Hero 8: Batman

Nananananananana Batman! Nananananananana Batman! Batman! Yeah! So our last hero I have saved for last because he is the most complex and different we have looked at so far. Without further delay, here us our final hero, the Dark Knight and Protector of Gotham, the Batman.

Heroism and Individualism. Next.

One of the first Romantic elements of Batman is his motivation. He is a vigilante, sometimes hunted by Gotham Police. But the reason Bruce fights crime even in face of the law is because a common criminal murdered his parents when Wayne was just a boy. The emotion of avenging his parents and stopping this from happening drives him far more. This is an example of emotions over logic, a Romantic idea.

Batman also has a tune with nature. First off... He's BATman. Second, Batman is a master of using shadows and his surroundings for fighting crime. While he may not be the personification of the sea or of lightning, Batman definitely is in tune with nature.

But what is really exemplified by Batman is a certain kind of Romanticism- Gothic. Gothic literature is filled with "dark and stormy nights" like in Batman. Gothic stories also usually take place in castles or large buildings, like Bruce's home, Wayne Manor.

And the most Gothic part of Batman is his greatest weapon: fear. Gothic novels are filled with the fear of the unknown and the terror it brings. Batman is a master of stealth and the shadows. He hides and gets into your head. Then when you are confused and overflowing with pure terror because you have no idea where he is, he swoops in and finished you off. This tactic of fearmongering is classic in Gothic novels like in works of Edgar Allen Poe.

There is so much more I can analyze with Batman and with all these heroes, for I have merely scratched the surface. Superheroes first came along in the Romantic Period and these elements have helped make them mainstream to this day. But those are the Romantic ideas in some of the biggest superheroes. Here is where I end unless I receive a large number of comments telling me to go on. So if you want me to look at new heroes, leave a comment.

Also, everyone knows Batman's arch-nemesis is the Joker, and now you see some of the Romantic ideas of Batman, hop on over to Craig's blog to check out the Romantic elements of the Joker.

Hero 7: He-Man

The next hero we are taking a peek at is an independent hero. He is the Defender of the Castle Secrets, the Master of the Universe, he is He-Man. He-Man also has several origin stories, so I'm using the most accepted one there is.

Prince Adam is the clumsy and cowardly Prince of Eternia. One day, he was walking and a falcon lead him to the legendary Castle Grayskull. The falcon turned into The Sorceress and revealed to him the Castle secrets and gave him the Power Sword, turning him into a near-naked crime fighting superhero of immense strength, speed, and basically whatever else he wants. But Adam is not the only one who gets a boost when he turns into He-Man. He zaps his pet cat, Cringer to turn him into the fearsome Battlecat (literally 1/2 tiger, 1/2 dragon). Together, He-Man and Battlecat tackle impossible feats to fight the evil of Skeletor. Enough backstory, analysis time!

While He-Man isn't as well developed and Romantic as the other heroes on this blog, he does possess some Romantic and Transcendental qualities.

Individualism and heroism Romanticism. Read first post on the Flash. Next.

Nature, however does play a factor in He-Man. First, the falcon showing Adam to the Castle Grayskull. This is nature showing the way to a basically perfect man as He-Man is.

Also, He-Man's Battlecat is stronger than He-Man is (being 1/2 dragon and all) showing nature over even the perfect human.

That's really about it for He-Man. Sorry he was so short, but he was made generic to sell a toy line. If you are wondering about what I meant about the singing and the YouTube and want a good laugh, click here. Next time I will be finishing up with probably the most complex character Romantically, the Dark Knight himself, the Batman.

Hero 6: Superman

Dun dun dun duuuun, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun... The next hero is the original and most famous superhero of all time, Son of Krypton and Man of Steel, Superman. Superman has many backstories, so we are going to focus on the most famous one. Born on the dying planet Krypton, Kal-El was shot in a rocket to Earth as Krypton explodes behind him (cool guys don't look at explosions). He was raised in Smallville, Kansas as Clark Kent where he developed his powers. He learned of his Kryptonian heritage, moved to Metropolis, and was hired as a reporter for the Daily Planet. As well as this job, he fought crime as the unmasked yet unrecognizable Superman. And so we don't get too confused, we are going to use Superman's powers AFTER Crisis on Infinite Earths. Why? Here's why. And we also are not using Superman Prime. Why? Because Superman Prime was when Superman went on a 679 century journey throughout the universe to learn all the secrets, came back to spend 1500 years in the middle of Super Sun to grow his powers more, and even briefly got his hands on a Green Lantern ring, basically making him a god... Yeah... Gonna go ahead and not worry about him... ANALYSIS TIME!
Individualism and heroism. Confused? Read my first post, on the Flash. Next.

One component of Romanticism embodied by Superman is to trust your instincts and emotions before logic and reasoning. Superman will often be seen saving his love, Lois Lane, or a group of kids in the midst of a massive fight, even when a logical analysis tells you to sacrifice the people and finish off the baddie (even though Superman does win in the end).

Another Romantic theme in the Man of Steel involves a story arc were Superman is pulled into a pocket dimension. In this dimension, he finds three escaped Kryptonian criminals and after apprehending them, executes them. He feels so bad about killing them, he leaves Earth and ventures through space (this is not when he becomes Superman Prime, I told you we were ignoring that). Here, we see a darker side of Romanticism. We see something popular in authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Emily Dickinson. Here we see sadness in the face of death. Superman executes criminals and is overwhelmed with sadness and emotion.

We can also see in this story nature over humanity. As a solace, Superman ventures away from society (Earth) and into nature (space). This relationship is well displayed in one of the most important Romantic novels ever, Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

Well, there's the Man of Steel, Superman. Comment with ideas for new heroes to investigate. YouTube savants will appreciate the next hero we look out, who falls outside of DC and Marvel. We are looking at the Super Singer and Master of the Universe, He-Man.

Hero 5: Wonder Woman

Our next Romantic hero is actually a Romantic heroine. Princess of the Amazons, Diana Prince is the Wonder Woman. And no, Wonder Woman is not just a female Superman like Supergirl, or how Batgirl is the female Batman. She has a much different backstory and powers than Superman.

So one of Wonder Woman's most Romantic qualities is her backstory (far different from Superman's). I talked in my post about Thor that certain characters are Romantic by classical allusions. So let's take a look at Wonder Woman's backstory and see if we may be able to spot a classical allusion or two...

Diana (the name itself is the Roman Goddess of the Hunt) was born as the Princess of the Amazons (a band of warrior women in Greek mythology) under the Queen Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons in Greek mythology). She was made out of clay and was gifted life by the Greek goddesses. She then received powers by the Greek deities (strength from Demeter, wisdom and courage from Athena, animal communication from Artemis, love and beauty from Aphrodite, fire from Hestia, and speed and flight from Hermes). Do you get the classical allusions? They are just slightly less obvious from Thor's Norse allusions.

She has certain ties to nature, she was born of clay and is the sister of fire (due to Hestia). So she can be seen as a superior being from nature like Aquaman.

One of her (in my opinion) coolest Romantic qualities is her Lasso of Truth. The Romantics believed the imagination would bring out truth. Wonder Woman is an idealized heroine, a figment of William Moulton Marston's imagination while he was writing at DC. Her lasso (part of the imaginary Wonder Woman story) literally forces the truth out of people. The imagination brings out truth.

And, oh, almost forgot. Superhero individualism and bravery. It's there just like the rest (Deadpool is debateable).

So there's Wonder Woman. A strong female character fighting for good with Romantic ideals of nature, classic allusions, and truth from imagination. Last time, Craig posted that he wanted to see a breakdown of Superman, so the Man of Steel is on the hot seat next.

Hero(ish) 4: Deadpool

Next one up is more of an anti-hero. He is the Regenerate Degenerate, the Merc With a Mouth, the one and only Deadpool. Why did I do Deadpool? Because I wasn't thinking and Deadpool is cool. And no one told me otherwise. Comment with who you want to see next, please. Well, here goes...
Romantic ideal 1: Superhero individualism high and mighty, if you don't get it yet, read my post on the Flash, NEXT!
While Wade Wilson doesn't posses many Romantic or Transcendentalist ideas (he's more modern), he does possess some, so this blog post is actually possible. First off, Deadpool is an antihero, which means he is the main character and technically the protagonist, but doesn't have heroic qualities like courage and morals. The earliest Antiheroes date back to Greek writers like Homer, but became more popular during the Romantic era. So there's something. Deadpool clearly identifies as an anti-hero, if you doubt me, check out this link, it's really good: Top 10 Reasons Deadpool is the Ultimate Anti-Hero.
He's not innocent (but he is childish), not in tune with any type of nature but his own, no real classic allusions...
But one interesting point is that Romantics and Transcendentalists tended to display common folk as the voice of reason, and those above them as wild and unreasonable. This can be shown in Deadpool's comics. Deadpool is crazy, erratic, and anything but sensible. He also is indestructible and amazingly overpowered. So we see Deadpool, the higher person as unreasonable, so we can translate it to his underlings being a voice of reason (at least compared to Deadpool).
So there you have Deadpool, a maniacal mercenary illustrating the reason of the common man as opposed to the superhero, and one of the greatest anti-heroes the world has ever seen. If you have ideas for a later subject, leave a comment. If none are left, we will jump back over to DC to take a look at Diana Prince, the Wonder Woman.
If you want to see someone similar (yet inferior-if you want to see why he's inferior, click here) to Deadpool, hop on over to Craig's blog to take a look at his article on Deathstroke.

Hero 3: Thor

Next hero up is the Norse God of Thunder, War, and Oak Trees. This is only the Son of Odin himself, the Mighty Thor. We are talking about Thor, the real Thor. I don't care what's going on at Marvel, Thor isn't a girl. The character is based off a pre established mythological character. And that character is a guy. And that's my tangent, ON TO THE ANALYSIS!
Individualism and heroism. He's a god that fights for mankind for Pete's sake (who even is Pete?), he fits the description. So, you get the picture, SKIP.
Henry David Thoreau and other Romantic/ Transcendentalist writers used allusions to the Bible and Greek mythology. Thor's entire universe is an allusion to ancient Norse mythology. He is Norse, Asgard is Norse, Odin, Loki, Freyja, Heimdall... they're all Norse. The above picture is him slaying a Nordic monster, a Frost Giant. He faces off against the Midgard Serpent several times, like in the mythology... the list goes on and on. I think we can see he's an allusion to Norse mythology.
Like Aquaman, Thor has a strong connection to nature. He is the personification of lightning, and also oak trees (it's a thing, another allusion to Norse mythology). So like Aquaman, every enemy he conquers is the triumph and superiority of nature over man (or snake, or Frost Giant, or...).
Thor's childhood doesn't show a lot of innocence like in Romanticism. He was born Prince of Asgard, God of Thunder, and soon proved himself a skilled warrior on the battlefield. His childhood wasn't plagued with misfortune, but he wasn't exactly innocent either.
Interesting tidbit I found about Thor in my research, he once uppercutted a zombie pirate captain into space. Couldn't find a decent place to put that, so here it is.
But there's Thor, a classical allusion to Norse mythology and in tune with nature. Comment which hero you want to hear about later (just don't say Batman- he's so complex, I'm saving him for last). If no one responds, tomorrow will be about everyone's favorite Merc With a Mouth, Deadpool.

Hero 2: Aquaman

The next hero under our Romantic microscope is the King of Atlantis, Orin  Atlan-Son, Aquaman. While Aquaman is usually referred to as the laughing stock of the superheroes and absolutely useless, I disagree for many reasons, but this blog is not dedicated to that. Just know that I'm right, he's cool, and you are wrong if you laugh at him. Anyyyyyywayyys....

Aquaman again displays the Romantic ideal of individualism and heroism, just like the Flash. He's the King of the Seven Seas for crying out loud. He is the savior of 70% of the Earth's surface. If that isn't heroism and idividualism, I don't know what is.

For his origins, we will be using the first backstory (before Crisis on Infinite Earths). We are using this one because his second backstory involves impregnation in a dream by an immortal wizard... Yeah. But in this first universe, Arthur Curry is the son of lighthouse operator Tom Curry in Amnesty Bay, Maine. As he grew up, he began showing superhuman strength and speed, as well as the ability to communicate with fish and breathe underwater. As his mother dies, she reveals that she was the Queen of Atlantis, and Arthur would take the throne as King.

In this origin story, we see a certain innocence in Arthur's childhood. He is more or less ignorant of his powers and his true heritage. When his mom dies, Arthur kind of crosses into adulthood and enters into a cruel world where he fights crime.

One area that Aquaman diverges from the Flash is in nature. Romanticism and Transcendentalism focus largely on nature and how nature is higher than humanity. Aquaman is in tune with nature, specifically the sea. He is basically a personification of the sea. So every criminal apprehended by Aquaman is the Romantic ideal of nature over humanity.

That's about it for Aquaman. The Ruler of the Sea is a wonderful example of nature over imperfect man. Join me next time for our next hero, the God of Thunder, Thor.