We as a species exhibit a unique characteristic of being able to fantasize; we create fictional characters able to wield fantastic powers that are more often than not used to defeat evil. It is perhaps our way of conceptualizing our own personal weaknesses by extolling character traits that we imagine ourselves lacking. One or the most famous of these characters would have to be Superman!

Superman: Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound now that one always confused me somewhat given the fact Superman could fly, why on earth would he need to leap anything tall in a single bound? Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive; few of us as children would not have imagined ourselves possessing such amazing superpowers. Naturally we all represented the cause of truth, justice and the American way and with the advent of television from the 1950's all the amazing comic book feats of this famous superhero came to life.

Batman: Another comic book hero that came to life with television and of course an action hero emulated by many young boys across the globe. I recall spending a great deal of time and energy as a child attempting to climb the side of my house using string and my own homemade version of the bat-boomerang' that seemed to go every direction but that which I intended. Thinking back on this unwise course of action I can only be thankful these attempts were unsuccessful but he was one of my personal heroes at that time.

Spider man: This famous character came back to life with a series of three feature films recently, and of course the equally fantastic villains such as the green lantern' filled the expectations of fans all over the world. Spider man is an ambiguous sort of creature where one is never quite sure if these super powers' are more of a disadvantage than anything positive given how unstable the spider-senses' seem to behave when needed. An interesting character that nevertheless ranks among the famous regardless of these minor inconveniences where his power suddenly deserts when it seems they are most needed.

Darth Vader: Conceptualizes the entire Star Wars phenomena and represents the entire spectrum of evil against which we all imagine ourselves fighting against. Little need to mention Luke, Han and the rest of the gang because without the redoubtable Darth Vader there would be nothing to fight against. Spielberg created a marvelous villain that proved almost as popular as the heroes in this science

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about The most famous science fiction characters?
We want to hear your view. Write now!