MERCH!
Giant Bomb - a website about video games and the people that make them

The Superman Archetype

by captainofthestars

Widely recognized as the very first superhero (or at least the oldest one anyone remembers), Superman has inspired countless parodies, analogues, and equivalents, even within DC itself.

Aspects of the Superman Archetype are as follows:

  • Has the "FISS" power-set (Flight, Invulnerability, Strength, and Speed), as well as heat vision or some other kind of "eye beam" power.
  • Form-fitting costume that has a cape and a prominent chest-symbol (sometimes a letter, but often not). Red and/or blue colors preferred.
  • Secret identity, especially one where they pretend to be bumbling or dorky.
  • Romance with an ordinary human woman who is a reporter or some other kind of newswoman and a frequent damsel-in-distress (the "Lois Lane Archetype").
  • Arch-enemy is a wealthy, super-intelligent, egomaniac with vast resources and who often does not have a supervillain name, instead using their real name (the "Lex Luthor Archetype", if you will).
  • Founder, heavy-hitter, and often leader, of the setting's premiere superhero team.
  • Looks human, but is in fact an alien. Alien examples are often the last of their kind or one of the last of their kind, and were sent to Earth as infants or children.
  • Raised by a kind, elderly farming couple somewhere far from any big cities (so a rural area).
  • Weakened or harmed by a specific mineral, often a fictional one.
  • Widely beloved by the people

Please note that characters can and do fit this archetype without checking off every single item on the above list.

Showing 1-10 of 61 items

Superman

1. Superman

Obviously.

Kal-L

2. Kal-L

The Earth-2 version of Superman. And in fact, because DC's Pre-Crisis Earth 2 was where their Golden Age comics took place, this ironically means we got Earth 2 Superman first!

Red Son Superman

3. Red Son Superman

Another alternate reality version of the archetype's originator, this one a champion of the Communist way.

Calvin Ellis

4. Calvin Ellis

The Superman of Earth-23 in DC's Multiverse

Jor-El

5. Jor-El

Father of Superman

Supergirl

6. Supergirl

Most prominent female version

Power Girl

7. Power Girl

The other most prominent female version, and is meant to BE Supergirl from another universe (Earth-2, usually).

Superboy

8. Superboy

The junior version

Jon Kent

9. Jon Kent

The other junior version

Mon-El

10. Mon-El

The FUTURE junior version.

of 7