History Main / Capepunk

"Capepunk" refers to the subgenre of superhero fiction which deals with superheroism in a "realistic" manner. This sort of storytelling often comes with the greater freedom allowed creators to deconstruct traditional superhero tropes. To be Capepunk, your story can't just be about superheroes. It has to be about why they put on the cape and whether or not putting it on is worthwhile.

* ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' is a retelling of the ComicBook/{{Superman}} origin story, except with its SupermanSubstitute Brandon Breyer brought up without the wisdom of the Kents, instead being told all his life that he's "special". The result is a superhero SlasherMovie as Brandon starts to [[AGodAmI see himself as a god]], complete with a costume that resembles a parody of Superman's as designed by a backwoods SerialKiller. [[spoiler:TheStinger also reveals the existence of evil {{Captain Ersatz}}es of ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, and Franchise/TheFlash, as well as a heroic version of ComicBook/LexLuthor who vows to fight them (and, in an [[WhatCouldHaveBeen unused ending]], the film's pissed-off version of ComicBook/LanaLang joining him after what [[BreakTheCutie Brandon put her through]]).]]

* Creator/ZackSnyder seemed to be very fond of this trope in his ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' films. ''Film/ManOfSteel'' shows just how terrifying the sheer power of [[FlyingBrick a Kryptonian]] can be with the climactic battle between Superman and General Zod bringing about destruction upon Metropolis. Its follow up, ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', shows that humanity is divided over Superman's general existence between the traumatizing experience of the Kryptonian invasion and the revelation of aliens existing, and Superman's attempt to inspire other heroes is initially less than successful as we find most of them living in isolation or deeply troubled. The trope was toned down in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' in favor of more emphasis on the sci-fi/fantasy elements.

* ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' is a retelling of the ComicBook/{{Superman}} origin story, except with its SupermanSubstitute Brandon Breyer brought up without the wisdom of the Kents, instead being told all his life that he's "special". The result is a superhero SlasherMovie as Brandon starts to [[AGodAmI see himself as a god]], complete with a costume that resembles a parody of Superman's as designed by a backwoods SerialKiller. [[spoiler:TheStinger also reveals the existence of evil {{Captain Ersatz}}es of ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, and Franchise/TheFlash, as well as a heroic version of ComicBook/LexLuthor who vows to fight them.]]

* ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' discusses this briefly in Linkara's review of ''[[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Pinhead]] vs. ComicBook/MarshallLaw'', explaining that he despises series like ''Law'' and ''ComicBook/TheBoys'' because they treat heroes either as naive idiots or complete monsters and are written by people who hate the genre.

* CrapsackWorld: A horrible setting where the [[TheCynic jaded]] notion of anything that can go wrong will go horribly, ''[[FinaglesLaw horribly]]'' wrong almost always applies.

* HumansAreTheRealMonsters: Humans are viewed as bastards by other species.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' takes many superhero cliches and the Superman mythos and turns them on their head. Metroman is a SmugSuper [[spoiler:Who turns out to be a BrokenAce who is miserable because he sees saving the day as [[PunchClockHero a job]] instead of something that makes him happy]], Megamind is an incompetent villain who is less fighting Metroman and more playing a game [[spoiler:and can't think of what to do when Metroman fakes his death, having a crisis.]] The greatest example would have to be [[spoiler:Hal Stewart A.K.A Tighten/Titan]] who shows what happens when [[FromNobodyToNightmare a random unremarkable person]] gets superpowers, especially one who was secretly jealous of Metroman's "Relationship" with Roxanne. [[spoiler:He becomes an even worse supervillain than Megamind could ever hope to be.]]

* Creator/ZackSnyder seemed to be very fond of this trope in his ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' films. ''Film/ManOfSteel'' and its follow up ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' deal with a public that barely tolerates superheroes. Superman's attempt to inspire them is initially less than successful as we find most of them living in isolation or deeply troubled. The trope was toned down in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' in favor of more emphasis on the fantasy elements.

* ''Film/Freaks2018'' is a Canadian scifi/horror film [[spoiler:following a superpowered girl hiding from a future society that hunts and kills anyone suspected of having superpowers. Superpowers are widely viewed as nothing but a threat to the system and the general public.]] The government runs oppressive and pervasive security state complete with secret death camps and very unethical experimental labs. Even members of the public who seem opposed to the extermination policy still view superpowers with fear and disgust.

* ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' features protagonists who are both former [[KidHero child superheroes]] and ChildSoldiers, and the trauma they experienced as children is perhaps the biggest driving force of the plot of both seasons thus far. At the start of the series, most of them are adults trying to live normal lives, far away from their childhood experiences, and only Luther remains with their [[AbusiveParents father]]. Meanwhile, the rest of them are extremely messed up, with Diego having a hero complex, Allison swearing off her powers after years of misusing them, Klaus dealing with addiction, Five determined to prevent the apocalypse, Ben dead, and Vanya struggling to cope with being the "ordinary" member of the family.

* RealityEnsues: When characters find out RealLife ''doesn't'' work the way they think it will.

** The ''Film/IronMan'' movies used real-life science to justify many of the figure's traditional gadgets. Likewise, the films serve as deconstructions of many UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror tropes as well as the kind of attention such a figure would garner. The third one also had a moving portrayal of Tony Stark dealing with PTSD from the literally world-changing events of ''Film/TheAvengers2012''.

"Capepunk" refers to the subgenre of super-hero fiction which deals with superheroism in "realistic" manner. This sort of storytelling often comes with the greater freedom allowed creators to deconstruct traditional superhero tropes. To be Capepunk, your story can't just be about superheroes. It has to be about why they put on the cape and whether or not putting it on is worthwhile.

Capepunk stories tend to be either {{Deconstruct|ion}}ive or {{Reconstruct|ion}}ive in nature, analyzing what makes the characters tick as well as how they relate to the setting as a whole. Much effort will be put into justifying why people have a variety of powers, are allowed by law enforcement to run willy-nilly, or don't change the world overnight. By and large, the series tend to be very satirical in nature, showing why superheroic tropes either don't work or require massive contrivances in order to be justified as existing. While many Capepunk stories are cynical, there are just as many stories which cast heroes as standing against the mundanity of the world and leading humanity into the light (or at least trying to).

One common feature in the stories is that superpowers are terrifying to normal people. People with the powers of MindControl, being [[{{Flight}} able to fly]], or [[EyeBeams heat vision]] are dangers to normal {{Muggles}} with even those who protect them being so far removed from normal life they often are enemies. Other times, regular HumansAreTheRealMonsters with the people trying to use their abilities to help others being deliberately targeted by those who hate and envy them.

* Creator/ZackSnyder seemed to be very fond of this trope in his ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' films. ''Film/ManOfSteel'' and its follow up ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' deal with a public that barely tolerates superheroes. Superman's attempt to inspire them is initially less than successful as we find most of them living in isolation or deeply troubled.

* CrapsackWorld: A horrible setting where the [[TheCynic jaded]] notion of [[FinaglesLaw anything that can go wrong will go horribly, ''horribly'' wrong]] almost always applies.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' takes place in a world where EveryoneIsASuper and explores the way society has been reorganized by the universal presence of superpowers (called "Quirks" InUniverse). People suffer discrimination for having the "wrong" Quirks or being in the rare segment of the population that has no Quirks at all; Quirk usage in public has been outlawed, which has led to the emergence of extremist groups seeking to legalize it; superheroes are a government-regulated occupation that essentially consists of emergency services with Quirk usage being allowed; and it's shown that the appearance of Quirks initially threw the world into such chaos that it reversed societal and scientific progress. The show is less grittier than the usual Capepunk fare and leans more towards {{Reconstruction}} than {{Deconstruction}}, often finding ways to integrate traditional superhero themes and tropes into a more realistic setting.

* ''Anime/{{Akira}}'' combined this with cyberpunk motifs as we see Testsuo as a trope-codifier for WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity. It destroys all of his relationships, innumerable innocent bystanders, and eventually makes him believe AGodAmI. One of the messages is human morality is incompatible with being superhuman.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' takes place in a world where EveryoneIsASuper and explores the way society has been reorganized by the universal presence of superpowers (called "Quirks" InUniverse). People suffer discrimination for having the "wrong" Quirks or being in the rare segment of the population that has no Quirks at all; Quirk usage in public has been outlawed, which has led to the emergence of extremist groups seeking to legalize it; superheroes are a government-regulated occupation that essentially consists of emergency services with Quirk usage being allowed; and it's shown that the appearance of Quirks initially threw the world into such chaos that it reversed societal and scientific progress. The show is less grittier than the usual Capepunk fare and leans more towards {{Reconstruction}} than {{Deconstruction}}, often finding ways to integrate traditional superhero themes and tropes into a more realistic setting.

* ''Film/Daredevil2003'' deconstructs a lot of elements found in comic book adaptions. Due to his vigilante lifestyle, Matt is in extreme pain from fighting, nurses multiple broken bones and nasty scars on his body, munches down painkillers regularly, and is frequently absent from work. His super senses mean that he needs a sensory deprivation tank to sleep, his refusal to handle guilty or dishonest clients means that his law firm is constantly struggling, and he is dealing with a wreck of a personal life. Which is to say nothing of the fact that the poor guy is so miserable and downbeaten by life he can barely muster the energy to keep going.
* ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'', the poster for which provides the page image, asks what would happen if a group of ordinary teenage boys got superpowers. They initially use their newfound powers of [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] and [[FlyingBrick flight]] for an assortment of silly (and [[PowerPerversionPotential horny]]) hijinks until they [[AccidentalMurder accidentally get someone killed]], [[spoiler:at which point Andrew, the troubled one of the group, goes JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope and becomes the superpowered equivalent of a [[SpreeKiller mass shooter]]]].
* ''Film/{{Brightburn}}'' is a retelling of the ComicBook/{{Superman}} origin story, except with its SupermanSubstitute Brandon Breyer brought up without the wisdom of the Kents, instead being told all his life that he's "special". The result is a superhero SlasherMovie as Brandon starts to [[AGodAmI see himself as a god]], complete with a costume that resembles a parody of Superman's as designed by a backwoods SerialKiller. [[spoiler:TheStinger also reveals the existence of evil {{Captain Ersatz}}es of ComicBook/WonderWoman, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, and Franchise/TheFlash, as well as a heroic version of ComicBook/LexLuthor who vows to fight them.]]

* ''[[Film/Freaks2018 Freaks]]'' is a Canadian scifi/horror film [[spoiler:following a superpowered girl hiding from a future society that hunts and kills anyone suspected of having superpowers. Superpowers are widely viewed as nothing but a threat to the system and the general public.]] The government runs oppressive and pervasive security state complete with secret death camps and very unethical experimental labs. Even members of the public who seem opposed to the extermination policy still view superpowers with fear and disgust.
* ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' is about a super-powered individual (calling him "hero" would be a stretch) who's a total jerk because no one can force him to face any consequences. A big portion of the movie involves reforming him into more of a classic superhero, even to the point of him voluntarily serving jail time. He also meets up with another super in hiding who explains more about their background, including how there used to be more of their kind but most of them chose mortality over superpowers.
* ''Film/TheFlyingMan'' deconstructs multiple elements of superhero fiction, showing just how horrifying a [[SupermanSubstitute Superman-esque]] VigilanteMan would be, particularly if he had no aversion to killing and no respect for the law. The result is an inscrutable HumanoidAbomination whose brutal executions of criminals terrify the public, who are helpless to do anything about it.

* ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'', where a few thousand superhumans are suddenly and mysteriously dumped on the world, people who had vanished across fifty years of time.

* ''Series/TheBoys2019'', the TV adaptation of Creator/GarthEnnis' [[ComicBook/TheBoys comic book]], takes a lot of its superhero deconstruction and adds some more modern satire of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse media machine, which was an embryo at the time the comic was written but had grown into a pop culture touchstone since.

* ''[[Literature/{{Takotsubo}} Takotsubo: The story of a superhero]]'' deconstructs many elements of the superhero genre, especially its [[MonochromeCasting lack of racial diversity]]. Cord Cai is obviously a superhero thanks to suffering a tragic loss, being motivated to get justice for it, and becoming a vigilante. But Cord is a Chinese-American [[GenericEthnicCrimeGang gangster]] who'd be a stereotypical villain in much of American media, and it plays more like a DownerBeginning than a triumphant [[JumpedAtTheCall call to justice]]. He's DrivenToSuicide and [[UnwantedRescue desperately fights the paramedics]] who [[InterruptedSuicide take him to a psych ward]], he feels forced into revenge because the PoliceAreUseless (as a group, if not individually), and holds no illusions that he'll go to jail if he's caught for murder. [[WretchedHive Oakland needs a superhero for a VERY good reason.]]

MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction is a very similar concept, applied to the Japanese MagicalGirl genre.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'' series dealt with the prejudices and responsibilities which come from getting superpowers in real life. Most people react to the condition by going a little bit nuts while others try to hide their abilities. Cole attempts to help as many people as possible but has an extra-motivation for doing so [[spoiler: since everyone blames him for the destruction of Empire City]]. ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'' continues this trend as we watch Delsin become a superhero primarily because he hates the establishment but also to drum up support against the DUP. As long as the public thinks he's doing good, it's harder for the DUP to label him a bio-terrorist.

* ''[[Literature/{{Takotsubo}} Takotsubo: The story of a superhero]]'' deconstructs many elements of the superhero genre, especially its [[MonochromeCasting lack of racial diversity]]. Cord Cai is obviously a superhero thanks to suffering a tragic loss, being motivated to get justice for it, and becoming a vigilante. But Cord is a Chinese-American [[GenericEthnicCrimeGang a gangster]] who'd be a stereotypical villain in much of American media, and it plays more like a DownerBeginning than a triumphant [[JumpedAtTheCall call to justice]]. He's DrivenToSuicide and [[UnwantedRescue desperately fights the paramedics]] who [[InterruptedSuicide take him to a psych ward]], he feels forced into revenge because the PoliceAreUseless (as a group, if not individually), and holds no illusions that he'll go to jail if he's caught for murder. [[WretchedHive Oakland needs a superhero for a VERY good reason.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' followed a character equipped with all the powers of a superhero (something between the Incredible Hulk and a shoggoth) who was stuck in a city under lockdown by the military as well as PrivateMilitaryContractors. It showed a cynical view of good versus evil being a poor fit for a BlueAndOrangeMorality being that is an OutsideContextProblem for humanity.