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Ex-Heroes

Ex-Heroes is a novel published by Permuted Press. It combines superheroes, post-apocalypse, and zombie novel written by Peter Clines. A series of superheroes appear during the 21st century, each possessing a variety of superpowers and abilities. They make a brief splash, curing all sorts of ills in the Los Angeles area (amongst other places).

I'm pretty sure you already know who I am. As for everyone else... I don't think there are enough people left to make a secret identity worth the effort.

Unfortunately, they don't get to enjoy their success long before the entire world is struck by a Zombie Apocalypse of epic proportions. Now, a year later, they have to defend their tiny enclave of human survivors from a seemingly endless horde of undead monsters.

A sequel, Ex-Patriots was released in 2011. It follows the continuing adventures of the original heroes and adds a second group of survivors seemingly saved by the military.

Tropes used in Ex-Heroes include:

Ex-Heroes

  • The Apunkalypse: The street gang called the Seventeens more or less conquers Los Angeles after the Zombie Apocalypse.
  • The Atoner: Regenerator.
  • Badass Bookworm: Stealth, Cerberus.
  • Badass Normal: Stealth
  • Big Bad: Pee-Zee.
  • Bi the Way: Stealth.
  • The Cape (trope): The Mighty Dragon, known more commonly as St George by the time of the main events of the book.
  • The Cowl: Stealth.
  • Death by Sex: Cairex dies due to getting a blow job from zombie Jessica Alba. No one is sure how to react when told about this.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Stealth gets a mild example of this.
  • Genki Girl: Banzai. Before she's killed and turned into a zombie.
  • The Hero: St George but several others.
  • Hot Scientist: Cerberus. Stealth also qualifies.
  • Kick the Dog: The heroes have a game about killing zombiefied celebrities for points. These include Alex Trebek, Angelina Jolie, Grace Park, and many others.
    • Pee Zee's most disgusting moment is undoubtedly when he reveals he's been using Banzai's zombie corpse for sex.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Stealth seems to explicitly invoke this, which is odd considering her backstory of not being taken seriously because of how pretty she was.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Seemingly averted. The zombies in the Ex-Heroes universe are direct homages to the George Romero universe. Later, of course, they show they are shown to be products of a disastrous attempt at reanimation.
  • The Reveal: The reason for the Zombie Apocalypse.
  • Shout-Out: Subtler ones than most.
    • Stealth seems to be an homage to Batman.
    • St George has elements of Superman.
    • Gorgon has elements of Doctor Midnight and the Question.
    • Cerberus seems to be a War Machine and Tony Stark homage.
    • Zzzap has the powers of the Living Laser.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Stealth borders on this, though never quite crosses it.
  • Stealth Pun: The Dragon's real name is George, and they start calling St. George after the Zombie Apocalypse.
  • Survival Horror: A rare non-game example, it follows the tropes basically to the letter. The Mount is all about survival.
  • Stripperiffic: Averted. Stealth's form fitting outfit is sexualized by outsiders but practical. Cerberus sexualizes her decidedly Iron Man-esque costume.
  • Stuffed in A Fridge: Banzai. A lot of fans took a shine to her in the short time she's in existence.
  • The Virus: Of course.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: One of the big examples of it, humanity being on the verge of extinction.

Ex-Patriots

  • Awesome McCoolname: Captain Freedom.
  • Badass: Captain Freedom.
  • Back From the Dead: Pee Zee survived the events of the first book.
  • Big Bad: Legion.
  • The Cape (trope): Saint George, again.
  • The Cowl: Stealth, again.
  • Evil Army: Averted. The soldiers are not friendly to the heroes but are portrayed as cool professionals as opposed to psychopaths.
  • Good Versus Good: A rare example in fiction. Both the army and the Mount survivors want what's best for humanity.
    • Of course, the Project: Krypton survivors are wrong due to how completely they've been bamboozled by the villains.
  • The Good Captain: Captain Freedom.
  • Heel Face Turn: The Driver is a reformed gang member.
  • The Hero: Obviously.
  • Kick the Dog: Project: Krypton gets one when they kidnap Zzzap.
  • Mad Scientist: Dr. Emil Sorrenson. Averted. He actually doesn't have any talent at controlling zombies. He's just using Legion.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Averted. The zombies of Project: Krypton are supposed to be tamed but are actually just controlled by Legion.
  • Ship Tease: Saint George and Stealth get some more of this.
  • Shout-Out: The name of the military project is Project: Krypton.
    • Captain Freedom is an obvious one for Captain America.
    • There's also one to The Purple Man.
  • Super Soldier: The whole point of Project: Krypton.
  • Whole-Plot Reference: Averted. Day of the Dead is an obvious inspiration, though the addition of superheroes changes things drastically.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Well, duh.
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