Forget the Superhero, I want to be a Nemesis

Forget all the lame notions one thinks up upon the weekly superhero fantasy. Put on hold for a moment the unimportant details usually over inked and absurdly distant from what any insane individual would deem normal. Forget the color of the boots, the option of the cape and, must we not forget, the trademark. These details are of secondary importance when it comes to the question of the real core nature of the superhero. Batman comes as close as I can tell to the unadulterated superhero stigma. The conflicted back story, for the most part simple costume and an almost personal vendetta against crime.

However, there is one aspect Batman possesses which truly separates him, and those like him, from the rest. This aspect can be found in the mysterious nature which superheros like Batman possess. These superheros remain, for the most part, un-known. They do not show up in full garb to public parades and the new Macy's opening, one will not precede their name with the phrase, "friendly neighborhood," and most important, regardless of what side one finds them self on, they're perpetually left to wonder whether these sort of superheros are with them or against them.

The local authorities cannot openly endorse them because these superheros don't always turn their catch over to the authorities. The "good" superheros will not adopt them because, for one, they don't show for local meetings, and secondly, and most importantly, when it comes to the question of justice and retribution, these superheros are a one man judge, jury and appeals system all wrapped up into one decision based on cause and effect, black and white sense of vindication, slime-ball stopping, moron shunting machine.

These superheros don't answer to anyone, will not defer to a higher voice and are, many times, very pissed off and most likely basing their actions and decisions within negative associations projected onto the fools of society. In short, these guys kill people.

The police do not kill people, that would be an utter contradiction, for the police are simply the base intake medium for the entire, overarching judicial system. For a police officer to openly kill a villain, even if there is absolutely no doubt as to his or her guilt, the action would serve to shatter the system that as its core states, "innocent until proven guilty." In this case, the officer is not the prover, he or she is simply the agent that retrieves the file.

The "good" superheros cannot kill people because somewhere in their code it is alluded to that if a hero kills, even though the victim may be bad, that hero has taken a step toward what they are attempting to fight against and a paradox is produced which will ultimately smear the hero. However, the Batmans of the world, do not associate themselves with the police or the "good" heros. At the end of the day, they just are. These superheros are simply machines of momentary and likely definitive justice carried out in a further instant act of concrete retribution, sometimes resulting in the death of the perpetrator.

This, I feel, is the core of the superhero. Everything else is just a symptom. If I were a superhero, I would most likely resemble Batman far more than superman. Superman may be able to fly, but Batman can make decisions. The Batmans of the superheros command true respect. A respect born out of general fear. They run off a basis which feels that the rights of man will more closely be respected if the fear of death is a motivator.

The superhero that truly gets the job done is not some unpaid police force extension aiding the FBI in unsolved mysteries when their union won't allow them to work double shifts. The true superhero becomes the only force that can truly fight against evil, the true superhero is simply a nemesis ("something that a person cannot conquer, achieve" and "an agent or act of retribution or punishment"). The bad can conquer the justice system. It is far too overpopulated and at the end of the day, money talks. However, no one can conquer a nemesis. When what you have done is deserving of death, or more importantly, the nemesis may feel is deserving of death, one finds them self treading lighter.

When the superhero lurks in a darker, lower place than even the evil of society one can truly feel that balance is one step closer to being achieved. When the darkness one traverses in evil deeds gains the potential to reach out and pull lower than even the evil thought possible, one will find a true superhero. The true fear of the evil is the reality that their evil just may produce a nemesis that will end them. At this point, the police are simply there to clean up the mess.