History Comicbook / LukeCageHeroForHire

* ThematicRoguesGallery: At a glance, it seems like a lot of Luke's villains are themed around either cold-blooded animals ([[SnakesAreSinister Diamondback, Cottonmouth]], [[FishPeople Mr. Fish]], [[PiranhaProblem Piranha Jones]], [[CreepyCockroach Cockroach Hamilton]], etc.) or weapons ([[BladeOnAStick Spear]], [[DeadlyDisc Discus]], [[BladeEnthusiast Stiletto]], [[EpicFlail Gideon Mace]], etc.)

* ConvenientlyAbandonedBuilding: Iron Fist's first encounter with Luke has him punch Luke out of the building they're in, across the road and into the one across the street, which immediately collapses. Fortunately, the narration assures us it was abandoned and condemned.

%%* BackFromTheDead: Diamondback.

* FrameUp: One of Luke and Danny's early jobs is working guard detail at a museum display of Egyptian antiques. While they're there, the entire exhibit is stolen. It turns out it's the Living Monolith, who'd used them as patsys while he concocted his own scheme.
%%%%* HeelFaceTurn: Shades, the [[LegacyCharacter original]] Chemistro, and arguably Cage himself.

* DisneyVillainDeath: Many issues of Luke Cage: Hero For Hire and Luke Cage: Power Man ended with the villains falling from great heights. Mr. Fish, Steeplejack, and Lionmane all met their end this way. It *almost* happened to Gideon Mace too.

* FrameUpJob: One of Luke and Danny's early jobs is working guard detail at a museum display of Egyptian antiques. While they're there, the entire exhibit is stolen. It turns out it's the Living Monolith, who'd used them as patsys while he concocted his own scheme.

* InMediasRes: The final story before it became ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' begins with Luke randomnly storming Nightwing Investigations and attacking Colleen Wing. It turns out he's being blackmailed into doing so.

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: [[CoolShades Shades]], [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Comanche]], [[DeadlyDisc Discus]], and [[BladeEnthusiast Stiletto]]. The former two were usually ThoseBadGuys, with the latter two as BashBrothers. Eventually, all four of them were recruited into Nightshade's Flashmob and played this trope straight.

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: [[CoolShades Shades]], [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Comanche]], [[DeadlyDisc Discus]], and [[KnifeNut Stiletto]]. The former two were usually ThoseBadGuys, with the latter two as BashBrothers. Eventually, all four of them were recruited into Nightshade's Flashmob and played this trope straight.

* ThematicRoguesGallery: At a glance, it seems like a lot of Luke's villains are themed around either cold-blooded animals ([[SnakesAreSinister Diamondback, Cottonmouth]], [[FishPeople Mr. Fish]], [[PiranhaProblem Piranha Jones]], [[CreepyCockroach Cockroach Hamilton]], etc.) or weapons ([[BladeOnAStick Spear]], [[DeadlyDisc Discus]], [[KnifeNut Stiletto]], [[EpicFlail Gideon Mace]], etc.)

%%%%* ColonelBadass: Gideon Mace.

'''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire''', (aka Power Man) is a Creator/MarvelComics series debuting June, 1972. Originally created as part of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] {{blaxploitation}} craze. the series was created by writers Archie Goodwin and Roy Thomas, along with artists John Romita, Sr. and George Tuska.

The title was known as ''"Hero for Hire''" for 16 issues (June, 1972-December, 1973), then as ''"Power Man''" for issues #17-49 (February, 1974-February, 1978). In issue #50, Luke was teamed up with [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]. The series continued as ''"Power Man and Iron Fist''" for issues #50-125 (April, 1978- September, 1986).

%%%%* BackFromTheDead: Diamondback.

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: [[CoolShades Shades]], [[TheStraightAndArrowPath Comanche]], [[DeadlyDisc Discus]], and [[KnifeNut Stiletto]]. The former two were usually ThoseTwoBadGuys, with the latter two as BashBrothers. Eventually, all four of them were recruited into Nightshade's Flashmob and played this trope straight.

See [[ComicBook/LukeCage here]] for more info on Iron Fist in General.

* CatchPhrase: "Sweet Christmas!"

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LukeCageOrigin_2891.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:250: Sweet Christmas!]]

'''Luke Cage''', (aka Power Man) is a Creator/MarvelComics superhero, originally created as part of the [[TheSeventies 1970s]] {{blaxploitation}} craze. He first appeared in ''"Hero for Hire''" #1 (June, 1972), created by writers Archie Goodwin and Roy Thomas, along with artists John Romita, Sr. and George Tuska.

Luke's original name was Carl Lucas, and he grew up on the streets of Harlem. Convicted of a crime he didn't commit, he was offered a chance at parole if he'd participate in a prison experiment on cell regeneration. The experiment was sabotaged by a prison guard with a grudge against Lucas, granting him {{super strength}} and {{nigh invulnerability}}. Traumatised by the experiment, Lucas lashed out at the guard, then, fearing that his lash-out would see him losing parole, made a break for it. Returning to New York, he was inspired to become a 'hero for hire', helping out anyone who could pay his price, and adopted the pseudonym "Luke Cage".

He originally had his own solo title, known as ''"Hero for Hire''" for 16 issues (June, 1972-December, 1973), then as ''"Power Man''" for issues #17-49 (February, 1974-February, 1978). In issue #50, Luke was teamed up with [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]. The series continued as ''"Power Man and Iron Fist''" for issues #50-125 (April, 1978- September, 1986). With its cancellation, Luke was left with no regular series for a few years. He returned to stardom with ''"Cage''" vol. 1, which ran for 20 issues (April, 1992-November, 1993). ''"Cage''" vol. 2 was a 5-issue miniseries (March-September, 2002) by Brian Azzarello. In 2005, Luke joined the ComicBook/NewAvengers and has been a regular ever since. In this period Luke married ComicBook/{{Alias}} star ComicBook/JessicaJones. They have a daughter, Danielle. After ComicBook/DarkReign Luke became the man in charge of the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} up through the end of the series.

The character made his live action debut in ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' played by Creator/MikeColter, and got his own Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse / {{Creator/Netflix}} original series show, ''Series/LukeCage2016'', in 2016.

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
* ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' (1972)
* ''Luke Cage, Power Man'' (1974)
* ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (1978)
* ''Cage'' Vol. 1 (1992)
* ''Heroes for Hire'' (1997)
* ''Cage'' Vol. 2 (2002)
* ''Luke Cage Noir'' (2009)
* ''New Avengers: Luke Cage'' (2010)
* ''Mighty Avengers'' (2013)
* ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (2016)
* ''ComicBook/Cage2016'' (2016)
* ''Luke Cage'' (2017-2018)

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
* ''Anime/MarvelDiskWarsTheAvengers''

[[AC:LiveActionTV (As part of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse)]]
* ''Series/JessicaJones2015''
* ''Series/LukeCage2016''
* ''Series/TheDefenders2017''

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''Videogame/MarvelContestOfChampions''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance''
* ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder''
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelPuzzleQuest''

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow''
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes''
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}''
----
!!Comics featuring Luke Cage provide examples of:

* TenMinuteRetirement: When Bendis' New Avengers run ended, he quit to take care of his family. Now he's back as the leader of the new roster of the Mighty Avengers.
* ArchEnemy: Gideon Mace; he was Luke's most recurring foe, and a huge threat in all of his appearances. On a thematic level, he could also be the AngryWhiteMan to the AngryBlackMan that Luke was regarded as, being a dishonorably discharged Vietnam veteran who was obsessed with striking back at society and "the man" for its perceived mistreatment, betrayal, and abandonment of him and others like him.

* BaldBlackLeaderGuy: As the leader of the Thunderbolts and New Avengers.
* BashBrothers: Cage and Iron Fist are perhaps one of the greatest superhero duos in comic history.
* {{Blaxploitation}}: The character was initially created as an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the genre, much like how Shang-Chi and Iron Fist took advantage of the Kung-Fu genre. He has since evolved considerably, with much of the character's modernization being owed to writer Brian Michael Bendis.
* BoisterousBruiser: Rarely does he miss the chance to trash talk and punctuate them between punching.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d3RqCUvK3g "Now look at MODOK. Now back to me. Now back to Sugar Man. Now back to me."]]
* BrainsAndBrawn: When he works with Iron Fist, he's technically the brawn, while Danny is the brains, though with the spin that Danny is often a clueless FishOutOfWater compared to Luke, the New York native.
* CainAndAbel: Cage and his brother Coldfire often come to blows.
* CatchPhrase: SWEET CHRISTMAS!
** Usually shortened to simply "Christmas!" He also threw around "Sweet Sister!" a lot early on.[[note]]Fortunately for him, he does not actually have a sister, hence avoiding implications of incest.[[/note]]
* ChainedByFashion: He often wore a chain belt as part of the wrongly-convicted-past motif.
* CivvieSpandex: His old costume was mostly just chains and metal bands around a shirt and pants. Since that time, he [[NotWearingTights hasn't worn a costume at all]].

** Subverted in one issue of ''New Avengers,'' when ''Luke'' was the one who plummeted off a skyscraper. He picked himself up and went back into the building... [[RealityEnsues only to spend the rest of the issue in the elevator]] while the fight went on without him.

* {{Fanboy}}: Of Isaiah Bradley, the first African-American superhero who becomes Captain America (InUniverse, chronologically). He is among several African-American heroes, along with ComicBook/TheFalcon, Goliath (Bill Foster), ComicBook/MonicaRambeau, and Triathlon; who are gleefully surprised when Isaiah arrives as a special guest at the wedding of ComicBook/{{Storm}} and ComicBook/BlackPanther. Luke also describes Isaiah as "the first me".
* GoshDangItToHeck:
** Cage used his catchphrase "sweet Christmas!" in place of profanity because his grandmother didn't like him swearing, and by his account, she was way meaner and tougher than any of the villains he fought.
** Averted in his later incarnations.
-->''SWEET F**KING CHRISTMAS!''
** Taken UpToEleven in a later Heroes for Hire series, where Jessica has him control his language after the baby starts cussing, and this carries over to his missions with Iron Fist.
-->Cage: ''This guy is a bad Knick-Knack-Paddy-Whack''
-->Iron Fist: ''A bad what?''
* HappilyMarried: His marriage with Jessica Jones has a lot of love.
* HealingFactor: A little, but if injured, Luke is capable of recovering from mild injuries in 1/3rd the time it would take an ordinary human.

* HeroDoesPublicService: A 1980s [[DrugsAreBad anti-smoking comic]] that crossed over with ComicBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/{{Storm}} opened with Cage coaching a high school track team. He got embroiled in a plot involving organized crime and illegal sports betting when he went to investigate why his star player, Brett, suddenly wasn't doing so hot.
* HeterosexualLifePartners:
** Cage and Daniel Rand, aka Iron Fist. are literally super friends. Luke even named his daughter Danielle after him.
** He also had this sort of friendship with Spider-Man when they both were part of the ComicBook/NewAvengers.
* HonorBeforeReason: Despite being broke, without insurance, and with a baby to support, Luke flat out ''refuses'' a stipend from [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]] and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} because he was promised that the New Avengers would be totally autonomous. Jessica ''immediately'' calls him out on this.
* ImmuneToBullets: One of his powers from the prison experiment is super durability, so bullets can't hurt him.
* InsistentTerminology: He most definitely did not ever wear a tiara. It was a headband. Head. Band.
* IWasQuiteAFashionVictim: It was a JustifiedTrope in his first issue, with Luke deciding that if he was going to make money as a superhero, he had to dress in something a superhero would wear. The likes of Deadpool and Spider-Man love reminding the poor guy about it.
* JiveTurkey: Like we said, honky, he first appeared in the seventies. It gets funny when he gets a hold of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Mjolnir]] in an early ''ComicBook/WhatIf'':
-->By the gleamin' gates of funky Asgard, you suckers are gonna '''''eat hammer!'''''
* LegacyCharacter:
** Mixed Black/Hispanic teen Vic Alvarez, who took up the 'Power Man' name on the grounds Luke wasn't using it anymore.
** Luke himself took the name from the villainous Power Man (Erik Josten, now better known as Atlas from the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}).
** Jessica Jones also goes by "Power Woman" when she isn't Jewel, Knightress, or [[IHaveManyNames whatever the hell else she goes by]].
* LikesOlderWomen: A gag in ''New Avengers'' was that he and Ann-Marie Hoag of ComicBook/DamageControl once had a fling.
* LogicalWeakness: Having super-tough skin makes dealing with internal injuries difficult, to say the least; it's near impossible to perform surgery. He has a good HealingFactor though, so that helps. He's also susceptible to knockout or sleeping gas.
* TheMaidenNameDebate: Spoofed in one issue of ''New Avengers'', where Luke tries to convince Jessica to use "Power Woman" as her superhero name.
-->'''Luke''': You married me. Take the name.
-->'''Jessica''': But I'm my own person.
-->'''Luke''': Who's married to me.
* MalignedMixedMarriage: When the new Power Man shows up and is initially antagonistic towards Luke, he suggests that Luke's less of a black man for having married a white woman. [[BerserkButton Punching ensues.]]
* MuggingTheMonster: An almost literal example as many a thug made the mistake of trying to jump Cage only to realize too late who he was when their knife/bullets bounced off his skin.

* NighInvulnerability: Luke Cage's skin is as hard as metal and his muscle and bone tissues are considerably denser than the tissues of an ordinary human, granting him much greater resistance to physical injury than an ordinary human. He can withstand conventional handgun fire and cannot be cut by any blade forged of conventional material. He can withstand up to one-ton impacts or blasts of 150 pounds of TNT without serious injury, and is highly resistant to extreme temperatures and electrical shocks. He has withstood impacts from superhumans a good deal stronger than him, destructive energy attacks including electricity, and falls from great heights such as ninety story high skyscrapers.
* OnlySaneMan:
** When the rest of the group either gets a little TOO gung-ho or a little TOO pacifist, he lets his opinion be known that they're acting a mite off.
** An exception during ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' when Cage willingly took the bait and engaged both Avengers teams in a battle with their Skrull copycats in the Savage Land (while New York was concurrently burning to the ground) because his doppleganger annoyed him. This was despite the fact that Ares, God of War, was very clear that this was a very deliberate waste of time and that they should retreat immediately.
* PapaWolf: You put his child in danger, good luck surviving the rest of the day.

* ReachingTowardsTheAudience: Frequently has his fist in the foreground of official art.
* ReallyGetsAround: Apparently has had relations with Tigra, Jessica Drew and She-Hulk. Ms Marvel once joked that he was known as a habitual "cape chaser." Luke Cage however disagrees when Jessica brings this up. He points out that if he was a lawyer or a professional, it's more than likely that most of his relationships would be with fellow professionals, and that he doesn't have any particular thing for superheroines aside from it being the women he meets in his line of work most often.

* RunningGag:
** In the 70s and 80s he had a coffee machine that always got his order wrong. Clearly a god was behind it because the one time it got his order right, Cage slipped and dropped his drink. When it was getting replaced the new one got smashed very quickly.
** Subtler one -- can you name any of his old comics that didn't feature him [[ShirtlessScene losing his shirt?]] Or his office getting trashed? Likewise, can you name any of the ''newer'' comics he's in that don't feature him losing his shit?
** In the first issue of the 2017 book he notes that he goes through so many of his iconic yellow t shirts that he's had start buying them in bulk.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%% As quoted from the trope page, "Please note, however, that being two different races isn't enough for this trope. There must be some kind of contrast in their personalities for it to work."
* SaltAndPepper: He had a partnership with fellow superhero, [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] who is a white martial arts master raised in an other-dimensional city while he himself is a wrongfully accused black ex-con living in Times Square and freelancing as a superhero) in the Marvel comic ''Heroes for Hire''. Both were created in the '70s during the Kung-Fu and {{Blaxploitation}} crazes. Best OddCouple ever.
* ScaryBlackMan: Even though he grew up in the 'hood and had the mentality, he's fully aware of the stereotypes and acknowledges them. He's sort of made it his thing.
* SecretPublicIdentity: He didn't use "Power Man" for long and even when he did, it was more of a nickname since everyone knew him as Luke Cage and he obviously did not wear a mask. While Luke Cage was not his birth name, it did eventually become his legal name.
* SpotlightStealingSquad:
** Cage bears the brunt of being one of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis' big favorites, thus he often takes a lot of roles in Bendis' series such as ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'' and ''Daredevil'' where he eventually snagged a major supporting character slot. Also, he's a ''Mighty Avengers'' leader.
** Despite Iron Fist being his lifemate, Spider-Man and Cage often come across as this in New Avengers.
* SuperStrength: After undergoing the original experiment, Cage's strength was increased to superhuman levels. Over the years, DependingOnTheWriter, his strength level was anywhere between Spider-Man's or the Hulk's.
* SymbolSwearing: Sweet *$!%&# Christmas, this has been a modern staple of Luke's.
* TerrorHero: The reason he wears a plain yellow top instead of armour is because seeing an AngryBlackMan get hit by a shotgun blast and completely NoSell it is highly intimidating.

* WeHelpTheHelpless: There's a reason he called himself a Hero For Hire. At one point while working with ComicBook/TheDefenders, he complains that all the time he spends with them takes away from good-paying jobs. This prompts Nighthawk, alias [[CrimefightingWithCash multimillionaire Kyle Richmond]], to pull out his checkbook and put Luke on retainer so he gets paid for helping the Defenders.
* WorkingWithTheEx: The 2016 run has Luke and Danny's relationship as this when they're pulled together for one last job when their former receptionist gets out of prison with a job for them.

* ''ComicBook/Cage2016''

* ''Power Man'' (1974)

* HeroDoesPublicService: A 2000s [[DrugsAreBad anti-smoking miniseries]] that crossed over with ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' and ''Franchise/XMen'' opened with Cage coaching a high school track team. He got embroiled in a plot involving organized crime and illegal casinos when he went to investigate why his star player, Brett, suddenly wasn't doing so hot.

** You should never... ever... ''ever'' try to run out on a debt to Luke. As referenced in the quote under the {{Badbutt}} entry: Dr. Doom tried and it resulted in Luke bum rushing the Baxter Building to 'borrow' a Fantasticar (clobbering the Thing in the process), flying himself all the way to Latveria and beating Doom like a rented mule. This was all over a matter of $200. ''"Where's my money, Honey?"'' has on occasion been referred to as the four scariest words in the Marvel Universe.