Superheroes?

[ccffan01]

I was thinking about this in school(heheh). Are the Z fighters super heroes. They do save the world in stuff but I cant deciede.

[Watagashi]

No, I don't think so. Superheroes go out daily to fight criminals and, every now and then, psycho people that want to destroy the world. These people just do that once every year or so. Great Saiyaman is considered a supehero, but none of the others exactly are.

[Jowy Blight]

No, I don't think so. Superheros fight criminals every day, but each major villian of DBZ comes by over a series of years. Well, maybe the Great Saiyaman can be called a superhero.......

[KingKoopa]

Don't know about the comics, but there are plenty of Superheroes who barely show up in TV series. Just because they're not there every day doesn't mean they're not super or not heroes.

[RogueMartian]

No, the z fighters aren't superheroes for several reasons.
Superheroes, at least none that I know of, work to earn their powers(batman doesn't count, he doesn't have any special powers). They get them by birth, they get them by gift or they get them by accident. And their strengths never change. The z fighters have gone through several changes and train constantly to become stronger.

Another reason is that superheroes daily fight criminals and make it their mission to save people. With the exception of saiyaman, who appears pretty late in the series, the z fighers don't do this. They fight one villain once in a while, the rest of the time they fight in tournaments or are just training. They tend to leave the problems of the human populace alone.

Superheroes also do not have any closure to any of their stories. They have their history and their present day story, but it is always left open to be continued forever. How many times can superman deal with lex luthor, or batman with the joker? I don't see cell coming back to terrorize the earth again. That saga ended.

There's probably a couple more reasons, but that's all I can think of now.

[KingKoopa]

Those reasons don't say they're not Superheroes. They say that they're not exactly like some other Superheroes.

[ccffan01]

Wow I thought the results weregonna go the other way. I geuss when you guys give such strong arguments a guy can change his mind.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Yes, I think they are. They may work only on a larger scale (protecting alien threats) but they're still doing it to protect the planet. They have powers, and most of the saiyans have at least some inborn power, to which they develop kung-fu style later on. The Fantastic Four are actually similar. They don't catch criminals, they battle space beings.

In the end, super = more powerful than the ordinary human being and hero = doing something heroic.

DBZ fighters fit this category.

[Mysterious Saturn]

Out of curiosity would say, Sailor Moon be considered a Super hero by those standards? She fights practically all the time, and though her and all the other senshi defeat some enemies, it is always left open for another enemy to come and pose a threat to the world. She received her powers as a gift, though I guess you could say she was born with them.

So would Sailor Moon be considered a "Super hero"?

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Yes. The Sailor Senshi even refer to themselves as superheroes from time to time.

[RogueMartian]

"Those reasons don't say they're not Superheroes. They say that they're not exactly like some other Superheroes."

I get my definition from the majority of superheroes that I've seen in cartoons. Which I thought is how you define things. I could be wrong.

"They may work only on a larger scale (protecting alien threats) but they're still doing it to protect the planet. They have powers, and most of the saiyans have at least some inborn power"

Okay, if you take away the occasional planetary threat that superman fights you would still have a hero. Superman would still use his powers to fight crime as does batman and other superheroes. I know only a little bit about the fantastic four, but I gather that if you removed the planetary threat they also would use their powers to help everyday people. If it wasn't for the planetary threats or people coming after them, Goku and the others would only work out and fight in tournaments. They don't feel any obligation to use their powers to stop ordinary criminals. Saiyman is a superhero, but Gohan only gets the alter ego because he became involved in the normal human society. If he was still studying at home he wouldn't go out and save burning buildings.

The saiyans do have some inborn power, but its nothing compared to the powers they obtain by training. Gohan had some natural abilities, but he had to train before he was actually of any real use to anyone. The only other hero like this is Batman, but again, he doesn't have any real powers.

[Kesh]

Training really has nothing to do with it. Many superheroes gained their powers by *trying* to get them (Doctor Strange, for one), and virtually all superheroes try to improve them (ie. the X-Men's Danger Room).

I'll admit, the Z Fighters don't seem to do much to help the common man until a super-villain shows up. Gohan started to change that, but the whole Buu mess interrupted.

I'd say they are superheroes in that they use super powers to defend the people of earth from super villains. They're not your average 'go out and stop people from stealing old ladies' purses' heroes, but when worldwide threats show up, they step forward.

[RogueMartian]

You make a good point, but I'm not sure I agree with you about the x-men. Their powers don't get stronger through their training. Wolverine doesn't heal faster, cyclops doesn't get stronger beams coming from his eyes, they work on their normal muscles, working on their speed and strength. Batman is like that as well. These characters are superheroes more because of formula than because of anything else. They use their abilities to help humanity and they have evil nemeses. I admit to having only knowledge of cartoons, I don't know much about comics, but I just don't think of the Z fighters as superheroes. At least not in what I think is the traditional sense for the reasons I stated before. They have powers, no denying that, but many cartoon characters have powers, especially in anime, it doesn't mean that they're superheroes.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Forget about how they got their powers or how they develop them--the fact of the matter is that they are more powerful than the normal human being.

I compare them to the Avengers, or the Fantastic Four. The FF and Avengers don't go looking for two-bit hoods and mafia bosses--they fight space threats and other beings that threaten the world. Same goes for the Z fighters. The only thing that stands the Z fighters apart is that they have an asian sensibility about them.

That's pretty much it, IMO. Asian superheroes.

[SSJ_Gogeta]

Of course they are.

They are super & are heroes.

'Nuff said ppl!

[ccffan01]

Originally posted by SSJ_Gogeta
Of course they are.

They are super & are heroes.

'Nuff said ppl!

That is also a very good point.

[MeatWad]

I think that the Z fighters are Super Heros. I mean,they try and beat the living crap outta Majin Buu and other villians in the show,and so do my parents (Which just started watching DBZ yesterday)

[Momijii]

Well in the sense that they have powers they are super hero wise...but in another way their not.