The four most common superhero tropes in fiction
Ah, tropes. Those recurring themes, motifs, and even clichés always present in creative works. We love them or we love to hate them, but we know that it’s impossible to write a fiction story without falling into some sort of trope. I love it when creators reinvent superhero tropes or when they give them a unique twist.
What are tropes?
Before we begin going through these categories, it’s important to understand what tropes are. In literature, a trope can be a tool of language used for artistic effect; an example of a literary trope might be a metaphor. On the other hand, a trope can be a recurring literary or rhetorical device culturally recognized in creative works. For example, the image of a boy with a sheet tied around his shoulders makes us understand that he is pretending to be a superhero, we understand this because the cape has become a recurring image in popular culture and even a cliché.
The four most common tropes for superheroes
Since I’ve started working on Book 2 of the Refurbished Saga, I decided to study superhero tropes closer to better understand the book I will produce. I went back to my experience with stories about superpowered people and found that many of the tropes under this genre can be categorized under four broader umbrellas.
Now that we understand what tropes are, we can jump into the categorization that resulted from my research.
1. Origin story
The beginning. How did the hero get their abilities? What started them into the hero life? I love to see the humble beginnings of heroes, and origin stories of super-powered people often get divided in two.
Hiden power or Born with power: Like Superman or Storm, these supers are born with a special ability that can be present in their lives from birth or hidden until a certain point in their lives.
Made into power: These heroes get their powers in a freak lab accident, exposure to radiation, or magic sources like Spider-Man and Static Shock. They can also get their powers through a relic such as Doctor Faith’s helmet.
2. The hero life
Once a character has got their powers, what happens next? We get two types of hero journeys.
Reluctant Hero: This super just wants to be normal. They didn’t choose to get powers, so why must they abandon their normal lives to become a hero? The plot usually forces these characters into heroism, and they still sometimes wish they could get rid of their powers and abandoned the hero life.
Embraces Heroics: This character understands pretty quickly that their powers set them apart from the rest of the population, so they decide to do something with that power. They embrace their powers and the hero life suits them just fine. These heroes often hide the true self under their normal life alter-ego—like Batman often hides behind Bruce Wayne—because they are more themselves when they are protecting people.
3. Abilities
Does a hero have superpowers? If they do, what superpowers do they have? And what about heroes that don’t have any abilities at all? There are many tropes under this classification, but I’ve found that these are the two most common ones.
Badass Normal: Not all heroes get powers. Would you still consider them superheroes? I would! Despite not having superpowers, they depend on their intellect, martial arts abilities, general ruthlessness, or just being ridiculously prepared. Intellect and resourcefulness are still abilities in my book.
Stock Superpowered: A super who has the standard, recognizable abilities. Speed, flight, strength, and elemental powers are some of these.
4. Hero Style
We all have a work ethic, and sure enough, heroes do too! This is another one of those categories that branches out into many tropes, but I find that they can all fall under the Capes vs Cowls tropes.
The Cape: Clark is a hero. Scratch that, Clark is THE hero. He is Superman and the perfect example of what a Cape style of heroism looks like. These heroes don’t all actually wear capes, but they all adhere to strong moral codes and are loved by the civilians they save. They are the ray of light that shines in the dark and the supers that return hope to their cities.
The Cowl: The dark side of the heroic style coin. These dark superheroes don’t quite make it into the anti-hero category because they still operate under a code, but they dedicate themselves to punish evil instead of just fighting it. They operate from the shadows, are feared by their villains, and respected by the people they save.
After conducting this research, I noticed that our preferences in story tropes say a lot about who we are as creators. Personally, I love all heroes. But like everyone else, I have my preferences. I’ve discovered that I enjoy a story more when the hero is made into power and has to grow with their superpowers. I love when a “badass normal” character fully embraces the hero life and is moved to heroics by their own agency instead of needing a nudge from the plot. The jury’s still out on heroic styles for me, but most of the heroes that I write about are clearly the good guys. Researching these tropes has taught me a lot about myself as a creator, and it has served as a warning. Eisen Castle is going to be a tough book to write. It isn’t the story of heroes, but the story of anti-heroes.
What can your taste in heroics teach you about yourself?