Is Superman a ripoff!

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LordDracula

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The answer is no.Many characters are inspired in fiction.Akira was inspired by Journey To The West,Monkey King, and Superman to create DBZ.Just like Superman creators were inspired by Tarzan (Mostly),John Carter, Gladaitor,and Dr.Savage.Tarzan was once called Superman by Jane Porter in 1912 pulp novel called Tarzan of the Apes.Edgar Rice Burroughs influenced the creators of superman.Edgar Rice Burroughs is the one who wrote Tarzan and John Carter.Superman and Tarzan simaraties.Both Superman and Tarzan are raised by adoptive parents.They are both orphans from a distant land. TARZAN IS SUPERIOR TO APES,JUST LIKE SUPERMAN IS SUPERIOR TO HUMANS.BOTH HAVE LOVE INTERESTS Lois/Jane.Not mention both wear iconic and unusual clothing.I can go on about this.For example the movie avatar by James Cameron is Superman reverse.I copy and pasted from a websiteBurroughs is one of the founding fathers of the modern superhero (and superhero merchandising), and his work directly inspired comics creators like Lee & Kirby and Siegel & Shuster. Cameron's Jake Sully is not only a future-tech reincarnation (or 'avatar') of Burroughs' heroes like John Carter and Tarzan, he's as much of an evolution away from Siegel and Shuster's Superman as Superman was from characters like Tarzan. In many ways, Sully is Superman in reverse:

• Superman was the powerful alien who came to Earth from his dying planet and takes on the identity of a meek and mild mannered reporter (a geek in other words).

• But Jake Sully is the disabled Earthman who travels to a planet filled with powerful aliens and takes on the identity of a fierce alien warrior.

• His Lois Lane is a fierce alien warrior princess and his Jimmy Olsen is an excitable Earth-geek in Pandoran drag. His Jor-El mentor figure is Sigourney Weaver, who herself is playing the reverse of her Ripley character from the Aliens films.

• Avatar's Lex Luthor (Colonel Quaritch) is similar in motivation to Grant Morrison's take - world domination is his right and privilege and Sully/Superman is an alien interloper (or worse, a race traitor) standing in his way. Like Luthor and Superman they start off as allies.

• As a bonus, maybe you can toss in Selfridge (pronounced "self-rich") as Sully's Perry White (or better yet, his J. Jonah Jameson).sourceThe Secret Sun: Avatar, or Superman in Reverse. Just like Darth Vader is inspired by Dr.Doom,the relationship between Darth Vader/Luke is taken from Darkseid/ORION relationship. NOT mention Inception is inspired by the anime Paprika.Matrix is inspired by Ghost In Shell. FICTION IS LIKE A TREE,ALWAYS A NEW BRANCH IS CREATED.For more superman inspirations vist here.Other heroes and their possible influence on Superman.Here is anotherhttp://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-villains-real-life-inspiration/

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LordDracula

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#2  Edited By LordDracula

http://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-villains-real-life-inspiration/

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hatemalingsia

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Ok.

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Battle_Forum_Junkie

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I already knew about most of these, but it was still very informative.

I haven't seen anyone say that Superman Is a rip-off, though. Most of the time it's people acusing other characters of being rip-offs of Superman.

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ariesxmasters

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#6  Edited By ariesxmasters

Even if he was it wouldn't make a difference or take away from the character at all.

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modernww2fare

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#7 modernww2fare  Online
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Outside_85

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#8  Edited By Outside_85

If Superman is a rip off of anything it's Warlord of Mars.

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LordDracula

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@battle_forum_junkie: @outside_85: I stated superman is not a ripoff. Many characters were influenced by something.

http://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-villains-real-life-inspiration/

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Spambot

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#11  Edited By Spambot

@lorddracula: Are the Doom/Vader Darkseid/Orion Vader/Luke comparisons your own opinions or do you have anything more to back them up with as being fact? I actually doubt that Lucas even knew who Darkseid was at the time he started making the sw movies but I'd be interested if you actually had some quotes or anything else to back them up with even if you don't have an exact quote.

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MakkyD

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Thank god you brought up influence/inspired in the actual text instead of rip off. Many people on this site cannot tell the difference between the terms.

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EdBlank

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@maccyd said:

Thank god you brought up influence/inspired in the actual text instead of rip off. Many people on this site cannot tell the difference between the terms.

Please explain. "Inspired by" means saw/heard another piece of art and copied it. Whether it's copied exactly or altered in specific ways to MASK the copying. What am I missing? The other way to make art is to make it unique. Invent something. Now I know all characters will have some similarities like speaking a language, being unwilling to kill, have a gf and so on. The difference is: did you create something or did you trace it.

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mysticmedivh

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TheDandyMan

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Superman ripped Batman off.

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NeonGameWave

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Interesting thread.

I don`t think he`s a ripoff but he definitely is a icon and inspiration.

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Guru_Crack

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Very good.

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Battle_Forum_Junkie

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@battle_forum_junkie: @outside_85: I stated superman is not a ripoff. Many characters were influenced by something.

http://screenrant.com/best-comic-book-villains-real-life-inspiration/

Oh, I wasn't saying you did. I just didn't see the purpose of the title. But it's nice to see someone who actually knows the difference between inspiration and imitation.

I've also read that page before, it was really cool. My favorite was the inspiration for Red Skull.

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Spambot

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@edblank: That's not what inspired means. It means you see or hear something then get an idea that is slightly similar to that or which causes you to have an idea that is entirely your own which you build upon. Its not just taking something and copying it. Sometimes the lines can get blurred but inspiration can take almost any form and often won't even resemble the thing which caused the original inspiration.

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rogueshadow

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#20  Edited By rogueshadow  Moderator

Good artists borrow, great artists steal.

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Hyperlight

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Hes also an inspired by hugo danner

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Hyperlight

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@koshi_waza88: its refreshing to see someone who knows hugo danner.

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DeathpooltheT1000

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You cant build from nothing.

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RustyRoy

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#25  Edited By RustyRoy

Inspired is the correct word.

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Saint_Sophie

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You cant build from nothing.

This. Nothing's 100% original and unique.. at least right now..

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Vivide

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#27  Edited By Vivide

What is hugo danner?

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LordDracula

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@spambot: @edblank: Inspired/influenced is basically ideas and concepts taken from various sources and combine it with your own ideas.Avatar(Movie) is basically a reverse superman.Star Wars has taken from everywhere.This website shows Darkseid influenced Darth Vader keep in mind comics did influenced movies.This website shows Darkseid influenced Star Wars.ErikLundegaard.com - A Long Time Ago, In a Comic Book Far, Far Out... The Source = The Force

Darkseid = Darth Vader

Orion = Luke Skywalker

Highfather = Obi wan Kenobi source http://eriklundegaard.com/item/a-long-time-ago-in-a-comic-book-far-far-out

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LordDracula

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@koshi_waza88: @spambot: KOSHI_WAZA88 Ripoff is copied on.According to you this makes Goku a ripoff.Which is not true.This websites show how Lucas took may elements from comics.The Source of the Force.By Richard Bruce BA, MA, and PhC in Economics

In the last several decades many people including myself have tried to find out where Lucas got his ideas. Lucas helped by leaving plenty of clues.His villain Darth Vader is patterned after two of the most popular comic book villains of the 60s and early 70s, Doctor Victor Von Doom and Darkseid.I suspect that Lucas was intentionally drawing the connection between Darth Vader and Doctor Victor Von Doom by giving Darth Vader the same initials as Doom, V and D. Note that Doom has both initials twice. Doctor, d, Victor, v, von, v again and Doom, d again.Lucas also drew a connection between Vader and Doom at the beginning of the first Star Wars movie made, and the fourth in fictional time line, "A New Hope." The first thing that Vader does is question a captured rebel soldier while holding the soldier by the throat. Vader extends his arm straight out holding the soldier off the floor. Obviously this would take enormous strength and establishes Vader as a character of enormous power. In the comics Dr. Doom commonly questioned people in exactly the same way. It was one of Doom's many trademarks. The comics fan should immediately recognize that Lucas is saying Vader is based on Doom.Dr. Doom was horribly disfigured when one of his experiments ended in an explosion. At least this is an origin story I read. There are frequently several versions of an important character's origin in comics. Therefore Doom covered his body in armor and his face in an iron mask. Darth Vader's face and body are similarly disfigured, though not in an experiment, which is why Darth wears a mask and his black outfit.You may remember that in the "Empire Strikes Back" Darth Vader with his back to the camera takes off his mask and helmet, looks in a mirror, then puts the mask back on. This was a standard routine for Dr. Doom and another way that Lucas announces the source of his character to the comic book savvy.

Darkseid the other character Darth Vader is based on is also credited by the phrase the dark side of the force. The name Darkseid is pronounced dark side. We have this pronunciation on the authority of Jack Kirby who created Darkseid, and the children's cartoons where Darkseid was a frequent character. Kirby said he patterned Darkseid's face on the look of the moon, so Darkseid is actually a reference to the dark side of the moon.Jack Kirby was a huge influence on Lucas and Star Wars. Kirby played a big role in creating Dr. Doom, and Kirby alone created Darkseid.We can underestimate the influence of Doom because so many other villians have risen to prominence since the original Star Wars movie came out in 1977. But Dr. Doom was for a long time the favorite villain of the Marvel comics superhero universe which was created by Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee along with the other writers and artists of Marvel.Kirby left Marvel and went to D.C. comics to write and draw his own comics. He created three new comics with new heroes: The New Gods, Mr. Miracle, and The Forever People. A huge portion of the Star Wars trilogy is based on these three comics. Collectively, these three comics and a little material that Kirby did in other comics is known as the Fourth World.The heroes in Kirby's Fourth World made use of a mystical power, "the Source." Clearly the "Source" was a major influence of the "Force" in Star Wars. But as far as I know the source had no dark side. So the forces of evil, lead by Darkseid, had to look elsewhere for their power.Darkseid and Issac, the leader of the forces of good, exchanged sons as part of a peace pack, so Orion the son of Darkseid was one of the chief good guys of the series, while his father was the central villain. Prophesy foretold that the climatic battle would be between Orion and his father Darkseid, just as Star Wars would climax with a confrontation between Luke and his father Darth Vader.

Orion used a power called to the Astro Force. So this maybe the source of the name force, even though the source was more like the force in Star Wars. Many of the heroes in Kirby's Comics tapped into the source just as many heroes in Star Wars tapped into the force.In Kirby's Fourth World Darkseid's assistant Dessaad resembles the Emperor in Star Wars when he is in his Sith form. I suspect that Lucas simply reversed the relationship in Star Wars. The character who resembled Dessaad is elevated to the lead position, the Emperior and Sith Master. While the character who resembles Darkseid, Darth Vader is lowered to position of chief lieutenant. But this is a bit more speculative than my previous conclusions.Of course Lucas had many other sources beyond comic books and Kirby. Even in the area of comic books I have not touched on the influence of the Green Lantern Core on the Jedi, and no doubt there were other influences as well.sourcehttp://richleebruce.com/media/darth.html

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joshmightbe

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The last truly unique and original story was told before we had the concept of writing. Everything is kind of a rip off.

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micah007123

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@maccyd said:

Thank god you brought up influence/inspired in the actual text instead of rip off. Many people on this site cannot tell the difference between the terms.

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#33  Edited By Spambot

@lorddracula: That's fine. I am not a Lucas fanboy but just wondered if there was more to back up the claims then you stating he used those characters as inspiration for Vader and Luke such as any statements made by Lucas. I think what you'll find though is that any character in fiction is generally based to some degree on another character either from fiction or real life. This is especially true in comics where a large number of writers grew up reading them and base characters off of ones they read about in their youth or something another writer did that became wildly popular.

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LordDracula

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#34  Edited By LordDracula

@spambot: @koshi_waza88: Ripoff is a stupid term just like Nigh-Omnipotient,and overpowered.It was created by fan boys.Superman is not a ripoff,that if he is.That means Darth Vader, and Star Wars are ripoffs.Here is a link to a website found were Lucas took stuff from. http://www.moongadget.com/origins/index.html

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PowerHerc

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Interesting thoughts on Superman.

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Spambot

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#36  Edited By Spambot

@lorddracula: I think what you'll find is that many stories share many similarities throughout history. To say Avatar is a reverse superman might make sense in terms of how you put it but at the same time many say Superman is just a super hero form of Jesus and the whole concept of a messiah who comes from a far away land has been part of literature and story telling for centuries. So I don't think its necessarily correct to point to one use of it and say 'x was inspired by y' when y could easily be any number of books or stories that have been told throughout history.