Superhero

A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility, who usually has colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings.

Character subtypes

In superhero role-playing games (particularly Champions), superheroes are informally organized into categories based on their skills and abilities:

Related Topics:
Role-playing game - Champions

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• "Brick/Tanker": A character with a superhuman degree of strength and endurance and usually an oversized, muscular body, e.g., The Thing, The Incredible Hulk, Colossus, Savage Dragon
• "Blaster": A hero whose main power is a distance attack, e.g., Cyclops, Starfire, Static
• "Archer": A subvariant of this type who uses bow and arrow-like weapons that have a variety of specialized functions like explosives, glue, nets, rotary drill, etc., e.g., Green Arrow, Hawkeye
• "Mage": A subvariant of this type that is trained in the use of magic, which partially or wholly involves ranged attacks., e.g., Doctor Strange, Doctor Fate
• "Martial Artist": A hero whose physical abilities are mostly human rather than superhuman but whose combat skills are phenomenal. Some of these characters are actually superhuman (Captain America, Daredevil, Iron Fist) while others are normal human beings who are extremely skilled and athletic (Batman, Black Widow)
• "Gadgeteer": A hero who invents special equipment that often imitates superpowers, e.g., Forge, Nite Owl
• "Armored Hero": A gadgeteer whose powers are derived from a suit of powered armor, e.g., Iron Man, Steel
• "Dominus": A hero that uses a giant robot to combat villains, e.g., Big Guy, Roger Smith of Big O and members of the team Super Sentai; common in Japanese superhero series
• "Speedster": A hero possessing superhuman speed and reflexes, e.g., The Flash, Quicksilver.
• "Mentalist": A hero who possesses psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and extra-sensory perception, e.g., Professor X and Jean Grey of the X-Men, Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
• "Shapeshifter": A hero who can manipulate his/her own body to suit his/her needs, such as stretching (Mister Fantastic, Plastic Man) or disguise (Changeling, Chameleon)
• "Substance oriented Bodychanger - A shapeshifter who can change his/her body into the equivalent of a mass of a substance that can have variable density such as sand or water. e.g., Sand, Husk.
• "Sizechanger": A shapeshifter who can alter his/her size, e.g., the Atom (shrinking only), Colossal Boy (growth only), Hank Pym (both).

These categories often overlap. For instance, Batman is a martial artist and a gadgeteer, and Superman is extremely strong and damage resistant and also has ranged attacks (heat vision, superbreath) like an energy blaster and can move quickly like a speedster. The Martian Manhunter excels in every category except martial arts and gadgetry.

Related Topics:
Superman - Martian Manhunter

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