There’s something fascinating about The Green Hornet’s modus operandi, posing as a mob boss while secretly protecting the city as a hero, regardless of his bad publicity. There’s something to be said for a hero who keeps fighting their fight, even though the world hates and fears them. Spider-Man never lets public opinion stop him from spinning a web, any size, while catching crooks as though they were…
Ummm… something?
I’ll think of it eventually. Back on topic, Booster Gold was never more impressive than when he had to maintain the facade of being a fatuous jerk while secretly protecting the entire timeline, and don’t even get me STARTED on the history of the X-Men. You don’t even have to be a costumed hero to have these problems, as Mal Reynolds and his crew demonstrate, leading to today’s suspicious query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) always prefers Batman as the ‘urban legend’ hero, but nobody ever wants to follow through because Batman in the JLA is too much fun, asking: Who’s the best at being the Hero With Bad Publicity?
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Bruce Banner, the (original) Hulk.
Killed by Hawkeye because he breathed funny.
And now he must let the world think that he IS dead, until he can find a way to control the raging spirit that dwells within him, Thaddeus Ross, Jennifer Walters, Amadeus Cho, Doc Samson, Skaar, Hiro-Kala, the Abomniation, the Leader…
Although I’ve been in a burnt-out slump of “I can’t stand them” for about 5 years or so, I have to go with the X-Men. In spite of (and sometimes BECAUSE of) all the anti-mutant hatred, they still work hard to save the world from all they can.
And then, of course, there are some Star Wars Imperials who weren’t just “evil Empire” flunkies. While it was mostly explored in what is now “Legends”, there were some great characters who were good people that just happened to strongly believe in the Empire and tried to change it from within to be what they believed it should be rather than what it actually was or how it was perceived to the galaxy at large. For example, Gilad Pellaeon truly believed in the Empire he served and tried very hard to serve it with honor while also doing what he believed was right. He made some mistakes and did a few questionable and underhanded things, but for the most part he was a very honorable man who even aided the New Republic and other non-Imperials when he thought it was the right thing to do.
There are several good choices, but I’ll go with Spider-Man. His public image is usually terrible, not by choice, but he makes the best out of it.
Lord Havelock Vetinari from the Discworld novels. He’s frequently called a tyrant, and he takes it as a compliment. He pulls people’s strings, sets people against each other, creates draconian laws and finds the loopholes in these laws when convenient, and the city he rules is safer and more thriving than it’s been in generations specifically because of his machinations.