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Forum namePass The Popcorn
Topic subjectnever heard of him.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=6&topic_id=134958&mesg_id=136116
136116, never heard of him.
Posted by buckshot defunct, Sat Dec-31-05 09:17 PM
Sorry... I was meaning to reply to this earlier. Forgot. Let's see here...

>>>"I'm thinking specifically here whether Harry Potter can be considered a kind of superhero, since he is set apart from "normal" human beings, even if he is just a regular ol wizard. I guess within the wizard world, he is a HERO but since everyone of that world is magically-inclined, he doesn't "completely" stand apart, even if his did survive Voldemort when noone else could. "<<<

See, I'm wondering if this should even be brought into consideration. Let's compare these points to Superman. I choose Superman because I'm pretty sure we can all agree that he is, without question, a super-hero.

Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, can leap tall buildings in a single bound, etc etc... so in that sense he is most definitely set apart from the "normal" world.

Set in a "real world" context, Superman is fantastic.

But set in Superman's world, on the other hand...

He hangs out with the Justice League, he fights aliens, wizards, evil geniuses and giant gorillas on a regular basis, protecting a planet that's very existence seems to be threatened on a daily basis etc. etc. So you could possibly argue the point that in Superman's world, he's not really all that special.

I don't know if Harry Potter is a "superhero" or not. But I do think that the "super" aspect should be determined based on a real-world context, not the fictional one the stories are set in.