Three Characteristics Every Non-Powered Hero Should Have

Three Characteristics Every Non-Powered Hero Should Have: "
And now, it's time for another installment of my column where I analyze the comic medium and what makes certain genres great. I'm still working on a title for this column, so maybe that's something you guys can help me out with in the comments, or by throwing me a tweet.
I've done this for the last two weeks, examining what makes a good team title and teen superhero book, and this week, I'll be covering what makes a good non-powered hero.

While some of comic-dom's most famous heroes are those that have lasers shooting from their eyes, there are a few of note that get by with wit and gumption. These heroes might not have anything special about them besides the willingness to train their butt off, but their heart and drive make them worthy amongst a pantheon of gods.
A few successful examples of this are: The Batman family of Bruce Wayne, Nightwing, Robin(s), Batwoman/girl(s), Oracle, The Blue Beetle II, Hawkeye, Iron Man and The Punisher. Each are competant, relevant and interesting while sharing a few common factors that keep them that way.

Have a Gimmick

Every superhero needs a gimmick; that's how you sell comics. This doesn't change when the hero can't fly, or stretch really far - it just means that their powers just happen to be a little bit more mundane than what readers are used to.
If you think about it, one could classify 'archery' as a power: the Green Arrow/Hawkeye archetype do what they do at such a level that you could qualify it as high above what any 'normal' person is capable of. This makes them unique, and interesting, as we would not expect our next door neighbor to pull out a bow and Robin Hood an arrow from 200 feet.

Heroes still need gimmicks because at the end of the day, they need something that makes them special. If there were suddenly need to be a 'normal' guy on the Justice League of America roster whose powers were to do his taxes and make sure his kids get to school on time, his audience would be very limited. I'm not saying that he couldn't be interesting in the hands of the right writer, but that concept alone is not something a lot of people would take seriously at first glance.
What I'm saying is that even though these heroes might not have powers, they still need something that makes them special: for example, The Punisher is an expert shot and tactician, Batman is a god of martial arts and psychology, and Iron Man has the talent to build and maintain the suits he wears.

Avoid the 'One Trick Pony'

While it might seem a bit contradictory to say 'have a gimmick' and then state 'don't stick to it,' hear me out. While heroes need that uniqueness to stand out from the pack, they need to avoid becoming reliant on that gimmick in the long run. In short, a comic character's greatest power is depth.
Think of it this way: you're reading a team book where Green Arrow is engaging in an archer's duel with his arch-nemesis, Merlyn. During the course of the fight, Ollie loses his bow, and is completely and utterly helpless without it - he loses the fight shortly after.
Or perhaps in a team fight with the Avengers, Tony Stark's Iron Man armor is disabled, leaving him a helpless, sometimes-naked business man in the middle of a battlefield.
How boring is that?

The reason the above scenarios don't happen (often) in comics is that well-thought-out heroes have things that will make them interesting, even if their main source of utility (their gimmick) is unavailable. Green Arrow recently stepped up his game to include a katana (speaking of which, where's that gone since his marriage/divorce?) and has been known to fight a little dirty.
During Identity Crisis he managed to stab Deathstroke in his empty eye socket with a broken arrow, and strangled Solomon Grundy with his broken bow string in the 'Archer's Quest' storyline (pictured above).
Tony Stark is a technical genius, and even if his Iron Man armor was disabled, he'd be able to offer some kind of support/utility, especially if he had access to a computer. While we know Tony is 'only human,' we've seen him to be resourceful, Extremis suit or not.

Be a Rock

If you think about great non-powered heroes, they often tend to be part of a team which will either cover their weaknesses or provide support when threats out of their league crop up. While heroes like Batman or Ted Kord work alone from time to time, they tend to have networks of heroes to interact with and to contrast to.
This is for a reason - to act as the 'human' side of the team, and bring some grounding to a situation where powerful egos might go unchecked. They can commonly be referred to as 'the heart' of the team: someone who slows down and realizes the implications for 'normal' people when his other team members might be powered by super-speed.

This is important to comics because it's easy for heroes to lose sight of 'common' concerns: with atrocities happening every day, it's easier to be a band-aid than a long-term cure. Spending an hour demolishing a city during a fight, then leaving during the clean-up not only affects the people's living and working situation, but their confidence in the people who're supposed to protect them.
Since non-powered heroes can be seen as just as vulnerable as the people they're protecting, they're an analogue: they're our voice within a team. They're what's keeping heroes from getting too big for their britches by showing them that 'normal' people can get stuff done, as well.

The Wrap-Up

I'm a fan of non-powered heroes because of this vulnerability and heart. It really forces writers to do a good job when it comes to shaping the interactions of heroes, which I think is the most important part of comic storytelling.
The most important thing for comic books characters to have is just that: character. Having a hero be defined by what he shoots out of his ears just leads to bland, stale books that end up at the bottom of the bargain bin, or worse, the top of the sales charts. Books that don't take chances and still do well run the risk of starting a trend of rewarding mediocrity.
Something, in this industry slump, we cannot afford to do.
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For the full-sized poster of the Bat-Family, you can visit Kuroi-Suki's DeviantArt page.
Matt Demers is a Toronto columnist and staff writer for Comic Vine. You can follow him on Twitter or Tumblr. Shoot him a message!

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