This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Big T: Is Superman really the first Super Hero? While likely the first to be called as such, aren't there super-powered heroic characters in most mythologies? Achilles, Hercules, Samson, Jesus — all have powers beyond that of mere mortals, just to name a few.
James Moar: I'd say Superman brought together a set of character traits — powers, crime-fighting, costume, secret identity — which most characters as superheroes following in his wake have, and most characters identified as precursors only have some of. Also, all the examples you've listed were probably seen as real people by their original audience, whereas Superman is pure fiction. (I tend to be on the cynical side about efforts to claim broad swathes of characters as superheroes)
Big T: So they might be super-powered and heroic, but they aren't superheroes. Gotcha! Thanks for clearing that up. Nice to have a wiki I can actually learn from!
John Matrix: Isn't there a better page quote? I'm biased, but Nickleback's Hero is so obviously about Angels with some find/replace to pick up those lucrative Spider-man Soundtrack $$$. I'm sure there is an actual quote somewhere from a more relevant source that could do the job better.
Ganondorfdude11: I don't think that this trope needs to be cut, because in most circles Superhero is one word, not two. Superhero should just redirect to Super Hero.
Luc: I always hate it when people cutlist an article as a duplicate of itself, because they're too dumb to realize that THE TVTROPES FILESYSTEM IS CASE INSENSITIVE! That means that Super Hero, Superhero, and for that matter, Su Perh Ero are all the same file, as far as the wiki software is concerned.
