Did it start with Batman?
This is a very uneducated question, but was Batman the first vigilante type character in a series who was motivated by a murder or murders, either of family members, or whomever? I ask partly because...
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Doc Savage's father's death in the first novel makes him one of the earlier revenge origins arguably, but it seems Doc Savage had long decided to act as an adventurer long before then. Dick Tracy...
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The Lone Ranger (1933) is motivated by the death of all the other Texas Rangers killed at the massacre (by Butch Cavendish's gang) that almost killed him Captain Nemo in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under...
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Dr Acula wrote:The Lone Ranger (1933) is motivated by the death of all the other Texas Rangers killed at the massacre (by Butch Cavendish's gang) that almost killed him Captain Nemo in Twenty Thousand...
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Regarding The Phantom, IIRC the original incarnation of the character was a 16th century sailor, who saw his father (the captain of the ship he served on) killed by Singh Pirates. He subsequently fell...
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Those answers are very helpful. Even though it's a very appealing idea, I do think it's been run into the ground. To put the question the opposite way, are there a lot of crime fighter stories that...
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Grant wrote: are there many where a character just "becomes" a crime fighter, without that back story about a murder? Dick Wentworth, aka The Spider, had no specific murder to avenge that I'm aware...
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I will likely be shot down by the far more knowledgeable Sherlockian scholars here, but off the top of my head I think Holmes is a good example of a crime fighter who was not motivated by revenge so...
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Like you, I don't know for certain, but I don't think he was either. At least, in the original stories. Of course, The Seven Per-Cent Solution fooled around with that idea, and maybe some others.
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Yeah, in The Canon he's just a Brainiac who decides to go after Bad Guys.
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Grant wrote:Those answers are very helpful. Even though it's a very appealing idea, I do think it's been run into the ground. To put the question the opposite way, are there a lot of crime fighter...
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Thank you for amending my failure to credit those panels. -mj
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HalLane wrote:Grant wrote: are there many where a character just "becomes" a crime fighter, without that back story about a murder? Dick Wentworth, aka The Spider, had no specific murder to avenge...
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Wich2 wrote:Yeah, in The Canon he's just a Brainiac who decides to go after Bad Guys.Although William Gillette played up the adventure element, in the original stories he fakes his death after...
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Amentep wrote:Grant wrote:Those answers are very helpful. Even though it's a very appealing idea, I do think it's been run into the ground. To put the question the opposite way, are there a lot of...
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Amentep wrote: Superman became a superhero without a revenge motiff (as did Wonder Woman and Captain America, IIRC) To be fair, Cap did feel duty bound to avenge the murder of the unfortunate Dr....
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There's also the "Robin Hood" origin in which a person of wealth affects a disguise to fight for the oppressed. The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro follow this tradition.
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HalLane wrote:Amentep wrote: Superman became a superhero without a revenge motiff (as did Wonder Woman and Captain America, IIRC) To be fair, Cap did feel duty bound to avenge the murder of the...
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Adapted from Jabootu.net Even though it's a very appealing idea, I do think it's been run into the ground. I think there are a lot of motivating factors other than revenge; revenge just sets up a nice...
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