Tropes common to the Superhero genre, be it comics, film, TV, or radio drama.
See also Legacy Tropes and The Index Team.
Tropes:
Main topics:
Media index:
Other indexes:
- '90s Anti-Hero: A ruthlessly violent super-antihero, with gritty design and an angsty/irreverent personality, who were especially popular during The '90s at the height of The Dark Age of Comic Books. Does not hold onto much traditional superhero morality, Thou Shalt Not Kill least of all.
- Adaptation Origin Connection: An adaptation makes it so that characters with unrelated backstories now have connected origins or that one was involved with the origin of the other.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: A character's origin story is changed in an adaptation or further down the line.
- Adaptational Upbringing Change: A character's origin story is changed by altering the circumstances how they were raised.
- Adaptive Armor: Armor that can change form and function based on who wears it and where.
- The Adjectival Superhero: The superhero's name is preceded by an adjective.
- Alien Invasion: If a powerful extraterrestrial supervillain exists in the story, expect them to send their minions to attack Earth or other planets at some point.
- Alliterative Name: It's been common for superhero media to have characters whose names are alliterations.
- Alternate Company Equivalent: The hero owned by one company is a clear imitation or stand-in of a hero belonging to another company.
- Alternate Continuity: An adaptation of a work is treated as its own separate universe rather than part of the original's timeline.
- Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome: An Alternate Universe character can make changes to the status quo that the main continuity counterpart can't.
- Animal Superheroes: Anthropomorphic animals who fight crime.
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Some superheroes and supervillains have an animal motif as their main gimmick or the source of their powers.
- Anti-Climactic Unmasking: Someone rips off a superhero's mask, expecting someone extraordinary, but they get someone ordinary.
- Badass Cape: A lot of superheroes and supervillains wear capes as part of their costumes.
- Badass Normal: A hero or villain who is strong and capable despite not having any superpowers.
- Bat Signal: A means of summoning a superhero by shining their insignia into the sky.
- Batman Parody: An expy based on the Dark Knight himself.
- Beware the Superman: A super-powered being abuses their abilities to rule over normal people.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: A super-powered being learns a mundane skill, often to make better use of his or her powers.
- Brains Versus Brawn: Due to Trope Codifiers for the genre in the US, Superman and Lex Luthor, many hero-villain dynamics are some version of this and numerous conflicts play with the trope.
- Brought Down to Badass: Someone loses their powers but is still dangerous to their enemies.
- Brought Down to Normal: A super-powered being loses their powers.
- Brought to You by the Letter "S": The hero has the first letter of their codename on their chest.
- Bruce Wayne Held Hostage: The hero's civilian identity is held hostage in an attempt to draw out their alter-ego.
- Building Swing: A means of travel for non-flying superheroes.
- Bus Full of Innocents: A bus full of innocent people is about to get damaged and it is up to a hero to save them.
- By the Power of Grayskull!: The hero has a specific word or phrase they say to activate their powers.
- Can't Stay Normal: Returning to the life of a normal human never lasts.
- The Cape: The classic superhero dedicated to protecting the innocent, upholding truth, justice, etc.
- Cape Busters: A group whose purpose is to hunt super-beings, heroes and villains alike.
- Captain Ersatz: A character is a blatant copy of a copyrighted character the work's parent company does not own the rights to.
- Captain Ethnic: A superhero whose ethnic/national background (often stereotypically) defines their entire character and power set.
- Captain Fishman: A superhero with swimming/fish-based superpowers.
- Captain Geographic: A superhero who represents their country of origin.
- Captain Patriotic: As above, except the hero represents the ideals of their country, over and above the geography (or government).
- Captain Superhero: A superhero who has "Captain" in front of their name.
- Celebrity Masquerade: A superhero whose secret identity is famous in their own right — sometimes more than the hero.
- Celebrity Superhero: A superhero who is also famous and trades on it.
- Charles Atlas Superpower: An otherwise "ordinary" character gets superhuman abilities through mundane training.
- Chest Insignia: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Chores Without Powers: Someone with magical abilities, superpowers, etc. does menial labor without using said powers, usually as a punishment.
- Chrome Champion: A superhero whose skin is made of metal.
- Civvie Spandex: Normal clothes worn as part of a costume.
- Clark Kenting: The superhero's civilian identity is basically the hero wearing a Paper-Thin Disguise.
- Clingy Costume: The costume can't be removed.
- Clothes Make the Superman: The superpowers come from the costume the superhero wears.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: The hero wears a coat, a hat, and a mask.
- Code Name: Aliases used by most heroes and villains to cover their real names.
- Color Character: Usually Color Noun, although occasionally Noun Color.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Adaptations of superhero comics avoid addressing heroes and/or villains by anything other than their real names.
- Comic Books Are Real: The characters in the Show Within a Show are actually real within the universe that watches it.
- The Commissioner Gordon: A high-ranking police officer who is a close ally of a superhero.
- Corporate-Sponsored Superhero: This hero was brought to you by MegaCorp.
- Cover-Blowing Superpower: A superhero exposes themselves by using their powers while off-duty in their civilian identity.
- The Cowl: The dark superhero dedicated to punishing the wicked, striking terror into the hearts of the superstitious, cowardly lot that is the underworld, etc.
- Create Your Own Hero: The hero exists because of the villain's actions.
- Create Your Own Villain: The hero has an enemy who exists because they unintentionally wronged a bitter and vengeful person.
- Crimefighting with Cash: Using financial resources to deal with the forces of evil.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: A villain uses their powers and gadgets to commit robberies when they could easily use their gifts to get money the legal way.
- Dark Age of Supernames: A superhero's name sounds creepy.
- Dating Catwoman: The hero and the villain are a couple.
- Deadly Training Area: An obstacle course or simulation where a superhero trains.
- Death-Activated Superpower: A person gains powers after dying.
- Death by Origin Story: It's very common for superhero origins to involve the hero being motivated to fight crime because of someone dying, often a person they loved dearly.
- Death Is Cheap: Characters killed off in superhero comics have a tendency to come back to life later (which is why this trope used to be called Comic Book Death), whether due to popular demand, a writer deciding it was a bad idea to kill the character off in the first place or the character simply being too important to stay dead.
- Deducing the Secret Identity: Someone logically figures out a superhero/supervillain's Secret Identity.
- De-power: Someone loses their powers for good, or for a very extended period of time.
- Differently Powered Individual: Various names and classifications for superhuman people with special abilities and superpowers.
- Disability-Negating Superpower: A disabled person gains superpowers in exchange for losing their disability.
- Disability Superpower: Having a disability makes you immune to stuff that would affect people who don't have the disability.
- Disposable Superhero Maker: A freak accident that gives someone superpowers cannot be replicated.
- Domino Mask: A type of mask that covers only the eyes and the area around them.
- Electric Black Guy: A Black person with electric powers, usually inspired by Black Lightning.
- Elemental Personalities: Superheroes with elemental powers typically have thematically matching personalities.
- Empowered Badass Normal: When an already formidable (yet physically ordinary) fighter gains superpowers.
- Enlightenment Superpowers: Superpowers are available to anyone who achieves the necessary level of spiritual enlightenment.
- Everyone Is a Super: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Evil Costume Switch: A hero or neutral character who wears a costume with darker colors after becoming evil.
- Evil Hero: A phony "superhero" who is actually a wicked supervillain in disguise.
- Extranormal Prison: A jail specialized to contain people/entities with special powers.
- Fad Super: A character based on an idea or fad that is currently popular.
- The Fantastic Faux: Expies of the Fantastic Four.
- Fastest Thing Alive: A superhero with super speed who is acknowledged as being faster than everyone else.
- Faux Adventure Story: A work of fiction that may involve superheroes and their related tropes, but significantly downplays or removes any action-adventure elements.
- Fight Off the Kryptonite: The hero overcomes their weakness with Heroic Willpower.
- Fights Like a Normal: A hero or villain prefers to fight with weapons or just their bare hands despite having superpowers.
- The First Superheroes: In a world like our own, superheroes begin to develop powers and/or appear in public for the first time, changing society forever.
- Flaming Emblem: A superhero's logo or Chest Insignia is recreated with fire.
- Flung Clothing: A superhero changes into their costume by flinging off their civilian clothing in one flick motion.
- Freak Lab Accident: A science experiment gone awry causes someone to mutate and gain superpowers.
- Friend of Masked Self: A superhero, in their civilian identity, claims to be friends with their own heroic alter-ego.
- Future Spandex: A superhero wears a skin-tight outfit made of stretchable synthetic fibers.
- Going for the Big Scoop: A reporter willingly goes right into danger to get a news story.
- Good Costume Switch: A villain or neutral character who wears a costume with lighter color after becoming good
- Good Thing You Can Heal: A superhero with a Healing Factor as a superpower.
- Gratuitous Animal Sidekick: Basically the hero's Team Pet.
- Heart Is an Awesome Power: A power that seems useless can actually be pretty effective when used correctly.
- Henshin Hero: A normal person who transforms into a superpowered alter ego.
- Hero Does Public Service: A superhero helps out their community in other, more mundane ways besides beating up the bad guys.
- Heroes Fight Barehanded: Many superheroes prefer to use their fists and feet instead of using any (lethal) weapons.
- Heroes "R" Us: An organized group of superheroes.
- Heroic Build: Male superheroes are muscular and impressive while females are fit, dexterous and buxom.
- Heroic Fatigue: Being a hero day in and day out can take a real toll on you.
- Heroic Host: A host with a Superhero Origin of getting their superpowers from their guest.
- Heroic Vow: The hero makes a promise that they intend to keep at all costs.
- Hero Insurance: Heroes wreck cities to beat the bad guys, but they don't have to pick up the tab.
- Hero's First Rescue: A superhero often has a rescue mission (especially from a burning building) as their first major act of being a hero.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Everyone hates the superhero in spite of all the good they've done.
- Holding Out for a Hero: People grow too reliant on a superhero for their protection.
- How Do I Shot Web?: A character has to figure out how to use his newly obtained superpowers.
- HULK MASH!-Up: An expy of The Incredible Hulk.
- How to Give a Character Superpowers
- I Believe I Can Fly: Every superhero can fly.
- Identity Impersonator: The hero protects their secret identity by appearing in public with another person pretending to be their alter-ego.
- Idiosyncrazy: Some supervillains get really, really crazy about one specific thing and incorporate it into all their crimes.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Some heroes or villains don't really want to have special powers, or at least desire to have safe and normal lives like regular people do.
- Imagination-Based Superpower: A power based on the user's imagination.
- I'm Not a Hero, I'm...: A hero denies or accepts that they are a superhero.
- In a Single Bound: The hero can leap great heights.
- Innocent Bystander Series: A story that focuses solely on ordinary civilians rather than the heroes or villains.
- Instant Costume Change: A superhero instantly changes from their regular clothes into a costume
- The Jailer: A villain who wrongfully imprisons others.
- Kaiju: Giant monsters that are capable of demolishing cities. They're fairly common stock enemies for superheroes to fight.
- Keep the Home Fires Burning: The story of the hero's lover, friends and/or family back on the home front.
- Kid Hero: A young superhero who's still legally a minor.
- Kid Sidekick: A subordinate partner to an older mentor hero.
- Kryptonite Factor: A superhumanly powerful being has a rather specific weakness that renders them helpless.
- Kryptonite Is Everywhere: Why does every damn bad guy seem to have the one thing that can give your hero a bad time?
- Kryptonite-Proof Suit: A suit that protects the hero from their weakness.
- Kryptonite Ring: The hero entrusts their ally with the one thing that can defeat them.
- Lamarck Was Right: If a superhero has children, their children will inherit their powers, sense of justice, and become superheroes.
- Legacy Character: The hero's identity is claimed by another person after the original hero retires from crime-fighting or gets killed.
- Legacy Launch: The hero's predecessor comes back, resulting in the successor returning their predecessor's identity in exchange for taking up a costumed persona of their own.
- Legion of Doom: Several of the hero's villains band together to plan their revenge against the hero.
- Leotard of Power: A superhero wears a leotard.
- Lighthearted Rematch: Two heroes have fought each other for real stakes. When the story's over, they smile and have a rematch for fun's sake.
- Loafing in Full Costume: A character wears their usual hero/villain suit or uniform while doing things unrelated to their job.
- Man of Kryptonite: The villain's power is that he's made of or armed with the hero's weakness.
- Magical Girl Warrior: A Magical Girl who is a superhero.
- Marked Change: A hero's body gains visual markings when they tap into their true potential.
- The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Being a superhero makes it hard to get a date.
- Mass Super-Empowering Event: All superbeings got their powers at the same time from the same incident.
- Meta Origin: A retroactive origin story ties the fates of several characters together.
- Militaries Are Useless: The armed forces are usually not competent or powerful enough to stop giant monsters or evil aliens from attacking, leaving a superhero up to the job of saving the day.
- Military Superhero: A superhero who is also an enlisted member of the armed forces.
- Mistaken for Superpowered: A character tries to fight crime with powers they don't actually have.
- Monster Modesty: Non-humans depicted as only wearing underwear or shorts.
- Monster of the Week: Besides the Rogues Gallery of recurring enemies, many superhero series will have the hero face off against various minor one-shot villains or monsters.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: A supervillain (usually some variety of Mad Scientist) addressed as "Doctor" or "Professor".
- Most Common Super Power: Superheroines tend to have large breasts.
- Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Film adaptations of superhero comics have the heroes wear black costumes or costumes with darker colors than the costumes worn in the comics.
- Muggle Sports, Super Athletes: A character with superpowers use their abilities while playing Real Life sports.
- Mutant Draft Board: A bureaucratic government institution created to control a large population of super-powered individuals.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The hero somehow senses a major event that is currently underway somewhere else.
- My Suit Is Also Super: A superhero's clothing is not damaged by their powers, and may even change to work with them.
- Never Be a Hero: Anyone else trying to imitate the main character's heroics is treated as a bad thing.
- Never Recycle Your Schemes: Supervillains never improve on plans that failed once before.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: A character spontaneously demonstrates a new superpower whenever they need it to deal with the current problem.
- Nightmare of Normality: Someone is led to believe that they have lost/has never had their powers.
- Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: A character who only seems competent and powerful in comparison to a group of people who are considerably less so than they are.
- Non-Powered Costumed Hero: Some superheroes don't have powers but will wear costumes anyway.
- Not the Fall That Kills You…: A superhero catches someone who is falling from a great height, and they are still alive because they didn't hit the ground.
- Not Wearing Tights: Superheroes who don't wear costumes and only wear normal clothing.
- Old Superhero: An elderly veteran hero, who may be (semi-)retired.
- One Person, One Power: In a fictional setting, individuals are limited to only one ability unique to them.
- One Super, One Power Set: A superhero gains something to help them, but Status Quo Is God.
- Part-Time Hero: A superhero who tries to live a normal life in-between fighting the bad guys.
- Pedestrian Crushes Car: If a car runs into a superhero, expect them to punch or crush the car instead of suffering physical injury or trauma.
- Personality Powers: A super-powered being has powers appropriate to their personality.
- Phone Booth Changing Room: A superhero changes from their street clothes into their superhero outfit in a telephone booth.
- Phlebotinum Battery: The hero's powers are charged by an outside source.
- Police Are Useless: Law enforcement are usually not competent or powerful enough to stop supervillains on their own, leaving a superhero up to the job of defeating and capturing them.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: Trouble arises when two works cross over, and one character is too powerful to work with another.
- Power Incontinence: A super-powered being is unable to control their powers.
- Power Misidentification: One power is assumed to be another power.
- Power Nullifier: A piece of Applied Phlebotinum that acts to negate someone's powers.
- Powers in the First Episode: The hero gets their powers very early on.
- Power Stereotype Flip: A super-powered being has powers that are opposite to their personality.
- Premature Empowerment: A superpowered group want to induct a new member through Super-Empowering.
- President Superhero: A superhero who has been elected to a political office.
- Proto-Superhero: Early prototypes of modern superhero characters.
- Psychic Nosebleed: A hero with psychic powers gains a nosebleed when they use their mental powers.
- Psychic Radar: Using Psychic Powers to detect people.
- Psychosomatic Superpower Outage: A superhero loses their confidence and their powers as a result.
- Puberty Superpower: An adolescent gains powers during puberty.
- Punch-Clock Hero: Professional superheroes who fight crime and evil as a paid job, rather than altruistically volunteering for charity work.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Professional supervillains who commit crimes and evil actions as a paid job, but don't really care enough to do bad things outside of it.
- Put on a Prison Bus: The villain gets arrested at the end of a comic. This was especially common in older superhero comics.
- Radiation-Induced Superpowers: Radiation gives people superhuman abilities.
- Randomly Gifted: A character gets Magic and Powers with seemingly no genetics or any outside influence involved.
- Reckless Sidekick: A sidekick who runs headfirst into danger and requires the superhero to come to their aid.
- Recruit the Muggles: Civilians come to the aid of a superhero.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: A hero is capable of amazing breakthroughs, and yet their genius still doesn't net them a profit or significantly change the world.
- Re-Power: A superhero is changed from having one set of powers to another.
- Required Secondary Powers: The hero has an additional power that they need to be able to use their primary power without harming themselves or others.
- Robot Superhero: A robot who acts as a superhero.
- Rogues Gallery: A group of all the collective enemies of a particular hero.
- Rogues Gallery Showcase: A hero fights many of their enemies simultaneously.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: The enemy of one hero ends up becoming the adversary of a different hero.
- Run the Gauntlet: A superhero fights several notable enemies in quick succession.
- Samaritan Syndrome: Superheroes often feel guilty for every time they might have saved someone but didn't.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: A character uses their superpowers to get away with breaking laws.
- Second Super-Identity: A superhero has more than one secret identity.
- Secret Chaser: A character who will do anything to uncover someone's secret identity.
- Secret Identity: Many superheroes and supervillains keep their real names and personal lives secret from the general public.
- Secret Identity Apathy: The villains don't care about the true identity of the hero they're fighting.
- Secret Identity Change Trick: A character must improvise a way to get out of sight to change into their superhero identity.
- Secret-Identity Identity: It's called into question on whether the hero regards their super identity or their secret identity as their true self.
- Secret Identity Vocal Shift: A character's voice changes when they assume their superhero/supervillain identity.
- Secret-Keeper: A person whom the superhero has allowed to know their true identity.
- Secret Public Identity: A superhero uses their real name instead of an alias.
- Self-Made Superpowers: A scientifically gifted character gives themselves innate powers on purpose.
- Semantic Superpower: A power based more on interpretation than anything more logical.
- Sentai: A Japanese-style multicolored team of superheroes, with a focus on working together.
- Shooting Superman: Someone tries to hurt or kill the powerful hero with methods that clearly won't work.
- Sidekick: The hero's helper in the field, who may or may not have superpowers themselves.
- Sidekick Glass Ceiling: The sidekick is never allowed to become more powerful than the hero.
- Sidekick Graduations Stick: On the other hand, sidekicks often become heroes in their own right.
- Single-Power Superheroes: A superhero that only has one known power.
- Slave to PR: A hero who will go to great lengths to maintain a good reputation (or a bad one in the case of a Card-Carrying Villain).
- Smug Super: A super-being who knows his powers put him above normals and isn't shy about rubbing this fact in.
- Something Person: A superhero name consisting of X Man, X Guy, etc.
- Spandex, Latex, or Leather: The standard superhero outfit material.
- The Speedster: The Token Super-Speed User.
- Spider-Man Send-Up: An expy of Spider-Man.
- Standard Super-Hero Setting: Where superhero comics and narratives take place.
- Star-Spangled Spandex: A superhero outfit that looks like the night sky.
- Steven Ulysses Perhero: The hero's real name is a clear giveaway to their superhero identity.
- Stock Superhero Day Jobs: Most superheroes fight the forces of evil as unpaid volunteers, so they need another actual job to pay all their bills.
- Strong as They Need to Be: The hero's strength varies depending on what is needed for the conflict of the story.
- Strong and Skilled: A hero with great strength who knows how to fight.
- Super Cop: A superhero who is also a police officer that works for a law enforcement agency, instead of being an independent vigilante.
- Super Costume Clothier: A fashion designer or tailor who makes costumes for superheroes (and sometimes supervillains) who can't make their own, may or may not have powers of their own.
- Superdickery: Cover art shows the hero acting uncharacteristically nasty.
- Super-Empowering: A character whose superpower is to give other people superpowers.
- Super Family Team: A group of superheroes who are (biologically) related to each other (or at least love each other like family).
- Super Fic: A fanfic where the canon characters are re-imagined as superheroes.
- Superhero Capital of the World: The City has too many superheroes!
- Superhero Episode: An episode where a character temporarily gains superpowers (or at least a costume) and fights crime.
- Superheroes in Space: Superheroes who travel across outer space to fight extraterrestrial supervillains.
- Superheroes Stay Single: Superheroes are not allowed to have stable romantic relationships or get happily married.
- Superheroes Wear Capes: Superheroes tending to wear capes.
- Superheroes Wear Tights: Superheroes tending to wear tights.
- Superhero Gods: Superheroes who are worshiped like deities (if they're not literally divine).
- Superhero Horror: When superhero genre tropes are Played for Horror.
- Superhero Movie Villains Die: Superhero movies kill off villains who remain alive in the comics.
- Superhero Origin: Most superheroes are shown to have a backstory which explains the source of their powers and/or motives for fighting evil.
- Superhero Packing Heat: A superhero who uses firearms.
- Superhero Paradox: When superheroes actually cause more problems than they solve.
- Superhero Prevalence Stages: The amount of superheroes present depends on what comic book age they appear in.
- Superhero School: A place that educates and trains rookie superheroes.
- Superhero Sobriquets: Superheroes have a nickname.
- Superhero Speciation: No two superheroes will have the exact same powers.
- Superhero Team Uniform: The members of a superhero team all dress alike.
- Superhero Trophy Shelf: The hero's lair contains souvenirs from their adventures.
- Superhuman Trafficking: The kidnapping and enslavement of superhuman beings, in order to exploit their superpowers for private gain.
- Superhuman Transfusion: Reciving a blood transfusion from a superhero will give you their powers.
- Supering in Your Sleep: A hero uses their superpowers in their sleep.
- Super Loser: Being a superhero does not prevent this character from being uncool.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Drama is preserved by leaving out super-powered beings existing in the same universe who could've easily helped with the hero's problem.
- Superman Substitute: An expy based on the Man of Steel himself.
- Super Mob Boss: A crime lord or gang leader who is tough enough to be considered a supervillain.
- Supernatural Team: A superhero team that specializes in magic and the supernatural.
- Superpower Disability: A character with a superpower is given a disability as a result.
- Superpowered Alter Ego: A character has a split personality that's a superhero.
- Superpowered Date: Superpowers allow a character to take their love interest on a grandiose date.
- Superpowered Evil Side: A character has a split personality that's a supervillain.
- Superpowered Mooks: Evil henchmen who have superpowers but are not quite at the level of a proper supervillain.
- Superpowerful Genetics: A super-powered being will have children who inherit their powers.
- Superpower Lottery: When a hero or villain has a very diverse set of powers.
- Superpower Meltdown: A superhero overuses or loses control of their powers and destroys the surrounding area.
- Superpowers For A Day: A normal person temporarily gains special powers.
- Superpower Silly Putty: A character who gains extremely volatile superpowers that come and go frequently.
- Super Registration Act: When the government enacts laws that require super-beings to register their superpowers and secret identities with them.
- Super Robot Genre: Humongous Mechas whose abilities and adventures place them on the level of superheroes.
- Super Rug-Pull: A hero with super strength can pull out a chunk of rock and whip it like a rug.
- Super Serum: A chemical substance that gives people superpowers.
- Super-Soldier: Military personnel who have special abilities or superpowers, thus making them elite warriors.
- Super Supremacist: A supervillain who believes that superhumans are superior to normal people and should rule over them because of it.
- Super Team: A group of superheroes (or a gang of supervillains) who closely work and fight together.
- Super Zeroes: Incredibly lame, incompetent superheroes.
- Swiss-Army Superpower: A power with defined limitations is applied to multiple unconventional uses.
- Thematic Rogues Gallery: The hero's enemies all follow a specific theme, often comparably to the hero.
- Thememobile: Customized motor vehicles used by superheroes or supervillains.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill: Many (though not all) superheroes have personal moral codes against killing their enemies.
- Three-Point Landing: A superhero landing pose, with both feet on the ground and one hand to steady you.
- Together We Are X: Members of an ensemble introduce themselves first individually and then as a team.
- Token Super: The sole member of a team who has superpowers.
- Trainstopping: The hero uses their powers to stop a train from crashing.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: The hero discovers their powers through massive emotional distress.
- Trick Arrow: An arrow with a built-in gimmick.
- Triple Shifter: When you're a civilian by day and a superhero by night, how do you sleep?
- Twilight of the Supers: A superhero "apocalypse" in which the majority of the world's superpowered individuals are killed, depowered or legally prohibited from fighting crime.
- Two First Names: The hero's civilian identity has a surname that could also be a given name.
- Ultraman Copy: An expy of Ultraman, typically a giant superhero who fights Kaiju.
- Unbreakable Bones: A superhero's bones can't be destroyed.
- The Unmasking: When a superhero's or supervillain's true identity is finally revealed to the world.
- Un-Sorcerer: A lone unpowered person who's surrounded by superhuman beings.
- Up, Up and Away!: Superheroes stretch their arms forward when they fly.
- Useless Without Powers: This person becomes a nobody after losing their powers.
- Utility Belt: The standard belt full of gadgets that no Badass Normal superhero can go without, popularized by Batman.
- Vigilante Man: Most superheroes are essentially vigilantes, as they try to fight criminals despite lacking any official legal authority to do so.
- Villain Team-Up: Two or more of the hero's enemies team up to try and stop the hero.
- Villain with Good Publicity: A supervillain who possesses a far better reputation than they deserve.
- Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: Child/teenage heroes also have to balance life as school students with their hero work.
- Weaksauce Weakness: A super-powered being is vulnerable to a ridiculously common substance or item.
- We Can Rebuild Him: An injured person gets rebuilt as a cyborg to prevent them from dying, which often serves as the origin of a hero or villain who happens to be a cyborg.
- West Coast Team: Superhero team's far-away equivalent/affiliate/subsidiary.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Someone who has a useless superpower.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: A superhero owns a ton of gadgets and a high-tech fortress, but no one knows how they acquire all this stuff or how they afford it.
- With Great Power Comes Great Hotness: An unappealing character becomes attractive after being granted superpowers.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Having superpowers will tempt people to abuse them for bad purposes.
- With Great Power Comes Great Opposition: Having superpowers make people see you as a threat.
- With Great Power Comes Great Perks: Using superpowers for personal convenience.
- With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Having superpowers means that one must use them for good purposes.
- Wonder Twin Powers: Powers that only work with two characters working together.
- Wolverine Wannabe: An expy of Wolverine.
- Wonder Woman Wannabe: An expy of Wonder Woman.
- World's Strongest Man: A superhero that is considered the strongest being in the world.
