Heroes

**Heroes** or **Superheroes** (sometimes rendered **Super-Heroes** or **Super Heroes**) is/are individuals who possesses extraordinary talents, supernatural phenomena, or superhuman powers and uses them in dedication to protecting or otherwise serving the public for the greater good; using their skills to counter community issues, such as day-to-day crime and combat threats enacted by Supervillains.

Some heroes are motivated into their careers by a sense of responsibility or duty, while others are thrust into the role due to a formal calling. Others may also hold a personal vendetta that leads them into the heroic role or some may simply hold a strong belief in justice and humanitarian service and possess abilities to affect great change.

Regardless of their motivation, the heroic life is not for everyone; a willingness to risk one's own safety in the service of good is usually expected to be done so without expectation of reward and as such some heroes have to make great sacrifices in their personal or professional lives in order continue their heroic careers.

"*.*"

—About Heroes.

## Groups

Whether they operate independently or in a partnership, heroes will sometimes need to team together with other heroes to combat threats or problems that they would be unable to deal with solo.

The following is a list of signature heroic groups:

## Notes & Trivia

* A female superhero is sometimes called a **Superheroine** (also rendered **Super-Heroine** or **Super Heroine**).
* Individuals do not strictly require actual supernatural or superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although terms such as "costumed crime fighters" or "masked vigilantes" are sometimes used to refer to those without such powers.
* During the "Golden Age" of superheroism, heroes were known as "Mystery Men".
* The super-being known as Aurakles is generally considered "the original superhero". Created by the New Gods around 40,000 BC, his mission is to "bring order and meaning where incoherence reigns". Opposing the evils of his time, he battled the Sheeda and the Nebula Man. The rookie heroine Bulleteer is Aurakles' current descendant via lineage.
* While various factions declare that there is essential no difference between a hero and a villain aside from public opinion, a hero possesses a strong moral code and/or a sense of selflessness; traits which a villain essentially lacks due to their disregard for the rules of society and self-centered natures.
* While methods and personal viewpoints vary between each member in the Hero Community, one specific code is strictly held to maintain that members within the community don't turn into the monsters they fight: a code that forbids the act of killing another human being. While various members of the community argue on how the rule affects the community's effectiveness; the community's leaders argue the fact that super heroes are not officially licensed public servants; like police, army or security personnel, and as such are arguably answerable to the laws held over civilians where killing, even in self defense, is a punishable action. They also argue that if heroes are seen willfully killing every "bad guy" they see, the people they protect will begin to fear and eventually turn against the community. As such the code is held as one of the major factors that separates a member of the heroic community from villains or rogue individuals.
* Following Superman's death, the families in the superhero community organized themselves into a support network to deal with the lifestyle of living with and loving a superhero. After the incident where Jean Loring killed Sue Dibny and Jack Drake during an psychopathic attempt to get Atom (Ray Palmer) to return to her, each family received an Apokoliptian Mega-rod from Big Barda to protect themselves.
* "*Heroes have an obligation, to society and themselves, to be heroes -- and that means acting like a hero. There's a public persona every hero has which is seldom dropped. Heroes are role models. The citizenry looks up to them, supports them, believes in them. In the presence of the public, the mask hides both the hero's face as well as his true personality. But in the presence of his or her peers... it's a different story. The Justice League is a fraternity where heroes can take their masks off and let their hair down. They can be human for a change -- and, in effect, be like us.*" DC Editor Andy Helfer
* "*We don't do it for the glory. We don't do it for the recognition... We do it because it needs to be done. Because if we don't, no one else will. And we do it even if no one knows what we've done. Even if no one knows we exist. Even if no one remembers we ever existed.*" Kara Zor-El of Earth-1.