Yesterday, I mentioned originality to be the key to great characters. But I've been rethinking that thought. I mentioned that Susan Richards in the Fantastic Four was an original character. But her powers, (invisible powers) really aren't so original. Isn't H.G. Wells the writer who created the first invisible person? Susan Richards is called, "The Invisible Woman." H.G. Wells wrote THE INVISIBLE MAN first. So its not so original, then, to have an "Invisible Woman."
Even Reed Richards, himself, has powers that are not original. His stretching powers were first possessed by DC's character Plastic Man, and I believe a second character called Elastic Man, as well.
Let's take a look at literature. Shall we visit TWILIGHT? You've got vampires and werewolves. Now, how original is that? In Harry Potter, sorcerers and magicians are not so original, but maybe the concept of the school setting is, yet, maybe not. That concept was done in The X-Men comic. Yes, it was a school for youths with special powers that was the setting for the X-Men. These were kids who were born with their powers, unlike the typical superhero who acquired them somehow.
Like Spider-man who was bitten by a radioactive spider, or Captain America who was injected with a special serum, or Superman, who came from another planet and attained his superpowers from the rays of our yellow sun, or Green Lantern who gets his powers from a special ring, etc...
No, in the X-Men, they were born with their powers, (original idea) and then recruited by a professor to his boarding school, where he not only educated them, but trained them in the use of their individual powers. Sounds to me like that's where J.K. Rowling got her idea.
Batman is original, no doubt. A man whose parents are murdered, and then he trains himself to be a crime fighter. With no special powers other than his own commitment, he becomes a superhero. But the characters who copied that blueprint are countless.
Maybe originality is not key. Maybe it's more about the writing, the plot, and the details surrounding the character. Or maybe it's all about timing and plain luck.
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