Earth-24800/Superheroes

Superheroes have a rough gig on Earth-24800, in general people are a little leery of superheroes in the way that we in the real world might be. Who is this weird guy trying to be a cop or a fire fighter? And how did he get those powers (assuming they have any)?
That said there are people who do like and even love superheroes. Though they're a definite subculture much like comic book fans are today. There are superhero conventions, people hang out by Avengers mansion and the Baxter Building trying to get a glimpse of them, there are websites on them, magazines and of course merchandise though the focus of this positive attention tends to be on select groups or particular heroes.
==How to Be Popular==
The most popular heroes tend to have most if not all of these guidelines covered:
1 - Be Famous Before Being Super - Look at Tony Stark, Sue Storm and Janet van Dyne, before they became the superheroes Iron Man, the Invisible Woman and the Wasp they were already in the public eye. People love celebrities and if they end up defending Earth, your city or the good old US of A, then they love them even more.
2 - Be Patriotic - Aka the Captain America effect. 70 years on people still see Captain America as the superhero in the US. The same stands for Union Jack in the UK and Red Guardian in the USSR. So if a hero is government sponsored, or represents the spirit of a particular country, then odds are that hero is going to have an easier time of things.
3 - Be Local - Like the above people want heroes they can identify with and call their own. If a hero stands for their city (like Spider-Man) or even their neighbourhood (like Daredevil) people are more likely to support them.
4 - Be Open - People want to know who's behind the mask and how they became superheroes (or alternatively, what gives them the right). So the more open a hero is about who they are and how they ended up in the hero gig the better.
5 - Don't Be Mutant - People the world over (Genosha excepted) are distrustful of mutants. The anti-mutant crowd has controlled the conversation on mutants since day one, and while most people accept being a mutant is not a mutant's fault they still associate them with the dangerous mutants they hear about on the news and the idea of Homo-Superior and that mutants want to replace humanity.
6 - Don't Be an Alien - There have been a lot of alien attacks lately, some have been covered up others have been public. The world knows there are aliens and they know they've attacked the Earth their a little less informed on the details so most aliens get a bad rap on Earth-24800.
7 - Don't Be a Kid - People still haven't gotten over Bucky and when he died so too did the idea of the teen sidekick. In general people don't like to see kids fighting crime, either alongside older heroes or on their own. So, most heroes would be wise to be able to legally buy beer before they put on tights and fight crime.
==Popular Superheroes==
Currently the most popular superheroes are.
1 - Captain America
2 - The Fantastic Four
3 - The Avengers Iron Man, Wasp, and Ms. Marvel
4 - The National Teams (locally): the Soviet Super Soldiers, Freedom Force (sort of, the Avengers steal their thunder a lot), Alpha Flight, Excalibur.
==Currently least popular superheroes==
1 - Generation X and the Hellions - Mutant kids fighting crime.
2 - The X-Men - Most people aren't sure if they're terrorists or not.
3 - The Hulk - People are unsure if he's going to Hulk out and rip the place apart. Still he's an Avenger which counts for something.
4 - Namor - He attacked the surface world and his work in WWII is largely forgotten, also, have you met the guy?
==Mutants==
Mutants definitely have a bad time on Earth-24800. The term 'homo-superior' has been around since the 80's and has made out mutants to be this menacing force trying to replace humanity despite what evidence is piled up against that theory. As such anti-mutant policy is prevalent in a number of nations and anti-mutant groups abound.
===USA===
A couple of versions of the Mutant Registration Act have been proposed and have failed to pass, but, lesser legislation has passed, mutant screening is done for sensitive government jobs and joining the military, sports leagues on the college and professional level screen for the X-Gene and legally prohibit mutants and being outed as a mutant has ruined a number of public figures' lives.
In addition to the official anti-mutant policy a number of groups such as Friends of Humanity promote human's first policy, out mutants, and protest against pro-mutant figures and establishments. Additionally they offer free X-Gene screening for adults and children as well as have a network of doctors who are willing to do sterilization of mutants and X-Gene carriers. Even more extreme is the Purifiers an anti-mutant militia who use religion as a basis of their philosophy and are preparing for a race war between mutants and humans. They have carried out executions of known mutants, and recently their leader the Reverend William Stryker was on trial for attempted murder before being acquitted.
On the flipside are pro-mutant groups such as those sponsored by the musician Dazzler or billionaire Warren Worthington III which have promoted education about mutants and lobbied government to take a more pro-mutant stance, including official sanction for the mutant enclaves in New York and San Francisco. As well there are the superhero groups the X-Men, Hellions and Generation X. While not popular videos of their exploits have been shared on the internet and caused some positive public opinion about mutants in general.
However for all the good the X-Men and Generation X might do they have to contend with more extreme groups like the terrorist group the Brotherhood of Mutants, who have ties to the foreign mutant government of Genosha and the more independent Mutant Liberation Front, who carry out attacks on 'human civilization' and on anti-mutant groups, often bringing down public opinion of mutants as a result.
Most mutants in the United States try to keep their heads down and if their powers don't allow them to are forced to either join a mutant enclave like the Morlocks, seek out one of the pro-mutant groups or if they have useful powers find work with the US government or one of the firms secretly tied to Shaw Industries.
===USSR===
There are three types of mutants in the USSR the harmless types that are tracked for breeding future mutants, the useful ones that work for the state and the useful ones who have refused to work for the state and have become it's enemies instead. Mutant testing is widespread in the USSR and the KGB keeps track of those mutants or carriers of the X-Gene they find. Those records were destroyed in the 1990s but the KGB has been busily restoring them since. Soviet Mutants can either expect to either enjoy less freedom than their fellow citizens, be recruited for work or military service or spend their lives on the run from authorities looking to exterminate them.
===Canada===
The anti-mutant programs of 616 Earth haven't happened here yet, but even so a number of Canadian mutants have found themselves conscripted into Department H, or used in programs like Weapon X or Weapon Plus.
===The United Kingdom===
On par with the United States, though it has gone so far as to actively recruit mutants into it's intelligence and military apparatus as well as their national supehero team Excalibur.
===Europe===
The fate of mutants in Europe generally depends on where they are born. Western Europe in general has been more tolerant of mutants and mutant rights, being roughly on par with the United States. Eastern and Central Europe is more in line with Russia where mutants are treated as a threat. The exception being Latveria which has always had a policy of welcoming mutants over the protests of it's neighbours.
===Asia===
The Asian response to mutants have been varied, Japan and South Korea are the most tolerant, with Japan celebrating some mutants and expecting the rest to just keep their heads down and to their parts. Still, even there, there is an element of anti-mutant sentiment. Pogroms against mutants have occurred in Myanmar and religious and civil violence against mutants or suspected mutants is not uncommon in the rest of South-East Asia. China and North Korea take the Russian approach, and the Chinese go so far to ban mutants travelling to China by requiring X-Gene tests before a visa is issued.
===Africa===
With the exception of Genosha, the African response to mutants have been mixed. Wakanda treats mutants as full citizens with no anti-mutant policies, while other states such as Egypt and Lybia have taken a more middle of the road approach. Elsewhere mutants are often met with awe or hatred depending on how they've revealed themselves and how human they look. Though for the most part the continent has bigger fish to fry and lacks the funds for any widespread mutant screening.
===The Middle East===
The opinions of mutants in the middle east is split. Iran and Israel take the UK approach and actively recruit mutants into their military, and other states and groups have done the same. By in large mutants tend to be seen as weapons by the various governments in the region and most keep their heads down to avoid being seen as a tool to be used or a threat to be neutralized.
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Category:Earth-24800