Hero (novel)

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Hero is a 2007 novel by Perry Moore. It deals with Thom Creed, the son of retired-in-disgrace hero Major Might and missing heroine Invisible Lass.

Major Might, also known as Hal Creed, has two strong beliefs. One is that homosexuality will directly lead to the collapse of society as we know it. The other is his grudge against superpowered heroes. Guess what two attributes define Thom?

The novel won awards.

Perry Moore and Stan Lee were in the process of making it into a TV movie pilot on Starz, but it fell into Development Hell. Some sequels were also planned, until Perry Moore's death got in the way.

Tropes used in Hero (novel) include:

• Ambiguously Brown: Golden Boy. This is actually a point of contention for him, since he grew up a ward of the state and nobody wanted to adopt him because they couldn't figure out his race. The Unfortunate Implications of his name (chosen by mentor Silver Bullet) probably aren't lost on him either.
• The Atoner: Ruth became a superhero to make up for her life of crime.
• Babies Ever After: Not explicit, but Scarlett does miss a period at the end of the book.
• Badass Normal: Major Might and the Man In Black.
• Bara: Thom likes this. Specifically hairy chests.
• Captain Ersatz: Justice couldn't be more a Superman clone if his name were Clark Kent. Not counting the evil, obviously. However, retired hero Captain Victory plays the Clark Kenting aspect of the Superman mythos completely straight. Thom's dad even lampshades it.

Hal Creed:"Can you believe that? All that stood between him and every Dr. Ice, Mr. Metal, or Nazi Ned figuring out his real identity was a pair of eyeglasses."

• • The Man In Black - Batman
  • Warrior Woman - Wonder Woman
  • The Spectrum - Green Lantern
  • Silver Bullet - The Flash
  • King of the Sea - Aquaman.
  • Uberman - Again, Superman at first glance, what with the multiple powers and his seeming perfect nature.
  • Super Soldier - A rather unflattering take on Captain America (comics).
  • The school Scarlett attended to hone her powers was an obvious reference to the X-Men.
• Chekhov's Gun: Justice is able to mind-control all the other heroes through their rings, but Thom's team placed theirs on Ruth's hand before burying her, hence why they weren't affected and were able to save the day.
• Coming Out Story: An interesting variation, as Thom is forced to do this to clear Sssnake of suspicion for the murder of King of the Sea.
• Cool Old Lady: Ruth, without a doubt.
• Dead Guy, Junior: Scarlett plans on naming her baby "Ruth" if it's a girl.
• Expy: Every single hero in the League.
• Eye Beams: Transvision Vamp has them.
• Five-Man Band: The team led by Golden Boy consists of Thom, Scarlett, Larry, and Ruth.
  • The Hero: Thom
  • The Lancer: Scarlett, although Golden Boy tends to fall into this as well.
  • The Big Guy: Golden Boy.
  • The Smart Guy: Ruth.
  • The Chick: Larry by default.
• Flying Brick: Uberman is. By the end of the book, Thom is too.
• Foe Yay: Between Goran and Thom, until it becomes just Ho Yay.
• Fragile Speedster: Golden Lad is very fast and that's all he is. He even gets tripped up at one point.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Thom manages to get his hands on a bit of Phlebotinum by being able to survive being repeatedly stabbed.
• Gory Discretion Shot: While the murders are not shown, the descriptions are very lurid. Averted when the team is targeted and Ruth is impaled on a tree branch.
• Healing Hands: Really, though, Thom can heal through any skin contact. Hands are just easiest.
• I Love Nuclear Power: Subverted. Scarlett got her powers from radiation, but it also gave her cancer.
• Kryptonite Factor: The mineral in Hall Creed's wedding ring is from Justice's home planet. Since Justice is a Superman Expy...
• The Medic: Thom serves as this during nearly all of Golden Boy's battle plans. He's not too happy with it.
• Noodle People: Sssnake's ability allows him to do this.
• Plaguemaster: Typhoid Larry, a rare heroic version of this.
• Playing with Fire: Miss Scarlett's powers.
• Power Incontinence: At the beginning of the book, Thom experiences epileptic seizures (and, often, literal incontinence) whenever he uses his powers. Apparently all that injury has to go somewhere and that somewhere is him.
• Scarlet Fever: Scarlett; it isn't clear if that's her codename or real name.
• Seers: Ruth's power.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Ruth and her black boyfriend from her younger days.
• Tsundere: Scarlett. Very, very much Type A for the majority of the book, however, the ending hints that she's become more of a Type B after Thom's Healing Hands put her cancer into remission.
• You Will Know What to Do: Thom gets this from his invisible mother in the form of her engagement ring.
  • Ruth also says this to Thom when the League is about to frame Ssnake, since only Thom would know he's innocent because they spent the night together.