Superhero Question

[dunmurderin]

If you had to make up a list of, for lack of a better word, archetypal superheroes, who would you include? I'm looking for a list of characters who folks would consider to be the superhero equivalent to the founding members of the profession. I'm trying to develop a core group of founding heroes for my superhero universe and I'm looking for ideas for archetypes to base them around.

I've got a Captain America Expy, for example. And a Professor X (and a Magneto; I would also be open to suggestions for archetypal supervillains/rogues/foils).

Comments

[dragoness_e]

The original super-powered superhero: Superman, based loosely on Philip Wylie's Gladiator.

(Having read Gladiator, I can see the inspiration, but Siegal and Schuster's Superman is far, far more upbeat)

Batman - the original street-level superhero

Spiderman - the original angsty teenager superhero, and possibly the first teenager hero who was not someone else's sidekick.

Hawkman & Hawkgirl - possibly the first flying superheroes. (Superman could originally just jump really high)

The Human Torch - The first superhero whose thing was being on FIRE! All the time! (There was a WWII version way before the Fantastic Four)

Wonder Woman - the first super-powered female superhero who was not there to be a damsel in distress, nor named 'Something Girl'. Also the first BDSM superhero (seriously, look up her creator, he had some interesting notions...)

The Spectre or Dr. Fate - some of the earliest occult super-heroes. Both are essentially mortals possessed by semi-divine spirits.