When I was a kid I wanted to be like superman

@toplel:

Superman's alter ego, Clark Kent, is far more relatable than Bruce Wayne for all the reasons I've previously mentioned. Clark Kent is basically an "everyman" like you described, so more people can relate to him. He hasn't accomplished all those absurd things that Batman has in his life, which only 0.000000001% of the human population might be able to accomplish.

@toplel: so an antisocial self absorbed azzhole who goes behind pole backs and uses children in dangerous ways is layman to u?

@toplel:

People say Superman is unrelatable because of his powers. Well, Batman is also just as unrelatable as Superman because of his physical and mental capabilities. There are what, 2 people on this entire planet that have the potential to become what Batman is? That's not exactly what I'd call relatable. My point here is that neither Batman is not more relatable than Superman. If you're talking about personalities, then Superman is also more relatable since Clark Kent is a middle class working citizen, who pays taxes, has mortgages, goes to work in a disguise like any other productive member of society, is always morally righteous and etc. Bruce Wayne is a world famous billionaire playboy who everybody respects and adores for his intelligence, wealth, looks, capabilities, can achieve so much more than any ordinary person and so on, so from that point of view, Superman is also more relatable.

In terms of their personal lives Supes is more relatible, an immigrant adopted by a small town family, who is an outsider. Clark has a normal job and life. He pretends to be average when he is really extraordinary. He lives among the people even though he is above the people. He represents selflessness in the comics.

Bruce, OTOH, shows us to aspire to be our best. He is a representation of humanity's accomplishments as a whole. Even though not one man can accomplish what he has done, we can aspire to that standard. He shows us to put your all into a goal. He shows us that even though you are the underdog, you can still win through strategy. He reminds us not to be just you, but to be a better you.

So they are both relatable, but in different ways.

Same goes for Batman who is the richest man in the world.

The only difference between Clark and a human is that he has powers. That's freaking it. Not to mention Superman is a normal human in Krypton.

It's pretty interesting that Bruce who is so rich, intelligent and can do so much for the world instead is wasting his time to destroy crime which he will never be able to do.

I say Superman because down deep he strives to help people. Most people would love to be able to help others to reach out and help them. Superman is the core of that he believes in justice and honor and still leads the fight by example.

He is the boyscout and the leader the one that would love to play int he dirt but knows that it would not be good to do so.

He is the part of us all that would love to fly to just relax and let go and take off from the ground and soar to the heavens he is the inner child in all of us that can do anything.

Superman is relate able because you do not need money to do what he does if you had the powers he has.

Batman however you need money for and how many of us have that much money to even dare to understand what he goes through. We may have lost loved ones but hell if I can lose 40 million and not worry.

We may go through pain but he need not worry about work ever he has gadgets and a butler and a staff at his command and that is just if he is not being batman.

Batman is the odd one here he can do no wrong. I like the character but he just makes hardly any mistakes and Hell I can look at this post alone and see I made like 20.

Superman is the best that we can hope to be and that to me says allot.

Batman is something few will ever be because he has everything the spoiled child whom is angry because he lost his parents. Clark lost his parents and he is insightful because he was given a chance to change the universe.

What would you do if you could make a dent in the dark and help people see the light. This to me is the best of all worlds.

This to me is Superman. Then again I could be wrong. so make that 21 things.

but batman is bada**

Superman

As long as you share his ideals and strive to do the right thing as he does, you don't need his powers to be him.

You already are him.

I agree he is the real hero , he defines all others by saying this is the rules. This I will defend. Even with no powers he still put his life on the line. Even when he could easly die he did his best. This is seen in soldiers and in people whom go out of the way for others. Superman is just the top of the line of what a hero is. In between is all of us some place in the middle of all of it all is somebody saving a life , performing a operation and trying to cure cancer. Somebody looks at the character that was presented before them in a comic book , a cartoon or a movie and they came away with a peace of what it is like to be the good guy. Fighting the good fight. Will power is forged with the battles we fight. It makes us stronger then we ever thought possible.

Depends on the kind of guy you are. Superman is more relatable to me because he have a normal life. He have a normal job, a wife, parents he loves and he is always there for everybody even if he have to put his life on the line. And more importantly, he is for Hope, he believes that humanity is beautiful, that's the kind of guy I want to be.

For me I relate to superman's reason for fighting crime more. That is, because it is the right thing to do. Not that batman's reason is bad or anything, I just relate to superman's more.

Chuck Norris...
Oh wait ! Absolutly not ! :p

Batman is driven by human emotions: anger, resentment, loss, ect. Bruce Wayne has a constant inner conflict. Both Bruce Wayne and Batman have plenty of regular people who think he's a jerk.

Superman...is a guy...and everyone likes him...and those who don't treat him like a god must be d-bags. But that's okay, because he's also Clark Kent...in those parts we don't all skip over*wink*.

Batman can get the crap beaten out of him all the time, you know, like humans do when they pick fights with everyone. Batman's most famous storyline is the one where he gets sick and has his back broken.

Superman has invulnerability listed as one of his main powers. And the writers' best way of getting the character is throwing something from Krypton at him and letting his home planet basically try to murder him.

Bad crap happens to the Batman. His son died, his other son died, and for crying out loud, his best friend is a butler!

We're supposed to feel bad for Superman because he's the last of his kind, which isn't even true. Hey, if so many kryptonians made it to Earth, how many are scattered across the universe!

All in all, I don't find Supes very relatable at all.

neither

Batman is just a rich boy

Superman is just a very too too too too nice and a perfect alien. Everything he does is perfect.

neither...

Superman,he acts way more human than Batman. besides Man of steel made him very relatable.

Superman is the one even without powers has the power and the will to get people to do what is right.

Many writers forget that about our heroes , Hal was one of them that when his ring died he still found a way to be the hero. He found a way to win the day.

Superman saves the day because of that same thing. He inspires others to greatness and that is the true sign of a hero.

@kairan1979: Such a likable fellow.

There both relatable.

I dont think a character has to be relatable they just have to be interesting and I think both Batman and Superman have interesting stories.

Batman is more flawed, he represents the repressed condition of human inner conflict despite his wealth and perfected physical health(which are driven by his will not his desires and pleasures). He is also rooted in reality in a sense Spider-Man and Daredevil are, he can get hurt by people like you and me, he can get into trouble within the confines of the law, he can struggle and make fallible mistakes based on emotional judgements, and he can die as easily as any of us compared to superhumans. What makes him stick out is his humanity and limatations in a world of superhuman gods and actually having a big part as a representation of human potential and perseverance, up holding the same ideals as Superman but having a pratical and fair viewpoint on punishing evil compared to Superman's higher than heaven naïve status quo of turning the other cheek. He's also motivated by the flaws that define his ideals and heroic perspective, meaning he's self serving than truly good and noble, this makes him relateable and sympathetic. Marvel is also bigger than DC because they feature this in almost all their protagonist. Humans just have the natural instinct to follow through with their own necessities and needs before following a alignment concept and I think that's a good thing.

Superman maybe more human than Batman, but he's more pure and free than him. Leaving no notable room for his flaws and his lack of selfishness which makes him a bit overly sanctimonious and divine in portrayal. He lives with humans and flaunts the best of human society with a humble nature and overly good force of progress instead of collapse and chaos. Superman's world is rooted in a fantasy land where everything is straight lined to a point where things are defined by their nature than the complex product of human free will. It's just good and evil in Superman's place and Superman is the best of good things compared to the Bad things. He's also living amongst humans to keep himself untempted and leveled from realizing his god like potential, he holds his own nature in check and follows the rules to the point he seems artificially conditioned and indoctrined to serve human meanings to have a purpose to stay a symbol for humanity instead of his alien proficient place in the universe. This is my opinion but I don't buy he feels at home doing normal human activities and acting like he's one of the guys since he's nearly nigh ominipotent and omniscient when seeing things we can't and doing things we can't. His love life, his job, his origins on a farm and his money problems seem like self illusions to keep him from going insane and really embracing his gifts to the fullest, kinda dark if you ask me.

@ssejllenrad: We have a winner!

We have a winner!

superman for me

I think the Superman mythos is misunderstood. Superman is the obstacle, the antagonist to Clark Kent who is the protagonist. Clark Kent is the one with all the problems. He´s clumsy, he never gets the girl, he´s picked on, he´s a nerd, he always saves the day but never gets acknowledged for it, but ultimately he´s a nerd with a good heart. I think he´s one of the most relatable characters in comic history, far more than Bruce or Batman. As for Superman himself, he represents for me Clark´s ultimate obstacle, which ironically is himself. He is the exact opposite of Clark in every way and the object of Clark´s affection is bessoted by him; Clark´s goal should be to get her to fall in love with him for him, and not because he´s superman.

The problem people have in writing good superman stories is that at heart the superman story is best served in the romantic comedy genre, not the action genre. Superman is too powerful to be a straight-up hero and work affectively. Especially in film. Which is why Superman´s original movie worked and his last movie was poorly received. He has no real obstacle´s because he´s way to powerful. He serves better as some kind of villain like in Red Son or Batman V Superman or The Dark Knight Returns, when it comes to the action genre. Batman on the other hand is a far more relatable action hero.

@caligula:

Clark Kent is more relatable than Batman but Batman is more relatable than superman. People don't seem to understand that. Some of you guys are talking as if superman goes to work in his red cape. Clark Kent does, not superman.

Spooder. Because he has sweg

A lot of thses post contradicts themselves.

I don't like the Justice League film, but one good part is when Batman says that Superman is more human than he is. Superman is more emotional, he has good days and bad, he had a more normal childhood. Take away the powers, and he is a normal man. Bruce Wayne never had any powers, so there's nothing to take away, but either way, he is not normal. He's seriously screwed up, mentally and emotionally, and I highly doubt that many people can relate to him. Superman is just a man, doing his best to be the best man he can be.

Superman. Duh. Batman is a lot more cold. Superman is the kind of guy I would want to chill with.

Batman is addicted to his own depression. He seeks to inspire people to never be like him because even he recognizes his own cycle of madness. At many times it doesn't even seem like he know's he's also Bruce Wayne.

Superman is always looking to see the brighter side. He seeks to inspire by leading by example and always being his best. Look the part be the part.

Both are equally relatable depending on if you're an optimist or a pessimist.

For me the question I always boil it down to is: Do you believe people can be genuinely good with zero ulterior motive or are you skeptical of any and everyone? The former probably puts you closer to the Superman camp, the latter pushes you to the Batman Camp. Or you can fall somewhere in the middle.

@DeathandGrim2: Only King Batman is a depressed idiot

@supermanfan1938: mmm I wouldn't say that. This is something Batman has done for decades. He shirks off his own happiness routinely to cling to being Batman. Remember when he couldn't let go of his paranoia even have a relationship with the woman he loves because she said one word? 16 years ago?

I'm sure this isn't something he is even consciously aware of. But he is definitely the poster boy for self-Destruction.

That obviously depends on the reader, but personally, while both have their relatable traits, I think Superman has more of them.

Hard to say because for the most part it depends on how they're portrayed across different forms of media.

The main issue I generally have with Supes is that for the most part he is completely unwavering and there's so few incarnation where we get to see him from a human perspective. And it's not because of his powers it's because of his morality which was painted onto his character from day 1 by both his Human Parents being loving and kind to a fault and his Kryptonian parents setting such a ridiculously high bar for what he should be, we rarely get to see Clark as just... a guy.

This is mostly the reason Smallville is my favourite incarnation of Clark because the show went out of it's way to establish Clark as a human being before building up the jesus origins thrown on him by Krypton. I'm more of a Marvel guy and I do appreciate having characters who are relatable.

As for Bruce there are a lot of differences but I feel the biggest sin with most incarnations of his character is so much the over reliance on the death of his parents. Most good incarnations of Batman are the ones that constantly give him reasons to do what he does, by building his relationships or throwing things in his way that he simply thinks is wrong. It'd be nice to see him face a similar type of adversity or better yet to see him fuck up and try to overcome it which I think is the reason I love the Dark Knight series more than any other because he is constantly smacked down and comes back to the fray.

Oddly enough though I don't really get the need to make Bruce a billionaire since he'd be much the same person he was even if he wasn't rich.

Superman has superpowers and Batman is a billionaire ninja detective. They’re both geniuses that have an entire army’s worth of highly advanced weaponry and technology stored away. They’re both consistently stated to inspire generations of people, IN-UNIVERSE, into becoming heroes.

They’re not relatable. They’re wish fulfillment.

Sure, you get this gag-inducing teenybopper era where Clark is an awkward teenager and Bruce constantly bemoans his dead parents.

Beyond that, though, they’re not as relatable as people say they are. Relatability is such an overused buzzword to begin with.

Batman is intriguing to watch. Superman is fascinating to follow. Both as fantastically deep characters you can empathize with, and, more importantly, root for in awe.