A relatively short list , for once. So, who did I leave off? Who did I include that should have been left off? And what about Naomi?
- Aquaman I (Arthur Curry) “Silver Age”
- Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom)
- Batman (Bruce Wayne)
- The Black Panther (T’Challa)
- Captain America (Steve Rogers)
- Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
- Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
- The Flash I (Jay Garrick) “Golden Age”
- The Flash II (Barry Allen)
- The Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
- The Green Lantern I (Alan Scott)
- The Green Lantern II (Hal Jordan)
- The Hulk (Robert Bruce Banner)
- The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
- The Invisible Woman (Susan Richards)
- Iron Man (Tony Stark)
- Mandrake the Magician
- Marvel Girl (Jean Grey)
- Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards)
- Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
- The Phantom (Kit Walker)
- Plastic Man (Eel O’Brien)
- Power Girl (Karen “Kara Zor-L” Starr)
- Robin (Dick Grayson)
- Rorschach (Walter Kovacs)
- Sailor Moon (Tsukino Usagi)
- El Santo
- The Shadow (Lamont Cranston)
- The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)
- Son Goku (Kakarrot)
- Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
- The Spirit (Denny Colt)
- Superboy (Clark Kent)
- Supergirl (Linda “Kara Zor-El” Lee)
- Superman (Clark “Kal-El” Kent)
- The Thing (Benjamin J. Grimm)
- Thor (Donald Blake)
- Ultraman (Hayada Shin)
- Wolverine (James “Logan” Howlett)
- Wonder Woman (Diana Prince)
Replies
Off the top of my head:
The Atom (Ray Palmer)
Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett)
Doc Savage
Ghost Rider (possible)
Luke Cage
Mighty Mouse
The Question (animated)
Space Ghost
Storm
Sub-Mariner
Interesting. Seven of those would've been on the list if it was a hundred rather than forty.
Philip Portelli said:
Since you're including Japanese characters, I think you could have added the following:
Mazinger Z
Devilman
Spike Spiegel
Luffy D. Monkey
Naruto
Ogami Itto
Some others:
Popeye
Jonah Hex
The Lone Ranger
I was trying to stick to characters that I thought that most people would agree were super-heroes, and deliberately left out characters that I thought of as "ur-super-heroes" like Sherlock Holmes, or "borderline super-heroes" like Asterix the Gaul. You can get into "gray areas" and matters of opinion. Is Namor an "important" character? Sure? Is he a "hero"? I don't think so, but I think a lot of people would. Does the Doctor from Doctor Who qualify as a "super-hero"? I think so, but I wasn't sure that most people would.
A list of "important" fictional heroes would be probably be very different. What characterisics delineate a "super-hero" from a "hero"?
I'm also aware that I'm only familiar with American, and to lesser extents, Japanese, British and European popular culture. There may be numberless great characters in the popular fictions of other parts of the world that I know nothing about.
Rorschach in preference to Doctor Manhattan or Ozymandias?
On reflection, I see why Ozymandias doesn't get included. He may have been a hero originally, but he certainly didn't end up as one!
Thinking it over, I'm not sure how "heroic" Rorachach is, either. Dan and Laurie might have been the most "heroic" characters in that story, or maybe Hollis Mason.
Peter Wrexham said: