Every superhero has an origin story that sometimes involves a lot of (physical) pain. Is the pain worth the super powers you get on the other side?
Ookla the Mok: Super Powers (Lyrics Video)
Lyrics video for the song Super Powers by the band Ookla the Mok.Made by @ltgtutoNerd Responsibly
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Not on the list:
“Seeing your parents murdered in front of you.”
The radioactive spider is NOT the origin story. The origin story is the death of Uncle Ben, which takes survivor’s guilt one twist of the knife further.
As the list implies, this is a physical pain origin story, not an emotional pain origin story.
Yeah, I didn’t get that implication; for me psychological pain is much more affecting in a story, and it really can’t be separated from what makes the best origin stories work. With that, I went for the Spider-man origin, because it’s so iconic and memorable.
Also, I’m not sure how physically painful being rocketed into space by your parents is — it’s mostly the pain of abandonment and loss. And the pain of government experimentation is, to a large extent, psychological — that of being betrayed by authority.
I voted “toxic waste” because it’s the closest thing to the vat of chemicals that Jack Napier fell into in Batman ’89. That’s the first superhuman origin that I remember really being affected by.
I went with Rocketed into the cold vastness of space by your parents. 1. I would be in Space! 2. Cool Cosmic Space are always the best way to go for super powers!
I had to go with government laboratory experiment because it is the closest to my actual origin story (experimental chemotherapy as a toddler), and closest to my favorite original creation’s origin story (abducted by rogue former military agency and unwillingly turned into a techno-organic cyborg super-soldier, but the brainwashing/control chip malfunctioned). And then, of course, there are a few characters I really enjoy with some variation of that origin, and not just in comics.
Have to go with the parents of the year origin myself. Nothing like being abandoned right off the bat into the great unknown for some angst.