You know, Batman is the only Superhero who's actually smart and knows how to fight; everyone else just rely on their super powers....
What the...? I typed Batman in wikipedia and it said that there have been homosexual interpretations of him. Howdy!
SPOILERS FOR "THE KILLING JOKE" BELOW. No, I meant that in the Killing Joke (Highly regarded as one of the best batman comics) the ending is left open (unlike Superman, who probably never even has the internal debate. But I like Superman too, just not to the extent that I like Batman or other DC characters) to interpretation. In the first few pages the batman was looking for the joker in the Arkham Asylum to tell him that he wants to end their little war either peacefully or by other means... In the ending, when he finally grabs him, it is left ambigous (directly from the mouth of the of the author): But that would render The Killing Joke non-canon so it is a bit of a tight spot. I just wanted to illustrate that even though the batman has it's "rule", he wanted to end it all with the joker (I am absolutely confident that batman would have definitely killed the Joker if it wasn't for Gordon's request). Sorry if i didn't elaborate there. Well, remember extremes are bad. Portraying them as fully sociopathic and cruel won't help them sympathize with the readers.
Random thought: Isn't "ordinary superheroes" an oxymoron? -cough- Anyways... Maybe they can get their superpowers from the medication they are taking for their mental illnesses. The pills and such weren't made correctly, or something. As for the actual powers themselves, I have no idea.
Sorry about that! I would hate anyone who did that to me! I am very sorry, I didn't consider those who haven't read it. Sad that there aren't spoiler tags here.
Spoiler What the hell are you talking about, 'there aren't spoiler tags here'? Last one in the list. https://www.writingforums.org/misc.php?do=bbcode
Here is one of the funniest comic book panels I've seen EDIT: About how superheroes gain their powers... Stan Lee discovered pretty early that he ran out of ideas, so he decided some of his heroes would be mutants, that is, born with their powers. This turned out to be an excellent idea, since growing up with super powers leads to lots of drama: identity problems, conflicts with parents, friends and authorities, etc. It fit perfectly into Marvel Comic's melodramatic, character-driven storytelling. If all your characters have serious mental problems, how about this idea: Psychic powers exist, but they're so strange and alien to human thought patterns, only someone who is insane can wrap their minds around them. Unfortunately, someone who is insane can't gather his thoughts long enough to make any practical use of psychic powers. But the main characters are given an experimental drug, that enables them to think and plan coherently, while still keeping their minds strange enough. Take too much of the drug, and the powers disappear. Take too little, and you go insane.
Er, just so you're aware, none of those are "insanity." Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder (although one suffering it can have delusional episodes), OCD is an anxiety disorder (having it myself, I know one can FEEL that they're nuts, but they're not), and antisocial personality disorder is...well, a personality disorder. Schizophrenia and its companions are some of the very few disorders that could probably be called insanity, and even then it's iffy since "insanity" isn't a medical term, it's more a legal term. I do hope that if you choose to write this, you really research all the disorders you plan to include so they don't end up becoming goofy stereotypes. (How many antisocial people would even want to become superheroes, anyway? The very hallmark of this disorder is that the sufferer cares mostly for themselves and very little for others. They lack a conscience. They don't all become serial killers or anything, they just don't care much. Be careful not to confuse "antisocial" with "asocial" or "social phobia/anxiety" or "avoidant" because these are FOUR COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. Antisocial does NOT mean you're shy or just don't like being around people! I say this as somebody who has social anxiety/avoidance. It's appalling how many people think they're "antisocial" because they don't like being around people or they're shy. Antisocial means something else entirely.) But anyway, preaching aside, I guess I'd ditto the others' suggestions about having their medication possibly affect their powers. The only catch is, for some disorders, like antisocial personality disorder, there IS no effective medication.
Uh....I have taken a pyschology course. I think it will be interesting for an anti-social person as a superhero. Maybe it's not because he wants or doesn't want. I know it's mood disorders, but in way they control your mind. It's insanity in its own way. @Islander: I like your idea.
Didn't like both Fantastic Four movies; too corny and cheeseball. Also, I never really liked Superman. I saw a trailer for the new Watchmen movie. Looks cool. Also, nice idea with the League of Five. Sounds new and fresh, and you could really exploit it.
Islander I like that idea as well. It brings a lot of story elements in my mind. What if you had someone with multiple personality disorder. One personality could know about the other more dominant one that is the hero, but when he/she takes to little medication the less dominant one shows up and tries to kill the others. That would work because since less medicine means more power it would mean the less dominant personality has more power than the others
Don't worry about it. I actually only read up until you mentioned the name and skipped your post haha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestarter It's a novel by Stephen King, about a pyrokinetic aparently.
I'll look forward to it. Before I start my Superhero novel, I'll read some novels. A friend of mine has a book called... Argh, I can't remember, but it is about a girl with wings or something like it.
