The Champions
is a Super Hero Web Serial Novel written by Tiamatty. It was started in September 2011. It currently updates every Saturday. It also has two spin-offs: Aegis, also updating every Saturday, and Runaways, updating Sundays.
It follows the adventures of the eponymous team, both fighting villains and their day-to-day lives and interactions. There are initially 9 main characters, with 7 of them actually donning costumes to fight villains. Eventually, the Champions disbanded, with several members forming a new team, the West Coast Knights, in LA. After that team disbanded, one member of the original team formed a yet another new team, which was then called the Champions, much like the first team was.
Not to be confused with the old live-action series, the old Hong Kong film or the Web Animation series under the same name.
This story provides examples of:
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Wildcat.
- Anyone Can Die: So far, Martin, Sam, and Charlie. As of chapter 159, Nick. And Gunther in chapter 179, although we heard that first in chapter 44 of Aegis. As of chapter 210, Sven.
- Badass Normal: Justice.
- Bilingual Bonus: Occasional profanity in other languages.
- Code Name: Naturally. Though some characters don't bother with it.
- Coming-Out Story: Rika in chapter 106.
- Deadpan Snarker: Most of them get moments, but Janet is particularly deadpan. Martin, Will and Melissa also enjoy it.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Martin dies in a car crash.
- Elemental Shapeshifter: Victor.
- How Dare You Die on Me!: Melissa yells this at Martin when he dies.
- Killed Off for Real: Martin, Sam, Charlie, Nick, Gunther and Sven.
- Let's You and Him Fight: Their first encounter with other heroes averts this. A couple later encounters play it straight.
- Like Reality, Unless Noted: It is noted that superhumans routinely break the laws of physics, as well as affecting laws of probabilities and large numbers. Other than this, the world as a whole seems to be the same as our world.
- The Masquerade: A minor part of the backstory, but not currently in effect.
- Meta Origin
- The Mole: Geoffrey.
- Power Nullifier: Sam's power. There are also nullifier devices.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Addressed. The resident supergenius on the team states that she believes superheroes should avoid having any impact on the lives of humans, negative or positive. She could solve global warming, for example, but she intentionally won't.
- Replacement Scrappy: In-universe, Alvin and Melissa both feel this way towards Geoff, replacing Martin. Melissa warms up to him. Alvin does not.
- Secret Identity: Though they're willing to risk their identity to save people, they generally try to preserve them. They're effectively wrecked by chapter 77. Subverted by Gunther, who just seems not to care. The most recent team doesn't care at all about secret identities, and will openly admit to being superheroes.
- Secret-Keeper: Most of their parents know. Victor's girlfriend Karah also knows his secret.
- Shapeshifting: Geoffrey.
- Shared Universe: With Final Justice by a different author.
- Single-Power Superheroes: Martin, Melissa and Victor.
- Super Hero School: Sorta. They all have at least a high school education, and only Melissa and Victor are actively studying anything. Played straight later, when a bunch of teenagers are brought in as actual students.
- Super-Intelligence: Janet.
- Super-Strength: Victor and Julienne. Also, assorted villains. Later, Stephen, Tiny and Sven.
- Super Team: The whole point.
- Super-Toughness: Victor and Julienne. And Alvin has a Force Field. Rika also has a Force Field.
- Super Villain: The General is the biggest, but plenty of others show up, too.
- Taken for Granite: Victor, kind of.
- Teleportation: Eddie. Janet also created a device that does it - the team swears never to use it again.
- Thou Shalt Not Kill
- Weirdness Magnet: Speculated as actually being directly caused by having superpowers.
