"I'm making this video as a supplement to my application for the Super Academy of Young Superheroes. My power is super-strength."
—Powerkid, filming his application
In a World… where being a superhero is a legitimate career choice... well, you gotta learn the trade somewhere, and the best place for learning how to be a superhero is the Super Academy!
Super Academy started as a short film
written and directed by Ben Lifson, then became a full webseries on YouTube after a Kickstarter campaign. It's about the young superhero Power Kid as he faces down all the challenges of being a freshman at college: no friends, weird schedules, supervillain dad trying to kill you... Oh yeah, forgot to mention that part, he's secretly the son of Deathside the Conqueror, a globally feared supervillain. That could make things weird.
The complete webseries and additional videos can be viewed here.
Super Academy contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: All but outright stated; Power Kid and Chaotrix flinch when Deathside even looks at them, implying they have a reason to not want his attention.
- A Glass in the Hand: Powerkid breaks his mug when Dark Cop says he did a background check on him.
- As Himself: Blifson, played by creator Ben Lifson, is credited this way.
- Awesome by Analysis: Dark Cop almost casually figures out how Deathside blackmailed Power Kid, and, more importantly, why
- Awesome, but Impractical: Mild example in Dark Cop's outfit. Looks badass but is exhausting to attempt even moderately exerting physical activity in and doesn't offer much protection from Super Strong villains with a bone to pick.Dark Cop: [fighting for breath] GOD this thing's hard to run in!
- Badass Normal: Dark Cop has no superpowers but has a genius level intellect and is apparently trained in Aikido.
- Bland-Name Product:
- Crimson Toro is a pretty blatant one for the real-life energy drink Red Bull; "toro" is Spanish for "bull".
- During Dark Cop's "detention", the delinquents and Corona are made to pilot virtual mecha in simulator pods. Said pods are actually the classic 90's Battletech arcade machines, as is the actual simulator they participate in.
- Calling the Old Man Out:
- Power Kid attempts this upon finding Deathside waiting for him in his dorm. It doesn't work.
- Dark Cop is much more successful with his call out just before the climactic fight. It earns him a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown for his trouble.
- Cold Open: A pair of teachers are reviewing Power Kid's application and discussing what to make of his Dark Secret.
- Cool Mask: Dark Cop and Gothel both wear rather impressive eye-masks, and Power Kid gains one to "complete" his costume courtesy of Dark Cop.
- Creator Cameo:
- Ben Lifson appears as "Blifson the Clown" (as in "B. Lifson"), whose sole role is to be the victim of Dark Cop's Establishing Character Moment.
- Lifson is the voice of the guy who freaks out when Power Kid starts pulling the car.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: A Badass Normal hero takes on a super strong, inhumanly tough villain in a one-on-one fistfight, guess who wins? The hero is essentially helpless to do much except try to stay conscious as he gets his face pummeled into the ground.
- Daddy's Little Villain:
- Chaotrix's whole motivation seemss to be to obey her villainous father's orders.
- Power Kid managed to escape becoming this, which led to his banishment and thus, the plot of the film.
- Eagleland: Cousin Sam, born on July 4th, wearing an Uncle Sam outfit and wielding the ill-defined power of "tech". No indication of his flavor, though.
- Establishing Character Moment: Dark Cop is introduced by having him attack a fellow student over what turns out to be DC's own screw-up.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Deathside osscilates between this and a cruelly mocking but higher-pitched tone depending on his mood. When he gets deep, though, it's DEEP.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: In the student database, every single student is signed up for the class "Reading and Whrighting 1" [sic].
- Hollywood Hacking: When Chaotrix hacks the Super Academy's student database, all she does is let a progress bar fill up which proclaims, "HACKING IN PROGRESS". This possibly means she's a Script Kiddie, which does NOT speak well for the Academy's cyber security.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Dark Cop's contingency plan for Corona's powers getting out of control is called "Contingency Plan S01-E02". As in a common format for indicating season and episode numbers— this is in Season 01-Episode 02.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Deathside's "fight" with Dark Cop is basically a minute of him wailing on the poor lad.
- Pun: Two, from Starburst.Starburst: ...and so Mummy Man says, "I guess that WRAPS things up!"
Starburst: So I saved the day... yesterday!
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Two from Dark Cop, one serious given to Deathside, one Played for Laughs as he critiques Power Kid's "costume".
- Shaky Cam: Occurs when Power Kid begins demonstrating his Super-Strength and his cameraman freaks out.
- Stylistic Suck: Power Kid's poorly edited webcam video in the Cold Open, as well as his costume, the latter of which he acknowledges and gets mocked for incessantly.
- Super Hero School: The titular institution, Super Academy is Exactly What It Says on the Tin in a world where being a superhero is a career path.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Seemingly taught as a skill at the Academy, since it offers the course "Basics of Talking While Fighting".
