the first superhero was...?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

So, the only right answer to this is the Greek legend himself; Herakles. All other talking points are moot, because of fun Disney soundtrack to the animated film.

The Disney movie superimposed Superman on top of Hercules and removed all the stuff in the myth that inconvenienced the Superman thing.

[DrNewGod]

So, the only right answer to this is the Greek legend himself; Herakles. All other talking points are moot, because of fun Disney soundtrack to the animated film.

The Disney movie superimposed Superman on top of Hercules and removed all the stuff in the myth that inconvenienced the Superman thing.

Yeah, I'm trying to think of a male from Greek myth that wasn't a d'bag, and comin' up dry. Maybe Prometheus?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yeah, I'm trying to think of a male from Greek myth that wasn't a d'bag, and comin' up dry. Maybe Prometheus?

Prometheus fits. But the problem is that his story doesn't lend itself to superheroics...titan created mankind and gave it fire and was punished by Zeus by being chained to a rock for all eternity (although there's a myth that Heracles unchained him but that's not universally accepted).

Martyrs and victims of political persecution largely don't make for superheroic stories.

[mathew101281]

Superman is the Trope Codifier. He wasn’t the original but he populated the concept.

[OopsIdiditagain]

I don't understand why scifi vs mythology is brought up. OP didn't put any genre specifications.

[Uncanny Mutie]

It's Superman because Superman popularized the term super-hero for action heroes. He was super, after all, and a hero. Retroactively you can say that all these other action heroes that came before Superman were super-heroes, but they weren't called that at the time. Superman begins the convention of using super-hero to mean such characters.

This. Close thread.

[Scott Taylor]

Wouldn't it be Batman? I mean, he was sent back to Neanderthal caveman days by Darkseid's Omega beams, where he fought Vandal Savage (and Barbatos). Fwiw, Batman is also the first Pirate/Superhero in recorded history.

Batman might be the last superhero as well, based on the same story. I'd have to do some more research on that one, it could be Kamandi or one of the legionairres.

[TheRay]

Because?...

It honestly depends on which way you frame it.

[Powerboy]

The Disney movie superimposed Superman on top of Hercules and removed all the stuff in the myth that inconvenienced the Superman thing.

Boy, you said it, Chewie, I mean RJ. I once had someone tell me, after seeing the Disney Hercules, that he was glad they finally made a good version of Hercules to which I laughed because it may be the most inauthentic version ever made. Hercules the Legendary Journeys was more true to the myths.

Hera was his mother so there was no cheating. Yes, they basically just did Superman, B.C.

Funny story. I was once in a roleplaying game set in the 1920s and we were playing pulp characters. For some reason, a couple of the players had their characters start calling themselves superheroes. The GM was true to the era and all the NPCs were saying, "Why do you call yourselves superheroes? Do you think you're better than other heroes?" They kept responding, "No. Because we're superheroes." The GM finally just said, outside the game, "Guys, it's the 1920s. That term simply is not in popular usage yet and won't be until, oh, 1938".

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Boy, you said it, Chewie, I mean RJ. I once had someone tell me, after seeing the Disney Hercules, that he was glad they finally made a good version of Hercules to which I laughed because it may be the most inauthentic version ever made. Hercules the Legendary Journeys was more true to the myths.

Hera was his mother so there was no cheating. Yes, they basically just did Superman, B.C.

The best take on Hercules was the Italian Peplum -- "Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis" which is fictional but it's got accurate elements to it.

The fact is that whether it's Hercules the Legendary Journeys or any other version that comes up, if you want to do the 12 Labors, the fact that it started with Hercules killing his wife Megara (which yeah...that bit in the Disney movie where Herc tells Meg "I will never hurt you") and then their child is hard to get past if you know the story. Sure Hera possessed him to do it but it's a total downer to start an adventure story that way.

Funny story. I was once in a roleplaying game set in the 1920s and we were playing pulp characters. For some reason, a couple of the players had their characters start calling themselves superheroes. The GM was true to the era and all the NPCs were saying, "Why do you call yourselves superheroes? Do you think you're better than other heroes?" They kept responding, "No. Because we're superheroes." The GM finally just said, outside the game, "Guys, it's the 1920s. That term simply is not in popular usage yet and won't be until, oh, 1938".

That GM did his job well.

[Powerboy]

The best take on Hercules was the Italian Peplum -- "Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis" which is fictional but it's got accurate elements to it.

The fact is that whether it's Hercules the Legendary Journeys or any other version that comes up, if you want to do the 12 Labors, the fact that it started with Hercules killing his wife Megara (which yeah...that bit in the Disney movie where Herc tells Meg "I will never hurt you") and then their child is hard to get past if you know the story. Sure Hera possessed him to do it but it's a total downer to start an adventure story that way.



That GM did his job well.

Yes, killing his wife and children, admittedly under Hera's influence. That he was Alcides and was given the name Heracles (not Hercules) meaning "To the Glory of Hera" as a penance, being a slave in women's clothes, that it was ten labors and became twelve when two were disqualified and on and on. Basically, I doubt we'll ever have a movie that tells the Greek myths. Just got to read the Greek myths

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Yes, killing his wife and children, admittedly under Hera's influence. That he was Alcides and was given the name Heracles (not Hercules) meaning "To the Glory of Hera" as a penance, being a slave in women's clothes, that it was ten labors and became twelve when two were disqualified and on and on. Basically, I doubt we'll ever have a movie that tells the Greek myths. Just got to read the Greek myths

I do like Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans.

Jason and the Argonauts had a cool ending. Obviously the story of Jason and Medea ends horrifically (Heracles' story starts bad and gets better as time progresses) and the story stops at the moment before it careens. And Zeus at the end has this cool line, "It's best to leave them here, with a warm breeze...after all the girl is pretty, and I was always one for sentiment. But for Jason there will be other adventures." It's a good bit that reminds audiences that the story gets worse after this point.

[TheRay]

Probably go Hercules/Herakles on this. The mythos on him has been around for millenia, and some of it has served as the basis for future heroes.

Is Asclepius older than Herakles?

[BeastieRunner]

This. Close thread.

"According to Mike Benton, in Superhero Comics of the Golden Age: The Illustrated History (1992), “Although the term ‘superhero’ was used as early as 1917 to describe a public figure of great talents or accomplishments, the early comic book heroes of the 1940s were usually referred to by their creators as ‘costumed characters’ or as ‘long-underwear’ or ‘union-suit’ heroes.” They were also called “mystery men.”"

https://www.britannica.com/art/superhero

I referenced some of this in an earlier post with dates of "super-hero" usage.

So this doesn't appear to be a tract, either.

Kinda looking like Batman now with more evidence.

Or that the like of Doctor Occult, Superman, Blue Beetle, Batman, Wing, Crimson Avenger et al 1935 on heroes gave rise to the genre so technically no one was first?

[TheRay]

I suppose it could be argued that Hercules was the first superhero, thanks to the cred he got from the Twelve Labors.

I think there’s a great argument for Gilgamesh.