History CreateYourOwnHero / ComicBooks

* ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In ''[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Superman: The Man of Steel]]'' Annual #5, the people of Hydros are wiped out by the Empire on the orders of Luthor the 60th. This inspires the planet's [[LastOfHisKind last survivor]] Kaleb to join the rebellion and fight the Empire as the new Superman.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In Batman #47, way back in 1948, Batman finally finds and confronts Joe Chill, the man who killed Thomas and Martha Wayne, who is now a significant figure in Gotham organized crime. To [[ItsPersonal drive the point home,]] Bruce takes off the cowl and promises that even if he can't prove the murders, he will ''never'' [[TheDeterminator stop pursuing Chill]] until the latter makes a fatal mistake. Hysterical with fear, the murderer runs to his fellow criminals for help. And, in his panic, Chill tells them [[TooDumbToLive he personally created the Batman.]] Enraged, the thugs -- all of whom have, in the past, been busted by the Caped Crusader -- put enough lead into him to sink a battleship. ''Then'' they realize that [[NiceJobFixingItVillain they just shot the man who knows Bat's]] SecretIdentity. Cue one of the biggest OhCrap moments in the Dark Knight mythos.

* A Nazi villain named Iron Jaw kills a war correspondent and his wife, [[YouKilledMyFather prompting their son]] to become the Golden Age hero ''Crimebuster''.

* ''ComicBook/LegendsOfTheDeadEarth'': In ''[[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superman: The Man of Steel]]'' Annual #5, the people of Hydros are wiped out by the Empire on the orders of Luthor the 60th. This inspires the planet's [[LastOfHisKind last survivor]] Kaleb to join the rebellion and fight the Empire as the new Superman.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'', where [[BigBad Darkhell]] actually gets wise about this trope, and, after slaughtering a village, framed a local army of heroes by [[FalseFlagOperation leaving their banner behind]]. As a result, the only kid who survived ends up directing his hate toward said heroes, grows into a villain and becomes Darkhell's [[TheDragon Dragon]]. However, he eventually does learn the truth, causing him to pull a HeelFaceTurn and join the protagonists.
* When soldier of fortune Marc Spector defied his commander Raoul Bushman in order to protect archeologist Dr. Peter Alruane and his daughter Marlene, Bushman killed the elder Alruane and beat Spector to the point of death. Whether Spector actually died [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane is unknown]], but he would definitely face Bushman again as ComicBook/MoonKnight.
* The ComicBook/RedSkull proved to be such a terrifyingly potent propaganda mascot for UsefulNotes/NaziGermany that the US decided to counter it by making Steve Rogers ComicBook/CaptainAmerica.

* Uncle Ben's killer is just as responsible for creating Franchise/SpiderMan as the radioactive spider. While Peter was already Spider-Man by the time Uncle Ben was murdered, he was only interested in using his powers for personal gain, looking to achieve fame and fortune as an entertainer. It was only after realizing the criminal he let go was the same man who killed Uncle Ben that he decided to use his powers for something greater than himself, and started living by the creed of "great responsibility". In summation, Spider-Man probably wouldn't be the hero we know today if not for the cruelty of a petty crook. Not to mention the reason he lived with his Uncle Ben is because the Russian Red Skull Albert Malik ordered Karl Fiers/Finisher to eliminate Richard and Mary Parker who were assigned to infiltrate and spy on his organization.
** Speaking of Spider-Man, the case was more explicit in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan''. In the very start of the series, Norman Osbourne is dealing with big and ugly experimental spiders, while wearing protective gloves. Then his lawyer calls and he starts discussing with him at the phone, and casually hands the spider to the employee next to him (who was not wearing any protection). Terrified, this guy throws the spider into her box. But he forgets to close it. The spider climbs and gets out, and the rest, as they say, is history.
* In Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', due to [[spoiler:a StableTimeLoop]], the villain becomes the source of the hero's powers.
** Likewise in his ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'' graphic novel, albeit indirectly and more by the TheConspiracy as a whole than by the villain himself.

* ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Red Skull gave Petra a SadisticChoice: kill her husband with a pair of scissors, or he would kill her newborn son. After she killed him, he killed the baby anyway, and had his thugs rape her. Years later, she was the one who killed him.
* ComicBook/{{Ultron}} is a prime example of AIIsACrapshoot and CreateYourOwnVillain... so it's poetic justice that he's had this happen to him ''several times over''. Over the years, he's created ComicBook/{{the Vision}}, Jocasta and [[ComicBook/{{Runaways}} Victor Mancha]] as part of various schemes, and they've ''all'' turned on him and joined the good guys.

* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAutocracy'', it's shown that while Orion Pax was always ''badass'', he would never have become Optimus Prime or united half of Cybertron against the ascendant Megatron if Megs hadn't betrayed him and dropped him into a deep hole -- Orion survived the impact, and the structure at the bottom of the hole happened to be the hiding place for the Matrix of Leadership.
** Even before that Megatron and a friendly senator had a lot of influence on forming Pax's strong principles that make him TheParagon he is as Optimus.''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' also reveals that in the tragic turn of fate [[spoiler:that senator was Shockwave, before the Institute turned him into a monster. Meaning two people who helped Optimus Prime gain his famous moral code, without which he wouldn't be half a hero he is, were two of his deadliest enemies.]]