Latin American superheroes

The Marvel and DC universes have something in common: the vast majority of their superhumans are located in the US, a handful in Europe, and nothing else elsewhere, except perhaps a Captain Ethnic here and there. So I thought: what if the City of Adventure was not New York, not even an American city, but one where poverty is through the roof and The Generalissimo rules the country with an iron fist? How would the political landscape change if there were superhumans among the anti-government demonstrators, among the government's armies, and perhaps the generalissimo himself?

I have some ideas about the stories in general, and how to avoid that the characters become too obvious expies (I have seen other threads discussing this and took notes). But there is a catch: some superpowers may seem plausible, even if fantastic, when in an advanced nation as the US, but not in a poor one. The Freak Lab Accident (specially if it involves radiation), Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke, Cyborg, Bio-Augmentation, Super Serum and the like would be unlikely to be found in places with stagnant science and technology. Which other super power sources would make better sense in such a setting?

Magic?

Meteor-powers.

Sprinkle some star rocks and watch the seeds of superpowers sprout...

Edited by TitanJump on Jul 30th 2021 at 6:01:34 PM

Latin America has a deep religious streak and there's a lot of ancient ruins from pre-colonial nations. You could have heroes being blessed by God or empowered by fallen gods.

As mentioned above, mysticism and religion which can draw ideas about some sources are plentiful. Enviromentalist themes can indeed be a thing. One of the major differences of the Aztec Mythology and many others is that the gods resided not in the skies, but on the ground. This is why blood needed to be shed - to feed them.

This is not too derivative from the idea of holocaust (no, not The holocaust. Just the idea of animal sacrifice for the gods): a service for the gods, in order to stave great famines or disorders.

Superhero settings are also not without the existence of deities who chose champions either way.

However, generally speaking as a latin american myself, attempts to make this are often pretty poorl. A run-of-the-mill latino isn't completely up to date with the workings of the awá and the nuances and differences of the regional tribes and all. Of which there are plenty. So doing this runs the risk of a hero ending up like, a sort of "generic" perception of tribal deities and their workings.

As for other sources, well. First World Nations are not without its fair share of experiments on latino populace from the U.S. Second, not all latin American nations are so deprived of resources that they cannot produce research biological or otherwise. Heck, Cuba has a pretty efficient medical research system, Brazil does a lot of biological research and Mexico, Chile and Argentina are not particularly wartorn hellholes in modern times.

Now, considering that powers, such as in the Marvel Universe, from Mutants are genetic modifications I don't think that this excuse is bad for powers of random kinds to prop up in that universe, from fire to telekinesis, etc.

If what you are seeking are for this character's goals and motives to be relatable to the political landscape then you would find a lot of nuance between this. For example, Mexican Drug Cartels would probably desperately search for superhumans to fuel their war with the Mexican Federal Government and likewise the Federal Government would have to do something about it. Not sure if you know but some Drug cartels literally have military grade equipment shit if not training for this war.

Whereas, in Peru, the whole thing would be incredibly different depending on what region and place they were born in. Do they belong to the pseudo nationalist fascist Amanecer? Are they just a regular guy from Lima who likes Evangelion and online memes? Are they Bolivian? Which part of the media luna are they in? Are they Venezuelan? Where do they stand and what have they suffered, or benefited from, Chavez' politics?

This is old, but I still wanna respond.

So, even if it's a stereotype that Latin American countries don't have advanced science and technology, there's no reason why you can't have mad scientists mucking about. Often in Sci-fi, mad scientists tend to have a large amount of resources, with their source of income being glossed over and not focused on. They don't even need to come from the First World, as often Mad Scientists are super-intelligent because they just happen to be born that way.

And it's not like a bunch of superheroes rely on science and technology (from their country) to begin with. In the pre-New 52 Justice League, none of the heroes rely on particularly advanced technology that I don't think wouldn't be found in most of Latin America. Superman's powers come from his alien biology and the same is true, though not in those words, with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter. Green Lantern uses advanced technology, but it comes from space, and any person from any country could have gotten it under the right circumstances. Batman's rely more on his skills then his technology and mostly makes his own stuff.

Flash is the only person who's origin comes directly from being in an advanced lab, and even then I'm not sure those chemicals used to make him fast couldn't be found in any lab from anywhere. I don't think he was working on some advanced expensive project like say Bruce Banner.

Personally, I would avoid using religious sources for Latin American heroes. Catholicism and Indigenous sources scream Latin American in a way that is just a step below wearing a flag for costume in my mind. A Mexican hero who uses pretty blatant Aztec or Marian symbolism, for example, is very stereotypical in my view. Which isn't to say such sources shouldn't be included, but it's not like most of the Justice League or the Avengers use symbolism that ties them strongly to a specific country.