History Main / FadSuper

* Adam X the X-Treme, from the early '90s ([[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks of course]]), whose mutant superpower is that he can make blood combust. Vanished from comics post-''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' and was apparently regarded as OldShame for some time after that, making only a handful of appearances over the next two decades mostly played for laughs. Couldn't be completely forgotten, however, due to being heavily implied to be [[TangledFamilyTree the third Summers brother]]. About a decade later the third Summers brother was revealed to be somebody else, but in 2021 the original foreshadowing paid off as Adam was [[PlotArchaeology finally]] revealed to be ''another'' Summers brother.

* ComicBook/{{Storm}} was another X-Woman who got in on the punk trend - she sported a mohawk for a while in the 1980s. WordOfGod is that the mohawk initially began as a joke, with someone suggesting that they should make Storm look like Creator/MrT from ''Series/TheATeam'', which was a wildly popular show at the time.

* U.S. Archer[[note]]Originally U.S. 1, created as a tie-in to the slot-racing truck toys sold under that name[[/note]] was a Marvel character based on the truckin' citizens band radio craze of the 1970s... created in 1983. Way to jump on that trend. Razorback was an earlier CB-based character.
* Night Thrasher, leader of the ComicBook/NewWarriors in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, was created in 1990 with a skateboard grafted onto his urbanized Franchise/{{Batman}} schtick to cash in on the rising popularity of the sport in the late '80s. As the '90s progressed, he used the board less and less and settled on a CoolBike early in the series, plus as any connection between skateboards and the term "thrashing" largely passed out of public awareness, his name [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast just sounds]] awfully nasty (although Spider-Man [[LampshadeHanging made a joke]] along this line in ''1991''.) He fought with twin escrima sticks so the thrashing part of his name could easily be applied to his weapons of choice. An odd detail that downplayed it with time was that he's a ''black'' skateboarder. For the uninitiated - his heyday was long before there were any big-name black skaters. (The aforementioned Rocket Racer, Marvel's ''other'' black skateboarding superhero, has much the same problem at first.) The concept has become less baffling now, since there is a subculture of African-American skateboarders. Music/LupeFiasco's hit "Kick, Push" is credited with helping popularize the sport among black teenagers. While a superhero on a skateboard is fodder for jokes, in-universe ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' noted how versatile Night Thrasher's skateboard actually was: "I called it stupid? It's a shield, a weapon and transport. Maybe ''I'' should get one..."
* The 2020 line-up of the cancelled New Warriors comic got swamped with backlash because of this trope. Screentime is rather transparently an attempt to create an internet age superhero with...[[TotallyRadical mixed results]]. His mind was permanently connected to the internet by way of exposure to "[[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum experimental internet gas]]" and his bio helpfully informs readers that he can "instantly Google any fact". But he got off easy compared to his teammates Snowflake and Safespace, who were Marvel's impossibly ill-conceived attempt at incorporating just about every "woke" hot button issue of the day into two heroes that ultimately just communicated the company's ignorance in neon lights.

* Minor ComicBook/GreenArrow villain the Pinball Wizard was likely inspired by the resurgence of interest in pinball following UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983 (the character debuted in 1984).

** The [[Franchise/XMen mutant]] [[Music/MonsterMagnet Negasonic Teenage Warhead]], or Why It's A Bad Idea To Let A Goth Teen Name Herself. (She's less goth, but still a moody teen, in ''Film/{{Deadpool 2016}}''.)

* Image Comic's ''ComicBook/{{Youngblood}}'' was, of course a team of [[NinetiesAntiHero Nineties Anti Heroes]]. But, a gimmick in the original run is that they were also celebrities, living in [[HorribleHollywood Herowood]] and having to deal with paparazzi and tabloid journalism, which was then transitioning from pseudoscience and conspiracy theories to lurid celebritymania. [[ComicBook/Youngblood2017 The 2017 series]] continues the trend with superheroes using an Über-like cellphone app called "Help", with which they get paid for their "services" and even subjected to the star-grading model.

** Also in 1971, Creator/ToeiCompany and Creator/ShotaroIshinomori created ''Franchise/KamenRider'' -- the life-sized action created a HenshinHero craze that would surpass the ratings of ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', with [[Series/KamenRider the first one]] and [[Series/KamenRiderV3 its sequel]] having the highest Tokusatsu ratings in the 70s and making the previous Kyodai Hero fad short-lived, and forcing still-running shows like ''Spectreman'' to have a mid-season {{Retool}}.[[note]]Ironically, ''Silver Kamen'', the only life-sized hero in the previous era, [[{{Retool}} would change to a Kyodai Hero]][[/note]] The first to follow were PeriodPiece ''Series/KaiketsuLionMaru'' and another Toei show based on a hit mangaka's creation,[[note]]Takao Saito, of ''Manga/Golgo13'' fame[[/note]] ''Manga/ChoujinBarom1''. ''Series/UltramanAce'', the latest entry in the Ultra series, would emphasize Rider-like transformations and [[ArchEnemy a single villain]] [[EliteMooks and his own monsters]][[note]][[AssimilationBackfire None of those changes lasted for the entire season]][[/note]] -- Ishinomori's new Henshin Hero, ''[[PeriodPiece Henshin Ninja Arashi]]'', [[DuelingWorks would get big rating fights against]] ''Ace'': Ishinomori's other 1972 creation, ''Series/{{Kikaider}}'', would be much more successful than ''Arashi'', and Tsuburaya tried a more conventional HenshinHero with ''[[AllYourPowersCombined Triple Fighter]]''. ''[[BroadcastLive Totsugeki! Human]]'' would try to do this genre in a recorded live stage. ''Thunder Mask'', of [[Creator/OsamuTezuka Mushi Productions]], tried to straddle the line between the two superhero booms with [[{{Sizeshifter}} a size-changing hero]],[[note]]This was done as early as Ultraseven, though[[/note]] and japanese superhero veteran Yasunori Kawauchi (of ''[[Series/MoonlightMask Gekko Kamen]]'' fame) would be called for a new superhero trilogy with ''Series/WarriorOfLoveRainbowman'', ''[[GenieInABottle Diamond Eye]]'' and ''[[SelfPlagiarism Condorman]]''. Even unrelated dramas like ''Suki! Suki! Majo-sensei'' were [[HalfwayPlotSwitch influenced to turn into superhero shows]].

*** ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'' would have a new car motif, but this time the japanese trend was about Recreational Vehicles.

*** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'''s card motif was a response to the popularity of ''Anime/YuGiOh''.

** In the early 1980s, around the time of ''Series/UltramanEighty'' there was a high delinquency problem in Japan. The show's main antagonistic force, Negative Energy was a stand-in for the pain these kids were going through and showing the best way to fix it was with love and compassion, with the titular Ultra's day job being an Elementary school teacher. However the teacher-student interaction subplot was dropped roughly 20 episodes into the show.

** Late 70s's science-fiction films and shows [[note]]''[[Film/ANewHope Star Wars]]'', ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'', ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' and so on[[/note]] were the latest trend: This can be seen on ''Kyodain'', ''[[TimeTravel Kyoryu Sentai Koseidon]]'', ''[[Film/MessageFromSpace Uchu kara no Message: Ginga taisen]]'', ''[[FailedPilotEpisode Silver Jaguar]]'', ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenziman'', ''[[Series/StarFleet X-Bomber]]'' or ''Series/KamenRiderSuper1''. Even the Ultra Series would follow the trend with ''[[SequelInAnotherMedium The Ultraman]]''. This would be a influence later on the [[Series/MetalHeroes Space Sheriff]] trilogy.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 For a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s]], Wonder Woman lost her powers and familiar uniform, gained a wise old Asian mentor who taught her martial arts, and had espionage adventures wearing a white jumpsuit... right around the time spy shows like ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' were popular. Most people hated this, Gloria Steinem even commenting how it was a needless depowering of the strongest female hero in comics, and it's pretty well in an AudienceAlienatingEra. Ironically, the spy concept as well as the white-jumpsuit were both used in the volume of ''ComicBook/{{Wonder Woman|2006}}'' following ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''. Judging by reviews, people liked it.

* From ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', created in 1982, Felina Furry/Alley-Kat-Abra is a martial arts teaching, vaguely feminist, New Age wizard (and light parody of ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange''), tying her to several trends of the late 70s and early 80s. Most of the rest of the Crew has fairly timeless powers, but it's still very dated in that two members are this universe's versions of Creator/BurtReynolds and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rona_Barrett Rona Barrett]].