History Main / TheFirstSuperheroes

*** There is an extended flashback sequence showing the origin story of Doctor Manhattan, the nuclear physicist who gained godlike powers in 1959, becoming this reality's first public superhuman. The sequence includes his first months of Doctor Manhattan's public career as the world reacts in astonishment.

* The premise of the ''Literature/WildCards'' series of novels is to present a realistic world where superhumans and deformed mutants exist. The first stories in the first volume describe the MassSuperEmpoweringEvent: the release of an alien virus in New York City in 1946. The first half of the book details the exploits of the Doctor Tachyon, the Four Aces, and the Sleeper, the first generation of superhumans in a world not yet used to their ilk. However, even some later material also has shades of this trope. Superhumans go into hiding due to the RedScare of the TheFifties, and the origin story of the Great and Powerful Turtle in the TheSixties marks the reintroduction of the public superhero. A later volume in the series shows how the Wild Card virus affected the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, and we get this trope again, as 1940s Britain deals with superhumans for the first time.

->''"As I have learned since, I was not the first anomaly to exist... but on that day of my freedom in 1939, this world had its first confrontation with the fantastic. The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] of miracles would begin, and in the years to come, the world would know the presence of the unnatural and extraordinary as part of reality."''

Most [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] superheroes were this at some point, especially before the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover became common: the supers may appear individually at first, without them knowing about each other, and only later interact as part of a larger SharedUniverse.

** In most continuities of Franchise/TheDCU, Franchise/{{Superman}} is first introduced to the world making a dramatic save, [[HopeBringer giving the world something to hope for]] and kicking off the Age of Superheroes. (Or bringing back superheroes, if the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes are in continuity).

** [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Earth-C]], originally encountered by Superman in 1982, is an alternate Earth inhabited by [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals anthromorphic animals]], where the first heroes appeared in modern day after being given powers by meteor fragments raining down on Earth, including Captain Carrot and five other known super-animals. However, this was eventually retconned when it was revealed that the adventures of The Terrific Whatzit, an anthromorphic turtle version of the Golden Age Flash published in the 1940's, had actually taken place on Earth-C, giving it a similar [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] as the regular DC Earth.

** In ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' we get to see the Marvel Universe through the eyes of the ordinary person. The first issue is set in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]], and we get to see the emergency of superhumans in a world that has never seen their like before. A sequel called ''Marvels: Eye of the Camera'', does it again, this time detailing the beginning of [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]].

* ''ComicBook/TheTick'': In ''The Tick'' #7, Arthur shows The Tick the autobiography of The Sultan, stated to have been the world's first superhero and one of Arthur's inspirations to become a hero himself. Also shown are Ulysses Bang and Visible Man, two of the Sultan's fellow "[[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]]" heroes.

* River Tam from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' is most likely the first really powerful psychic in the Verse, since she's a unique prototype SuperSoldier who escaped from a top-secret lab. Too bad that the technology for training PsychicPowers is still very crude and involves brain surgery and other cruel and invasive experimentation resulting in madness.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': the story starts with a group of seemingly ordinary people slowly discovering that they now have superpowers after a solar eclipse, and now they must learn how to control their abilities, decide how to use it, and for some they choose to investigate how they acquired these powers in the first place. As shown later, there have been supers throughout History before. In the very last episode of the original series: [[spoiler: Claire jumps from a very high Ferris wheel to her "death" in front of reporters. However, as she has HealingPowers, her body begins to mend itself ''in front of the cameras'', basically revealing their existence to the world at large.]]

-->-- '''[[ComicBook/HumanTorch1939 The Human Torch]]''', ''Marvels'' #0

%% * ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga''

** ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}: The story takes place in an alternate universe where superheroes have existed since the late 1930s, with an actual superhuman appearing in the 1950s, altering the course of human history. While the brunt of the story takes place in the then-present 1980s, portions of it expand on the moment the superheroes first appeared:

** [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Earth-C]], originally encountered by Superman in 1982, is an alternate Earth inhabted by [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals anthromorphic animals]], protected by

* '''There's a superhero-virgin world or, if there were superheroes, they were ShroudedInMyth to the point ''nobody'' acknowledged their existence by the time the story begins.''' This is the most important point for the purposes of the trope, as while there ''is'' an overlap between this trope and SuperheroOrigin, the inverse is not always true: if, chronologically, there were in-universe acknowledged heroes before the SuperheroOrigin of this particualr story, then it's ''not'' an example of this trope.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The "Quirk" phenomenon began with a baby born in China that had the power to glow. Following this birth, other people around the world started gaining powers too. This then led to a growth in crime as people started using their new powers for personal gain, which was eventually countered by others who voluntarily began to use their powers to stop these Quirk based crimes. These early Vigilantes were the ancestors of modern Heroes, and it was their brave acts of heroism that eventually led to Heroes becoming the official law enforcement profession that it is in the modern day.

** ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}: The story takes place in an alternate universe where superheroes have existed since the late 1930s, with an actual superhuman appearing in the 1950s, altering the course of human history. While the blunt of the story takes place in the then-present 1980s, portions of it expand on the moment the superheroes first appeared:

*** There is a extended flashback sequence showing the origin story of Doctor Manhattan, the nuclear physicist that gained godlike powers in 1959, becoming this reality's first public superhuman. The sequence includes his first months of Doctor Manhattan's public career as the world reacts in astonishment.

*** In issue #64, Beast surmises that Japanese Sunfire is a mutant himself, since his mother was present at the Hiroshima bombings, and that must have affected her, thus explaining his solar radiation powers.

* Inverted in ''ComicBook/TheF1rstHero'', the first known superpowered human in this world was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr John Hinckley Jr.]], who attacked UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan and his entourage by [[ShockAndAwe shooting lightening at them from his fingers]]. What's more, [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity anyone who manifested powers from that point forward was driven insane by them]] and becomes a threat to everyone around them. In response, the [[CapeBusters Extrahuman Task Force]] is formed to deal with the threat that these people, dubbed "extrahumans", pose to the public. As a result, [[TheProtagonist Jacob Roth]] is surprised when he manifests powers and ''doesn't'' go insane, as he's the first person in history (that he knows) that's had this happen to them.

* River Tam from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' and ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' is most likely the first really powerful psychic in the Verse, since she's a unique prototype SuperSoldier who escaped from a top secret lab. Too bad that the technology for training PsychicPowers is still very crude and involves brain surgery and other cruel and invasive experimentation resulting in madness.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': the story starts with a group of seemingly ordinary people slowly discovering that they now have super powers after a solar eclipse, and now they must learn how to control their abilities, decide how to use it, and for some they choose to investigate how they acquired these powers in the first place. As shown later, there have been supers throughout History before. In the very last episode of the original series: [[spoiler: Claire jumps from a very high ferris wheel to her "death" in front of reporters. However, as she has HealingPowers, her body begins to mend itself ''in front of the cameras'', basically revealing their existence to the world at large.]]
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Its original premise was to depict Clark Kent's early life in rural Smallville as he is still growing into his powers, but is not the legendary superhero he will become. The premise is kept for the first four seasons—and he is the sole major hero to appear on screen, until other heroes begin to appear by season 5.

* Episodes "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS2E7BeginningsPartOne Beginnings Part 1]]" and "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS2E8BeginningsPartTwo Beginnings Part 2]]" of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' show the origins of benders and of the Avatar in the world of the series. Where elemental bending was once a temporary ability gifted to humans by lion turtles to protect them in the spirit wilds, Wan and Raava's battle with Vaatu not only turned Wan into the Avatar, the first and only bender able to hold all four elements (and starting the line of reincarnation), but also made the lion turtles decide to leave humanity to its own devices (since they no longer needed protecting from spirits), leaving those who still had bending abilities with them permanently to pass on to future generations.

* There's a superhero-virgin world. (Or, if there were superheroes, they were ShroudedInMyth to the point ''nobody'' acknowledged their existence by the time the story begins)
* An event takes place that affects a bunch of people.
* Said bunch of people turns into superheroes.
* (Optionally) The superheroes gather in a group.

** The first public appearance of Franchise/{{Superman}} in Franchise/TheDCU. In most continuities, Superman is first introduced to the world making a dramatic save, giving the world something to hope for and kicking off the Age of Superheroes. (Or bringing back superheroes, if the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes are in continuity).

** Creator/KurtBusiek's ''ComicBook/SupermanSecretIdentity'', where Superman is a fictional character and a boy named Clark Kent one day suddenly discovers that he has superhuman powers...
** ''ComicBook/New52'': in a way to streamline their decades-long continuity (since 1938!), in 2011 DC Comics resorted to a full ContinuityReboot of their universe—for the most part—in an attempt to reintroduce the characters as "first supers" for a new generation. For instance: Franchise/{{Superman}} heralds the dawn of superheroes, while the Franchise/{{Batman}}, the BadassNormal, is secretly already active for some time. More specific examples include:

*** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2011'': their first arc, "Origins", is situated early in the five-year timeline of "The New 52". Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash band together for the first time, though under a lot of personal friction. The same arc reimagines Cyborg (Vic Stone) as a founding member of the League in this new continuity.

*** ''ComicBook/TeenTitansNew52'': Tim Drake, a.k.a. Red Robin, assembles a group of teenager superheroes against mysterious organization K.N.O.W.H.E.R.E. [[EnforcedTrope In a case of]] OrwellianRetcon, the issues, at the time of their publication, did mention previous Titans groups, but trade paperbacks and reprints excised those references to the past in order to establish that Red Robin's group was ''the very first'' gathering of young heroes.

* ''Creator/MarvelComics''

** ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse'' (1986): When the line was created in 1986 by then editor Jim Shooter, the premise was that the world was like our own, until a strange astronomical happening called "The White Event" occurred on July 22, 1986. The White Event is a giant, blinding flash of light that irrupted somewhere on Earth and causes the origin of many of the superbeings of the setting. In ''Star Brand'' #12, it is revealed that the White Event was caused by a former wielder of the titular Starbrand, who tried to get rid of his powers by channelling them to an asteroid near Earth's surface. Some of the ''literal'' first supers that appear following the White Event are:

*** ''ComicBook/DP7'': a bunch of random people around the USA gain powers from the White Event. They will only form a group of outcasts (the titular [=DP7=]) after they are brought to the clinic (''[=DP7=] Annual'' #1).
*** The Witness, a ghost-like figure that is the soul/ghost of Nelson Kohler, who was driving around Wisconsin when the White Event's flash blinded him and he crashed into a tree. Declared braindead, his mind survived as an invisible, intangible green entity (''[=DP7=] Annual'' #1).

* ''Film/FantasticFour2005'': Scientits Reed Richard, Susan Storm, her brother astronaut Johnny Storm, pilot Ben Grimm, and financier of the expedition Victor Von Doom, get his with cosmic energy, and after they return to earth they develop special abilities. Johnny revels in the fame of being a super powered being, naming himself the Human Torch, Reed Mr. Fantastic, Susan the Invisible Woman, and Ben he names the Thing, and refers to themselves as the Fantastic Four. When Victor confronts the Fantastic Four, he names himself Dr. Doom.
* ''Film/{{Hulk}}'': After Bruce Banner gets hit with gamma radiation from the malfunctioning nano-machine that was used for experiments in [[HealingFactor super-regeneration]], he becomes a mindless "[[ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames hulk]]" whenever he becomes overly stressed. His long lost father, David Banner is partially responsible, as years before he was imprisoned for accidentally killing his wife and [[ProfessorGuineaPig for experimenting on himself]] when he was denied human subjects, he passed on whatever traits he implanted on himself to to Bruce. David later breaks into the lab and subjects himself to the same process as Bruce and becomes a creature that absorbs energy and matter.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The "Quirk" phenomenon began with a baby born in China that had the power to glow. Following this birth, other people around the world started gaining powers too. This then led to a growth in crime as people started using their new powers for personal gain, which was eventually countered by others who voluntarily began stopping these Quirk based crimes. These early Vigilantes were the ancestors of modern Heroes, and it was their brave acts of heroism that eventually led to Heroes becoming the official law enforcement profession that it is in the modern day.

** ''ComicBook/New52'': in a way to streamline their decades-long continuity (since 1938!), in 2011 DC Comics resorted to a full ContinuityReboot of their universe - for the most part -, in an attempt to reintroduce the characters as "first supers" for a new generation. For instance: Franchise/{{Superman}} heralds the dawn of superheroes, while the Franchise/{{Batman}}, the BadassNormal, is secretly already active for some time. More specific examples include:

*** ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2011'': their first arc, "Origins", is situated early in the 5-year-timeline of "The New 52". Superman, Green Lantern, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash band together for the first time, though under a lot of personal friction. The same arc reimagines Cyborg (Vic Stone) as a founding member of the League in this new continuity.

[[folder:Films - Live Action]]

* In ''Literature/TheTimeTravelersWife'', Henry is the only time traveller in the novel and has difficulty convincing doctors that his condition is real (and convincing his friends why he acts so oddly). Later on he jumps into the future where he is referred to as Chrono-Impaired [[spoiler: by his ten year old daughter, who has the same condition]] basically revealing that by that point, time travel has become accepted as a thing.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': its original premise was to depict Clark Kent's early life in rural Smallville as he is still growing into his powers, but is not the legendary superhero he will become. The premise is kept for the first four seasons - and he is the sole major hero to appear on screen, until other heroes begin to appear by season 5.

** ''ComicBook/New52'': in a way to streamline their decades-long continuity (since 1938!), DC Comics resorted to a full ContinuityReboot of their universe - for the most part -, in an attempt to reintroduce the characters as "first supers" for a new generation. For instance: Franchise/{{Superman}} heralds the dawn of superheroes, while the Franchise/{{Batman}}, the BadassNormal, is secretly already active for some time. More specific examples include:

** The first public appearance of Franchise/{{Superman}} in Franchise/TheDCU. In most continuities, Superman is first introduced the world doing a dramatic save, giving the world something to hope for and kicking off the Age of Superheroes. (Or bringing back superheroes, if the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] heroes are in continuity).

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': in-universe, the beginning of the "Quirk" phenomenon among the people is believed to lie with a [[http://bokunoheroacademia.fandom.com/wiki/Luminescent_Baby single baby born with the power to glow]]. Following this birth, other people around the world started gaining powers too, and, by the time of the story proper, about 80% of the global population have powers, while the remaining 20% do not have any powers at all.