In recent years, European and American "superheroes" have swept the big screen around the world. The hot superhero can be said to be the wealth code of the Hollywood movie market that has lasted for more than ten years. According to incomplete statistics, there are thousands of "superheroes" in the European and American comics market. Among these people, there are not only immortal players flying in the sky, but also ordinary people with technology, and even strange tree people and raccoon people. So are these heroes fairies or monsters? How can a hero become "super"? Today, Bai Yu will have a good chat with you.
First, the birth of the prefix
Laobai has a neighbor who likes to watch American TV shows on the Internet. Every time he sees someone coming, he immediately switches to the state without subtitles. Once drinking, he said to me with a big tongue: Superman was never "Superman" , but "very muchman" .
because "superhero" is derived from Latin , which means "beyond, surpass, above". Over time, the meaning of super shifted to "very much". Super first appeared as a noun in a 1908 translation of the work of Nietzsche .
explained it this way, it is simple, popular and classical.
But Lao Bai always felt something was wrong.
In the definition of "Modern English Dictionary", there are four interpretations of superheroes:
1, a person with extraordinary courage and outstanding ability, with admirable heroic deeds and noble temperament;
2, considered to have heroic qualities, do Heroic behavior, known as a model and typical person;
3, male protagonist in stories, movies, dramas;
4, in classical mythology: Possessing strength and conduct commensurate with gods, can be praised as a god's existence , or demigods.
Judging from this English "Xinhua Dictionary", the early "superheroes" did not emphasize identity and origin, and more focused on the heroic feats of achievement, rather than any admirable great things. Can be called a "superhero".
In other words, the "super" in "superhero" refers not to the "ability" of the hero itself beyond ordinary people, but to the "super" event of achievement. This also explains Hawkeye and Black Widow Neither superpower nor "money power" can actually have a place in the Avengers. The "Budapest" event they mentioned is the extraordinary event in which they achieved the name of "superhero". If
follows the noun Explain that in the early 1980s, when we were not very rich, the various heroes, Ultraman, Saint Seiya, Demon Altar Fighter, and even Sailor Moon mentioned in Comic Weekly and cartoons can actually always be called "" very muchman".
Second, the first generation of superheroes
After understanding the meaning of the word "superhero", you can trace the origin and origin of superheroes.
In 1903, the British female writer Baroness Osiz (Baroness Emmuska Orczy)'s historical adventure novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel", has become recognized as the first "superhero", his Chinese name is "Red Flower Man" . This work was first put on the play After the stage, it was brought to the big screen in 1941. The image of Count Passy dressed as a red flower man quickly spread, making the concept of a superhero metaphor with a mask hidden identity deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs 's comic adaptation of the "Tarzan" novel, the term "superhero" is explicitly used to refer to this strong and flexible jungle king with British aristocratic blood. "Noble savagery. Once the "man" came out, the superhero had an added layer of double identity.
By 1919, there was a hero wearing a black mask and a black cloak uniform, "Zorro" appeared in secular fiction, and he liked to use the tip of a sword The cool appearance of the crossed "Z" character,It's an identity-enhancing label.
Since then, the standard configuration of the "superhero" group has been designed according to this template. Dual identities, uniforms, masks, emblems, etc. are ticked.
In the United States in the 1930s, science fiction and comics industries were booming, and a group of new characters "Human Torch" and "Namo" came with supernatural abilities. They enriched the connotation of "superhero" and emphasized the "super" among them. The meaning of —— being different from or higher than the ability of ordinary heroes,
and with the emergence of Superman, completely defined the identity, symbol and super power of "Superman". Under multiple reinforcements, the first round of superhero mania was brought, with "superhero" pointing directly to fictional characters, and often to people with superhuman abilities.
passed the big data screening. In 2003, there were 3 social reports mentioning "superheroes". In 2008, it exceeded 50, and in 2014, it reached 356, most of which point directly to superheroes in film and television works. , American superhero movies have thoroughly fixed the word as exclusive.
Since then, very has followed Thank you without looking back, and super has followed hero.
3. Heroes must be immortal
So, how do cartoonists create superheroes?
Danny Fingeroth, who worked for Marvel's Spider-Man editorial team, once worked in his 2004 book "Consulting the Recliner" From the perspective of a comic book writer and editor, the book "The Superhero" gives many of the characteristics that a superhero story needs to have in his mind.
First of all, there is a place for heroes to be useful - superheroes can use their abilities in such a world to act as a hero;
A villain that must exist - as a superhero competitor, he also needs to have the ability to convince himself.
An ultimate goal Superheroes must protect what they deem valuable, and the rules of judgment are based on the superhero's character and worldview setting;
A principle - Superheroes must represent The needs of the values at that time, etc.
superheroes must be special enough, and super special, and high-level hero stories that must be achieved in a way that adds value and leaps.
Superheroes, even if they don't have superpowers, must have qualities that ordinary people can't have. For example, " Batman " is just a rich man, but his significance is far greater than the heroic characteristics in daily life. The core difference between heroes and superheroes is "whether ordinary or immortal".
That is to say, when defining a superhero, it means that he must first be eternal and immortal. In the story, they will not die, even if they are killed, they will be resurrected, and even if they grow old, they will have inheritance.
They don't fear or back down, they can revolutionize themselves either way.
Zorro will not die, there will be a new generation of Zorro who will be his successor.
Captain America won't die, he just slept for 70 years, Bucky fell off the cliff and then appeared as the Winter Soldier, and will become the third Captain America.
Batman will not die, Wolverine will not die, and Iron Man who snapped his fingers will not die,
Batman, Laura, Tie Xin, the daughters of these heroes will become their new generation.
In the world of superheroes, as long as the creators haven't decided to wipe out the characters completely, then as long as the story needs them, they will come back sooner or later - just like demigods and gods, even if one day the hero's body disappears, it will inevitably come back. Immortal in another way. European and American Superhero Awards
