Most kids growing up want to be a superhero of some type. Who doesn’t want to be the kid that saves the
bully, rescue the damsel in distress, or save the world? It used to be that kids were exposed to
superheroes by reading comic books, but now, kids are more likely to be
introduced to superheroes in movies or video games. They can be the traditional superheroes like
Superman, Spiderman, and Captain America
or they can be untraditional like Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean or Edward Cullen from Twilight.
Video games provide a perfect platform for creating your own
superhero. Many games allow you to
choose what your character looks like and what attributes he or she would
have. Your character can be strong,
fast, cunning, magical, skilled in combat or have a multitude of other traits. The
options seem endless. In addition you
can conduct your hero as a moral character that stands up for the weak or as an
arch villain who takes advantage or terrorizes those around them.
In creating your own superhero, you get to pick out which
one you want to be. A protector or
destroyer of good, it is your choice. Of
course, unlike in the real world, the consequences in a video game are never
real. What your character encounters is
only a simulation that some game maker has created. In reality though, it is a different
story. The consequences are very real
and you had better be ready to deal with them, both good and bad. Becoming a vigilante could very well land you
in prison or worse. Of course, if you
decide to become an arch villain, all bets are off, you may very well be
considered a terrorist and become a target of some very real military powers.
If you do decide to create your own superhero, you have to determine
what your strengths and weaknesses are and determine how to best use the
strengths while trying to cover for your vulnerabilities. If you do not have any superhero
characteristics, you need to develop or invent them so that you always have the
upper hand against your enemy. Superman
can fly, Spiderman can spin webs and crawl up walls, what can you do? Are you strong, deft, stealthy, irresistible,
or have some otherworldly power? Batman
did not really have any special abilities, so he invented a tool belt full of
devices that gave him the upper hand.
Maybe that is something you can replicate. Grappling hooks and piano wire will only get
you so far though, maybe the flying suit that Ironman developed would be more
practical, if that is within your budget.
In creating your own superhero, it seems the sky is the
limit. How creative can you become,
because it is much more than just a costume in bright colors. It would take perseverance, determination,
training, inventiveness and thinking out of the box to pull off such a
feat. Becoming a superhero is a great
undertaking that requires extensive planning and execution. Unfortunately, there are not too many real
superheroes in the world today, but we can study those real people that were
superheroes and see how they accomplished their goals. Mother Teresa lived in poverty while she
helped the world’s poor, Gandhi went on hunger strikes and taught non-violence
to promote independence, and Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for the rights of
the African Americans and all people.
Maybe these are the examples that we should look to when we try to
create a superhero. Of course, both
Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. were both assassinated, making the quest to
become a superhero that much less attractive.
Are you willing to take on the world for what you believe is the right
cause? Do you have what it takes to be a
superhero? It is not the glamorous life
that is depicted in movies, but a very real life of sacrifice and suffering for
the good of others that is demonstrated by true superheroes. You could be the next Gandhi, Mother Teresa,
Martin Luther King Jr. or that stranger that rescues a child in need. At what lengths are you willing to go to be
that superhero?
