Why is Superman your favorite superhero?

[stargazer01]

Why is Superman your favorite superhero? And if not favorite, Why do you like/love him?

Is it his powers? or his inner qualities as a person? His humanity? His stories? His whole supporting characters?



I've always been a big fan. He's my fave superhero and my fave fictional character of all time. I'll expand later.

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[HeroVladimir93]

Superman is an excellent example of a simple, straightforward hero being a multifaceted, nuanced and properly developed character. Superman never stops trying to improve himself and his best stories are the ones that showcase his optimism and good nature (All-Star Superman, the Jurgens/Tomasi era).

[Miles To Go]

I'm all for the creative stories, but I connect with Clark and what he stands for in the world in a very spiritual sense.

[Jon Clark]

Superman is just a great guy. He is one of the most powerful beings around but chooses to use his powers to help others rather than himself. For most of his life he was unique but he doesn't view this as a burden. He chooses his own path. Unlike a lot of heroes he is motivated by altruism and not tragedy.

[Kuwagaton]

I get the idea of breaking them up, but while I picked story, it's really the story of his personality in the context of his powers and cast. He's my favorite because he has it all. Like a far older and disproportionately more prolific superhero equivalent to the Simpsons.

His character... what can you even say with so much already said and shown over 80 years. He's subdued and sweet hearted, but absolutely unwilling to let ethics dictate his spirit. He's altruistic and completely unyielding to the way of justice, even when what's right actually means standing down or retreating. With that core, it doesn't matter if he acts sassy or confused, is a big lug or a feisty millennial. He's Superman, and once you start cheering for him as a reader you are rewarded by seeing him prove himself to be the best guy. He's the good guy.

His powers kickstarted this whole genre and make him unstoppable. To that end, I don't care if he's knocked out by a grenade or can withstand the force of time travel. I love that there really wasn't any guidance, he just learned to be the best in secret and went out as the best. The writers are thankfully elegant when it comes to describing his true power, his astonishing will. He can be unpowered facing supervillains or all-powerful in the face of street corruption, and he finds a way to fight.

Oh and for the supporting cast, just as an example, I happened to pull out the Dematteis Adventures run from the 580s and found Satanus coinciding with Ron getting married to Lucy. That was his boss at one point and by then they had both gone back well about 100 issues in that same volume! Never mind Rampage and Thorn even showed up. Metropolis is great.

[Rajput]

Becaues he is the best father in the entertainment world.

[Vakanai]

He's not my *favorite* but he's easily *one* of my favorites, and that's because I can connect and be inspired by him on a emotional level, and that's all about the personality. He has godlike powers, yet he's just a good honest man. Where most people would live like gods with that, he doesn't take advantage, never asking for anything but just going and earning it like everyone else, always quick to offer a helping hand, minding the golden rule, and acting with the manners we were all taught in preschool and kindergarten yet so many of us forget as adults. He's a good guy, and while I obviously fail to match up to a fictional character, I try to live to the same example as best I can.

[_Feely_]

Because being good and honest and decent in such an ugly, ugly world is the hardest thing to do.

As long as humanity continues to invest itself in the Superman-meme, I'll continue to believe that it's love that truly makes the world go round.

[The World]

He's a tough guy with his head on right, or at least he was once upon a time.

[Ascended]

Superman is "our greatest ever idea as a human species." (Grant Morrison.)

What more need be said?

[TaliaJoy]

It has to do with his personality for me too, and especially how his level of power "interacts" with his humanity. The specific thing that I find most compelling is the contrast between his extreme inhuman powers and how he's a human being with his own problems and issues and human life, especially as Clark Kent. The juxtaposition of those two things is fascinating to me. I love thinking of him having his ups and downs like we all do, and the aspects of his life such as his friendships with others, striving for success in his job, his down time, etc.

[RepHope]

The wide range of stories you can tell with him. Everything from street-level shenanigans to cosmic epics to magical voyages. He’s a very versatile character and I love that about him. I also love that he’s someone who has faith in humanity’s ability to save itself, he’s an antidote to the multitude of cynical protagonists who think everything is evil and humanity isn’t worth saving.

[Adekis]

It's the whole package, right? If Superman had his powers but not his moral goodness, he'd be less aspriational of a character, more like Hercules or Marvelman. If Superman had no powers, he'd just be Clark Kent - but also, without Clark there at all, he'd lose so much depth! And without the supporting cast, what need would there be to differentiate between Superman and Clark? And if he had no amazing adventures, he'd just be fighting normal crooks all the time - something I think is really underrated, mind, but still not satisfying all the time. Gotta fight Luthor or aliens or the Mole People occasionally, you know? The wide range of stories you can tell with Superman is really key.

So yeah, it's all the things. I voted for the powers though, because I think there's a brute sense of fun that you absolutely need the powers for. I think people like to be highbrow and say it's the morals, and honestly, yeah, their importance can't be understated! But I also think that, you know, just a story about Clark Kent without powers or a secret identity wouldn't necessarily be that engaging, or at least not engaging in the same way as a Superman story is. It's because he's Superman, with the powers and the costume, that we sit up and pay attention.

[Superlad93]

He's a big nice guy who's tough and kind of strange sometimes. He's a first generation kid/immigrant, and he fits a little awkwardly in both his worlds. He has all the power there ever could be, but he works a 9 to 5, and spent years pining for a hardworking and opinionated woman that inspires him. His powers have more in common with myths where gods cry the universe into being or hold up the sky than they do anything else, but their physicality denotes a level of intimacy and grit that always leaves me transfixed. He has one of my favorite supporting cast ever, and it happens to include one of my other top 5 fictional characters, Jimmy Olsen.

And maybe my favorite part about him: he and his stories are just about us...but bigger.

[stargazer01]

I'm loving all your answers. *group hug*