History Series / WhoWantsToBeaSuperhero

* BrokenAesop:
** An episode of the UK version has Sam and Mark remind the viewers that superheroes should never accept rewards for their deeds, to the extent that Dolphin Girl was powered down because for accepting a pound coin as a reward. One episode later, Nine Lives receives a reward (immunity from the power down). A couple of the superheroes were not happy.
** Some people think Ty'Veculus got a raw deal, since he is famously called out for dishonesty when he pretended to like an intentionally badly-designed new costume Stan gave him, and yet later he is eliminated because he was ''honest'' about who he felt should be eliminated rather than lying by offering himself up.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: The show might have been called "Secret Test of Character: The Series," because nearly every challenge had one hidden in it. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because Stan Lee was completely serious about looking for a super ''hero'', not just someone who could follow his instructions in hopes of winning glory and fame; he pointed out that while it was impossible to judge someone's non-existent superpowers, he ''could'' determine a person's motives and inherent kindness based on this sort of test. The secret tests of characters were all related to whether or not the contestants could actually ''act'' heroically in the face of temptation, difficulty, etc. To give just a few:

** By the second season, the producers realized that the contestants were getting GenreSavvy and that they'd have to up the ante on the Secret Tests. As such, the heroes were just as likely to be [[WrongGenreSavvy wrong about the "real" test]] as they were the right one. For example, in one challenge, the heroes were split into teams and had to pass a [[JustForPun "Spelling Bee"]] hosted by [[BeeAfraid bee-themed villain]] Bee Sting. Because she was obsessed with her insects of choice, the heroes were expected to spell out the word "B-E-E" in the place of every "B" that appeared in her game. The contestant Mindset incorrectly deduced that the actual challenge was to show courage and conviction by not listening to her rules and instead spelling the words correctly...unfortunately, failure to comply with Bee Sting's demand led to her releasing ''actual bees'' into the booths where the teams were standing. Mindset refused to give up his assumption and kept getting more bees thrown into the booth, which led to his elimination.

''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' is a reality show hosted by Creator/StanLee, creator of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'', the original ''Comicbook/XMen'', ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' and the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour''. Contestants dress up as comic book superheroes of their own invention.

Each week, Lee challenges the contestants to represent what "[[SuperHero superheroes]] are all about." The twist is that almost every challenge has a second SecretTestOfCharacter that will be obvious to the viewer. Each episode, one or more of the superheroes deemed the least deserving is eliminated. The grand prize for the winning superhero is to have his or her character star in a Dark Horse Comics comic book written by Lee. They also have a cameo appearance in an [[Film/SyfyOriginalMovie original movie]] to be aired on [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]]; whether or not this can be considered a reward is debatable.

The two winners of the two American competitions are Matthew "Feedback" Atherton (Season 1) and Jarrett "The Defuser" Crippen (Season 2). The winner of the UK version was Karl "[=H2O=] Man" Harris.

* DitzyGenius: Ms. Limelight Claims to have gotten straight As all through high school and college.

* CloningBlues: Second season villain Dr. Dark made an evil clone of Stan Lee.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Several contestants tried to employ tried-and-true "reality show" backstabbing tactics, failing to realize that the show was serious about looking for a super''hero''. And heroes aren't selfish, lying, backstabbing reality-show creatures. ([[ComicBook/CivilWar Usually]].)

A UK version aired on CBBC in early 2009. Instead of adults, the contestants were children. The programme was hosted by CBBC presenters Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes while Stan Lee merely contacted the heroes through a television set to give them their missions and later give a debriefing. The premise is basically the same mentioned as in the above paragraphs. The prize for the winner is to go to Hollywood and be turned into a comic book hero by Stan Lee. Unlike the American version they did not appear in their own TV movie, and the winner's comic was not sold in the shops.

* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Mr. Mitzvah turned this trope up to 11. His catch phrase? "''L'chaim''! To life!"

''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' is a reality show hosted by Creator/StanLee, creator of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'', the original ''Comicbook/XMen'', ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Incredible Hulk]]'' and the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour''. Contestants dress up as comic book superheroes of their own invention.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Aside from Monkey Girl, who simply ran past the crying child waving a ribbon happily, those who ignored the child, focusing on the timer instead, had good reason to fail the SecretTestOfCharacter. There was no mention of ''why'' there was a countdown clock. Many of Marvel's comics had the villain set up an explosive device with a timer, and a hero who stopped to help a lost child, rather than deal with the countdown, would have actually put the child, him/herself, and untold numbers of others in danger from the risk of whatever the explosive's payload is.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Iron/Dark Enforcer is a pretty badass name for a superhero/villain but his secret identity has an equally badass name, Steel Chambers.

* BrokenAesop: An episode of the UK version has Sam and Mark remind the viewers that superheroes should never accept rewards for their deeds, to the extent that Dolphin Girl was powered down because for accepting a pound coin as a reward. One episode later, Nine Lives receives a reward (immunity from the power down). A couple of the superheroes were not happy.

** Season 1 had [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Monkey Woman]]. In episode 2, the heroes had to cross a yard to the back door of a house with two attack dogs pulling them away. Three candidates rushed the door and made it in under thirty seconds. Five others try, but quickly cry uncle (literally - that was the safe word). Monkey Woman, however -- she fights the dogs back and forth across the lawn for ''nine minutes and forty-two seconds'' to finally, successfully make the door.

* StockSuperpowers: Most of the first season's heroes were ComicBook/{{Superman}}[=-=]style {{flying brick}}s, although the second season's contestants were more creative as a whole.

* TheCameo: Feedback, the winner of the USA version's season 1, shows up in the first episode of Season 2 to tell the new contestants that they have made it into the show. He also makes a cameo in the Sci-Fi original Mega Snake, something that the commercials for that movie made sure to play up despite him only having [[NeverTrustATrailer two minutes of screen time.]]

** In another Fat Momma example, the first "Dark Enforcer" challenge has the villain contacting people from the heroes' lives to share embarrassing secrets about them (like the cleanly Feedback's wife telling the heroes that he is a slob at home, or Major Victory's past as a go-go dancer). Fat Momma's sisters reveal that she was not always FatAndProud, and went on many diets and exercises programs to lose weight when younger. This puts her up for elimination, as it seems to undercut her whole heroic persona.

** A bigger example would be in a later season 1 episode, in which the contestants needed to say whom they would personally eliminate if the choice was up to them. Ty'Veculus was completely honest that he felt Lemuria should be eliminated, rather than saying that he should be eliminated while not sincerely meaning it. And yet his honesty gets him eliminated since the challenge was about self-sacrifice, even if that self-sacrifice was a lie.

** In the first episode of the first season, the heroes were tasked with pulling a SecretIdentityChangeTrick somewhere in public, then racing to a goal line, with the instruction that whoever got the fastest time would be the winner. However, the producers planted a little girl [[IWantMyMommy crying that she'd lost her mother]] right before the finish line; the real test was to see who would stop and help the girl, even if it meant getting a shorter time.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Nearly every challenge had one hidden in it. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], because Stan Lee was completely serious about looking for a super ''hero'', not just someone who could follow his instructions in hopes of winning glory and fame. The secret tests of characters were all related to whether or not the contestants could actually ''act'' heroically in the face of temptation, difficulty, etc.
** Some were so obscure, or even counterintuitive, that a fair portion of the second season's contestants went past GenreSavvy and into ''paranoid'' trying to meet the secret requirement of the day. This usually did not work out for them.

** Being a superhero was this for Feedback: He grew up idolizing Stan Lee's comic book heroes and wanted to be just like them, so while on the show, he rigidly stuck to his superhero persona and followed the "rules" of being a superhero as he'd learned from the comics. It was even brought up by Fat Momma that Feedback was perhaps taking things a bit ''too'' seriously.

* GenreSavvy: Several nice cases. In Season 1, Lemuria passes the self-nomination challenge and smugly tells the cameraman later that "Stan will have to try a lot harder to outsmart me like that." (See TemptingFate below.) In Season 2, Hygena is the only one to consider that Dr. Dark is lying when he implies that one of the heroes is a spy ([[spoiler:as indeed he was]]).

* AccidentalMisnaming: In the UK version, Mark got called "Mike" a couple of times.

* BackForTheFinale: At the end of the season, several of the heroes come back to congratulate the winner on their victory. Special note goes to the first season's villain, Dark Enforcer, who shows up at the end to congratulate Feedback in his old Iron Enforcer outfit as if to signify that he's [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor turned back to good.]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Lumeria, in the episodes leading up to her elimination, started behaving in her talking head interviews and in the lair less like a superhero and more like a stereotypical reality show contestant, getting into arguments with Fat Momma, talking about how she's in this to win and won't let anyone get in her way, and being the only contestant confirmed to have recommended themselves for elimination for purely cynical reasons. Ironically, despite the nature of the show, she was not eliminated for this behavior, but rather simply for being the only contestant to fail a challenge.
** She was also voted on the show, rather than being hand-picked by Stan Lee.

* BrokenAesop: An episode of the UK version has Sam and Mark remind the viewers that superheroes should never accept rewards for their deeds, to the extent that Dolphin Girl was powered down because of it. One episode later, Nine Lives receives a reward (immunity from the power down). A couple of the superheroes were not happy.

* TheDitz: Ms. Limelight.

* FunPersonified: Major Victory, who deliberately played his role over the top. Also Hyper-Strike from Season 2, with his exaggerated Anime/DragonBallZ-esque moves.
** It helped that Hyper-Strike was actually a stuntman, so he was actually doing flips and high kicks. Excellent!

* GreenAesop: In the UK version, S.G.W.'s mission (his initials stand for Stop Global Warming). To an extent, [=H2O=] Man who occasionally stresses over the merits of water.

* HiddenPurposeTest: the contestants were told they had to secretly change into their costumes and make their way through a busy park to a particular spot within a time limit. Along the way they passed a young girl who was crying. The contestants who stopped to help her, blowing their time limit, were the ones who passed.

* {{Hypocrite}}: In the costume upgrade episode for season 1, Ty'Veculus was criticized by Stan for not being up front about not being totally happy with his new look. In season 2, however, Hyper-Strike ''was'' very open about his dislike for Stan's upgrades, and was subsequently criticized for not being open to change. However, this is possibly justified in that Stan said he appreciated Hyper-Strike's honesty, and the issue he took with him was that he kept on sulking and pouting about it afterward.