Why do some superheroes succeed where others fail?

When you skim through the pantheons of both Marvel and DC, you’ll see dozens of popular characters who are practically synonymous with their parent company. Superman. Batman. Wonder Woman. Green Lantern. Flash. Spider-Man. Wolverine. Captain America. Thor. Hulk. I could keep going, but I think that just about any comic book reader acknowledges that both major comic publishers have created modern-day mythological characters as their IP bulwarks.

Some of these characters boast monthly books that have run continuously for decades (Fantastic Four) or in some cases several different titles (Superman, Spider-Man). Yet others of seemingly high importance struggle for sales high enough to justify a monthly book. Thor has been rebooted recently. Wonder Woman has had several different series. Aquaman is practically a punch line. Why do some heroes succeed where others don’t?

I think all of this comes down to the actual personality of the hero. Readers, especially comic readers (I’ll get to that), must identify with the heroes they follow. If someone can’t identify with the character on some meaningful level, there’s no way he or she will pick up a comic starring that character every month. The consumer becomes disinterested.

Let’s take a look at the heroes that work. Batman. He’s all about vengeance. And who hasn’t felt that burning need to get even? He represents our id, unfettered of its ego, as it rages against all foes. Superman. I feel like I’m from outer space. If people only knew the real me, they’d see I’m awesome. Spider-Man works just the same way. He’s classic wish fulfillment for geeks. Underneath all of my seemingly docile looks, I’m really super capable. You just don’t know what I’m capable of.

I think characters with failed titles tend to fall into categories where it’s very, very hard to identify with them. Aquaman. Well, he’s a king of an underwater kingdom. OK, interesting – but how does that relate to me? Hawkman. A reincarnated Egyptian stuck in a relationship for eternity. I’m sure many of us have felt like we were in inescapable relationships, but I don’t think we want to read about one every month! Iron Man. Really rich guy. Totally smart. Gets all the women he wants. None of these elements exactly strike a chord with the common man.

I mentioned earlier that comic book readers especially need to identify with their characters. This isn’t true in novels, movies or even short-lived mini-series. In those cases, the story itself, rather than the character, can intrigue its reader. In a monthly comic, where the primary constant is the central character, a reader must feel some sort of kinship. If the readers don’t feel any sort of connection, there’s no reason to stick around.

Watchmen, perhaps one of the most influential comics of our time, featured some of the most intriguing characters ever created. But think about the nihilistic Rorschach – could he support a monthly series? There is no doubt he was incredibly cool within the confines of Watchmen, but could I really identify with someone like that for any extent of time?

How does this relate to Champions Online? This theory of character is very important in our dialogue. A MMORPG has much fewer lines of dialogue to develop its characters than a novel or comic book. Every single word is precious; every verb, noun, adjective, adverb must create a better understanding of a character’s motivation and personality.

When hiring for our writing position, all of the applicants had to take a test. One of the questions was:
A supervillain is monologuing his triumph to his seemingly helpless superhero nemesis. Write this monologue from two perspectives. The first – the supervillain is a cold, calculating monarch of an Eastern European nation. The second – the villain is maniacal, nearly insane.

We wanted to find someone who could, in a few words, deftly communicate the difference between the insane archvillain and the arrogant one. Most applicants were readily able to demonstrate that the one was sane and the other wasn’t, but very few illuminated the underlying motivations of each.

One could simply say that an insane villain has no motivation; that’s the reason he’s insane! I think that the definition of insanity is a little different; there’s logic present, but it’s completely skewed from reality.

I think of the excellent Killing Joke, where suddenly I understood the Joker as a real person for the first time. Or even of the more recent Green Goblin issues in Ultimate Spider-Man. Brian Michael Bendis brilliantly juxtaposed the same conversation from two different points of view: Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. In one issue, you see Spider-Man trying to speak with Green Goblin, but clearly Osborn is just plain crazy. In the next issue, you see the world through Goblin’s eyes and suddenly all of his murmuring makes perfect sense.

This was the sort of magic that I was looking for in a writer, and that I found in writer John Layman. Someone who could create a sense of character that could resonate with a player through a few of lines of dialogue. Admittedly, people often dismiss NPC’s as mere mission givers and don’t pay much attention to the text. Well, I’m currently swept up by Bioware’s awesome Mass Effect. And I’ll tell you that I loathe listening to or reading dialogue, but I’m paying attention to every word in this game.

I’ll let you guys be the judge of how we do. But I wanted to give you a glimpse of how we’re approaching things in Champions Online!

Talk about this in the forums!