What Is The Difference Between A Superhero And A Vigilante?

Superheroes are on my mind. For years now I have been convincing myself in my mind that I am in fact a superhero. That, when my time comes, I will fight for justice and bash in the brains of criminals with a monkey wrench (the monkey wrench is new). But after a lengthy conversation with a friend about this exact topic we got to thinking – what exactly makes a superhero!?

I first tried to define the difference between a superhero and a vigilante. Batman for example, began life as a vigilante (clear because of his fugitive status) but due to the sheer volume of people saved, he was clearly promoted to the status of superhero – coinciding nicely with his collaboration with the police; he already had the tragic past standard to most superhero childhoods.

There were some other things I considered using as vigilante classification but clearly some of them have flaws and there are exceptions to the rule.

The dictionary definition of vigilante is thus: ‘any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime’.

Vigilantes have no super-human power. This is true of Batman and Ironman. Although Ironman is more widely acknowledged as a superhero, he does in fact begin as a vigilante: acting without the co-operation and permission of the law.

Vigilantes also often start small, beginning with muggers and such and then work up to bigger crimes and usually stepping across onto the side of the law and working with them in some form or another – this is when they begin to obtain superhero status. However, this is flawed too. Spiderman, having not been born with his powers also started small. So an exception has to be made for superheroes that acquire their powers – they need to test them out and clearly starting with something massive would be a very bad idea.

Vigilantes that are considered vigilantes throughout their career as protectors of the people are often criminal killers. Thus, they work against the law – they take the law into their own hands, essentially becoming criminals themselves in order to fight criminals. This is down to a loss of faith in the law – where the law has usually failed them at some point in the past and in this instance they believe they can do better in the name of justice – namely smashing people’s faces in.

Superheroes classification is somewhat easier.

Dictionary definition: ‘a hero, possessing extraordinary, often magical powers’.

This definition is a little oversimplified for me. Superheroes, more often than not, possess powers that are super-human: They are able to do things that no human could ever physically do. Some examples of this are Superman’s power of flight and x-ray vision and Magneto’s ability to manipulate mental with his mind.

However, this becomes complicated when Superheroes have acquired their power through the use of a magical weapon. For example, The Green Lantern’s (totally ridiculous) alien ring. He is not a super-human without it. The ring is what gives him the power – therefore the ring is super and not, as it would appear, himself. So can we consider this type of human a superhero of the same classification as someone like Superman? I think so. After all  if we allow Ironman and Batman to exist within the realms of superdom then someone who comes across a dumbass ring has to be included – provided he fits into the other categories too.

It is practically essential for a superhero to have some form of a tragic past or event. Generally they have no parents (usually murdered, or sacrificed themselves for their childs survival). There are always exceptions to this however.

There are several things that are required of both the vigilante and the superhero:

A secret identity: This is required of all crime fighters (disregarding the police of course!) in order to allow them to live their personal lives (which is usually pretty rubbish because they are always running out of dates to fight crime – or else their partners are murdered by the arch-enemy) unhindered by their extracurricular job as a crime fighter.

Lycra: Ok, so it’s not always lycra. Sometimes its rubber (like in the Michael Keaton Batman films – why is it that no one has created a Batman outfit in which he can actually turn his head yet?!). Costumes are usually worn in order to maintain a secret identity. Often using some sort of facial coverage. I find this a little implausible though – who exactly is so unrecognisable without their glasses on? and a little strip of fabric over someones eyes isn’t exactly the best either.

Nemesis/Absurdly Dressed Villain: For vigilantes, villains are rarely recurring, superheroes however have difficult villains that continuously escape justice but when defeated, another equally as strangely dressed and psychotic appears in his place – rarely two at a time.

Kryptonite or equivalent: Every superhero and vigilante has a weakness. Vigilantes are obviously human and therefore are effectively just vulnerable humans but superheroes often have a specific item or weakness that is deadly to them. Superman is the best example of this and I know there are others but I cannot think of any right now…

Secret Lair: Not always required of either but more often than not there is one. Vigilantes are less likely to have a lair (although the Bat Cave is awesome) but superheros frequently do. The Thunderbirds had an entire island. But I’m crossing territories there aren’t I because The Thunderbirds were never in a comic – therefore can they be considered superheroes?

Bit of a sideline but interesting fact for you, Thunderbird comes up in the dictionary as this: ‘(in the mythology of some North American Indians) a huge, eaglelike bird capable of producing thunder, lightning, and rain’.

I think that the general conclusion I am coming to here is that the classification of superheroes is complex. There are not really any set rules and the line between vigilante and superhero can be blurred slightly. I think my rules fit in relatively well with all the superheroes that I know of but I’m sure there are many that break them too. If you think I’m wrong then feel free to tell me why – I’d be interested to know.

During the conversation last night we naturally asked the question, ‘If you had a superpower, what would it be?’, to which I responded with the most ultimate and amazing power that could ever be conceived! It just came to me. I had always struggled to answer this question, never feeling quite satisfied with anything I could come up with but this time the perfect power hit me and it was this:

The power to turn anything I touch into anything that I can imagine.

Now I’ll just let the consequences of this power sink in a bit because it is pretty awesome and makes me really quite invincible.

Now when I say anything I really mean anything. A bit of sand, a strand of hair, a blade of grass can be converted into anything I could possibly imagine. So even if my mortal enemy held me in a chamber in which I could not touch anything, I would still be able to pull out a hair on my head or remove an item of clothing and convert it into something else. This power also allows me the ability to change my body by touching it with my finger – I can grow wings, my nose smaller (the one thing I would actually consider changing about myself!) or my boobs bigger if I so wished. It would also allow me to change my face in order to protect my identity if necessary. Items I change will automatically change back into their previous state when I have finished using them but will remain in the place they are left. My only weakness is if my hands are destroyed. Therefore my mortal enemies are constantly trying to chop my hands off. What they don’t realise though is that when my hands are chopped off, I can still use them – sort of like the hand from the Addams Family. Therefore they can touch anything around them and use it to protect the rest of me. The only way to defeat me is to completely destroy my hands…or maybe chop my head off but Id probably just touch my skin and turn it into steel or something so you’d have a hard time defeating me that way.

I do believe I just created the most invincible superhero ever!

And on that note, I’m off to bed to have wonderful dreams of my new-found superhero status – it’s better than wielding a monkey wrench but less likely to actually happen.

Ellie xxxx