Free- Superheroes
A superhero
(sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero or Super) is a type of heroic
stock character, usually possessing supernatural or superhuman powers, who is
dedicated to fighting the evil of their universe, protecting the public, and
usually battling supervillains. A female superhero is sometimes called a
superheroine (also rendered super-heroine or super heroine), although the word
superhero is commonly used for females also. Superhero fiction is the genre of
fiction that is centered on such characters, especially in American comic book
and films since the 1930s.
By most
definitions, characters do not require actual superhuman powers or phenomena to
be deemed superheroes. While the Dictionary.com definition of "superhero"
is "a figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with
superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime", the
longstanding Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as "a
fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also: an
exceptionally skillful or successful person". Terms such as masked crime
fighters, costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer
to characters such as the Spirit, who may not be explicitly referred to as
superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits.
