Curated playlist
Fictional characters with superhuman strength
- She-RaFor the honor of Grayskull, I am She-Ra. Those words, spoken to a sword, turn a soldier named Adora into the superheroine of the Masters of the Universe franchise. She-Ra began as a toy line and a minicomic. She then became the star of two…
- Frankenstein's monsterFrankenstein's monster has no name of his own. Within a decade of the novel, audiences used his maker's name.
- GokuSon Goku, the hero of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, made his debut on the 3rd of December 1984. The first chapter, titled Bulma and Son Goku, ran in Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. On the page stood an eccentric boy with a monkey's…
- Akuma (Street Fighter)Akuma, a Street Fighter villain, was designed in just one hour. His face was modeled on a Buddha statue.
- He-ManHe-Man, the muscle-bound hero of the Masters of the Universe franchise, changes from a prince into a champion with one spoken oath. Prince Adam raises his Power Sword and declares, "By the power of Grayskull..." Then comes the second half…
- Dante (Devil May Cry)Dante of Devil May Cry was almost a Western policeman. His early name was Tony Redgrave.
- Albert WeskerAlbert Wesker begins the original Resident Evil of 1996 as an ally. As captain of a police special forces unit, he hands the player supplies and useful information. That helpfulness is a disguise. Wesker was created by the Japanese game…
- Juri (Street Fighter)Capcom's team went through 400 to 500 ideas before settling on Street Fighter's Juri Han.
- ZangiefOne player's 85 straight wins with Zangief made Capcom weaken him in Street Fighter II.
- Ichigo KurosakiIchigo Kurosaki was not meant to be the hero of Bleach. Creator Tite Kubo first planned Rukia Kuchiki as the lead.
- Pyramid HeadPyramid Head, the Silent Hill 2 monster, exists to punish one man: James Sunderland. He grows from James's guilt.
- Guts (Berserk)Guts, the hero of the manga Berserk, was born from his hanged mother's corpse. His adoptive father later sold him.
- Mega Man (character)Mega Man was almost not called Mega Man. A Capcom USA executive called the Japanese name Rockman "horrible".
- Cloud StrifeCloud Strife's heroic identity was built from a dead friend's life.
- Satoru GojoSatoru Gojo, often called The Honored One, is a fictional sorcerer from Gege Akutami's manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen. In August 2024, Shueisha held its fourth Jujutsu Kaisen character popularity poll, and Gojo came first with…
- Kratos (God of War)Kratos, the scarred, ash-white Spartan at the center of Santa Monica Studio's God of War series, began as a set of rough drawings on restaurant napkins. Charlie Wen had forgotten his sketchbook, so he drew on whatever the table offered.…
- Judge HoldenJudge Holden may have been a living man, a borrowed name, or only a rumor that one soldier wrote down. The proof that he existed at all rests on a single memoir. More than a century after that memoir was finished, the novelist Cormac…
- Eric NorthmanAlexander Skarsgård first auditioned for True Blood as Bill Compton, not Eric Northman. The showrunner saw Eric.
- MarioShigeru Miyamoto once reflected on a name he had considered for Mario and concluded that the character likely would have "disappeared off the face of the Earth." Mario is the mustached Italian plumber who stars in the Mario franchise and…
- Monkey D. LuffyMonkey D. Luffy is the rubber-bodied hero of the manga One Piece, created by Eiichiro Oda, and his story starts with a promise made by a small boy. In Windmill Village, in the Goa kingdom, young Luffy befriends a pirate called Red-Haired…