With great power, something, something.
The Omega Superhero series by Darius Brasher is a series set in a world where superheroes, called Metas, are licensed operatives of the government, capable of using their powers only after an extensive period of training, followed by an apprenticeship, then a grueling test called The Trials. Theodore Conley is a seventeen-year-old young man who discovers, after manifesting his powers in a bathroom fight with some bullies, that he is an Omega and one of the most powerful superhumans alive.
Also set in the world is the Superhero Detective series starring Truman Lord. A Hardboiled Detective with the power to control water, Truman doesn't have a secret identity yet operates openly as a Hero. He takes on a number of superhuman-related cases over the course of his series with the help of his occasional partner and Catwoman Expy Shadow.
Books in the Omega Superhero series:
- Caped
- Trials
- Sentinels
- Rogues
Books in the Superhero Detective series:
- Superhero Detective For Hire
- The Missing Exploding Girl
- Killshot
- Hunted
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Both Series
- Antihero: Both heroes tried to be idealists. Both failed.
- Black-and-Gray Morality: A number of books have ended with the revelation the villains were superheroes protecting their reputations or what they perceived as the greater good.
- Cape Punk: A setting of contrasts between Smug Super heroes and monstrous supervillains with a few insisting on being The Paragon despite it.
- City of Adventure: Astor City a.k.a the former city of Baltimore was rebuilt after an alien invasion and has since become the largest, most prosperous city in the world. It's also the center for almost all superhuman crime.
- Expy: The Sentinels serve as this for the Justice League and Avengers.
- Fantastic Racism: Exists against both Metas as well as superheroes in general.
- Mutant Draft Board: A Downplayed Trope version as all people who want to use their powers must be licensed heroes.
- Super Registration Act: One of these is in force for the world and averting it is a federal crime.
The Omega Superhero
- Ambiguously Evil: The Sentinels actions become increasingly questionable throughout Trials as we discover that a large number of the candidates dying during them is no exaggeration. confirmed when it's discovered Mechano, Seer, and Millennium are behind attempts on Robbie's life that claimed many innocents' lives.
- Broken Pedestal: Theo gets one of these when he finds out his father was murdered by Mechano and Seer.
- The Chosen One: Theo turns out to be this as the Omega Force raised his powers to godlike levels.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Doctor Alchemy does one which may qualify as
Crosses the Line Twice due to the fact he has his wife's rapist and murderer gang-raped by a crowd of pasersby then eaten alive. - Cool Old Guy: Captain Amazing who is literally "Old Guy" to Theo and serves as The Obi-Wan.
- Darker and Edgier: The stories gradually become this as Theo realizes only a few superheroes are The Paragon like he thought.
- Did Not Think This Through: Mechano and Seer murder the father of the most powerful superhuman in the world and later his girlfriend. While they were attempting to get a better candidate for powers, all it did was make him hate them.
- Driven to Suicide: Myth's sister in his backstory.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Inherits one from Avatar with the help of Truman Lord.
- Fate Worse than Death: Theo tries to inflict these instead of Thou Shall Not Kill. Sadly, all of the villains he does it to get free thanks to Doctor Alchemy.
- Flying Brick: Averted, actually, despite the fact he can duplicate most of their powers. Theo is a superpowerful telekinetic and could, theoretically, move the moon if he had enough of a will to do it. This allows him to fly and duplicate feats of strength which normal super-strong characters can't. This is possibly a reference to the Connor Kent Superboy who had "tactile telekinesis."
- Friends with Benefits: Smoke and Theo have this relationship. Smoke is fine with it this way until Theo falls in love and wants a Relationship Upgrade. She dies before this can happen.
- Misplaced Retribution: Doctor Alchemy forms a murder squad to go after Theo in Rogues to avenge his dead daughter. This despite the fact Theo had nothing to do with it. Subverted by Doctor Alchemy killing Seer.
- The Paragon: How the Old Man presents superheroes. The truth is there's a lot of Smug Super characters and some who are outright evil. Played straight with Avatar and the original Omega who were Expy for Superman.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Elemental Man has a demeaning view of blacks, especially black women, and is called "Hitler Youth" in Theo's head.
- Professional Killer: Iceburn serves as one of these and is very good at his job.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Played straight with the revelation that Elemental Man is Myth's stepbrother and raped his sister (which resulted in her Driven to Suicide).
- Stuffed In A Fridge: Smoke dies horribly in order to make Theo suffer despite the fact it does nothing to further their plans.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: Theo holds to this attitude tremendously except when dealing with a What Measure Is a Non-Human? robot.
- Training from Hell: The first two books focus on this as Theo is put through a grueling boot camp designed to drive most Metas out and leave only the best.
- Villain Respect: Iceburn develops a case of this for Theodore after the latter cripples him for life. Sadly, he gets better.
- You Killed My Father: Theo hates Iceburn more than anyone else on the planet due to the fact he killed his father.
The Superhero Detective series
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Shadow and Truman have this sort of relationship, often flirting on the job in-between insults.
- Blackmail: Truman's first case deals with a meta who can record his sexual sessions with older women and how he uses them to blackmail them. One of them was a superhero who killed him versus ruining her reputation.
- Broken Pedestal: Lady Justice, a crush of Truman's since middle school, turns out to have murdered her lover in order to protect her reputation from the fact she paid for sex.
- Classy Cat-Burglar: Shadow is one of these but subverted with the fact she's also a wetworks woman for the government and occasional assassin.
- Dating Catwoman: Averted as Shadow and Truman are Just Friends.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: A religious fundamentalist drives his daughter out of their house for being born different while his wife refuses to intervene.
- Downer Ending: Truman Lord fails to save Carol in The Missing Exploding Girl and she dies in a suicidal attack on her tormentors.
- Elemental Powers: Truman Lord is a hydrokinetic, which gives him power over all water in the nearby vicinity.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Truman isn't adverse to this as he does so to avenge Avatar's death.
- The Fundamentalist: Jacobins think of Metas as children of the devil.
- Hardboiled Detective: A classic gumshoe in the modern era despite having superpowers and being a licensed hero.
- I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Truman has this sort of feeling regarding Carol's death. It also serves as My Greatest Failure.
- Not Wearing Tights: Truman is the only Hero who doesn't, living under his regular name in the phone book.
- Private Detective: This is Theo's job and he does a very good job at it.
- Satellite Love Interest: Ginny is a character who has no role in the story other than to be the girl which Truman dates and occasionally unloads his thoughts to.
- The Sociopath: Killshot is a homicidal psychopath and Professional Killer who plans to murder everyone who shows up to Truman Lord's funeral just because he mildly inconvenienced her.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: Like Theo, Truman isn't a man who kills. He wonders if this isn't a stupid policy given some of the monsters he's dealt with.
- Twist Ending: It turned out Avatar was murdered by his girlfriend, who had been paid to do so by the Spider, only for her to betray him in order to gain his billions. Truman proceeds to get her confession at gunpoint before shooting her and framing her.
