Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas — have dominated comic books and crossed over into other media. The word itself dates to at least 1917. A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine. "Super heroes" is a trademark co-owned by DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

By most definitions, characters strictly require actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes. However, this term can be applied to characters who perform the same functions but are devoid of such powers and abilities who are alternately referred to as costumed crime fighters; examples of the latter are characters such as Batman and Green Arrow. Such characters were generally referred to as "mystery men" in the late 1930s and 1940s (a period historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books), to distinguish them from characters with super-powers.

In the traditional paradigm, superheroes utilize their abilities to combat criminal actions and to supplement the endeavors of law enforcement by circumventing legal restrictions on police entities to achieve success. In addition to this fundamental purpose, a superhero is also prone to combating characters representing their polar opposites known as supervillains, which are usually characters possessing similar powers and abilities who utilize them for nefarious or malicious purposes. Traditionally, a superhero will regularly engage in physical and strategic combat with a collection of recurring idiosyncratic and iconic villains often known as a rogues gallery in attempting to thwart a number of schemes; it is also common for one of these characters to serve as a primary antagonist for a superhero as an archenemy, with the others serving as secondary nemeses. Additionally, superheroes sometimes will combat such threats as aliens and supernatural or mythological entities.

Superheroes remain a staple of most illustrated serial fiction in Western culture, and frequently draw both acclaim and controversy for both their perceived and demonstrable influence on social and political issues that are usually addressed in the works depicting them. In the 20th Century, superheroes and comic books were occasionally attacked as proponents of subversive political and social ideologies; on other occasions, they served to support and idealize the dominant values of the national culture. They have, historically, also been utilized as commentary on controversial subjects afflicting national matters political, social, sexual, and philosophical.