what's the difference between a hero and a superhero?

[zero zero nine]

I didn't really know where to put this thread, but anyway, here it is:

What is that little thing that separates the super from the not? I mean, Batman's just a man, but they call him a superhero. The X-Men have super powers, but they're just called heroes.

What's the diff?

[Nightflower]

A snazzy costume with a fixed theme or gimmick.

Edit: Hmm, I didn't see your X-men thing. I thought people (outside the comic subculture, I suppose. :rolleyes: ) group the Xmen into the superhero category as well.

[Watagashi]

Like Nightflower said, they have the costume and fixed theme. Plus, they hide their identities and bash a bunch of psychotic people out to destroy/rule the world. Heroes just save people and stop crimes, but don't have any of that extra stuff.

[RogueMartian]

I always thought it had something to do with the character's identity. If you hide your identity you are a superhero and if you don't you're just a hero. Maybe its the mystery angle that adds the "super".

[optimal321]

Well, anybody can be a hero. I probably shouldn't say "anybody", because it takes a great deal of integrity and morals to usually be considered a hero.

Example: A lot of people see their parent's as heros. And most of the time there's a big difference between Mom and Batman :D . So, hero plus already shown gimmick equals Superhero.

Also, it probably had something to do w/ the era in which the phrase was coined. The mid 1900s were full of advertisements like that :p .

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

A hero is anybody! A hero is you! :D

Oh, and Batman is far from "just a man." He's got to be a mutant. I know of no man who can create gadgets like Batman. He's too smart to be a normal human.

[Howard]

"Superhero" was a term invented by the writers and publishers of comic books. At one point, Marvel and DC wanted to be the exclusive copyright holders of this term, but it has since been forced into the public domain by constant usage.
As to the difference between heroes and superheroes, my personal answer would be that a superhero is more of a colorful fantasy figure, someone who is "larger than life".

[Barb Gordon]

Wow, I am really glad someone asked this question. It's been bugging me for like a week now wondering what exactly was the difference between a hero and a superhero. I figured that the only thing with a superhero was that they had super-powers, but then, that didn't exactly fit for Batman's profile. Glad some people knew what the deal was though! And I always called the X-men superhero's, and not hero's, I had the same assumption as Nightflower.

Barb^-^

[CadaverousEyes]

My take on it is that superheroes save the world/universe on a weekly basis (JLA/Avengers/X-Men) while heroes mostly limit themselves to street level crimes and/or a single city. (Batman/Spider-Man/Daredevil)

[Momijii]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nightflower
[B]A snazzy costume with a fixed theme or gimmick.

Of course the costume,the attitude,intergrity for justice of the citizens,fighting crime and being mysterious.

[Nightflower]

Originally posted by CadaverousEyes
My take on it is that superheroes save the world/universe on a weekly basis (JLA/Avengers/X-Men) while heroes mostly limit themselves to street level crimes and/or a single city. (Batman/Spider-Man/Daredevil)

But according to zero zero nine, the X-men are only heroes and Batman is a superhero :P

[Failure]

How bout anyone with a comic book, movie, or tv show about them gets to be a superhero? Everyone else just heroes.

[zero zero nine]

I told you I was uneducated on the subject! :p

[CadaverousEyes]

Simple: "they" are wrong.