes. I mean, they can be cool, but I prefer the regular dudes/dudettes doing extraordinary things. I like Batman for this reason, but dislike Batman for other reasons.

[JBPuffin]

• Saitama (aka One-Punch Man) is my favorite non-comic superhero; as much as Worm interested me in the middle, the end murdered it for me and I used up so much time on it (literally read it for 24+ hours straight). Now, supervillians would be another story...
• Spidey's probably my favorite comic book supe, for a number of reasons (power set, attitude, moral backbone, et al.).
• Batman has my some of my favorite media (the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Spielberg movies, his role in JL:U, Brave and the Bold and the animation where Adam West was the mayor). Admittedly, I'll totally watch the New Spiderman in whatever he shows up in, and he was my favorite CA:Civil War character so...go Tom/Peter!

There are other heroes I like, but these are the three that take the cake in their respective category.

[Rater202]

Of the main stream heroes, Spider-Man, because he does Heroic things even when he wants to be selfish or give it up because he has to much of a conscience not to do so. while he's not the strongest hero in his verse, he's the strongest "street level" hero and frequently punches above his weight class. He's the guy that Thor goes to when he needs council and he manages to bring out the best in a heartless mercenary like Wade Wilson. He is the Heart of the Marvel Universe and one of the most good and pure things in it.

Going off the ranch to things that aren't owned by Marvel or DC, Ben 10(Original continuity) He has proved himself a true hero, despite his occasional bouts of arrogance or selfishness, time and time again, has on one occasion given up a weapon that would have let him concur the universe because he didn't believe he could be trusted with that kind of power, and despite being functionally omnipotent he carefully limits himself to the level of power he thinks he needs for the situation.

Honorable mention as the best Anti-Hero is Taylor Hebert/Skitter/Weaver/Khepri, from Worm. she keeps trying to do the right thing, help people, and work with the legitimate authorities long after she'd been established as a criminal warlord and that the people in power wanted nothing to do with her(the first two times a city destroying threat targeted her city, she volunteered to help ony to be almost killed by a leader of the local super-Powered Law enforcement. She still volunteered to help the third time it happened.) That, and she's self sacrificing to a fault.

[thompur]

Buffy Summers! Because she saved the world...A lot!

[The Ari-tificer]

Definitely Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. No contest.

[The Ari-tificer]

But closely followed by Invincible and Arm-Fall-Off Boy. (Google it. He's real.)

[Forum Explorer]

I'm going to say... Dragon from Worm. Downright one of the most compassionate characters in the story who despite being literally crippled by her programming, does her best to protect the world. Has a strong enough moral compass to prove the 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' as bull, and is one of the only heroes to actually redeem a villain or two.

Honorable mention goes to Taylor from Worm, who decided to save the world, no matter the cost, nor path she must take. And then did.

[thompur]

I almost forgot my other favorite: Thomas Tudbury- The Great and Powerful Turtle! From the Wild Card series, edited by George R.R. Martin.

[-D-]

Saitama:


He is the best non-Superman, Superman hero. All might is great, but MHA makes me want to punch most of its characters.

The thing is - Saitama is Superman, while trying not to be a Superman.

[Lurkmoar]

Saitama:


He is the best non-Superman, Superman hero. All might is great, but NHA makes me want to punch most of its characters.

The thing is - Saitama is Superman, while trying not to be a Superman.

I do like the fact that he pulps monsters that are confirmed murderers, but lets humans and non-killer monsters skate with a beating. And his actions with the Deep Sea King really prove that his head and heart are in the right place.