What Makes The Perfect Super Team?

Recently I was at the movies and saw a trailer for this film called Rise of the Guardians. For those who haven’t seen the trailer it basically supposes that Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman and Jack Frost, along with performing their traditional holiday rolls also join forces to protect the children of the world. Essentially they form a super team. This got me to thinking about other classic super teams and what exactly makes them so great.

The keys to a great super team are its members. There are certain important archetypes that a team needs in order for it to be triumphant fighting force. You’ll see these same figures in the Justice League, the Avengers, the X-Men and even the Teen Titans. Without these different archetypes the team gets thrown out of balance and doesn’t quite work.

The first of these is something I like to refer to as the Legend. This is the team leader. The man or woman that all the other heroes would follow to hell and back. He inspires the other heroes when things are at their worst. Superman and Captain America are legends. They may not always be the most powerful members of the team, but for some reason when they talk, everyone else listens. And you need someone with that level of encouragement to lead others in battles. Super heroes regularly engage in life or death battles where the possibility of them not surviving is always present (see my death in comics entry). If there was not some clear voice motivating them to plunge once more into the breach they might just pack it in and go home.

Now while the Legend leads the troops, someone needs to come up with the actual battle plan. This is where the Tactician comes in. The Tactician is the brains of the group. They are the one with plans within plans within contingencies and has a back up for everything. A perfect example of the Tactician is Batman. Batman is famously paranoid in the comics. He has a plan not just how to take out every villain he comes up against but also his team mates as well (famously portrayed in JLA: Tower of Babel and the animated movie Justice League: Doom).

Following through on the Tactician’s plans and following the Legends lead is the Powerhouse. This is the big gun that just barrels right into battle punching and swinging wildly at every enemy that crosses their path. Excellent examples of the Powerhouse are Wonder Woman and Thor. Now I talked about Wonder Woman in a previous entry (see here) so I am going to focus on Thor. Thor is the god of thunder. He takes that hammer and smashes anyone in his path. It’s what he’s good at and it comes naturally to him. Just like Wonder Woman, Thor grew up in a warrior culture and was taught to fight at a young age.

Another important ingredient of the super team isn’t exactly an asset from a fighting standpoint but from a storytelling standpoint. This is the Rookie. The rookie is usually someone young and inexperienced, in many ways the opposite of the Legend, but who has the potential to someday be a great hero. The Rookie is the team member who is most like us the audience and helps bring us into the world of the heroes. In the Rise of the Guardians movie that character is Jack Frost. In the Justice League it can be someone like Black Canary or Green Arrow. For the Avengers, especially the movie, it was Black Widow and Bruce Banner (before he became the Hulk, then he shifted into Powerhouse position). Most of the time, the Rookie is out of place in the group, but rises to the occasion and proves they deserve their spot on the team.

Admit it. You'd try the same thing.

A final spot on the team is one I consider optional for most super teams but is fun to have all the same. That is the role of The Comedian (no, not the character from Watchmen). The Comedian is pretty self-explanatory. He or she is the comic relief. They are there to lighten the tension when the more ambitious egos on the team start to bash heads. Famous Comedians have been Flash and Plastic Man for the Justice League while Spider-Man usually tends to fill that roll for the Avengers.

At the same time these roles are important for a great super team, there doesn’t always have to be these exact versions. Some teams will have multiple Powerhouses or Rookies making up the support staff. Sometimes a single character will fulfill multiple roles for a single team. Reed Richards could easily be considered both Legend and Tactician, while Ben Grimm has been both Comedian and Powerhouse. Jonny Storm however is usually always the Comedian but he has been known to be the Rookie sometimes. It all comes down to how well these characters are used together.