History Main / MetaOrigin

* In the TabletopGame/TrinityUniverse, Novas and Psions both have the same latent genetic potential that is later activated by some outside stimulus, particularly the presence of existing Novas or Psions. In ''Aberrant'', a large number of Novas were activated by the explosion of the ''Galatea'', and in ''Trinity'', most Psions are activated by dunking in one of the psi-orders' Prometheus Chambers.

** [[spoiler: Río]], his grand-granddaughter and [[spoiler: Chihiro’s daughter and originally called Inoue]] who was kidnapped at a young age to be trained into a ROOT agent but had a rather convoluted story with the foundation. Several escape attempts, at least twice times she was LeftForDead, an infiltration into ANBU, the grueling survival training of an entire ROOT division, and getting to be [[spoiler: Danzo’s {{dragon}}]] are some of her more notable exploits. She inherited her ancestor’s knack for Water Release, stubbornness, and most of his out-of-the-box but genius thinking. Finally, [[spoiler: she got to interact with Shibuimaru, Minato, Kakashi, and Shishui at different points in her life]].

* ''WebOriginal/AcademyOfSuperheroes'' has the Magene, which gives one the ability to, essentially, break the laws of physics. The original holders in prehistory were powerful wizards, and the most powerful [[AncientAstronauts became the gods of mythology]]. In the modern day, the gene is far more diluted, resulting in superhumans. There are highly-detailed classifications detailing what kind and how powerful a particular individual's physics-violating abilities are.

* The [[Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]] anime adaptation ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'', among other liberal changes to the source material, made it so that the Powerpuff Girls, their RoguesGallery, and several [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-shot antagonists]] were created when Professor Utonium's son Ken fired a ray of Chemical Z at an iceberg in an attempt to fix the city's weather problem, which resulted in rays of white light striking the girls and several people, animals, and inanimate objects being exposed to black light, changing them all and giving them their powers.
* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'', Stands have gotten this treatment not once but ''twice'':

** However, there were still a few outliers, like Noriaki Kakyoin, who is stated to have had his Hierophant Green from birth, and Tonio Trussardi, who was confirmed by WordOfGod to have acquired his Pearl Jam through pure passion for his cooking and never encountered the Arrow at all. A second reveal in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind part five]] showed that Stands [[spoiler: originate from an alien virus that arrived on Earth from a meteorite tens of thousands of years ago. The Arrows were made of metal extracted from that meteorite, while Stand users who had never been touched by the Arrows are descended from humans infected by the virus.]]

** In ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', Matt Murdock's costume and [[IconicItem billy clubs]] are designed and built by Melvin Potter ("Gladiator"), who has also built Wilson Fisk's armor-weave suits that give him the appearance of being invulnerable. [[note]] Many of Fisk's earliest appearances strongly hinted at him having super-strength and invulnerability powers, due to him being [[{{Acrofatic}} improbably muscular for someone of his girth]].[[/note]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The "Incident"]] also provides a handy justification for Matt and Foggy [[FriendsRentControl being able to start their own law practice in New York right out of college]]: it turns out that an alien invasion can really bring down real estate prices, even in one of the world's most expensive cities. Likewise, the Incident doing a number to Hell's Kitchen is a handy way to explain how it's gentrification has been reversed and crime increased to a level reminiscent to how it was in the 70's.

* In ''Literature/WearingTheCape'', all superhumans are "breakthroughs"--individuals who's powers manifested in response to great physical stress or emotional trauma. Superhumans themselves began appearing in the aftermath of the Event (a worldwide phenomena where every living person experienced complete sensory deprivation for 3.2 seconds), but neither the Event nor the source of superhuman powers is every explained.

*** Many players prefer to ignore that explanation, especially with it being [[RetCon shoehorned in]] after several years of having no explanation for how origins really work. Plus many didn't like the implication that all origins, even TrainingFromHell, were really all due to some form of magic.

* Some of the proposals for the [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-001 SCP-001]] article of the Wiki/SCPFoundation are about what's caused the Foundation universe to have so many paranormal entities and phenomenon. Two of them also provide origins for several of the groups involved in the paranormal, including the Foundation itself.

ILoveNuclearPower, LightningCanDoAnything and similar tropes tend to be [[JustifiedTrope explained away]] by showing that the dangerous experience ''really'' just activated something latent, or brought one to the attention of an extradimensional force.

** In the [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] ''Heisei'' continuity, Film/{{Rodan}} is explicitly established as a surviving Cretaceous-era dinosaur (well, ''pterosaur...'') mutated by [[ILoveNuclearPower nuclear radiation]], just like Godzilla and Anguirus. The ''Heisei'' version of King Ghidorah is also born in the same nuclear explosion that created Godzilla (via TimeTravel), and the ''Heisei'' version of Mechagodzilla is built by the UNGCC from the remains of Ghidorah's mechanized body ([[ItMakesSenseInContext long story...]]).

* The 1990s ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' has the science of "Neogenics", which is basically the science of applying LegoGenetics to an existing life-form (why take years to grow your super-mutant to adulthood when you can zap someone who is already an adult?) in a process that involves a kind of radiation. The spider that bit Peter hadn't been zapped by generic [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]], but with a "neogenic recombinator". Neogenics goes on to be responsible for the transformations of Lizard, Scorpion, Vulture, and Morbius, mostly preserving their comic-book origins but pulling them together in a way that makes it a bit more plausible than a bunch of MillionToOneChance accidents.

** Also, in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" arc, attempts at recreating ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's SuperSerum were responsible for five other [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes (the Destroyer, the Whizzer, Miss America, the Thunderer and the Black Marvel) as well as Black Cat, and even Omega Red from the ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual parahumans]] gain their powers through a process called a "trigger event," where the individual goes through a highly traumatic experience and gains superpowers from it. The reasons for this, and for disruptions in the pattern (such as Case 53s, or inhuman parahumans, and extremely powerful parahumans such as Scion and the Endbringers) are major plot points later in the story.
** [[spoiler: All superpowers (include the SuperSerum variants created by Cauldron) come from pieces of vast extra-dimensional beings often called "passengers" or 'agents'. One of these beings is [[PhysicalGod Scion]], the first "parahuman" to come into existence; the other one giving powers to humans has been harvested by Cauldron for the power-giving shards to turn into their [[SuperSerum Super Serums]].]]

* The [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Powerpuff Girls]] anime adaptation ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'', among other liberal changes to the source material, made it so that the Powerpuff Girls, their RoguesGallery, and several [[MonsterOfTheWeek one-shot antagonists]] were created when Professor Utonium's son Ken fired a ray of Chemical Z at an iceberg in an attempt to fix the city's weather problem, which resulted in rays of white light striking the girls and several people, animals, and inanimate objects being exposed to black light, changing them all and giving them their powers.

[[folder:FanWorks]]

* The Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse revealed just why the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' universe is filled with [[EldritchAbomination arsehole]] [[EnergyBeing godlike]] [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] aliens. A race called the Manraloth tried (to cut a long story short) to foster universal peace and accidentally[[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence forcibly ascended]] the entire sentient population of the galaxy, all at once. Most died, and many of the survivors weren't ready for the experience and developed BlueAndOrangeMorality.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ultimately traces everything back to the War In Heaven between the C'tan and the Old Ones, two races with powers bordering on RealityWarping. C'tan uplifted Necrontyr into robotic Necrons to fight for them, while the Old Ones created the Eldar and Orks to counter that. Furthermore, the war led to disturbance in the Sea of Souls that would lead to Chaos forming, which in turn led to Earth shamans deciding to band together for protection, thus creating the Emperor. Add to that the implications that the Eldar have uplifted the Tau, and the War In Heaven is behind all of [=40K=]'s factions.

* ''Videogame/BatmanArkhamCity'' retcons Solomon Grundy's origin and ability to die and resurrect to [[spoiler:a Lazarus Pit in the swamp near Gotham City where his body was dumped, these Lazarus Pits are part of a big scheme by Ra's Al-Ghul]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'', both Comicbook/{{Venom}} and Carnage are genetically-engineered from samples of Spider-Man's blood, while the Rhino, the Lizard and the Vulture are all products of Comicbook/DoctorOctopus. Additionally, the Awesome Android is a ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} project created by Curt Connors, and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. trainee and protege of ComicBook/NickFury. [[UnreliableNarrator Or at least, claims to be.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'', ComicBook/TheFalcon's wings and costume are actually a suit of PoweredArmor he made with help from his teammate [[Comicbook/IronMan Tony Stark]].

** It also establishes Comicbook/DoctorDoom's PoweredArmor as something engineered from [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Makluan technology]], much like the Mandarin's [[RingOfPower rings]]. Likewise, the Grey Gargoyle is reimagined as one of the Makluan's guardians, rather than a human scientist who gave himself superpowers.

** {{Fanon}} suggests that the morphing powers tap into the grid to access the uniform and weapons, it is sort of a canon HyperspaceArsenal. The Grid doesn't necessarily supply the power to the morphers but it instead channels that power into what they need. That's why the different teams with wildly different power sources can all use the morphing grid, you just need to figure out how to channel the grid abilities. This also explains why in teamups, the power-ups and weapons are easily compatible with other teams. There are other characters within the franchise that can "Morph" without being called Rangers, such as Series/MaskedRider and (debatably) the [[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Magna Defender]].

* The superhumans in the TV version of ''Series/PainkillerJane'' were all either "[[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Neuros]]" who shared a neurological abberation, or were empowered by a Neuro.

** [[spoiler: All superpowers (include the SuperSerum variants created by Cauldron) come from pieces of vast extra-dimensional beings often called "passengers" or 'agents'. One of these beings is [[PhysicalGod Scion]], the first "parahuman" to come into existence; the other one giving powers to humans is known as [[FanNickname Eden]], and has been harvested by Cauldron for the power-giving shards to turn into their [[SuperSerum Super Serums]].]]

* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, both Banner[=/=][[Film/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]] and Emil Blonsky[=/=]the Abomination gained their powers through attempts to replicate Film/{{Captain America|The First Avenger}}'s SuperSerum. Banner thought he was researching ways to resist radiation and had no idea what his superiors were really after. Emil Blonsky's version of the serum seemed to work just fine, but when the Hulk still curb-stomped him, he got greedy and demanded that he be injected with [[spoiler:a large sample of Banner's irradiated blood, which [[GoneHorriblyRight goes horribly right]]]].

*** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Ronan the Accuser gets his enhanced strength from having the Power Stone embedded in his hammer.

*** The weapons used by the soldiers in ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' were ''also'' designed by Stark Industries. In fact, the sonic weapon seems to be the big brother of [[spoiler:the sonic paralyzer Stane uses on Tony]] at the start of the final act of ''Iron Man''.

** In ''Series/Daredevil2015'', Matt Murdock's costume and [[IconicItem billy clubs]] are designed and built by Melvin Potter ("Gladiator"), who has also built Wilson Fisk's armor-weave suits that give him the appearance of being invulnerable. [[note]] Many of Fisk's earliest appearances strongly hinted at him having super-strength and invulnerability powers, due to him being [[{{Acrofatic}} improbably muscular for someone of his girth]].[[/note]] [[Film/TheAvengers2012 The "Incident"]] also provides a handy justification for Matt and Foggy [[FriendsRentControl being able to start their own law practice in New York right out of college]]: it turns out that an alien invasion can really bring down real estate prices, even in one of the world's most expensive cities. Likewise, the Incident doing a number to Hell's Kitchen is a handy way to explain how it's gentrification has been reversed and crime increased to a level reminiscent to how it was in the 70's.

* Season 2 of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' introduced the concept of the metagene into animation, with the explanation that a small percentage of the human race possessed the genetic potential to develop superpowers in times of duress. Comicbook/{{Static}}, Neutron, and [[CaptainErsatz Captain Ersatzes]] of the four CanonForeigner {{WesternAnimation/Superfriends}} all got their powers from metagenes, as opposed to the comics, where they all had separate and wildly different origins.
** Another, minor example was Bumblebee. In the show, she was the sidekick of ComicBook/TheAtom and got her {{Sizeshifter}} powers from the same white dwarf star matter that her mentor used.

** Matt Hagen was transformed into Clayface after being trapped in Comicbook/RasAlGhul's Lazarus Pit for too long.

** In season 3, the same meteor that gave Vandal Savage his powers also mutated his genes to create the first metagene. Therefore, as he passed it down to so many children throughout time, he became the ancestor to every metahuman in the present day. Season 4 continues the trend with the reveal that [[spoiler:he founded Atlantis and was also the ancestor of the magical humans known as ''Homo magi''.]]

** However, there were still a few outliers, like Noriaki Kakyoin, who is stated to have had his Hierophant Green from birth, and Tonio Trussardi, who was confirmed by WordOfGod to have acquired his Pearl Jam through pure passion for his cooking and never encountered the Arrow at all. A second reveal in [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo part five]] showed that Stands [[spoiler: originate from an alien virus that arrived on Earth from a meteorite tens of thousands of years ago. The Arrows were made of metal extracted from that meteorite, while Stand users who had never been touched by the Arrows are descended from humans infected by the virus.]]

** In season 3, the same meteor that gave Vandal Savage his powers also mutated his genes to create the first metagene. Therefore, as he passed it down to so many children throughout time, he became the ancestor to every metahuman in the present day.

** Nitro is a mutant rather than the product of Kree experimentation like he was in the original ''ComicBook/CaptainMarVell'' comics.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' reveals corrupt Wayne Enterprises executives engaging in twisted experiments at Arkham Asylum. This leads, directly or indirectly, to the origins of several Batman rogues.

* In ''Film/GreenLantern'', Hector Hammond gets his powers after accidentally becoming infected with Parallax's DNA, unlike in the comics, where his mental abilities came from a crashed meteor.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', everything remotely powerful can be traced back to the Sage of the Six Paths. Ninjutsu? Created by the Sage’s oldest son. The powerful Uchiha and Senju clans? [[spoiler: Descendants of the Sage]]. The Tailed Beasts? [[spoiler: Was originally the Ten Tails but split by the Sage]]. Rinnegan? [[spoiler: Eyes of the Sage]]. The Uzumaki clan? Related to Senju.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', the reason for the mutant animals and people is because thousands of years prior, some aliens called the Xorda sent an ambassador to Earth to discuss things with other life forms, but the humans instead killed the ambassador and dissected it for research. The Xorda were angry about this and gene bombed the Earth, destroying any and all humans (except for a few who escaped underground). The humans effectively melted into pools of DNA that mixed with the animals and eventually evolved into the anthropomorphic animals we have today, such as Sonic.
* The ''ComicBook/CatalystPrime'' SharedUniverse kicked off with a one-shot issue "Catalyst Prime: the event" in 2017 released as part of free comic book day. The comic centers around an asteroid that's about to hit the earth and the attempt to stop it by a group of 5 astronauts (three of which are the title character in one of the 7 titles in the initial line-up). They succeed in saving the world, but chunks off the astronaut do hit the earth and give certain people powers. These people are called "enhanced" in-universe.
* The MarvelUniverse has SufficientlyAdvancedAlien AncientAstronauts called the "Celestials", who did experiments millions of years ago on proto-humanity, creating the offshoot races known as Comicbook/TheEternals and Deviants, as well as putting in the "X-gene", which causes the wide variety of super-powered mutants in the MU.
** In ''Comicbook/EarthX'', '''everything''' is a direct-or-indirect result of Celestial manipulation. The superhumans, ComicBook/TheInhumans, the Kree, the Skrulls, and even the Asgardians. To make a long story short, everybody on Earth has the potential to have superpowers (usually activated by radioactivity or the Terrigen Mists) because they are the antibodies protecting what's inside the planet: an infant Celestial ready to hatch and destroy its shell.
** In ''Marvel Knights Comicbook/SpiderMan'' #9, it was explained that, after World War II, big businessmen had feared superheroes would start interfering with politics and business, so they created most of the early supervillains, to keep them busy and make sure that ReedRichardsIsUseless. This hasn't been mentioned again since, and may have fallen into DorkAge status. Although it should be noted that the fourth issue of Daniel Way's Bullseye miniseries threw out the same concept at the same time (they were published the same month) [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike with no apparent contact between the two writers.]]
** In ComicBook/UltimateMarvel, everyone who isn't a mutant, an alien or a god has their powers derived from the SuperSoldier project or one of its offshoots. The mini-series ''ComicBook/UltimateOrigins'' elaborates on the Meta Origin and how it connects everything else; [[spoiler: it seems that the {{mutants}}, too, owe their origin to the project]].
*** It also reveals that the Super Soldier project was responsible for [[spoiler: Nick Fury's entire career. He was part of the same program that spawned Captain America, but chose to conceal evidence of his peak-human abilities and [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld increased lifespan]] so that he could have some shot at a normal life.]]
** The obscure 90s miniseries ''Conspiracy'' implied this was largely true of the 616-verse as well but everyone's forgotten about that.
** In the Golden Age flashback miniseries ''TheMarvelsProject'', it's implied that the super-soldier serum was derived from Atlantean DNA.
** ComicBook/TheNewUniverse had the "White Event", a sudden flash of energy over the entire surface of the Earth that gave one out of every 500,000 people powers. Later revealed to be [[spoiler:the first Star Brand wearer trying to rid himself of his power]]. A similar event [[spoiler:destroys Pittsburgh when the next Star Brand also becomes unsatisfied with his power]].
*** In the [[UltimateUniverse reimagined]] ''[[ComicBook/TheNewUniverse newuniversal]]'' [sic] series, the Earth enters a region of space controlled by a vast, ancient computer system that empowers several humans as heralds to help humanity adapt to the new physical laws. It's shown that this has happened before, but was interfered with by other humans each time.
** Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}}'' empowers Elizabethan-era [[CaptainErsatz Captains Ersatz]] of mainstream Marvel characters by sending [[spoiler:ComicBook/CaptainAmerica back in time during a failed execution attempt, which "signals" to the universe that it's time for superheroes to start showing up.]]
** Creator/GrantMorrison's ''ComicBook/NewXMen'' run revealed that ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was the product of a larger project dubbed Weapon Plus, which was also responsible for the creation of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and the Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} foe Nuke, among others.
** It's also since been implied in ''Comicbook/SecretAvengers'' that both Captain America and ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} owe their origins to John Steele, a Golden Age superhero who was captured and experimented upon by German scientists (one of whom was Professor Erskine, the man who would later create the [[SuperSerum Super Soldier Serum]]).
** The MarvelUniverse takes this to its limit with the little known AnthropomorphicPersonification called [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/origin.htm Origin]], the origin of ''every'' empowered individual.
** ''Comicbook/{{Infinity}}'' and the followup, ''Comicbook/{{Inhumanity}}'', reveal that numerous humans across the globe possess dormant [[ComicBook/TheInhumans Inhuman]] genes, which can activate when they are exposed to the Terrigen Mists.
** Creator/MattFraction's final arc on ''ComicBook/TheDefenders'' revealed that ''all'' superhumans are the result of manipulation from a race of beings called The Omega, who needed a fighting force of extraordinary creatures to battle a god-like entity called the Death Celestial. The Omega used a machine that helped miracles occur in order to create said superhumans, thus explaining why so many people have gained powers from {{Freak Lab Accident}}s and {{Million To One Chance}}s, rather than simply ending up dead as they would in real ife.
** Previously unconnected PowerCrystal using superhumans were connected by establishing the Lifestone Tree as a collaboration of eight [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum alien races]] to empower a group to protect them all deemed the Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy.
** ''Comicbook/JasonAaronsAvengers'' returns to the Celestial idea, revealing that millions of years ago, a diseased Celestial infected Earth's primordial waters and was subsequently buried deep underground. This infection spread across the entire planet and eventually caused the superhuman boom many years later.
* Franchise/TheDCU copied the Marvel concept when they introduced the "metagene" in the 1988 CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/{{Invasion}}!''. When someone with this gene underwent a moment of extraordinary physical stress, the gene would activate, giving them some ability that would allow them to handle it. Any character who doesn't have powers from some other, explicit source is assumed to be a "metahuman". (A similar explanation is at least {{Fanon}} with Marvel; when you get superpowers from a FreakLabAccident or magic [[ILoveNuclearPower radiation]] or [[LightningCanDoAnything electricity]] instead of the more likely horrible death, maybe it's because you were a mutant that just needed a kick-start for your powers to activate?)
** Interestingly, the reason for the extreme variance and unusual circumstances of activation is because millions of years back during humanity's infancy, the White Martian race studied humanity and performed experiments on them, changing their genetics, specially the nature of what would be the metagene. The group of renegades who did this (the Hyperclan) was imprisoned in the Still Zone as punishment. Had the White Martians not interfered with primitive humans, humanity would've evolved into a more uniformly powered race, much like Kryptonians and Daxamites did.
** The titular hero of ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}'' once recapped his origin from the 1992 CrisisCrossover "Bloodlines", and said "Even ''I'' think it's embarrassing." Said origin involved said metahumans having a specialized reaction that allowed them to survive when aliens with a taste for spinal fluid fed on them.
** It also has the "Speed Force", which links most [[SuperSpeed super-speed]] heroes (like ComicBook/TheFlash) by positing that they draw the energy needed to break physics like they do from an extradimensional power source; it's implied that the Speed Force has a will of its own and needs to "notice" you to give you its powers, and it's also implied to be a sort of Heaven/Valhalla for dead speedsters.
** Post-Flashpoint the Speed Force is what uplifted the gorillas that created Gorilla City. It's also the source of a number of other metahuman powers vaguely related to vibration, acceleration or age regression. One metahuman has invulnerability and force fields from the mutual ability of freezing atoms in place.
** As well, there's the "Godwave" from the CrisisCrossover "Genesis", which was explained as creating both [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]] and super-powered humans, but that seems to have been [[DorkAge quietly ignored]] since.
** In Creator/MilestoneComics (now part of the DCU), many supers are "Big Bang Babies" who got their powers when a massive gang fight was broken up by cops deploying tear gas that had (without the cops' knowledge) been laced with "quantum juice".
** Creator/AlanMoore's run on ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' established that all characters with plant powers ([[Franchise/{{Batman}} Poison Ivy]], [[ComicBook/TheAtom Floronic Man]], etc.) were connected to "the Green". Creator/NeilGaiman later added ComicBook/BlackOrchid, and revealed most of them were at university together. ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' parallels it by establishing that Animal Man and all animal-based characters ([[Comicbook/TeenTitans Beast Boy]], [[Comicbook/DemonKnights Horsewoman]], ComicBook/{{Vixen}} etc.) are connected to "the Red". The Comicbook/{{New 52}} keeps this.
** In the ComicBook/{{New 52}} version of ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsActionComics Action Comics]]'', John Henry Irons (ComicBook/{{Steel}}) and John Corben (Metallo) both got their PoweredArmor from the US Military's "Steel Soldier" project, which was designed by ComicBook/LexLuthor and headed by ComicBook/LoisLane's father, General Sam Lane. Further on, it's also revealed that their suits were reverse-engineered from ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}'s technology, and that Brainiac's psychic influence was the initial cause of Metallo's insanity.
** Creator/ScottSnyder's Batman run reveals that millions of years ago, a meteor struck the Earth and brought to it strange new chemicals and metals. The same meteor that would immortalize Vandal Savage. It's from these chemicals and metals that the Lazarus Pit was also created. It's also what [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane probably possibly maybe]] gave the Joker [[JokerImmunity immortality]] and he's been around far before Gotham was even an idea.
** ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'' reveals that all metahumans have their powers because of trace amounts of Nth Metal in their bodies, tying everything to ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'s origin as well as other immortal DC characters like the Immortal Man, Ra's al Ghul, Vandal Savage, and the Court of Owls. This is also the basis for the name for metahumans and the meta-gene...because the guy who coined the phrases forgot the L or something.
* The Creator/ValiantComics universe was a fairly ordinary universe with no supernatural aspects until a scientist named Phil Seleski accidentally created a "wish machine" that gave him [[RealityWarper god-like powers]]. Due to events too long to summarize, he wound up collapsing the entire universe into a black hole. He tried to restore it, but, because he was a superhero fan, he subconsciously recreated the universe as a more fantastic version of the original, complete with invading aliens, evil robots, sentient PoweredArmor and mutant-like "Harbingers".
* In the ''Creator/{{Wildstorm}}'' universe (now also part of the DCU), the main sources of powers were either [[HalfHumanHybrid alien ancestry]] (like the ComicBook/WildCATs, who were all part or full Kherubim) or the [[ComicBook/{{Gen 13}} Gen-Factor]], a SuperSerum whose results were [[SuperPowerfulGenetics inheritable]]. The Century Babies also often had mysterious abilities, but their origin is unclear.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Planetary}}'', it was revealed that all Century Babies are [[spoiler: part of the universe's immunity system, created to stop attacks from [[AlternateUniverse Alternate Earths]].]]
** The mysterious comet that passed Earth in the 1970's, which was the cause of the powers of the Seedlings, not to mention the all-powerful yet crazed [=WarGuard=].
* In ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'', metahuman powers, which come from a [[FantasyKitchenSink *huge* variety of sources]], are inborn or obtained in an equally large amount of ways; it is eventually revealed that [[spoiler:an unknown cosmic determinant appears to be responsible for whether or not humanity will have access to metahuman powers. The process is circular; ever so often, humans will start to develop/be exposed to superpowers, and then, following a short 'trial period', this determinant will select a 'chooser' from humanity to decide if this state of affairs will continue. If the chooser says no, those with powers will retain them but no new metapowered individuals will emerge and humanity will have a century or two without them. If yes, metahumans will continue to exist and increase in numbers. Tyler Marloch AKA Moonshadow was the first chooser to ever say yes.]]
* In Defiant Comics' shared universe, the powers could all be somehow traced back to "dreamtime" -- humanity's collective ID that existed on another plane of reality. All super-powered humans either learned to tap into dreamtime and wished superpowers for themselves or got powers from dreamtime's native lifeforms.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', the [[GreenRocks White Rock]] Supremium has the convenient property of ''changing the laws of physics'', and is therefore used to give characters superpowers, power Darius Dax' technology and be responsible for {{Heel Face Turn}}s, TimeTravel and so on.
* ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' links all of the powered heroes' origins to Hyperion's arrival on earth.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderManChapterOne'' retconned and fused Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus' origins.
* In [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the original]] ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' series from Mirage Studios, a chance leakage of radioactive mutagen led Splinter and the Turtles to be mutated from a random sewer rat and four turtles that had been abandoned in the sewers of New York. In the more recent [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW IDW series]], the Turtles' origin story is reworked to involve nearly every significant character in the ''TMNT'' mythos. Splinter and the Turtles start out as test subjects in a lab owned by Baxter Stockman, the mutagen is an alien substance developed by Krang, April O'Neil is an intern in the lab, and the Turtles escape into the sewers with Splinter after Shredder's Foot Clan attempts to steal them from the lab. Even Casey Jones plays an important role: after Raphael fails to escape with the others and ends up separated from his brothers on the streets of New York, Casey is the one who helps him find his way to the sewers.
* Some comics in both Marvel and DC (and possibly other publishers) have toyed with the idea that all superpowered characters really have the same power: [[RealityWarper reality warping]]. The apparent differences between them are the result of limits in how they can express that reality alteration, and why winners of the SuperpowerLottery can have different powers that would seem logically unrelated to each other.
* The Archie ''ComicBook/MegaMan'' comic ties together several alien elements and characters who were largely unrelated in [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the source material]]; Shadow Man from ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' (thought to be an alien robot in the games) is explicitly the creation of Ra Moon from ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'', who also created the Stardroids and Sunstar from ''VideoGame/MegaManV'', and all of them are opposed by a group of robots that Duo and the unnamed evil robot from ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' belong to.
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* ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen'':

* The CatalystPrime SharedUniverse kicked off with a one-shot issue "Catalyst Prime: the event" in 2017 released as part of free comic book day. The comic centers around an asteroid that's about to hit the earth and the attempt to stop it by a group of 5 astronauts (three of which are the title character in one of the 7 titles in the initial line-up). They succeed in saving the world, but chunks off the astronaut do hit the earth and give certain people powers. These people are called "enhanced" in-universe.