History Series / WhoWantsToBeaSuperhero

** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin. (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, but this wasn't held against her because she did it for Feedback's own well-being, reasoning that he took the competition so seriously that staying in it for much longer could have emotionally destroyed him, which Stan felt was superheroic enough to pass the test.)

** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin. (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, but this wasn't held against her because she did it for Feedback's own well-being, reasoning that he took the competition so seriously that staying in it for much longer could have emotionally destroyed him.)

** The character "Lemuria" has nothing to do with lemurs. She was supposed to be called Lumeria.

* HeroicSacrifice: The SecretTestOfCharacter for the challenge that eliminated Ty'Veculus in season 1 is based in this. Stan gives the heroes the chance to pick one of their fellow heroes to eliminate and then give the reason why. The correct answer is for the heroes to nominate themselves to be eliminated, not their fellow contestants, which all but two of them seem to pick up on. In the end Ty'Veculus is eliminated instead of Fat Momma because his criticism towards Lemuria comes across as more harsh than Fat Momma's nomination of Feedback who she picked out of concern because she didn't want him to get hurt because of how seriously he was taking the show.

** Monkey Woman was eliminated because Stan Lee found out she'd lied to him about her profession, and she gave away her secret identity to a civilian right off the bat, as opposed to the other contestants who either had to be cajoled into it or, in two cases, refused to give out their secret identities altogether.
** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin. (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, but this didn't count because she did it for Feedback's own well-being, reasoning that he took the competition so seriously that staying in it for much longer could have emotionally destroyed him.)

* {{Hypocrite}}: 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, 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.
** A bigger example would be in season 1, where in a later episode, contestants needed to say who 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 say 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.

* QuoteMine: Regarding Mindset's behavior towards Ms. Limelight, the "Last time on..." 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.

* 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 count-down 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, himself, and untold numbers of others in danger from the risk of whatever the explosive's payload is.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Hyperstrike had one. It was absent from his new costume until he seemed to add his old scarf to his new costume between scenes. [[spoiler:[[ChekhovsGun Good thing too, because it wound up saving the day when he and the other heroes were trapped inside of a metal storage unit]]]].

** Stan Lee, while mostly acting like the CoolOldGuy we all know and love, is very serious about finding a super hero and when the contestants don't live up to his standards, his [[TranquilFury look of disapproval]] is not pretty.

* SmugSnake: Dr. Dark is intentionally played as this. He talks in a raspy voice and spends his screentime boasting about how evil and brilliant he is. Then when his big plan in the second season fails, he confronts the superheroes personally and gets beaten up in a fight that lasts about a minute and a half.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Lumeria spelled out her name in her audition. Lum- as in light, seeing as her powers are light-based. That didn't stop the show from spelling it "Lemuria", implying lemur powers.

* TemptingFate: After passing the self-sacrifice challenge, Lumeria said "Stan's gonna have to do a lot more than that to outsmart me." And Stan did just that. 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).

* TooDumbToLive: Ms. Limelight. Her greatest moment was when, during the course of the season, Stan pointedly asked her what kind of powers she had. She stood there and went "Umm..." for a good five minutes because she'd evidently ''never given the background of her character'' any thought.

** Mindset yelled at the "supervillain", refusing to play her game, her way, when he, and his fellow contestants, were trapped in bullet-proof glass cases being filled with dangerous insects at the "supervillain's" whim. If this wasn't a TV show, he and his fellow contestants could well have died.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: Of all the contestants on the show, none are as under developed as Levity due to being the first hero eliminated in the first twenty minutes of the show. Most people would probably forget he was in the show at all if not for the fact that he remained in the opening credits for the rest of the season's run.

* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: Mr. Mitzvah turned this trope up to 11. His catch phrase? "''L'chaim''! To life!"
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* MajorlyAwesome: Major Victory, who was originally ''Captain'' Victory until Stan Lee changed it, saying that Major sounded better.

* BadassNormal: The Defuser's concept, and appropriately, he usually winds up leading. Also, when you get down to it, ''all'' the contestants are Badass Normals. Or at least they want to be.

* BrainBleach: Dr. Dark is implied to need this after having his evil clone of Stan Lee order Hygena to sing and dance. [[DreadfulMusician it's so amazingly awkward]] that all Dr. Dark can say is "Okay Evil Stan... let's... never do that again."

** Ty'Veculus had the particularly hammy, "By the source of light, I am Ty'Veculus!" Though, this was arguably one of the best that the series ever offered.

* FanService: Most of the superheroines and their self-made costumes were at least reasonably titillating, and many were downright stripperific - Monkey Woman and Creature in season one are good examples, and Creature at least seemed to visibly appreciate Iron Enforcer's costume. Though perhaps the best example is an unnamed applicant who we see rejected in the first episode who "for distraction purposes" fights topless.
* {{Flanderization}}: Parthenon in Season 2 started out as StraightGay like Levity from Season 1 was, but a few episodes in, he began to act ridiculously CampGay and remained that way for the rest of the show.

** It helped that Hyper-Strike was actually a stuntsman, so he was actually doing flips and high kicks. Excellent!

* HiddenDepths: With Major Victory this became apparent almost immediately, as despite his first foray into superheroism being incredibly hammy and goofy, he was one of the few people to actually pass the first SecretTestOfCharacter. Seeing him go from his ridiculous [[SillyWalk silly run]] to genuine (though still hammy) heroism is almost jarring.

* {{Hypocrite}}: 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, and was subsequently criticized for not being open to change. Although 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.

** The Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season. He often very abrasive and acts like he's above all the other contestants, regularly criticizing them (particularly Fat Momma). He's apparently a lot nicer in real life.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Despite being a jerkass, Mindset's reasons for unintentionally sabotaging his team in the spelling bee were actually correct in a sense. What the heroes were ''expected'' to do (and did) accomplished absolutely nothing heroic. They got themselves kidnapped, pandered to their captor's demands that 2+2 = 5 until she let them go, and then she got away scott-free. Had Mindset been alone in that challenge and not endangered any of his teammates, his decision to suffer the bees rather than compromise the integrity of the english language would unarguably have been the truly heroic and brave choice.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Mr. Mitzvah in Season 2, who despite acting like a rude, antisocial bigshot with a serious case of NeverMyFault, still uses his immense wealth to make regular donations to help poor children.

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

* RealityTV: The series was a reality show on the Sci-Fi/Syfy channel for it's first two seasons, and on the CBBC for the kids' spinoff.

* SpecialGuest: The UK version featured Danni Harmer, known for playing Tracy Beaker, ''Best Of Friends'' presenters Abs and Rani, ''Series/PrankPatrol'' presenter Barney Harwood and one of the presenters of ''Newsround''. And a Season 2 episode of the US version featured Wrestling/RobVanDam making an appearance to give the contestants kickboxing lessons.

** Mindset yelled at the "supervillain", refusing to play her game, her way, when he, and his fellow contestants, were trapped in bullet-proof glass cases being filled with poisonous insects at the "supervillain's" whim. If this wasn't a TV show, he and his fellow contestants could well have died.

* TurnInYourBadge: Stan Lee will tell an eliminated contestant to turn in their costume. They are then required to take off various pieces of their costume, such as wristbands or the like and put them into a trash can before leaving.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Feedback was eventually chosen as the winner when the final challenge was just between him and Fat Momma. No reason or explanation was given as to why Fat Momma won second place and Feedback was chosen as the winner, but Fat Momma took it gracefully despite the lack of given explanation.

* BigBad: Dr. Dark.

** A bigger example would be in season 1, where in a later episode, contestants needed to say who 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 say that he should be eliminated while not sincerely meaning it. Despite being honest this time, his honesty gets him eliminated since the challenge was about self-sacrifice, even if that self-sacrifice was a lie.

* {{Hypocrite}}: 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, and was subsequently criticized for not being open to change.

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

* RealityTV

* 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 [[MagnificentBitch 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.

* FaceHeelTurn: Iron/Dark Enforcer

* GenkiGirl: Creature in Season 1 and Ms. Limelight in Season 2.

** Levity was eliminated due to his own greed getting the better of him, signing onto this show just to profit off toys.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Fat Momma is a motherly super hero who has a soft spot for children and the more excitable contestants like Feedback. However, she's makes no attempt to disguise her [[BrutalHonesty disdain]] for those she doesn't like, particularly Iron Enforcer.

* 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.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Iron Enforcer was constantly criticized for having a {{BFG}} as his power. The second-season contestants caught on and explicitly declared their abilities to be non-lethal.

** The Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season. He often very abrasive and acts like he's above all the other contestants, regularly criticizing them (particularly Fat Momma). He's apparently [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a lot nicer]] in real life.

* 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. He ''did'' show his nice side prior to his elimination.
** Also Steel Chambers, the Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season.

** And in one unusual case, this trope actually caused someone to be ''eliminated''. After managing to make it to the final three contestants (along with Fat Momma and Feedback), Stan Lee finally decided to eliminate Major Victory because Major Victory's behavior had been too consistently over-the-top, and Stan Lee didn't want a "parody" of a superhero to win the contest.

''Who Wants to Be a Superhero?'' is a reality show hosted by Creator/StanLee, creator of ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'', the original ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'', ''[[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk The Incredible Hulk]]'' 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 original movie to be aired on Creator/SciFiChannel; whether or not this can be considered a reward is debatable.

** The Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season also counts, but he's apparently [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a lot nicer]] in real life.

* SeriousBusiness: 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.

** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin. (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, but this didn't count because she did it for Feedback's own well-being, reasoning that he took the competition so seriously that staying in it for much longer could emotionally destroy him.)

** Ty'Veculus was eliminated for trying to throw Lemuria under the bus to save his own skin. (Fat Momma also tried to eliminate Feedback, but this didn't count because she did it for Feedback's own well-being.)

* ScarfOfAsskicking: Hyperstrike had one. It was absent from his new costume until he seemed to add his old scarf to his new costume between scenes. [[spoiler:[[ChekovsGun Good thing too, because it wound up saving the day when he and the other heroes were trapped inside of a metal storage unit]]]].

* QuoteMine: Regarding Stan's behavior towards Ms. Limelight, the "Last time on..." 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.

* JerkassHasAPoint: That said, he was correct, in a sense. What the heroes were ''expected'' to do (and did) accomplished absolutely nothing heroic. They got themselves kidnapped, pandered to their captor's demands that 2+2 = 5 until she let them go, and then she got away scott-free. Had Mindset been alone in that challenge and not endangered any of his teammates, his decision would unarguably have been the truly heroic and brave choice.

* QuoteMine: Regarding Stan's behavior towards Ms. Limelight, the "Last time on..." 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.
** The Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season also counts, but he's apparently [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a lot nicer]] in real life.

* CaptainErsatz[=/=]WritingAroundTrademarks: Mr. Mitzvah, in Season 2, originally entered as Peaceman, a character he'd invented and previously used as part of his charity work. When he learned he'd have to sign away the copyright to the character to be part of the show, he came up with the Mr. Mitzvah persona instead, which is pretty much just Peaceman with a goofier costume.

* CodeName

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

* [[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 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 Fat Momma (for whom no explanation for her elimination was given):

*** JerkassHasAPoint: That said, he was correct, in a sense. What the heroes were ''expected'' to do (and did) accomplished absolutely nothing heroic. They got themselves kidnapped, pandered to their captor's demands that 2+2 = 5 until she let them go, and then she got away scott-free. Had Mindset been alone in that challenge and not endangered any of his teammates, his decision would unarguably have been the truly heroic and brave choice.
** QuoteMine / ManipulativeEditing: Regarding his behavior towards Ms. Limelight, the "Last time on..." 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.
** The Iron/Dark Enforcer from the first season also counts, but he's apparently [[MeanCharacterNiceActor a lot nicer]] in real life.