Captain Superhero: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"I wonder what you're captain of..."''|'''Penny''', ''[[
One of the most common types of superhero names. Simply stick "Captain" in front of this hero's name, and then whatever (usually) noun the writer wants. Perhaps it's to give the impression of leadership, as though this character actually is [[The Captain]]. This character won't actually be a captain of some military group, but will often be [[The Good Captain]].
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This can even happen with villains as well, although it's rare, and often reserved for parodies.
The notoriety of this naming convention also named the tropes [[Captain Ethnic]], [[Captain Geographic]], [[Captain Patriotic]], [[Captain Obvious]] (which was named outside this wiki), [[Captain Oblivious]], [[Captain Ersatz]], and several other members of the [[
'''Again, this is not simply a captain of a ship or military group.'''
Compare [[Something Person]] and [[Captain Space, Defender of Earth!]] (which this can overlap if a character is a space hero ''and'' a superhero).
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Captain Ginyu of "The Ginyu Force" in ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' is a villainous spoof of this.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* ''[[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]'' might not be the first, but he's one of the most famous. However, he is one of the few who have actually earned the title of Captain.
** Major Glory of ''[[
* ''[[Captain Atom]]''
* The original Captain Marvel of ''[[Shazam]]'' is probably the [[Ur Example]], appearing in late 1939 -- two years before Captain America.
* [[Captain Mar-Vell]], who did indeed hold a rank equivalent to Captain in the Kree military.
* ''[[Excalibur (Comic Book)|Captain Britain]]''
* [[The Flash]] rogues Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang are villainous examples.
* Another villain is [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] foe Captain Nazi.
* The Captain from ''[[Nextwave]]''. A straight-up parody, as he kept trying to find things to put after "Captain" but kept encountering trouble with it. He went with "Captain ☠☠☠☠" at one point, but got his mouth washed out with soap by [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]].
{{quote|
* ''[[Captain Confederacy]]''. Lampshaded in the backup strip "Saks and Violet", where comic artists in the Free City of New York briefly consider a "Captain NYC" character, and one asks why superheroes never seem to rise above Captain.
* Slightly averted in the Johnson-era satire ''SuperLBJ and the G.R.E.A.T. Society'', where Goldwater is depicted as "COLONEL America". (The real Goldwater's reserve rank was Major General.)
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== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[How To Be A Superhero]]'' has several. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the section explaining why superheroes shouldn't try to fund their career with bank loans:
{{quote|
'''Bank official:''' Certainly sir. And what is your name?
'''Superhero:''' Captain Whirlwind.
'''Bank official:''' Ah, a captain. Well, we offer
'''Superhero:''' Er ... well ... I didn't ... I'm not actually a real captain. }}
* [[Captain Underpants]]
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Captain Power and
* ''[[Captain Video]]''
* Captain Terrific in an episode of ''[[Imagination Movers]]''
* ''[[Captain Nice]]''
* [[Dinosaurs]]: When Earl gained superpowers and decided to be a superhero, he wanted a superhero name more impressive than [[Show Within a Show|"Captain Action Figure"]], Baby's favorite superhero. He became "Captain Impressive".
* Captain Marvelous in ''[[
* ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]'' The names of "Weird Superheroes" often dip into this trope.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Captain Hero of ''[[
* ''[[Captain Rainbow]]'', a character from [[Nintendo]].
* Captain Qwark of ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]''
* Captain Falcon of ''[[F-Zero]]''. '''[[Super Smash Bros.|YES!]]'''
* Captain Smiley of ''[[Comic Jumper]]''.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2011-01-07 This] ''[[
{{quote|
'''Catalina:''' Yeah! That's, like, a ''sidekick's'' name! They should've called her "Captain" Something! '''''Captain Tiny Skirt!'''''
'''Susan:''' <[[Beat]]
'''Catalina:''' ...[[Defensive "What?"|What?]] I don't have a lot to go on. }}
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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* Although not a superhero, ''[[Captain N]]'' was likely named after this trope.
** And subsequently the hero of the webcomic ''[[Captain SNES]]''.
* ''[[Captain Planet and
* ''[[Captain Simian
* Captain Sunshine from ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''
* Captain Crandall from ''[[Teamo Supremo]]''.
* Captain Hindsight from ''[[
* ''[[Captain Caveman and
* [[Show Within a Show|Captain Green and the Eco-Teens]] in ''[[The Fairly
* [[Show Within a Show|Captain Implausible]] in ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]''.
* Captain California in ''[[Hero High]]''.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Captain Hammer in ''[[
* Discussed in the three-part series ''Captain Dynamic'', made by Rooster Teeth to promote ''[[City of Heroes]]'', the titular character claims that heroes often use the word Captain in their names because it gives people a sense of the military and gives them the power to marry people on a boat.
* Spoofed in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp1z8XvJ_X8| this fanmade short] where [[She-Hulk]] encounters a lame villain called "Captain Weathermaster" and claims "only heroes get to be called 'Captain'."
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Naming Conventions]]
[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
[[Category:
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