In superhero role-playing games, such as Hero Games' Champions, Green Ronin

Types of superheroes

In superhero role-playing games, such as Hero Games' Champions, Green Ronin Publishing's Mutants and Masterminds, Cryptic Studios' MMORPG City of Heroes and Champions Online, superheroes are formally organized into categories or archetypes based on their skills and abilities. Since comic book and role-playing fandom often overlap, these labels have carried over into discussions of superheroes outside the context of games:^{[citation needed]}

Plastic Man's shapeshifting abilities have often been used for humorous effect. Plastic Man #17 (May 1949). Cover art by Jack Cole.

• Armored hero: A gadgeteer whose powers are derived from a suit of powered armor; e.g., Iron Man and Steel.
• Blaster: A hero whose main power is a distance attack, usually an "energy blast"; e.g., Cyclops, Starfire, and Static.
• Brick/tank: A character with a superhuman degree of strength and endurance and usually an oversized muscular body; e.g., The Hulk, The Thing, Colossus and Citizen Steel. Almost every superhero team has one member of this variety, a point X-Factor's Guido Carosella noted when he took the codename "Strong Guy" at a reporter's suggestion that this was his role in the team.
• Elementalist: A hero who controls some natural element or part of the natural world; e.g., Storm (weather), Magneto (magnetism), Swamp Thing (vegetation), the Human Torch (fire), Iceman (ice).
• Gadgeteer: A hero who invents special equipment that often imitates superpowers; e.g., Nite Owl, Batman, and Iron Man.
• Healer: A hero who is able to quickly recover from serious injury; e.g., Lobo, Wolverine, Deadpool. This may also be a hero whose primary ability is to heal others; e.g., Elixir.
• Mage: A hero who is trained in the use of magic; e.g., Doctor Fate, Doctor Strange, Zatanna.
• Marksman: A hero who uses projectile weapons, typically guns, bows and arrows or throwing blades; e.g., Green Arrow, Hawkeye and The Punisher.
• Martial artist: A hero whose physical abilities are mostly human rather than superhuman but whose hand-to-hand combat skills are phenomenal. Some of these characters are actually superhuman (Iron Fist, and Daredevil), while others are human beings who are extremely skilled and athletic (Batman and related characters, Elektra, and Shang Chi).
• Mecha/robot pilot: A hero who controls a giant robot, a subtype common in Japanese superhero and science fiction media; e.g., Megas XLR, Big Guy.
• Mentalist: A hero who possesses psionic abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and extra-sensory perception; e.g., Professor X, Jean Grey, and Raven.
• Paragon: A hero who possesses the basic powers of super-strength, flight and invulnerability. They are considered to be one of the most powerful of the superhero types: consisting of such heroes as the extraterrestrials Superman and Martian Manhunter; the magically-fuelled Captain Marvel; or the relatively unknown Hancock.
• Possessed: A hero who harbors an entity inside of him/herself; e.g., Etrigan the Demon, Ghost Rider, Spectre.
• Rider: A hero who rides either a powerful vehicle, like Ghost Rider; or rides a very unique creature, like Shining Knight.
• Shapeshifter: A hero who can manipulate his/her own body to suit his/her needs, such as stretching (Plastic Man, Mister Fantastic, Elongated Man), or disguise (Changeling/Morph, Mystique). Other such shapeshifters can transform into animals (Beast Boy) or inorganic materials (Metamorpho).
• Size changer: A hero who can alter his/her size; e.g., the Atom (shrinking only), Colossal Boy, Giganta (growth only), Hank Pym (both).
• Slasher: A hero whose main power is some form of hand-to-hand cutting weapon—either devices, such as knives or swords, (Elektra, Katana) or natural, such as claws (Wolverine).
• Speedster: A hero possessing superhuman speed and reflexes; e.g., The Flash, and Quicksilver.
• Mastermind/super genius: A hero possessing superhuman intelligence or intellect; e.g., Professor X, Forge, Brainiac 5.
• Teleporter: A hero who is able to teleport from point A to point B to point C, etc; e.g., some teleport due to their own body chemistry, Nightcrawler, others teleport via telekinetic energy Mysterio.

These categories often overlap. For instance, Batman is both a skilled martial artist and gadgeteer, and Hellboy has the strength and durability of a brick and some mystic abilities or powers, similar to a mage. Wolverine fits into both the slasher and healing categories. Very powerful characters—such as Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Dr. Manhattan, and the Silver Surfer—can be listed in many categories. Flying, super-strong, invulnerable heroes such as Superman and Captain Marvel are sometimes in a category all their own, known as "Paragons" or "Originals" (as they were some of the earliest heroes in comics). Another possibility is that Superman is a "Paragon" and a "Blaster" (heat vision and super-breath), Captain Marvel is a "Paragon" and a "Mage" (the Power of Shazam), and Hancock is a "Paragon" and a "Healer" (immortality).