Superhero Picker
Who gets the splash page?
Who is on the page?
Tap heroes to add or remove their panel (up to 12).
Not which hero already exists — which one you are about to be. Keep the powers you would secretly love to have, press Make the Splash, and a BAM! star streaks across the issue before landing a hit on one panel. That hero takes over the cover — and that is who you are this issue.
- Drawing prompts
- Playground roles
- Story building
Not which hero exists — which one you are about to invent
Most superhero pickers hand you a name off a list you already know. This one hands you a power, because that is the part you can actually build on. Land on Shapeshifter and you have a character to draw, a role to play and a problem to solve. Land on Tech Genius and you have a hero with no powers at all and a much harder job.
How a hero gets the splash
Switch archetypes and named heroes on or off, or add your own. The panels re-draw themselves to fit.
A BAM! star streaks across the page and loses speed, shaking each panel it crosses.
The rest of the issue fades and your hero explodes across the full page under a banner.
The twelve archetypes, and what each one costs
Almost every hero ever written is a variation on a small set of powers. What makes them interesting is never the power itself — it is the thing the power cannot fix. Use the right-hand column as the seed for your character.
| Archetype | The power | The built-in problem |
|---|---|---|
| Speedster | Outruns everything | Cannot slow down for the people who need them to |
| Powerhouse | Strength without limit | Every solution is a blunt one |
| Telepath | Reads minds | Knows exactly what everyone really thinks of them |
| Tech Genius | Builds the answer | No powers — if the gear fails, so do they |
| Shapeshifter | Becomes anyone | Slowly loses track of who they started as |
| Master Archer | Never misses | Brings a bow to a superpower fight |
| Mystic Sorcerer | Bends the rules | Every spell has a price, and it always comes due |
| Winged Flyer | Freedom of the sky | Useless indoors, and a target outdoors |
| Shadow Stalker | Never seen coming | Trusted by nobody, including the other heroes |
| Elementalist | Commands nature | Cannot use it anywhere near bystanders |
| Gadgeteer | Right tool, every time | Only as good as what they packed this morning |
| Anti-Hero | Gets results | Nobody wants them at the celebration afterwards |
A note on the artwork. Every icon here is an original, generic power symbol — a bolt, a bow, a pair of wings, a wrist device, a toolbox. Nothing depicts or imitates any licensed character design or logo. Character names are shown for identification only and remain the property of their respective owners; this is an unofficial fan tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
Ways people use it
- Invent an original hero. Take the power and the problem next to it, and you already have a character with a conflict.
- Drawing challenges. Draw the power rather than a copy of someone else's character.
- Playground and party roles. Settles the "I want to be the strong one" argument before it starts.
- Tabletop and improv. Roll a hero type and play the whole scene as them.
- Writing prompts. Give the power to someone who absolutely should not have it.
The six heroes from outside the big two
Not every famous hero comes from Marvel or DC. The six named heroes on this page come from manga, TV and film, and each one is built around an idea the archetypes above can borrow:
- Astro Boy — a robot boy with rocket boots, created by Osamu Tezuka for manga in the early 1950s and one of the first anime TV stars in 1963. The idea: a hero who is more human than the humans.
- Power Rangers — a team of teenagers who first morphed on American TV in 1993. The idea: no one wins alone.
- Kim Possible — a high-school student who saves the world between classes, from 2002. The idea: skill and nerve instead of powers.
- Danny Phantom — a teenager turned half-ghost by an accident in his parents’ lab, from 2004. The idea: a secret identity that is also a secret from your family.
- The Incredibles — a whole family of supers, first seen in the 2004 film. The idea: powers are easy; family life is hard.
- Ben 10 — a ten-year-old whose alien watch turns him into different creatures, from 2005. The idea: one hero, many power sets.
Why the power matters more than the costume
Ask a room of children what superpower they want and nobody hesitates. Ask which hero they want to be and they will name whoever they saw most recently. The power is the part people genuinely have an opinion about, and it is the part that makes a story move — a character who can fly has different problems from one who can read minds, before either of them has a name or a cape.
It is also the part you are allowed to own. Nobody invented flight or super strength; they are shared furniture that every generation rearranges. Starting from an archetype means whatever you build next is yours.
Every hero gets an equal shot
The Speedster is not faster to the splash page than the Gadgeteer. Your hero is drawn by a crypto random pick over the panel positions before the BAM! star moves, the line-up is dealt into new panels each run, and the star flies all the way to whichever panel won — edge, corner or centre. Tap the shield under the comic page to read the receipt for any draw.
More hero and character pickers
After specific characters instead of powers? Try these:
- Want the Marvel roster? Spin the Marvel Character Picker.
- Prefer DC? Try the DC Character Picker.
- Just the powers, in more detail? Roll the Superpower Picker.
- Fancy the other side? Run the Villain Picker.
- Want more? Browse all random pickers.