History Literature / HowToBeASuperhero

* FauxToGuide

* KidSidekick: Played for laughs extensively in "The Problem With Boy Wonders".

* RaisedByWolves: Parodied in the section on being a "Jungle Lord," which includes a list of orphans who didn't make it due to a poor choice of adoptive animal (and why in general this isn't a very popular type of superhero to be anymore): Tomar of the Molluscs (starved to death), Mikki of the Dolphins (drowned), Sven of the Lemmings (jumped off a cliff), and Eric of the Man-Eating Bengal Tigers (guess).

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The section on how to fight ninjas has an addendum about how, since most superheroes buy the technology they use to fight crime from Japan, ninjas have been known to substitute the instructions for them with things rendered useless through an impenetrable translation to sabotage heroes who oppose them.

* LightningCanDoAnything: Getting struck by lightning is discussed as a possible origin. A testimonial fron the Amazing Scorch Mark says he got struck by lightning and now fights crime with powers of third degree burns and incurable stutter.

2. Anyone who transformers himself into a superhero by yelling the magic words, "Hey, kids, smoking is really good for you!"\\

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The section on how to fight ninjas has an addendum about how, since most superheroes buy the gear they use to fight crime from Japan, ninjas have been known to substitute the instructions for them with things rendered useless through an impenetrable translation to sabotage heroes who oppose them.

* PestController: In some light-hearted TakeThat aimed at ComicBook/AntMan, one of the superpower sections is power over the ant, and how it's actually pretty useful if employed with some imagination. Some of the examples are pretty silly (like having them ruin a villain's picnic to demoralize him before taking him on directly, having the ants form themselves into a beard or mutton chops when you go undercover), some less so (having ants crawl up the villain's pants and squirt formic acid on his privates to distract him during a crucial moment).* PottyEmergency: According to the book, inducing one is the trick to defeating villains in PoweredArmor (or "Man-Droids"). They're completely sealed up so nothing gets in, but also nothing can get ''out''...

** Gets even more in-depth in the section on secret identities, which is mostly about how to act like a convincing lawyer. This includes stuff like putting broken glass in old ladies' purses for the hell of it.

* EvilLawyerJoke: Early in the book there's a section addressing [[DevilWithTheDevil selling your soul to the Devil to get super powers]], and the fact that you ''can't'' wriggle out of your contract is why you shouldn't.

* EvilLawyerJoke: Early in the book there's a section addressing selling your soul to the Devil to get super powers, and the fact that you can't wriggle out of your contract is why you shouldn't.

* EvilLawyerJoke: Early in the book there's a section addressing selling your soul to the Devil to get super powers, and this is the reason why you shouldn't.

* {{Ninja}}: Among other villain types, has a section on how to survive battles with these masters of stealth. Mostly by saying racist things about the Japanese to make them mad enough to blow their cover.

* PestController: In some light-hearted TakeThat aimed at ComicBook/AntMan, one of the superpower sections is power over the ant, and how it's actually pretty useful if employed with some imagination. Some of the examples are pretty silly (like having them ruin a villain's picnic to demoralize him before taking him on directly, having the ants form themselves into a beard or mutton chops when you go undercover), some less so (having ants crawl up the villain's pants and squirt formic acid on his privates to distract him during a crucial moment).
(This may be OK if they manufacture napalm, titanium plating or radar equipment, but it's not much use if they make children's clothing, toothpaste or sanitary napkins...)
* PottyEmergency: According to the book, inducing one is the trick to defeating villains in PoweredArmor (or "Man-Droids"). They're completely sealed up so nothing gets in, but also nothing can get ''out''...

* Ninja: Among other villain types, has a section on how to survive battles with these masters of stealth. Mostly by saying racist things about the Japanese to make them mad enough to blow their cover.

(This may be OK if they manufacture napalm, titanium plating or radar equipment, but it's not much use if they make children's clothing, toothpaste or sanitary napkins...)
* PowerPerversionPotential: Lots of jokes about why having stretching powers will make you very popular with the ladies (and why other heroes without them will hate you for it).

* WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway: Gets brought up sometimes, like if you think about joining a team, make sure you know whose hands your life might be placed in, like somebody whose power involves controlling peanut butter or worms. Also used to mock some of the ridiculous gimmicks that 40's heroes had in the rush to capitalize on the new fad, like Blindman, the Cross-Eyed Swami or Yo-yo Man. [[note]] Which really isn't as mean as it might seem. Some absurd, but real, examples of moronic 40's hero gimmicks including the Whistler (guess). Or the Scarlet Seal, whose main gimmick was, not even kidding, {{Yellowface}}. [[/note]]

* BrainlessBeauty: Mocks the tendency of comic books to give heroes female partners who are just there to provide sex appeal.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Several examples are shown in the chapter on crimefighting motivations.