The official question regards Superman; the version in the poll title even states ‘what puts the Super in Superman?’, but that’s not the actual question being asked here. The actual question is what Superman’s one true defining characteristic is – and in my view, it’s something that has little, if anything, to do with the ‘super’ part of him.

What puts the Super in Superman? For that question, it’s his powers. The whole set, not simply one specific power. (Although you’re free to ignore super-ventriloquism when considering that statement.)

What’s Superman’s truest defining characteristic? That he’s not, in fact, a ‘superman’ at all, except for those powers. In fact, an argument could be made that, in the most technical sense, he’s only barely a hero, as the term was originally understood.

From what I’ve read on the issue, in the original myths the term descends from a Hero was a semi-divine being – and by that standard, because of his powers, Superman sort of fits. (If you’re willing to waive the technicality that his powers are alien rather than divine in origin.) But, that was the only requirement for the Hero title; consider that a selfish bastard (literally in this case) like Herakles could fit it. Sure, Herakles did some things that were considered good, but just as often, he’s the only one benefitting from his actions.

And Superman, for all his pseudo-divine powers, isn’t a Hero in the mythic sense if this is the case. He doesn’t hold himself out as someone above the crowd, a raised figure who others should honor but not emulate. If he’d come to the earth fully-grown, Kal-L might have become these things. But by coming as a child, Kal-L gained something else, thanks to John and Mary Kent. (I’m working with the Golden Age Superman here; the Silver Age Kal-El simply inherited the mantle his forebearer had woven.) He gained a sense of humility, and humanity.

Superman isn’t the semi-divine Hero raised up on a pedestal to worship; he’s an Exalted Everyman; an ordinary person, albeit with extraordinary powers, who uses those powers the way other ordinary people might if they had them. Remember, when Kal-L first took up the labors of Superman, he wasn’t fighting against costumed villains as Kal-El does now. In these latter days, when it’s not uncommon to see Superman going up against practically anyone with a bad costume and an “Evil and proud of it” badge, it may be difficult to remember his origins. But those origins, as much as anything else, are what makes Superman who he is.

“Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” Kal-L fought those who harmed others, but who were, technically, just barely on the inside of the law. He sought to provide for others the truth that those in power (even so simple a power as a company manager) might seek to hide. He sought to provide justice, and a fair chance, to others – even at cost to himself; one of Superman’s first major acts was to demolish a major, if delapilated, area of Metropolis, with the intent of forcing the hand of the government – with the old, dangerous buildings gone, the inhabitants of the area would be given new homes to live in. This act was to brand Superman a public enemy for a while, a burden he willingly took on in order to provide assistance to those who it would benefit.

So, what really is Superman’s defining characteristic? If limited to the list at hand, I’d have to say it’s Clark Kent. Not “Clark Kent the disguise”, which is how some have treated it, but “Clark Kent the identity”, or “Clark Kent the man”. It’s Clark Kent’s humanity that transformed a simple ‘Hero’ into the Everyman Legend that really makes Superman who he is – without that gift, he’d be nothing.

Very good point here.

First, there’s a very interesting book called The Psychology of Superheroes, which is just what it sounds like. One of the essays in it is about what Superman would be like if he grew up in New York City. The conclusion it reaches is that he wouldn’t be Superman without being raised in Kansas by the Kents. That gives him his moral center.

Second, in Kurt Busiek’s Secret Identity, he talks about Superman as a parallel to growing up, boyhood vs. manhood and reaching our full potential. I never really ‘got’ Superman before that, but I can see it that way. If he represents the potential in each of us to be the best we can be, I think it’s the code that makes him Superman. The symbol and all the powers are part of it, but the code makes him who he is.

We’re deep into myth territory here. If you have a character who can do all the stuff Superman can do, what makes him human? What makes us give a crap about him? It’s what he chooses not to do.