Want to be a superhero?

The first thing you got to do is to choose which superhero type you’ll be. There are surprisingly many types, so we’ll go through them one by one:

1. Tanks: these guys possess superhuman strength. They’re usually oversized and made of lots of muscles, and sometimes have relatively low intellect. Pure tanks (i.e. those with no other superpowers) are rarely solo heroes and will usually be part of a team, although some exceptions exist. A few examples include The Incredible Hulk, The Thing or Colossus.

2. Speedsters: on the other hand of the scales are the characters that, rather than strength, have speed. These guys are usually small, thin and generally agile-looking. Their brains usually work fast, which allows them to display some cool maneuvers. The most well known speedsters are The Flash and Quicksilver.

3. Elementals/blasters while speedsters and tanks usually display short-range, hand-to-hand combats, blasters most often don’t. These guys have powers that enable them to shoot energy blasts or project forms of energy at enemies. Elementals work the same way, but they specifically control a natural element like thunder, vegetation, fire, water, ice, etc. There are many famous blasters and elementals, like Cyclopes, Storm, Thor, the Human Torch, Magneto, Starfire, Static, and the Green Lantern (in a way).

4. Fliers: superheroes who fly. Rarely do fliers have only one power, but it’s been seen before, like Angel. Flying heroes generally come in teams if they don’t have other powers.

5. Equips: many superheroes don’t have natural powers, so they rely on gadgets and equipment to imitate, strength, speed, flight, or blasts. Equips range from using low-level regular gadgets to extreme high-tech ones. Heroes like the Batman are well-known for using equipment. Others, like Iron Man, use equipment so sophisticated it’s a full body armor robosuit. Some equips are also marksmen, who primarily use guns or other shooting devices for their purposes, like Green Arrow or the Punisher.

6. Martial artists: these heroes use no super powers nor special equipment- they rely on good old fashioned martial arts, and sometimes simple weapons like swords. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Elektra, and Batman are examples. They’re usually extremely physically fit and at peak shape.

7. Mentals: no, not mental cases. These heroes use mind-focused abilities like telekinesis, telepathy, or mind control. Jean Grey and Prof. X are prime examples.

8. Magicians: this group relies on magic to perform super powered things. Doctor Strange is an example. The sources of their magic are highly varied and can range from spellbooks and staffs to inner powers.

9. Hybrids: Hybrids are heroes who display more than 1 power and fall into more than 1 group. For example, the Batman is a martial artist and an equip, while Hellboy is a Magician/tank, and the Human Torch is an elemental flier. Most superheroes fall into this category.

10. Ultimates: not to be confused with the Ultimate Marvel version of the Avengers. The Ultimates group are those heroes who exhibit virtually all of the powers of the various groups, and are seen as invincible (though they usually have 1 major weakness). Superman would be the typical ultimate, and so will characters like Wonder Women and the Silver Surfer.

With so many options, what will you choose?