So You Want To Be A Superhero

By Clark Kent

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Uniform

For many people, part of the attraction of becoming a Superhero is the chance to wear outfits that they would normally never wear in public. A mask, a bodysuit and a cloak (usually knee or ankle length) are what people think of when they imagine being a Superhero, but how true is this?

Superhero outfits serve a wide variety of purposes. At the most basic level, they serve as identification. Most superheroes use the same uniform (or variants thereof) throughout their career. Even those who use a large number of outfits (Yes, Tony, I'm looking at you,) tend to have an overarching theme. Many also have specific icons such as my own family crest (which is based on the old Kryptonian symbol for Hope) or the circled X worn by those associated with Xavier's School for the Gifted and which appear on each iteration of their uniforms.

However, it is the uniforms themselves that are important.

A uniform for a successful Superhero is usually one that is designed for utility. Pockets and pouches are very important, it is too easy to find oneself with a piece of evidence that you need to place in a pocket for transport, only to have nowhere to put it. The advantages of armor plating and impact padding cannot be over-emphasized, but at the same time, care must be taken to ensure that mobility is not restricted. Many attacks can penetrate armor, but no attack can damage something that isn't actually there to be hit.

The most common versions of armor at the time of writing tend to emphasize protecting the vitals (torso and head) with lighter armor on arms and legs to protect against glancing attacks. Greaves and bracers can be used both as shields and clubs in close-range combat and as such are used by a large number of heroes. Some bracers are integrated into gauntlets such as the ones used by Steve Rogers in addition to his shield.

The placement of pockets and pouches can have a serious effect on how one acts in the field. While the urge to have dozens of pockets acting as extra armor may be attractive at first glance, having too many pockets can lead to the dreaded Pocket Dance, a frantic search of all the various pockets while other people point at you and laugh. If you must have more than five or six pockets, make certain that you have a system for what goes where and drill yourself in it until it becomes pure reflex and you can do it blindfolded while hanging upside-down. To help save you from embarrasment, a standard utility belt is available via Xanatos Industries to those allied with the Xavier Institute which comes pre-equipped with several tools and items that shared experience has proven essential for fieldwork. At the very least, a first-aid kit should be carried while on duty (and preferably when off-duty as well).

The carrying of items such as bow-and-arrow, swords or a staff usually mitigates against wearing a cape. It is highly recommended that Speedsters and those who rely on any type of parkour/free-running to move around do not wear a cape either, in no small part due to the risk of it snagging. Several heroes I have met have abandoned the wearing of capes after finding themselves dangling helplessly or jerked off their feet while in hot pursuit. For those who do wear capes, the addition of tug-release fasteners is highly recommended to the point of being the default of any cape-equipped uniform created by Xanatos Industries (Metahuman division).

Body straps are another stylistic choice which have both advantages and disadvantages. Straps act as good anchoring points for extra pouches, tools or weapons but too many of them tend to attract innuendo-filled jokes about the wearer's private life. As a general rule, more than three body- or limb-straps is probably a bad idea. A similar rule applies to belts and while an outfit that seems to consist mainly of belts may seem cool to a newly-empowered teenager, the amount of time needed to undo all the belts will usually lead to a re-design with far less buckles and straps (especially if they find themselves needing an urgent bathroom break).

Helmets or hoods feature in many uniforms, often integrated with masks. Most feature armor to help reduce or negate damage caused by a blow to the head while others include sensors for full situational awareness.

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Once the physical design of the outfit is taken care of, the next question is the mask. For those who wish to keep their civilian identity secret, a mask is almost mandatory. The very few who don't wear a mask have to find other ways to conceal their civilian identity, usually through obscurity. In my case, none of my students guessed that their sports teacher was a Superhero until it was leaked. However, this is not a method that I would recommend for others.

Masks come in many shapes and functions. The most basic ones obscure enough of the face to reduce the chance of being identified out of costume, but for those willing to learn how to use them, they can be so much more.

Many masks include comm-systems and basic HUD's to aid teamwork in the field. As the mask gets more advanced, the things it can do increase. The high-level masks currently in use not only incorporate multiple sensor clusters, heads-up-displays and alternate vision modes, they also include special facial-following microstructures that allow the expression of the mask to mirror that of the wearer.

Be aware that masks can do more harm than good if badly designed. Loose-fitting masks can easily slip (or be pulled out of position), thus turning from a disguise into a de-facto blindfold. If made from the wrong materiels, they can be highly flammable or turn transparent when wet (which is a very bad idea if you are attempting to maintain a secret identity). If it is a full-face mask but it is too tight or too thick, you may find yourself unable to communicate clearly. Being unable to tell an armed and highly nervous cop that you are actually a hero could prove to be rather painful.

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Even after all this is taken into account, there is still the color scheme and (optional) icon to consider. The color scheme often reflects the sort of hero you aspire to become. Bright primary colors are generally for those who act in the public eye, striding forth to right wrongs, provide assistance and engage the villains in classic hand-to-hand combat. For the heroes who prefer a more stealthy approach, darker colors predominate, thus allowing them to fade into the shadows as they observe, hunting the masterminds behind the street-level thugs.

Stripes of color can act to break up the outline of the wearer, making them harder to spot when they are using cover or can be simple style choices intended to highlight whichever attributes the wearer seeks to draw attention to. Things like dots are far less common, mainly because range-attack-capable villains seem to enjoy using the dots as targets. As such, designs with multiple circles are frowned upon for the wearer's own safety.