History Series / WhoWantsToBeaSuperhero

* {{Hypocrite}}: Stan the Man criticized Major Victory for his past (key word: past) as a stripper (As well as being a parody of superheroes). Stan apparently forgot that he himself is the creator of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripperella Stripperella]]. Or more conventionally, [[{{Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]], a former thief and [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha Romanoff]], a former career assassin. To be fair though, this criticism was not his own, but an anonymous criticism submitted by one of the other heroes, he simply chose not to comment on it himself. And the second time MV's past as a stripper was brought up by Stan, it was to bring up an important point of never giving up part of your costume while on the job, like he did while helping little old ladies cross the street.

** QuoteMine / ManipulativeEditing: That said, the LastTimeOn segment for the subsequent episode made him sound WAY worse than he really was, by making it sound like he flat-out told Ms. Limelight that she was dumb, when in reality, that quote was taken from part of a sentence where he said he ''didn't'' think she was dumb, that he thought she was smarter than she was letting on, and that it was just ObfuscatingStupidity on her part.

** InnocentlyInsensitive: His insulting Ms. Limelight could possibly be interpreted as him guessing her behavior was an act for her part and assuring her he saw the "real" her underneath it. Unfortunately if that was the case, he had no idea that he was wrong, and Ms. Limelight took it ''very'' hard.

** InnocentlyInsensitive: His insulting Ms. Limelight could possibly be interpreted as him guessing her behavior was an act for her part and assuring her he saw the "real" her underneath it. Unfortunately, he had no idea that he was wrong, and she took it ''very'' hard.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Stan the Man criticized Major Victory for his past (key word: past) as a stripper (As well as being a parody of superheroes). Stan apparently forgot that he himself is the creator of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripperella Stripperella]]. Or more conventionally, [[{{Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]], a former thief and [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha Romanoff]], a former career assassin. To be fair though, this criticism was not his own, but an anonymous criticism submitted by one of the other heroes, he simply chose not to comment on it himself.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Stan the Man criticized Major Victory for his past (key word: past) as a stripper (As well as being a parody of superheroes). Stan apparently forgot that he himself is the creator of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripperella Stripperella]]. Or more conventionally, [[{{Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]], a former thief and [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha Romanoff]], a former career assassin. To be fair though, this criticism was not his own, but an anonymous criticism submitted by one of the other heroes.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Stan the Man criticized Major Victory for his past (key word: past) as a stripper (As well as being a parody of superheroes). Stan apparently forgot that he himself is the creator of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stripperella Stripperella]]. Or more conventionally, [[{{Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]], a former thief and [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha Romanoff]], a former career assassin.

* EliminationStatement: "*contestant's name*, [[TurnInYourBadge turn in your costume]]."

* FanService: Most of the superheroines and their self-made costumes were at least reasonably titillating, and many were downright stripperific - Monkey Girl and Creature in season one are good examples. Though perhaps the best example is an unnamed applicant who we see rejected in the first episode who "for distraction purposes" fights topless.

* Fanservice: Most of the superheroines and their self-made costumes were at least reasonably titillating, and many were downright stripperific - Monkey Girl and Creature in season one are good examples. Though perhaps the best example is an unnamed applicant who we see rejected in the first episode who "for distraction purposes" fights topless.

** In the costume upgrade episode for season 1, Ty'Veculus was criticized by Stan for not being upfront 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, but was then criticized for not being open to change.

** In the costume upgrade episode for season 1, Ty'Veculus was criticized by Stan for not being upfront 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, but was then criticized for not being open to change.

* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By His/Her Own Petard]]: Since this is a reality TV show that promotes superheroic behavior, rather than backstabbing "winner takes all" tactics, every contestant who was eliminated was legitimately eliminated due to having a failing of some kind or a major-screw up. The only exceptions were Rotariart (who wasn't a real contestant and in fact part of a challenge, thus having to leave of his own free will once his role was over) and Fat Momma (for whom no explanation for her elimination was given):

* CatchPhrase: Most of the contestants in the UK version had one, though Nine Lives's was probably the most memorable, it was his "theme song".

** You want hammy? Try Major Victory. ''"Be a winner, not a weiner."''

* CaptainObvious "Meet Monkey Woman. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEANw1G-BPY&feature=related She is a woman who sounds like a monkey!]]"

* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By His/Her Own Petard]]: Since this is a reality TV show that promotes superheroic behavior, rather than backstabbing "winner takes all" tactics, every contestant who was eliminated was legitimately eliminated due to having a failing of some kind or a major-screw up (except Rotiart, who wasn't a real contestant and in fact part of a challenge, thus having to leave of his own free will once his role was over, and except Fat Momma, for whom no explanation for her elimination was given):

** The Iron Enforcer was eliminated for acting like a jerk, rather than like the superhero Stan Lee was looking for (which made him a great Dark Enforcer villain, however).
** Monkey Woman was eliminated because Stan Lee found out she'd lied to him about her profession, and she gave away her secret identity right off the bat, as opposed to most of the other contestants who had to be cajoled into it.
** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, which didn't count because she did it for Feedback's own well-being).

** Lemuria was eliminated because she was the ''only'' contestant (out of a remaining four) not to win the "dangerous inmate" challenge.
** Major Victory was eliminated because his Large Ham behavior came across as too much of a "parody of a superhero", rather than the way an actual superhero would behave.

* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife: One of them, "Creature", got in trouble for this, because she was jaywalking and thus breaking the law on live television, setting a bad example. Stan is always watching!
* {{Jerkass}}: Mindset from the second US season. Aside from insulting Ms. Limelight, he deliberately failed a challenge out of refusal to spell words with an extra bee, getting his teammates stung by bees in the process.
** According to Mindset, at least in the second case, he was refusing to play by Bee Sting's twisted rules and banking on that being the secret challenge of the day. (On this show, stranger things have happened.) Except it turns out it wasn't, and he was reprimanded for putting himself above his teammates, who had no say in his choice even though it affected all of them, and they were understandably not pleased.

* {{Leitmotif}}: Each of the contestants get one.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Mr. Mitzvah, who after being portrayed as nearly a villain during Season 2, was revealed to be a philanthropist in real life who helps raise money for children's charities. Though he ''did'' show his nice side prior to his elimination.
** Also Steele Chambers, Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season.

* NeverMyFault: Mr. Mitzvah had this problem. He was up for elimination three times in a row (with the third strike getting him out), and ''each'' time, rather than tell Stan why he ought to allow him to stay, he justified what he was being put on the chopping block for.

* OlderThanTheyLook: In the UK version, Santh and S.G.W. are 20 and 360 years old respectively (well their characters are anyway).
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: The first contestant eliminated in the first season of the US version, "Levity", got cut after admitting he'd joined the show with hopes of marketing the hell out of his character. Stan wasn't thrilled to have someone sign on out of sheer greed and tossed him out.
* TheParagon: The kind of superhero Stan Lee is ultimately looking for. This is probably why some contestants were eliminated despite them having the potential to be interesting comic book superheroes.

* SdrawkcabName: "Rotiart backward is... traitor!" Interestingly, Rotiart wasn't actually a "traitor" in the villainous sense, but in the sense that he was a plant of Stan Lee's and not a real contestant. Why? Because Rotiart's job was to have conversations with all the contestants at the beginning to weed out people who were in the contest for selfish reasons...like Levity for example, who was then eliminated for wanting to use the contest to promote his own toy merchandise. Apparently, people really ''do'' fall for Sdrawkcab Names in real life. Even when it's spelled out for them right across his chubby chest.

** The snakes example was for Parthenon, who got penalized (not eliminated though) for [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl letting out a girly scream]] when he accidentally touched one.

* [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Hoist By His/Her Own Petard]]: Since this is a reality TV show that promotes superheroic behavior, rather than backstabbing "winner takes all" tactics, every contestant who was eliminated was legitimately eliminated due to having a failing of some kind or a major-screw up (except Rothiart, who wasn't a real contestant and in fact part of a challenge, thus having to leave of his own free will once his role was over, and except Fat Momma, for whom no explanation for her elimination was given):

* BuryYourGays: Subverted. Levity, the gay superhero in season 1, ''is'' the first one to be eliminated (Rotiart wasn't a real contestant, so he doesn't count), but it's ''not'' because he's gay. He's eliminated because of greed; he wanted to exploit the show to sell action figures and make a lot of money, something a true superhero would never do. Also, Parthenon, the "superhero who happens to be gay" in season 2, is eliminated, but not right off the bat; it happens in episode six. And it's not because he's gay on this occasion either; in Parthenon's case, it's because he refused to bond with the children in a challenge that required their help cracking a code.

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

* FriendToAllChildren: Easily one of Fat Mama's greatest traits. She's one of the few to stop and help the little girl in the first challenge and won by a landslide in the elementary school challenge due to her heartwarming speech about being yourself.

* GenkiGirl: Ms. Limelight.

* NinetiesAntiHero: Iron Enforcer. After his elimination, Stan Lee pointed out that "you make a lousy hero," before making him into the villainous Dark Enforcer.

* TheParagon: The kind of superhero Stan Lee is ultimately looking for. This is probably why some contestants were eliminated despite them having the potential to be good comic book superheroes.

* TemptingFate: After passing the self-sacrifice challenge, Lumeria said "Stan's gonna have to do a lot more than that to outsmart me." By the end of the next episode, Lumeria is eliminated for not completing her part of the convict challenge (sitting on the convict's lap for 10 seconds).