The prototypical superhero came from another world, gaining powers from his alien nature to save lives and put the smackdown on evil. But what about all those only-half-alien types? Welcome to Ten Things: Ten Half-Human Hybrids!

Whooshman-Bicarbonate Films, in conjunction with An Amateur Comics Historian and Spock of Vulcan, Presents:

TEN THINGS: TEN HALF-HUMAN HYBRIDS!

10) THE KAGESTAR

Debuting in 1976 (hence his Evel Knievel-inspired styling) Kageoh Sugata developed powers after exposure to high voltage, allowing him to merge with his own shadow and transform into a terrifying crazy-eyes superhero. Half-man, half-shadow, he fights off the wicked Dr. Satan (or possibly Dr. Saturn, reports vary on that point) and the only thing more distracting that the huge painted-on eyes on his helmet are the swirly patterns painted across the breasts of his pretty young partner, Bellestar.

9) HEX

One of the many children of immortal mutate Adam Destine, Dominic Destine and his various siblings are half-genie, on their mother’s side. “Genie” is something of a misnomer in this case, though, as Elalyth is actually the being who inspired the stories about genies in the first place, and his superhuman senses are attributed to her magical nature. (Dominic’s outlandish appearance is a costume, though, dating back to his days as a stage magician.)

8) INFERNO

When rogue Inhuman Maximus The Mad set off his Terrigen Bomb over New York City, Dante Pertuz was one of many who discovered their own hybridized Inhuman heritage. Given the ability generate plasma and even channel geothermal energies in the form of volcanic lava, Inferno has the unpleasant side-effect of not being entirely invulnerable to his own flames. Fortunately, his strange powers also allow him to regenerate from injuries, even regrowing an entire arm after losing it in battle.

7) NORTHWIND

His father was a human scientist and his mother was an humanoid bird-person from the hidden land of Feithera, giving Norda actual functional wings. Thanks to his godfather, Carter “Hawkman” Hall, he was exposed to the outside world and eventually became a charter member of Infinity, Inc., the successor team to the Justice Society of America. (His closeness with his godfather led to unintended friction with Hall’s actual biological son, Silver Scarab, also a part of the team.)

6) STEVEN UNIVERSE

While seemingly just a joyful, goofy fourteen-year-old boy, Steven is part human being and part alien gem-being. His mother, Rose Quartz, had to give up her physical form in order to manifest her son’s body, and he bears her gem where most kids have a belly-button. There’s actually quite a bit more to the story (and, in fact, every story in the world of ‘Steven Universe’), but for me to reveal it here would be spoileriffic. Long story short? Super-powers and three adoptive moms!

5) SUPERBOY

The son of Superman and Lois Lane from a previous iteration of the DC Universe, Jon Kent grew up as a normal Midwestern kid until his dad replaced the native Superman of their new reality, moved the entire town of Springfield five miles down the road and vowed never to speak of it again. With his half-Kryptonian abilities starting to emerge, Jon has been training with his dad and with Batman’s son Damian “Robin” Wayne in the hopes of learning to control his powers and/or succeed his dad as Superman.

4) GUNDALA

After being struck by a bolt from the blue, Sancaka was whisked away to Lightning Land, where he was adopted by the king, becoming half-man, half-lightning! Combining superhuman speed with electricity-throwing, he is a force to be reckoned with, though my inability to read Indonesian hampers me a bit in full comprehension. Love the mask-wings, though!

3) CHEETAH

Half-woman, half-cat, Britanny Diggers is a were-cheetah who was adopted by a magician who discovered her as a child. Raised with her adoptive sister, Britanny uses her hybrid powers to accompany her sister, Gina, a genius archeologist whose work takes her all around the world. (Their comic, ‘Gold Digger’, just passed two-hundred-fifty issues, so you know they’re doing something right!)

2) JACK OF HEARTS

Jack Hart’s mother was an alien from a planet called Contraxia, who was trying to save her homeworld’s sun, who arrived on Earth seeking assistance. Going undercover in a secret facility working with a fuel called “Zero Fluid”, she fell in love with a scientist and gave birth to Jack, who gained strange powers when exposed to the special fluid. Though Jack of Hearts has died and returned a couple of times and been revamped each time, his original costume is the only one that ever worked, even though it’s far too complex and fiddly to draw repeatedly.

1) KAMEN RIDER KIVA

One of the many Kamen Riders to pop up since the series began in 1971, Wataru Kurenai fights “Fangires”, vampiric creatures who walk among humanity (and prey on them.) The thing is, Wataru is himself half-fangire on his mother’s side, what with her being their queen and all. It’s very complicated, but what puts Kiva over the top is a one-two punch of Kivat (his sentient transformation belt buckle, who transforms Wataru by BITING HIM) and Machine Kivaa, the rare Kamen Rider vehicle that is a (really cool and well-designed) heavy bike rather than a racing machine.

This weeks’ list of Ten Half-Human Hybrids was all me, but you can always suggest a topic of your own by tweeting @MightyKingCobra and making sure you’re followin’ along for more Ten Things madness on Twitter. Or check out the full Twitter archive here! As with any set of like items, these aren’t meant to be hard and fast or absolutely complete, ’cause these guys keep showing up regardless of whether or not there’s any scientific basis for it…

Either way, the comments section is Below for just such an emergency, but, as always: Please, no wagering!

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