History BewareTheSuperman / ComicBooks

** Though the trope's name would instantly make you think of him, the titular Superman has dedicated his life to [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]]. Unless it's an ''Creator/{{Elseworlds}}'' story, which has this trope as its point, Superman is almost always as responsible as he can be with his powers, and always lets people know that he's here to serve them, not the other way around. However, ''Elseworlds'' stories LOVE to play with Superman this way. One example of this is Regime Superman in ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' who's a totalitarian ruler after that AlternateUniverse's Joker tricked Superman into killing Lois Lane, whom Supes was not only married to at the time, but pregnant with their first child.
** ''ComicBook/WhatsSoFunnyAboutTruthJusticeAndTheAmericanWay'': Subverted when the Man of Steel deals with a team known as "The Elite", who gleefully put people in harm's way with their methods of stopping threats and their flippant attitude to that. When Superman becomes their enemy by opposing their corrupt philosophies, he gets challenged to near-death to break his "outdated" values of truth and justice...and then he does, cruelly and systematically curb-stomping them to their (and the watching civilian population's) abject terror. Metatextually, the story is an examination on Superman's ideologies during MediaNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks where cruel anti-"heroism" like The Elite's actions were sincerely in vogue, challenging whether his straightforward, all-loving ideals still mattered. The answer it provides is a resounding ''yes'': [[spoiler:the ending reveals that Superman did intentionally brutalize and traumatize the heck out of The Elite, yet he does not kill them, because despite everything, he utterly refuses to make that choice. Laterally, this displays that had Supes not been an all-loving hero, everybody would be terrified of him.]]

** Though the trope's name would instantly make you think of him, the titular Superman has dedicated his life to [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]]. Unless it's an ''Creator/{{Elseworlds}}'' story, which has this trope as its point, Superman is almost always as responsible as he can be with his powers, and always lets people know that he's here to serve them, not the other way around. However, ''Elseworlds'' stories LOVE to play with Superman this way. One example of this is Regime Superman in ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' who's a totalitarian ruler after the death of his AlternateUniverse's Lois Lane.

** A prominent head of state goes by the name ''Characters/DoctorDoom'' and has successfully ''conquered the multiverse'' (or what was left of it, after [[ComicBook/SecretWars2015 the Incursions]]).

** Though the trope's name would instantly make you think of him, the titular Superman has dedicated his life to [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]]. Unless it's an ''{{Elseworld}}s'' story, which has this trope as its point, Superman is almost always as responsible as he can be with his powers, and always lets people know that he's here to serve them, not the other way around. However, ''Elseworlds'' stories LOVE to play with Superman this way. One example of this is Regime Superman in ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' who's a totalitarian ruler after the death of his AlternateUniverse's Lois Lane.

** ''ComicBook/WhatsSoFunnyAboutTruthJusticeAndTheAmericanWay'': Subverted when the Man of Steel deals with a team known as "The Elite", who gleefully put people in harm's way with their methods of stopping threats and their flippant attitude to that. When Superman becomes their enemy by opposing their corrupt philosophies, he gets challenged to near-death to break his "outdated" values of truth and justice...and then he does, cruelly and systematically curb-stomping them to their (and the watching civilian population's) abject terror. Metatextually, the story is an examination on Superman's ideologies during UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks where cruel anti-"heroism" like The Elite's actions were sincerely in vogue, challenging whether his straightforward, all-loving ideals still mattered. The answer it provides is a resounding ''yes'': [[spoiler:the ending reveals that Superman did intentionally brutalize and traumatize the heck out of The Elite, yet he does not kill them, because despite everything, he utterly refuses to make that choice. Laterally, this displays that had Supes not been an all-loving hero, everybody would be terrified of him.]]

* The original version of Creator/RobLiefeld's ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'' was essentially an incredibly arrogant, ruthless version of early [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] activist Superman. He killed terrorists, villains, and (in one particularly notorious case) government-sanctioned teams with impunity and gore. When this version was brought back at the beginning of Erik Larsen's run, he kills an invading army of villains in cold blood, depowers all the surviving Supremes from Alan Moore's run and embarks on a rampage of revenge against all the heroes (for not rescuing him)

* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' kind of invokes this; most superheroes are media-attention-craving {{jerkass}}es and most supervillains seem to be [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] in their antics. However, there is a strong [[MugglePower anti-superhuman]] sentiment because of the attitudes of the "Capes", good and evil, and this is a very ''dangerous'' attitude to hold. The heroes won't normally try anything against an anti-Capeist, but if pushed, they ''will'' push back. One oft-talked about background incident is San Antonio, where an anti-Cape conspiracy actually [[BullyingADragon went on a Cape-killing spree]]. Capes from ''both'' sides of the ethical divide promptly retaliated; we don't know all the details, but we do know that even heroes didn't hesitate to kill the conspiracy members, and somehow it ended with the capes destroying the whole city by '''breaking the Earth's crust with an alien superweapon''', an event officially explained away as a mysterious erupting volcano. We know of exactly one surviving anti-Cape from that day: Empowered's boyfriend, [=ThugBoy=].

* In ''ComicBook/{{Irredeemable}}'', the [[Characters/IrredeemablePlutonian Plutonian]] went from Earth's mightiest and most beloved superhero to a mass murdering psychopath, pushed to the edge by a horrible combination of several factors (his pathological and desperate desire for everyone's unconditional love and approval, a '''very''' deeply messed up childhood, and just being BlessedWithSuck). This comic was written by [[Creator/MarkWaid the same man]] who wrote ''ComicBook/KingdomCome''.

* ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' has this as a scenario. The Atlanteans and Amazons are at war [[spoiler:due to a convoluted, long-term plot by their leaders' {{Treacherous Advisor}}s]]. Wonder Woman has taken over the UK, and Aquaman has '''sunken most of the European mainland''' in retaliation [[spoiler:for Diana killing Mera]]. America is caught up in the paranoia that either of the parties may invade them some day (as Booster Gold can attest). Oh, and [[BrokenAesop in a completely unrelated note]], Grodd has taken control of Africa through continent-wide genocide.

** This story is set in a future of Franchise/TheDCU wherein the next generation of superhumans took their cue from the {{Nineties Anti Hero}}es rather than [[GoodIsOldFashioned 'outdated' heroes]] like Franchise/{{Superman}} (who retired in disillusionment [[spoiler: after one of them got off scot-free after murdering the Joker]]), with the result that the 'heroes' and 'villains' are more interested in recklessly kicking the tar out of each other than protecting the innocent. When {{The Cape}}s ''do'' make a reappearance, their [[WellIntentionedExtremist determination to rein in their more reckless brethren]] sees them quickly turn into {{Knight Templar}}s. Unlike many of these universes, it's suggested that this one is at least partially the public's fault, as they overwhelmingly rejected the ideals of the old-fashioned heroes and placed their trust in the more 'modern' ones, only to learn too late what this meant.

** In addition, this world has Subject Zero, a former U.S. Army soldier who became the first test subject of Project Superman, and had his powers augmented to the point of NighInvulnerability. Due to him becoming increasingly unstable, he was locked down in the facility for twenty years and, when he broke out, he went on a rampage to prove himself as a hero. He is only stopped by Subject One -- a.k.a. [[spoiler:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kal-El]]]].

* A great many supers are fully aware of how dangerous their powers can be and constantly keep this in mind, and in a sense are always in a state of Beware Of ''Themselves''. ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' is an excellent example. Peter is very aware that losing control for even a split-second could result in someone being killed or horribly injured, and therefore spends most of his time pulling his punches. Evil, alternate-reality versions of Spider-Man have been shown to make psychopaths like Bullseye or Sabertooth look like rank amateurs. He only really cuts loose against supers who can take it, such as the curb-stomp he inflicted on Titania when she made the mistake of pissing him off. Spider-Man has also straight up admitted that every super in the Marvel Universe is aware that a trusted friend in the community could go bad or be mind-controlled, so every hero has a plan to take down every other hero in case that ever happens.

* Twenty years later, the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' (of whom the Squadron were {{exp|y}}ies) would likewise have a major storyline, ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' involving using ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}'s magical brainwashing on super-powered criminals, following Doctor Light's rape of Sue Dibny. Not surprisingly, the main holdout on each team who rejected the plan in horror (playing the role of team conscience) was essentially the same character (ComicBook/{{Batman}} and his CaptainErsatz, Nighthawk).