History Main / SuperheroSchool

* ''Film/SuperheroMovie'' parodies ''Franchise/XMen'' with Xavier's School for the Non-Asian Gifted which has children who can walk through walls and children who think they can walk through walls.

* The eponymous school in ''Manga/AliceAcademy''. While the "hero" part is debatable, it's a school for people with powers, most of which easily qualify as "super".

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' has Camp Half-Blood, a combination summer camp, training ground, and haven for demigods.
** ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' introduces Camp Jupiter, which is much the same.
* In the ''My Brother Blubb'' book series, both a superhero school ''and'' a supervillain school are featured.

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Drearcliff Grange is a 1930s girls' school which takes "talented" students. Combined with BoardingSchoolOfHorrors for a parody of Girls' School stories of the period. (Incidentally, the headmistress makes it clear that she doesn't much care if one of her girls becomes a super''villain'' instead of a super''hero'', just so long as she makes use of her talent and doesn't settle for being mundane. ''Literature/TheHauntingOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'' suggests that girls are at least ''encouraged'' to be a Paladin rather than a Wrong 'Un, and introduces Drearcliff's AcademyOfEvil counterpart Draycott's House of Reform.)
* The very straightforwardly titled ''Superhero School'', an illustrated book for kids by Aaron Reynolds and Andy Rash, published in 2009 by Bloomsbury. Leonard is the only kid on his block who can knock a baseball into orbit or clobber the occasional, rampaging lava monster, so he's not surprised when his parents switch him to superhero school. When he gets there, though, he's disappointed that his teacher, Mr. Blue Tornado, is much more interested in teaching fractions and multiplication than techniques for catching runaway trains or fighting space octopi.
* The Estate in ''Literature/TheRook'' trains students to use their supernatural powers.

* Kitty Burrows' ''Literature/ThePosterchildren'' deals with a large group of characters connected to a school for mutants. The main book focuses on a group of students, but there are also stories focusing on parents, alumni, teachers, and people with even more tenuous connections. Wonderful if you prefer character and relationship driven stories over action.
* ''Literature/{{Citadel}}'' by Unillustrated has, well, the Citadel. A government program where super powered people, Empowered, are trained to be Operatives. Closer to SWAT teams than typical superheroes.

* The New Human Institute in ''Literature/TheNewHumans'', a school/care home for superhuman children in Australia.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has the Time Lord Academy.
* ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'' has an episode set in one. [[spoiler: Actually a hallucination created by a demented telepathic former hero.]]

* The Tomorrow Academy in ''TabletopGame/HaltEvilDoer!'' for ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds''.

* ''TabletopGame/MasksANewGeneration'' has Phoenix Academy in its setting of Halcyon City, the school name coming from the amount of times the school has been destroyed and rebuilt.

* ''Spandex Force 2: Superhero U'' is a parody of the trope.
* ''VideoGame/CommunityCollegeHero'' has three schools. The one you're attending is a new school for wannabe heroes without enough power to warrant the attention of the more prestigious schools.

* The eponymous school of ''Webcomic/OverlordAcademy'' is a school for supervillains.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Pulse}}'' a city is built in the Great Lakes near Michigan to hide a underground Government complex meant to train superhumans.

* The web serial ''Literature/TheDescendants'' is packed to the gills with these; from the now-defunct Psionics Training and Application Academy run by the BigBad, to the Liedecker Institute currently being run by the heroes in unknowing cooperation with the local AntiVillain. There are at least three other schools mentioned so far as well.
* Inverted in the web video, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyi0qEvB03A Reunion]]'': Music/DoctorSteel calls up fellow mad scientist WebVideo/AgamemnonTiberiusVacuum and invites him to the 10th annual Mad Scientist's reunion - implying that they attended some Mad Scientist school together in the past.
* ''WebOriginal/AcademyOfSuperheroes'': ''Academy'' is the origin story of most of the ASH and STRAFE characters. It is set at the eponymous Academy of Superheroes.
* In ''Literature/{{Phaeton}}'' one of the buildings in the Orphanage doubles as this. Though the main characters do not generally go there.
* ''WebVideo/SuperAcademy'' is, as the title suggests, centered around one of these.
* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' is set in a superhero themed high school. Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} have long since graduated however a large number of DC heroes -- such as Franchise/WonderWoman, ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'' -- currently attend it. Traditional villains, such as Harley Queen, Poison Ivy, and Cheetah, also attend it as heroes.

* The Spanish cartoon ''Hero Kids'', heavily inspired by the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' in addition to this trope.

* In ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' , Super Hero High School fits this trope. The [[WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls newer version of the series]] averts this trope, with all the heroes going to a normal school in their secret identities.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeroElementary'' is about an elementary school where kids learn to be superheroes. Like in the original DC Superhero Girls, there are no secret identities.

* To an extent, Duel Academia in ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' -- at least, it was designed specifically to train duelists strong enough to defend [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique three dangerous forbidden cards]] from falling into the wrong hands, and it's a WeirdnessMagnet for kids with the power to communicate with spirits from another world.
* Academy City in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is dedicated to the study and development of psychic powers, with students who have undergone the development program comprising the vast majority of the population.

* The main setting for ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is U.A. High School, which is considered the best superhero school in Japan. Main character Izuku Midoriya goes here to learn to become a professional hero alongside his classmates. While the school is mainly known for its Hero department, it also has other departments for General Education (for students whose abilities aren't considered fitting enough to be heroes or those who are aiming for different careers), Support (for students who are learning to develop gadgets and equipment for heroes to use on the battlefield) and Management (for students who are aiming for work in the business side of heroes, like managing hero agencies, executive producing heroes, and even venture capitalism).
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' has The Hero Academy where young NEXT (what the series calls individuals who develop superpowers) can learn how to use their abilities and become {{Corporate Sponsored Super Hero}}es. Although notably attending is not a mandatory requirement to becoming a hero, and of the two title characters, only one is a graduate. It's implied the academy wasn't even around yet when the other title character first started in the hero business. Also many of the students have abilities that are more in line with BlessedWithSuck or would not be flashy enough to pique the interest of a sponsor company.

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** Professor Charles Xavier's school is the Trope Maker.
** Depending on the continuity, ComicBook/EmmaFrost's school, the [[ComicBook/GenerationX Massachusetts Academy]], may count as a supervillain school if she is Xavier's foe.
** In fact, the Xavier Academy jumped around a bit between being a SuperheroSchool, and a superhero base which happened to be disguised as a school, largely because, until Comicbook/KittyPryde joined the Creator/ChrisClaremont "all-new all-different" X-Men's ages ranged from the 20s onwards, with none of them even of college age. The [[Film/XMenFilmSeries films]] cemented the concept in people's minds by depicting the X-Men as teachers of a large non-superhero student body, and the {{Comic Book}}s [[RetCanon followed suit]]. Xavier's school now has a lot of non-superhero mutants of all ages, learning to control their powers as well as reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. A few of them 'graduate' to X-Men status. There's also a relatively new X-comic focusing on the students (of course, trouble seems to find ''them'') that's pretty much a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Generation X'' and ''ComicBook/NewMutants''. Its title changes a lot, though.
** It got to the point where Xavier's 'school' was so chock-full of adult superheroes that they changed the name from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, making it a superhero ''college'', and opened a franchise with the formerly evil rival Massachusetts Academy for ''ComicBook/GenerationX''.
** Played straighter with the ''original'' (pre-Wolverine) X-Men, who were of high school age at the time the group was formed.
** The fallout of the Schism storyline had Wolverine establishing the Jean Grey Institute for Higher Learning, largely featuring students from the defunct Xavier Institute.
** Meanwhile, the fallout of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' has a rogue ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, Emma Frost, and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} running the "New Charles Xavier School for Mutants". While unlike any previous incarnation its existence is secret and it doesn't present itself as a real private school (Cyclops and his team being outlaws and all), there ''are'' classrooms and the senior members do teach newly manifested mutants.
* [[ShoutOut Shuster Academy]] from ''Sidekicks''.
* ''ComicBook/PS238'' -- a superhero ''public'' school.
** And the Praetorian Academy, [=PS238=]'s rival which is heavily troped to be a supervillain school: you've got your Evil Headmaster, your Military Discipline, your Faceless Minion Masks, your overly-militaristic student codenames, and of course the overwhelming arrogance that they are far superior to their rival school.
*** Also, [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat they cheat at soccer]].
*** [[spoiler:Which is eventually subverted; the discipline and the minion masks, as it turns out, is not to create supervillains; it's because the headmaster uses them as methods to instill order and curtail what he views as tendencies towards becoming "uncontrolled" metahumans. [[UnreliableExpositor Or so he says]]. He's a former US Senator with a strong anti-metahuman bias who got bonded to an experimental AI. Who knows just how sane he is anymore.]]
* The ComicBook/PhantomLady became dean of Université Notre Dame des Ombres which is a French women's superhero boarding school. Or possibly villains school. It's a little unclear.
* The manga-inspired French comic book ''Manga/SentaiSchool''.
* ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' have the Legion Academy.
* The comic ''ComicBook/NecessaryEvil'' has the eponymous Supervillan School. They've also implied the existence of a good counterpart.

* The mini-series ''Grounded'' follows the only normal kid in the school for superpowered teens. In this case he's the odd one out for wanting to be a hero, in spite of his powerlessness; the other kids might be the children of superheroes and have abilities of their own, but in general they aren't interested in running off to try and save the world once they've graduated - most of them want to use their powers in the most self-serving way possible, and three in particular want to be villains!

* The French comic ''ComicBook/FreaksSqueele'' revolves around the students' life in a university for heroes, specialized in (pretty lame) bad guys and villains.
* ''ComicBook/Marvel2099'' had a Superhero ''Orphanage'': the Xavier Shelter for Indigent Children in ''X-Nation 2099''. Run by a group of [[ChurchMilitant warrior nuns]] called Sister Nicholas and the Howlin' Commandments.
* ''Super School'' a comic strip which feature in the Britsh comic ''ComicBook/TheBeano''. In this strip the idea of a superhero school is PlayedForLaughs. Extra points for the strip's title is almost the name of this trope.
* In ''ComicBook/AllFallDown'', this is how Sophie learned to control her powers: she was coached by Plymouth, an ex-hero, along with a stack of 'How To' books.
* Liberty Vocational, in Naomi Novik's ''Will Supervillains Be On The Final'' series, offers classes ranging from designing costumes to discussing the ethics of superhero-dom.
* ''ComicBook/GladstonesSchoolForWorldConquerors'' by Mark Andrew Smith and Armand Villavert, a comic series published by Image Comics in 2011 and collected as a graphic novel in 2012. Though this series also arguably fits in the ''Academy of Evil'' category, there are (spoiler) reasons why it also belongs here.
* The titular institute in ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'', though its seven students are never shown in a classroom or studying.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Crucible}}'' story arc has ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} attending one of these -Crucible Academy-, with heroes from all across the galaxy both new and some which had not been seen on DC titles for some time (like the Post-Flashpoint version of Maxima).

* In the ''Our Own League'' fan novels, the ComicBook/TeenTitans are emphasized as a semiofficial school for underaged superheroes rather than just sidekicks striking out on their own. There are actual classes (homework and all,) with the team's founding members (Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Arsenal and Tempest,) as part-time instructors.

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': This is the only entry in the First Class trilogy where we get to see a fully operational Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Since mutants aren't hiding from humans in the AlternateTimeline after 1973, the [[http://collider.com/x-men-apocalypse-news-things-to-know/ school's enrollment is much greater than what we saw in the original trilogy,]] plus there is generally less angst among the youngsters due to society being more accepting of them (relatively speaking).

* ''WebComic/TheHeroesOfCrash'' were knockout gas and grappling hooks are considered school supplies

Compare with AcademyOfAdventure, WizardingSchool, NinjaSchool, HeroAcademy, and AllGhoulsSchool. A dark take on this trope can turn it into a SchoolForScheming.

** Note also that the world at large is predominantly CapePunk, and even on campus, RealityEnsues with fearsome frequency. Graduates who go into either the hero or villain biz - or even those who [[IJustWantToBeNormal just try to live an ordinary life]] - often ''really, really'' '''''need''''' what they learn at Whateley, and even then, it often isn't enough.

* The TropeMaker is Professor Charles Xavier's school in ''Comicbook/XMen''. Depending on the continuity, Comicbook/EmmaFrost's school, the [[ComicBook/GenerationX Massachusetts Academy]], may count as a supervillain school if she is Xavier's foe.

*** It got to the point where Xavier's 'school' was so chock-full of adult superheroes that they changed the name from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngers to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, making it a superhero ''college'', and opened a franchise with the formerly evil rival Massachusetts Academy for ''ComicBook/GenerationX''.
*** Played straighter with the ''original'' (pre-Wolverine) X-Men, who were of high school age at the time the group was formed.
** The fallout of the Schism storyline has Wolverine establishing the Jean Grey Institute for Higher Learning, largely featuring students from the now-defunct Xavier Institute.
*** Meanwhile, the fallout of ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'' has a rogue ComicBook/Cyclops, Emma Frost, and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} running the "New Charles Xavier School for Mutants". While unlike any previous incarnation its existence is secret and it doesn't present itself as a real private school (Cyclops and his team being outlaws and all), there ''are'' classrooms and the senior members do teach newly manifested mutants.

* The Legion Academy from ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes.

* ComicBook/TheAvengers' ''[[ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative Initiative]]'' program is somewhat like this, but blurs the line heavily between "school" and "boot camp." Not many other examples listed here take young teens and put sniper rifles in their hands...

** ''Comicbook/AvengersArena'' later introduced Comicbook/CaptainBritain's Braddock Academy, the Avengers Academy's TransAtlanticEquivalent.
** ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}: The Hunt'' then introduced several other international schools for superheroes (or villains): The Wakandan School for Alternative Studies, the Latverian School of Science and the Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted.
* The Comicbook/FantasticFour have the [[Comicbook/{{FF}} Future Foundation]].

* The last pre-Rebirth ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' arc has Kara attending one of these -Crucible Academy-, with heroes from all across the galaxy both new and some which had not been seen on DC titles for some time now (like the New 52 version of Maxima).

* The main setting for ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is the Hero Academy named U.A. This is where the main character learns to fight villains and train 'n stuff. It's really similar to the DWMA from ''Soul Eater''. There are also others out there, but U.A. is the most prestigious of them all.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' Super Hero High School fits this trope. The newer version of the series averts this trope, with all the heroes going to a normal school in their secret identities.

-->-- '''[[ComicBook/IceMan Bobby]] to ComicBook/{{Rogue}}''', ''Film/XMen''

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' is set in a superhero themed high school. Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/{{Batman}} have long since graduated however a large number of DC heroes -Franchise/WonderWoman, ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}''-, and some villains -Harley Queen, Poison Ivy-, currently attend it.

* The Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse features two such schools: the Hyperion Academy is located in New York State and resembles a Ivy-League-prep school more than anything else. The Venture Institute in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities, and more resembles ''Film/SkyHigh2005'' than anything else. The latter is specifically designed for superpowered teens who can't maintain a secret identity for whatever reason.

* ''Series/DoomPatrol'' has an episode set in one. [[spoiler: Actually a hallucination created by a demented telepathic former hero.]]

* ''VideoGame/CommunityCollegeHero'' has three schools. The school you're attending to is a school for wannabe heroes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'' Super Hero High School fits this trope

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Drearcliff Grange is a 1930s girls' school which takes "talented" students. Combined with BoardingSchoolOfHorrors for a parody of Girls' School stories of the period. (Incidentally, the headmistress makes it clear that she doesn't much care if one of her girls becomes a super''villain'' instead of a super''hero'', just so long as she makes use of her talent and doesn't settle for being mundane. ''Literature/TheHauntingOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'' suggests that girls are at least ''encouraged'' to be a Paladin rather than a Wrong 'Un, and introduces Drearcliff's AcademyOfEvil counterpart Draycott's School of Reform.)

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Drearcliff Grange is a 1930s girls' school which takes "talented" students. Combined with BoardingSchoolOfHorrors for a parody of Girls' School stories of the period. (Incidentally, the headmistress makes it clear that she doesn't much care if one of her girls becomes a super''villain'' instead of a super''hero'', just so long as she makes use of her talent and doesn't settle for being mundane. ''Literature/TheHauntingOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool, suggests that girls are at least ''encouraged'' to be a Paladin rather than a Wrong 'Un, and introduces Drearcliff's AcademyOfEvil counterpart Draycott's School of Reform.)

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Drearcliff Grange is a 1930s girls' school which takes "talented" students. Combined with BoardingSchoolOfHorrors for a parody of Girls' School stories of the period. (Incidentally, the headmistress makes it clear that she doesn't much care if one of her girls becomes a super''villain'' instead of a super''hero'', just so long as she makes use of her talent and doesn't settle for being mundane. ''Literature/TheHauntingOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool, suggests that girls are at least ''encouraged'' to be a Paladin rather than a Wrong 'Un, and introduces Drearcliff's SchoolOfEvil counterpart Draycott's School of Reform.)

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Drearcliff Grange is a 1930s girls' school which takes "talented" students. Combined with BoardingSchoolOfHorrors for a parody of Girls' School stories of the period. (Incidentally, the headmistress makes it clear that she doesn't much care if one of her girls becomes a super''villain'' instead of a super''hero'', just so long as she makes use of her talent and doesn't settle for being mundane.)

%%

* ''Literature/SuperPowereds'' has five universities in the US that offer the Hero Certification Program for Supers, who wish to become fully-licensed Heroes. The tetralogy is focused on the HCP at Lander University (Lander, CA), although the others are mentioned in spin-offs and on the author's website: Korman University (BigApplesauce), Sizemore Tech (Chicago), West Private University (Orlando), and Overton University (Overton, TX). Other countries have varying means of certifying Supers for Hero work, and there are no international agreements to allow Heroes to operate internationally. HCP involves TrainingFromHell in order to weed out the merely willing from the willing and able. Hundreds of Supers apply each year, only scores are accepted into each school's HCP, only to either quit or be cut from the program. It's possible for those, who haven't made the cut for next year to re-apply, competing with students from the year behind them for spots. Each school graduates only ten Heroes per year. Besides regular (non-Super) classes, HCP students also have several hours of exhausting gym each day to prepare their bodies and to hone their fighting skills. Additionally, as the HCP students advance in years, their classes grow more specialized based on their abilities and powers. Also, while in in the program, students are required to keep the fact that they're in the HCP (or even that they're Supers) a secret from everyone outside the program, which means they can't use their powers in public or attract unwanted attention. HCP facilities are typically located underground, away from prying eyes, with elevators leading to it from dorms with HCP students. During graduation, each new Hero wears a ceremonial white cape. Also, this is where they register their new Hero names (names have to be unique, except in case of legacy names, but those require permission from the original). After that, recent graduates are required to undergo a two-year internship under an experienced Hero.

Often inverted by introducing a [[AcademyOfEvil super]]''[[AcademyOfEvil villain]]'' [[AcademyOfEvil school]]. You will also see instances where the school takes a neutral posture about heroism or villainy, focusing on teaching the students to control and make the most of their superpowers.

Often inverted by introducing a [[AcademyOfEvil super]]''[[AcademyOfEvil villain]]'' [[AcademyOfEvil school]].

* ''Gladstone's School for World Conquerors'' by Mark Andrew Smith and Armand Villavert, a comic series published by Image Comics in 2011 and collected as a graphic novel in 2012. Though this series also arguably fits in the ''Academy of Evil'' category, there are (spoiler) reasons why it also belongs here.

* One main setting for ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is the Hero Academy named U.A. This is where the main character learns to fight villains and train 'n stuff. It's really similar to the DWMA from ''Soul Eater''. There are also others out there, but U.A. is the most prestigious of them all.