Email: “One of my protagonists is a detective looking for superheroes/vigilantes. What sort of traits might tip him off?
Here are some trends that come to mind for American superheroes.
Strong Associations
- They’ve had a loved one(s) murdered by a stranger. That’s pretty rare in the United States. Only about 2,500 U.S. murders are committed by strangers per year. If we rule out gang violence (because most people in a Uncle Ben or Martha/Thomas Wayne situation are not gang members), we’re probably looking at about 500 murders per year that might be of interest to police looking for superhero origin stories.
- They’ve had a loved one(s) kidnapped by a stranger, sometimes repeatedly. (For example, are there any Metropolis supervillains that haven’t kidnapped Lois Lane at some point?) Normally, it’s EXTRAORDINARILY rare for someone to get kidnapped more than once by a stranger. I doubt it’s happened in U.S. history. It should certainly raise a lot of questions about why so many major-league criminals have an interest in kidnapping this particular journalist rather than any of the other major journalists in town.
- Most superheroes are 1) extremely physically fit but 2) do NOT work out regularly at a gym or at home. If you have access to credit card records, look for purchases of gym membership and/or fitness equipment. A superhero won’t have any. (If Clark Kent started bench-pressing thousands of pounds at a gym, it would raise a lot of questions).
- If the police suspect that your Clark Kent is Superman, CK may have trouble coming up with an alibi for times when Superman was fighting villains.
- Superheroes are almost always college-educated. In contrast, 70% of U.S. adults don’t have a bachelor’s degree.
- If you interview the coworkers/boss of a superhero, certain traits will probably crop up. They’re brilliant, but hard to work with. They have major absenteeism issues and frequently come into work tired or with (poorly explained) injuries, and they NEVER follow orders or a chain of command. Despite their many failings, superheroes’ coworkers will unanimously agree that they are exceptionally competent at their job. (Bruce Wayne is virtually the only exception here — most superheroes are too proud/lazy/careless to pull off a dummy act).
- In most cases, everyone that knows a superhero well will agree that he’s unusually courageous and altruistic, but has issues with punctuality and reliability. A lot of people that know him will attest that it’s hard to get him on the phone and/or that he sometimes disappears during work.
- Everyone that has observed this person in a life-or-death emergency will agree that he was unusually collected, even if he’s normally sort of bumbling (e.g. Clark Kent).
Weak Associations
- Superheroes are generally romantically dysfunctional. There are a few superheroes that make a long-term relationship work (frequently because they date/marry other superheroes), but more often it’s a Bruce Wayne or Punisher situation where the character is a pathological loner or divorced by murder.
- We can safely eliminate anyone that’s poor, and I’d look especially closely at billionaires.
- Most superheroes are 15-40, particularly 20-35. In general, most superheroes have had unusual success in their chosen day-job at an early age.
- I’d take an especially close look at scientists, journalists, and corporate moguls.
- Generally very talkative/outgoing, but secretive.
- Some people close to the hero may suspect the person is having an affair or otherwise hiding something because he lies so often (and perhaps so implausibly) about so much (e.g. where he is, why he misses appointments, why he’s been injured, whatever).
- Most superheroes aren’t noticeably religious, even the ones that personally know gods. In contrast, most Americans attend religious services regularly.
- Most superheroes aren’t noticeably politically active. In contrast, most American adults are registered to vote with a particular political party.
- Nobody’s ever seen him sweat or show any signs of fear.
- Generally has lived in a particular city his/her entire life — in particular, most Americans don’t attend college in their hometown, but most superheroes do.
- Probably attended a very respectable university in a city (e.g. Empire State or Gotham University). In real life, the United States only has a few of them (Columbia, Georgetown, University of Chicago, maybe USC, etc). Almost every top U.S. university is in a suburb or a rural area.
- Even within the city, most superheroes do not move very often. (If there is a secret compartment in the house, moving would be very inconvenient). If a superhero does move, he does not use a moving company.
