Batman vs. the Joker; Spiderman vs. Doctor Octopus; Wolverine vs. Magneto; Superman vs. Lex Luthor... the list goes on. The Greatest Heroes and the Ultimate Villains in the superpowered Universe continue to amaze and entertain us. When we look beneath their powers, behind their masks, and in their secret lairs we begin to realize, there is potential for any one of us to become a hero... or a villain.
See, the secret formula for the superhuman lies in tragedy or catastrophe and how a person reacts to it. Beyond the spider powers, high tech gadgets, mutations, and what-have-you, the real power of a hero or villain lies in the scars they bear. Often, the most "powerful" heroes are the supermen and superwomen that fight a dark struggle inside and come out victorious, while the most notorious villains are the ones driven beyond their boundaries and controlled by the darkness. Let's take a look at some examples...
Heroes:
Many people would argue that Spiderman became a superhero when he was bitten by a radioactive spider... I don't think so. I think he gained powers at the time of the fateful bite, but it was not until he saw his Uncle Ben dying from the bullet of a mugger that he became a hero. Peter Parker made a choice at that crisis point. He could have let the guilt drive him mad and sent him into seclusion, or worse, on a superhuman crime binge killing the man responsible for Uncle Ben's death and following a dark path. Instead, Mr. Parker embraced the last piece of advice his late uncle left him: "With great power comes great responsibility" (which is strangely reminiscent of the Biblical saying "To whom much has been given, much will be expected"). He chose the path of the hero: to stand up for others in distress, hoping that he could spare others from the injustice he and his family suffered at the hands of a criminal. At points in his supercareer, the pressure nearly destroyed (and did destroy) many of his friendships and relationships, as well as turned his life into a living Hell. However, soon after tossing his Spider suit into a trashcan, he realized that being a hero and living for others was the only way to protect the ones he loves, inspire the community, and fulfill a purpose in life. Despite the hardships he faced as an individual, he follows the hero's path and stands up for the ones who cannot defend themselves.
Batman follows the same essential story line as the webhead. After the traumatic experience of seeing his own family gunned down, he vowed to live the life of a tech-enhanced supervigilante, cleaning the streets of Gotham of criminal trash. However, to uphold justice and to prevent himself from becoming the same criminal prey he hunts, Bruce Wayne has one rule: never kill. After such a traumatic experience (as a child, no less!), Bruce could have become a twisted psychopath, but the upstanding morals instilled by his father, in addition to the excellent example his father set, led Bruce Wayne to become the Batman. Now adhering to a strict moral code, he fights corruption and crime while striking fear into the hearts of Gotham's ne'er-do-wells.
Wolverine, the most famous of X-men, doesn't even recognize his own trauma for a good portion of his life. Tortured by a past he can't remember, Logan often walked a very thin line between heroism and villainy. However, despite his rough exterior, his care for others led him to become a hero, if not a somewhat rebellious one.
The examples are endless! Tony Stark's time as a POW in Vietnam (or the Middle East in the movie) led him to become the high-tech superhero Iron Man who initially fights against the very war machine that he created. Superman's loneliness as the orphan son of an entire planet still allowed him to become Earth's Man of Steel with a good upbringing and solid moral compass of a caring Midwestern couple. Even the gamma-irradiated Incredible Hulk wants to do the right thing with his rage and fights the forces of evil on a regular basis.... I'm sure nearly every hero has his(or her) tragedy... but so do most villains.
Villains:
In some versions of the Joker's dubious origin stories, he was an engineer who had a really bad day. Seeking to be a stand-up comic and failing miserably, he is in a struggling marriage with a a woman he loves dearly. Seeking to support his wife, he gets involved with the Mafia in a heist to rob the company he works for. He has a change of heart last minute, but as insurance, the Mafia took his wife hostage. In an accident, he falls into a chemical vat and the heist is blown. His wife is murdered, and he emerges from the chemical bath pale white, with red lips, and green hair... oh, and he's completely insane. Where his arch-nemesis Batman used tragedy to find the courage to protect a city, the Joker becomes a psychopathic maniac with no qualms about killing innocents, or even his own henchmen... even if he can be hilarious at times.
Doctor Otto Octavius also let tragedy push him down the dark path of villainy. In an experiment gone wrong, he lost his wife and had metal arms fused to his back. With a broken will, he cannot fight the control of evil and is soon one of Spiderman's greatest foes. His tragedy weakened his resolve, instead of strengthening him into a hero like Spiderman.
Again, the examples are numerous, Magneto's time in a WWII internment camp left him with a bitter hatred of humankind; now instead of seeking peace, he wants to do what was almost done to his own people: exterminate any human without mutant powers. Lex Luthor, a social outcast at one time, now uses his money and power to manipulate and control the type of people that once made him feel alone. Two-Face let a disfiguring accident split his personality and left him vengeful and insane.
The choice:
Each of the villains have this in common: in tragedy, they focused on themselves. Their motives for revenge or their reasons for insanity are centered on what they lost or what happened to them. This focus on self leads them on their dangerous paths, and the result is often quite ironic. Their thirst for revenge, power, or whatever they seek has turned them into the same thing that led them down the villain's path in the first place. What was done to them, they now do to others.
The heroes, though, are quite different. Their crises have led to protect and serve others. The focus is not on themselves, but rather on the defenseless and the innocent. "I don't want others to suffer the injustice that I've experienced" is the thought you can almost hear every hero think. Rather than pity themselves, they take action to rectify the wrong that exists in the world (though some go about it the wrong way... but people still cheer those antiheroes; i.e. The Punisher).
Looking at these extreme situations that grow some into heroes and deteriorate others into villains, us "normies" (normal people) can still relate. Every day we are faced with trials and tribulations of different kinds. Some are minor, like getting cut off on the freeway or dealing with a bad customer or employee; Some are sizable, like getting dumped or losing your job; Some are epic, like losing a loved one or living through a life-changing accident. In each case, though, we have the same choice that every hero and every villain has faced. We can choose to be selfish, dwell on our sorrow, and let the darkness grow until it controls us; OR we can take our eyes off of ourselves and drive change in the world. When we seek recompense for others' infringement of our rights, we often infringe on the rights of others and end up doing much more harm than good. Even if we get the "satisfaction" of vengeance, the bitterness often remains. However, if we take what has happened to us, think about it and realize that it sucks to have it happen to us, we often want to keep others from feeling the same. It is then that we start living a life that's considerate of others, a life that makes a difference in the lives of other people; and really, if the world is made up of other people, we make a difference in the world.
It is our choices that define us, what we do today leads to who we are tomorrow... and even beyond. As the tagline the award-winning Gladiator says: "What we do in life echoes in eternity." Today, you can choose to be a hero, or you can let yourself become a villain.
Note: The origin stories may not be completely accurate, but they are to the best of my recollection... For accuracy, read the books or go check Wikipedia... Also, the art is copyright of it's respective owners.
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