Tragic Origins

Post by **Orlion** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:58 pm

Seems like a lot of superheros/villains are spawned by tragic circumstances, as this article points out . Can we think of others? I'm thinking Silver Surfer.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:14 pm

Deadman comes to mind. I mean, he had to die to get his powers.....

Post by **Orlion** » Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:38 pm

As did Ghost Rider and Spawn, I believe. Did Deadman also have to make a satanic pact?

Post by **dANdeLION** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:22 am

Ghost Rider didn't die to get his powers. His mentor was dying, so Johnny made a pact with Satan, who for some obscure reason, gave him powers to do good with.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:20 am

Wow. Didn't know they'd ever decided on a Wolverine origin. Don't care what it is, just interesting that they picked something.

Iron Fist needs mentioning. Father takes wife and 9 yo Danny to the Himalayas, with business partner, to find the lost city of K'ul-Lun. Business partner cuts the climbing rope of dad, who plummets to death in the icy cliffs. He did it to have mom all to himself. Mom drives business partner off with rocks, and she and Danny continue on. At the bridge to the fabled city, they are set upon by a pack of wolves. Mother shoves Danny across the bridge, and turns to slow the wolves down so he'll have time to cross as they tear her up. Danny studies really really, hoping to learn the fighting skills that will let him return to Earth in ten years (when access is once again possible), and kill the business partner.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:00 pm

I just figured out who had the suckiest origin, ever. Angus Thermopyle. The Marvel equivalent was Deathlok.

Post by **sgt.null** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:10 am

Daredevil - fathered killed, and then Matt ends up blind. his girlfriend ends up a junkie who is murdered. his other gf ends up dead, murdered. of course ELektra 'got better.'

Post by **dANdeLION** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:10 pm

You're not quite right, null. Matt was blinded before his dad was killed. Matt never knew his mother. Matt also had another gf (Heather Glenn) who hanged herself. Both Karen Page and Elektra Nachios were killed by Bullseye, who has also tried to kill DD's other gf, the Black Widow.

Post by **DukkhaWaynhim** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:50 pm

super-powered soap operas, anyone?

[The original Spiderwoman is my favorite]

dw

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:18 pm

Matt met his mother, now a nun, in the Born Again storyline.

Post by **dANdeLION** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 7:28 pm

Fist and Faith wrote:Matt met his mother, now a nun, in the Born Again storyline.

I know, but in the context of his origin, he hadn't met her yet. And sure, he didn't have a gf yet, either, but nu(mbsku)ll brought that up.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:11 pm

Ah. I gotcha.

Post by **Fist and Faith** » Tue Aug 30, 2011 9:49 pm

Still, Born Again is freakin' awesome!

Post by **dANdeLION** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:02 am

Absolutely! Frank Miller writing with David Mazzucchelli drawing (who I liked better than Klaus Jansen) is a killer combination!

Post by **Orlion** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 12:27 am

Man, Daredevil had it rough... granted, not Angus rough, but definitely enough to tell Batman to quit whining

Post by **sgt.null** » Wed Aug 31, 2011 6:14 am

dAN - sorry about the mismatching of Hornhead's blinding. at least Matt killed Bullseye, but I'm sure he'll be back at some point.

as too tragic origins. Superman - sole survivor of Krypton. excluding Kandor, Argo City, Krypto, Dev-Em, Beppo, Supergirl, and of course the Phontom Zone criminals.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_Zone#Pre-Crisis

did i miss any?

Post by **___** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 11:40 pm

I'm sure you would have got it right if you took time to read an issue of DD.

Post by **Vraith** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 12:29 am

Ultimate tragic origin.
Our hero is born, and on that day...
nothing happens.
His early childhood is marred by the fact that.....
nothing happens.
As he progresses towards puberty, his mother and father constantly...treat each other, and him, with love, respect, and, suddenly....
never divorce or die. [nothing else happens]
He falls in love for the first time and she...
lives, likes him just fine [though later they grow apart and decide to be "just friends," but unfortunately...
they are and remain good friends. [nothing else happens]
At the same time, his mother is obsessed with being a good wife, mother, and having a fulfilling career, which leads to...
success [nothing else happens]
Meanwhile, his father is completely distracted by his commitments to wife, child, work resulting in...
a happy, stable life. [something terrible...fails to even come close, let alone happen]
At the same time, however, the boy discovers a large book, mysterious in appearance, hidden away on the coffee table. Reading it, he discovers the long concealed truth of his ancestors; generation upon generation drenched in blood-
y noses, bruised knees, and miraculous powers of
common sense,
coupled with supreme knowledge of the arcane discipline and mystery of...
normalcy.
Fully utilizing his destined powers, he dies at an average age, with the usual number of mourners.
Dead, and doomed to contemplate forever the horrible
nothing
that had, and continued to, happen, he weeps as silently, invisibly, ineffectually as
nothing happening until one day...

Post by **sgt.null** » Fri Sep 09, 2011 6:59 am

Mr Fixit wrote:I'm sure you would have got it right if you took time to read an issue of DD.

i get insulted by a guy who spent the 70's wearing purple pants, eating canned beans and calling his teammates "bird nose" and "sword girl."

Post by **Holsety** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 11:53 pm

Guts, from Berserk, is born from the corpse of a dead woman and adopted by a camp-follower (read: prostitute) during an era of warfare. He starts fighting with the mercenaries who raised him eventually, but the prostitute, whose name I believe is Chacha, who raised him dies and the mercenary "husband" blames Guts for it - given the auspicious nature of Guts' birth, he is seen as something of a jynx by Gambino - so their bond is never quite the same. Eventually the "husband", Gambino, sells Guts into prostitution without telling Guts. Guts kills the guy who rapes him in the next battle. Eventually Gambino, who's been injured in battle and is only one-legged, tries to kill Guts but Guts manages to defend himself without much effort and kills Gambino. The mercenaries assume the worst and try to kill Guts, Guts has to throw himself off a cliff and barely survives, getting in a fight with a wolf pack on the way.

He eventually ends up among another band of mercenaries, and lives his years with survival at the expense of the lives of others his only goal.

(Actually they might have been husband and wife all along and not prostitute, I can't remember. Doesn't seem like anyone was keeping track of them.)

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Tragic Origins

Tragic Origins