Jul 07 2008
Cliche Superhero Characters: National Paragons (“Captain Ethnic”)
I provide advice about how to write novels, comic books and graphic novels. Most of my content applies to fiction-writing in general, but I also provide articles specifically about superhero stories.
One common superhero archetype is the national paragon, a hero designed to represent a country, ethnic group or other group of people. The most obvious example is Captain America, but the list is long. For example, Hadji from Johnny Quest exists only to charm snakes and hack computers. (Also, have I mentioned that “haji” is an ethnic slur?)
Here is a list of potential problems with using national paragons…
