Watchmen

The story takes place in an alternate timeline in which masked, costumed vigilantes fight crime in America, originally in response to a rise in masked and costumed gangs and criminals. In the 1930s and '40s, the vigilantes formed a group called the Minutemen to "finish what the law couldn't." Of the eight Minutemen, three died violently, one disappeared, and one was committed to an asylum. Decades later, a second generation of "superheroes" attempts to form a similar team called the Watchmen. Various historical events are shown to have been altered by the existence of superheroes, such as the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Vietnam War. The American victory in Vietnam, due to the intervention of the godlike being Doctor Manhattan, leads to Richard Nixon's third term as President following the repeal of term limits in the United States. By the 1980s, however, the Watchmen have been outlawed by Congress after an outpouring of anti-vigilante sentiment in the country, and tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union have escalated the Cold War with threats of nuclear attack.

By 1985, only three Watchmen remain active: the Comedian and Doctor Manhattan, both of whom act with government sanction, and the masked vigilante Rorschach, who refuses to retire and remains active illegally. Investigating the murder of government agent Edward Blake, Rorschach discovers that Blake was the Comedian, and concludes that someone may be trying to eliminate the Watchmen. He attempts to warn his retired comrades—his former partner Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Dr. Jonathan Osterman (Doctor Manhattan), and Dr. Manhattan's lover Laurie Jupiter (the Silk Spectre). Dreiberg is skeptical, but nonetheless relates the hypothesis to billionaire Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias), who dismisses it.

After Blake's funeral, Dr. Manhattan is accused of causing the cancers afflicting his former girlfriend and others who spent time with him after the scientific accident that gave him superpowers. Dr. Manhattan exiles himself to Mars, giving the Soviet Union the confidence to invade Afghanistan in his absence. Later, Rorschach's conspiracy theory appears to be justified when Veidt, who had long since made his identity as Ozymandias public before retiring, narrowly avoids an assassination attempt, and Rorschach finds himself framed for murder.

Meanwhile Jupiter, after breaking up with Manhattan, goes to stay with Dreiberg, and the two former superheroes come out of retirement as they grow closer. After they break Rorschach out of prison, Silk Spectre is confronted by Dr. Manhattan. He takes her to Mars and, after she asks him to save the world, explains he is no longer interested in humanity. As he probes her memories, it is discovered that the Comedian was her father. His interest in humanity renewed by this improbable sequence of events, Manhattan returns to Earth with the Silk Spectre.

Investigating the conspiracy, Rorschach and Nite Owl discover that Veidt is behind everything. Rorschach records his suspicions in his journal, which he drops off at a newspaper office. Rorschach and Nite Owl confront Veidt, dressed once more in his Ozymandias costume, at his Antarctic retreat. Ozymandias confirms he is the mastermind behind the Comedian's murder, Manhattan's exile, and the framing of Rorschach; he also staged his own assassination attempt to place himself above suspicion. He explains that his plan is to unify the United States and the Soviet Union and to prevent nuclear war by destroying the world's main cities with exploding energy reactors he helped Doctor Manhattan create under the pretense of providing free energy for the world. Rorschach and Nite Owl attempt to stop him, but Ozymandias easily beats them. Ozymandias then reveals that his plan has already been set into motion: the reactors have been detonated, and the energy signatures are recognized as Manhattan's.

The Silk Spectre and Doctor Manhattan arrive at the ruins of New York City and determine that it must be Veidt's work. They teleport to the Antarctic retreat to confront him, but Ozymandias turns on a news report in which President Nixon states that the US and Soviets have allied against their "common enemy," Manhattan. The heroes are completely helpless to stop it and realize that revealing the conspiracy would only disrupt this peace. Only Rorschach is unwilling to remain silent and, at his own urging, is vaporized by a reluctant Manhattan. Manhattan shares a final kiss with Jupiter and departs for another galaxy.

With the end of the Cold War and the uniting of humanity, Jupiter and Dreiberg return to New York City as it's being rebuilt to begin a new life together. The film closes with a newspaper editor in New York complaining of having nothing worthwhile to print because of the worldwide peace. He tells a young employee that he may print whatever he likes from a collection of crank mailings, among which lies Rorschach's journal.

Super Capers

The story begins with a woman (Christine Lakin) in a red outfit being followed through a dark alleyway by a mysterious man who clearly has criminal intent. As she corners herself in a dead end, Ed Gruberman (Justin Whalin) arrives to save the day. The woman, calling herself simply "Red" reveals to both of the men that she has super powers, disabling the robber whom Ed strikes with a 2x4, sending him through the window of the law offices of Dewey, Cheatam and Howe. Red kisses Gruberman passionately before disappearing into the night, and he is left standing as the police come to arrest him.

In court, Gruberman is standing trial for viciously attacking an "innocent bystander" the mugger being defended by Roger Cheatem (Tom Sizemore) is flattened by the judge (Michael Rooker) who takes sympathy to Gruberman's story of how his parents were tragically killed after an accident at their circus wound up with them being killed by a short bus. In particular his fascination and respect for the television superhero the Dark Winged Vesper, with whom Ed shares his orphaning (and lack of powers unbeknownst to the court). Ed is fined $1 for the payment to the law firm's window and sentenced to a halfway house to super heroes whose powers still have not yet been developed. Ed is taken there by a cab driver (Adam West) who proclaims he was too a superhero once, named the Manbat. When he arrives, he meets Sarge (Tommy Lister) who is the Capers' human liason and other superheroes; Puffer Boy (Ray Griggs) who, when he gets frightened puffs up like a puffer fish, Herman Brainard (Sam Lloyd) who has the power to move objects with his over-sized mind, Will Powers (Ryan McPartlin) the vain and most super powered member of the group, and Felicia Freeze (Danielle Harris) an ice powered girl with whom Ed develops an immediate attraction to. Along with the unimaginative "Q" also known as Herbert who has a robot similar to a tiny version of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator whose primary invention was an RV fashioned after the DeLorean DMC-12 time machine from the Back to the Future films, complete with a flux capacitor, which they cannot tell actually work because the RV cannot get up to 88 miles per hour.

The group is called out on a mission to stop Captain Sludge (Jon Polito) a diminutive super villain with powers of super speed and his minotaur minion, and in a show of panic, Gruberman proclaims he has the power of "Prayer" and supposedly forces a lamppost to fall onto the minotaur, allowing the heroes to be victorious and earning Felicia's eye. However, Gruberman's world begins to fall apart, when he and Brainard attempt to follow the suspicious judge incognito, and Ed is set up for stealing millions in Gold Bullion and sending them to a Swiss Bank account, which the number was found conveniently in his pocket. He is sent to visit the Judge, who reveals himself to both be Gruberman's father AND the Dark Winged Vesper, and that the stunt that killed his parents was orchestrated by him, (but not intended to be fatal). Red, his accomplice makes an appearance and the pair attempt to lure Gruberman to the dark side (a'la Star Wars). Gruberman manages to escape, and in an ensuing chase, he drives the RV off the Mount Rushmore national monument, and when telling God that he will soon be with him, the vehicle inexplicably reaches 88 miles per hour, sending him back to the date of his first mission 1 week prior (as Will Powers had put the date into the time circuits to mark the event). He travels to the bridge, and learns that should he encounter his past self, one of them would spontaneously combust. He manages to meet the Super Capers, and in the process of revealing the Judge's plans encounters his younger self. After giving away the events to follow in the week ahead, the Judge is arrested and Sludge and his minotaur surrender while Red is defeated and Freeze admits her attraction to Gruberman. The confusion of two Grubermans is resolved, however when the past version combusts, leaving only the one from the future and the day appears to be saved.

Black Mask

This quasi-cyberpunk neo-future actioner is about a cybernetically enhanced assassin group called 701. Jet Li is Tsui, former captain of the squad, who escaped to discover human feeling. On the outside he befriends ditsy librarian Tracey (Karen Mok) and Inspector Shek (Lau Ching-Wan), both of whom marvel at his emotional detachment. Then the crooked and still-operational 701 shows up with a giant info-stealing scheme and Tsui dons a black mask to oppose them.
Yuen Woo-Ping’s action is fine, and the film is shot cooler-than-cool, with tons of blues and lots of style to spare. Tsui Hark produced this excellent HK flick that suffers only because it has Jet Li syndrome: a complete lack of personality or emotion. That’s what turns all of Jet’s films into the same sort of experience; Black Mask is no exception. That said, this film still has plenty more to recommend it, including the cool cinematography and good turns by Karen Mok, Lau Ching-Wan, and Francoise Yip as Jet’s pupil turned enemy. A true Hong Kong experience all the way, and the best Jet Li flick since My Father is a Hero.

The Heroic Trio

Someone is kidnapping all the male babies in the city and the police have no clues. It turns out that a Dark Master of the Underworld lives in the sewers and is taking them. He needs them because they were all born as potential Emperors, and he needs the future Emperor if he plans to take over China. The police eventually enlist the help of superheroes Wonder Woman (Anita Mui) and Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung) to stop the evil fiend.
Against the two heroes is Invisible Girl (Michelle Yeoh), who's working for the Master and is assigned to watch over a young scientist (James Pax). The scientist is trying to create an invisible robe and Invisible Girl is supposed to kill him when he's finished. It turns out that the three women have a previous connection. Thief Catcher and Invisible Woman knew each other when Thief Catcher lived in the underworld but ran away ten years earlier. Wonder Woman and Invisible Girl knew each other as children but were separated when Invisible Girl left to live in the underworld. It turns out that Invisible Girl is not as bad as she seems. She's actually a good soul who's simply taken the wrong path. To redeem herself, she decides to help out the scientist and joins with her fellow superheroes to defeat the Dark Master.
The supernatural fight sequences choreographed by Ching Siu Tung (A Chinese Ghost Story) are dark, violent and bursting with creative energy. Of particular note is the train station scene, which features the most creative decapitation weapon ever to be wielded by a demon (played via grunts and growls by Anthony Wong). The production design is also worthy of note, as the city is not necessarily Hong Kong, but more of fictional Gotham City-type place. The score is catchy and boasts a theme song by Anita Mui. However, the largest reason this film works is because of the three female leads. Each is given a chance to shine both in the action scenes as well as the dramatic ones. It's clear why the three are considered three of Hong Kong's top female stars.
The artificial trappings tend to make the film feel set-bound and it's clear that there was a limited budget involved, but none of that takes away from the overall entertainment value of The Heroic Trio. There is also a sequel to the film titled The Executioners. (Magicvoice 2002)

Astro Boy

The film begins in Metro City, a small city that floats above Earth, which is now covered in discarded robot parts. Toby Tenma finishes a physics pop quiz ahead of all his classmates and is free to leave, so he rewires Orrin (the family servant robot) who takes Toby to the Ministry of Science.

Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is at the ministry, meeting with President Stone and Dr. Elefun. They have captured two cores of energy, a "positive" (good) core and a "negative" (evil) core. Toby is placed in a room where he is supposed to stay until the end of the demonstration, but he escapes and runs off to the demonstration room.

President Stone orders the Red Core to be placed into a robot called "The Peacekeeper" to power it. The Peacekeeper begins to malfunction and tries to attack the scientists, vaporizing Toby before the adults are able to deactivate the robot.

Soon after, Dr. Tenma is seen holding blueprints of a robot replica of Toby, in hopes of recreating his son. He takes hair from Toby's hat to access all his memories and place them in the robot. Dr. Elefun provides the Blue Core to power the very advanced Toby robot. The robot Toby comes to life, to the excitement of Dr. Tenma. Tenma then takes Toby home, at first excited to spend time with his son, but he quickly realizes the new Toby is not the same as the old Toby.

Dr. Tenma calls Dr. Elefun, fearing that he may have made a mistake. Dr. Elefun makes a point that Toby cannot be exactly duplicated. Dr. Tenma grieves over the fact that whenever he sees Toby, he is reminded that Toby is really gone and will never come back.

While in his room, Toby worries about his father, since he has never been that angry with him before. While Toby gets into a quarrel with cleaning robots outside his window, he discovers he can understand them but falls out the window only to discover that he can fly.

President Stone discovers Toby's energy signature and his blue core, and orders his troops to capture it. When Toby returns home he overhears his father talking with Elefun about deactivating Toby. Dr. Tenma reveals that Toby is only just a copy of the original Toby and that he no longer wants him since his face only reminds him of his real son and the pain of losing him. Devastated, Toby flies off but not before Elefun assures him that he has a place somewhere in the world.

Toby is ambushed by military drones and flying craft controlled by Stone's military. A barrage of missiles temporarily disables Toby, causing him to fall to the Earth's surface. Toby wakes up on the Earth's surface, covered in broken robots, where he meets a robot dog named Trashcan. Trashcan leads Toby to a trap where he is wrapped up and captured by a group of kids, but released when he appears to be a human. Toby is then abducted by the "Robot Liberation Front", who name him "Astro". They then warn him of Hamegg, who enslaves robots. Cora and the children break in to free Astro.

Tenma promises to President Stone that he will deactivate Astro when they capture him and give Stone the blue core for the Peacekeeper. Cora takes Astro to their home, filled with tons of children and the Fagin-like ringmaster Hamegg. However, Hamegg isn't as evil as he seems. Hamegg eagerly welcomes Astro into their family. Later that night, Hamegg talks with Astro and how he used to work in Metro City with Dr. Tenma, but was thrown away due to his "intimidating brilliance".

The next day while out searching for parts in Brazil, Trashcan tried to tell everyone else that Astro is a robot, but fails. (Trashcan eventually writes on the ground "He's A Robot" but then Zane comments "Makes me wish I knew how to read.") Astro finds a 100 year old robot named Zog. Using the power of his blue core, Astro revives Zog. They take him back to their home and fix him up for the robot games. But Astro is slightly upset when he discovers that it is a fight to the death. Before the games start, Hamegg electrifies Astro and reveals to everyone that he is a robot. So, Hamegg puts him in the games. At Yankee Stadium, Astro easily clears all the robots but is put up against Zog, who refuses to fight Astro. Hamegg, forcibly tries to get Astro to fight, but Zog attacks him (being over 100 years old, the rules of robots not being allowed to harm humans doesn't apply to him, since it has been the rule for 50 years). Astro then stops Zog, leaving Hamegg to wonder what kind of robot he really is. Just then the military arrives and Zog tries to defend Astro, but Astro stops Zog and goes with the military. Astro believes he needs he must fulfill his destiny, whatever it is.

Stone mockingly offers the captive Astro a "drink" of machine oil.

Astro is taken back to the lab he was made in and Dr. Elefun tells him that he is wonderful and none of this is his fault, but Astro believes that it is hard to fit in and that perhaps this is his destiny. Dr. Tenma takes out the blue core and apologizes to Astro, who says he shouldn't be sorry and apologizes for not being a better Toby. Astro then deactivates and dies. Dr. Tenma gives Stone the core, but repents of the evil he is doing and takes the core back, putting it in Astro. Astro wakes up wondering why Dr. Tenma has done that, but he replies that even though Astro is not Toby, he is still his son.

Astro escapes so Stone uses the red core to reactivate the Peacekeeper. The Peacekeeper absorbs Stone and heads to destroy Astro, with Stone's mind controlling it. With the Peacekeeper on the rampage, absorbing every weapon and structure it comes across, Astro flies into the city to protect it from the rampaging behemoth. Meanwhile, Cora and the others hijack Hamegg's car to head to Metro City and help Astro. In the resulting showdown, the city's power source is destroyed but Astro manages to hold it up and causing it to land unharmed before continuing battle with the Peacekeeper. He's captured by the Peacekeeper but when it tries to absorb him, it doesn't work. Dr. Tenma tells Astro that if the Blue Core and Red Core come together, Astro and the Peacekeeper will die. Knowing that the Peacekeeper must be stopped, even if it means sacrificing himself, Astro flies into the Peacekeeper's Red Core, resulting in a massive explosion that completely destroys the Peacekeeper, leaving Stone unharmed but arrested, and Astro dying since the blue core was drained in the explosion. However, because Zog was revived with the blue core, he is able to return some of the energy back to Astro, reactivating him.

Astro finds his place as a hero and everyone rejoices. Cora reunites with her parents. But before any celebrating can happen a large alien attacks the city and Astro, now at peace with his robotic nature and his destiny as a hero, immediately launches into action after reassuring his concerned father, "I was made ready!" The movie ends with Astro flying to fight the alien.

Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon officially translated as Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon) is the title of a Japanese media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a sentai (team) of magical girls,[1][2] and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical girl genre itself.[3]

The story of the various metaseries revolves around the reincarnated defenders of a kingdom that once spanned the solar system, and around the evil forces that they battle. The major characters—called Sailor Senshi (literally "Sailor Soldiers"; frequently called "Sailor Scouts" in many Western versions)—are teenage girls who can transform into heroines named for the moon and planets (Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, etc). The use of "Sailor" comes from a style of girls' school uniform popular in Japan, the sērā fuku (sailor outfit), after which the Senshi's uniforms are modeled. The elements of fantasy in the series are heavily symbolic and often based on mythology.

Before the Sailor Moon manga appeared Takeuchi had written Codename: Sailor V, which centered around just one Sailor Senshi. She devised the idea when she wanted to create a cute series about girls in outer space, and her editor asked her to put them in sailor fuku.[4] When Sailor V was proposed for adaptation into an anime, the concept was modified so that Sailor V herself became only one member of a team. The resulting manga series merged elements of the popular magical girl and sentai genres of which Takeuchi was a fan,[5] making Sailor Moon one of the first series ever to combine the two.

The manga resulted in spinoffs into other types of media, including a highly popular anime, as well as musical theatre productions, video games, and a live-action (tokusatsu) series. Although most concepts in the many versions overlap, often notable differences occur, and thus continuity between the different formats is limited.

Characters
See also: List of minor Sailor Moon characters

Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon (月野 うさぎ, Tsukino Usagi?)
The main character of the series, called Serena in the English anime and Bunny in the English manga. Usagi, a carefree schoolgirl with an enormous capacity for love, transforms into the heroine called Sailor Moon. At the beginning of the series she is portrayed as an immature crybaby who hates having to fight evil and wants nothing more than to be a normal girl.[6][7] As she progresses, however, she embraces the chance to use her power to protect those she cares about.[8]

Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask (地場 衛, Chiba Mamoru?)
A student somewhat older than Usagi, called Darien in the English adaptations of the series. As a young child he experienced a terrible car accident that robbed him of his parents and of his knowledge of who he is.[9] During the series he has some precognitive ability,[10][11] including dreams that inspire him to take on the guise of Tuxedo Mask and fight alongside the Sailor Senshi. After an initially confrontational relationship,[7] he and Usagi remember their past lives together and fall in love again.

Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury (水野 亜美, Mizuno Ami?)
A quiet bookworm in Usagi's class, called Amy in the English adaptations of the series. Highly intelligent, with a rumored IQ of 300,[12] she can transform into Sailor Mercury, acquiring power over all phases of water. Ami's shy exterior masks a passion for knowledge and for taking care of the people around her.[13] She hopes to become a doctor one day, like her mother, and tends to be the practical one in the group. Secretly, she is also a fan of pop culture and romance novels, and becomes embarrassed whenever this is pointed out.

Rei Hino/Sailor Mars (火野 レイ, Hino Rei?)
An elegant miko (shrine maiden), called Raye in the English versions. Because of her work as a Shinto priestess, Rei can sense and dispel evil even in civilian form.[14] When she transforms into Sailor Mars she can also manipulate fire. She is very serious and focused, but although easily annoyed by Usagi's flightiness, cares about her very much. Rei is portrayed as boy-crazy in the early anime,[14] but is uninterested in romance in both the manga and live-action series.[15] She attends a private Catholic school, separate from the other girls.

Makoto Kino/Sailor Jupiter (木野 まこと, Kino Makoto?)
A tomboy who transfers into Usagi's school, called Lita in the English versions. Very tall and strong for a Japanese schoolgirl,[16] she can transform into Sailor Jupiter, attacking with lightning and with some control over plants. Both Makoto's parents died in a plane crash years ago, so she lives alone and takes care of herself. She cultivates her physical strength as well as more domestic interests, including housekeeping, cooking, and gardening. She wants to marry young and to own a flower-and-cake shop.[17]

Minako Aino/Sailor Venus (愛野 美奈子, Aino Minako?)
A perky dreamer who acted on her own as Sailor V for some time.[18][19] Called Mina in the English versions, she has a companion cat called Artemis who works alongside Luna in guiding the Sailor Senshi. Minako transforms into Sailor Venus, Soldier of Love, and leads Sailor Moon's four inner guardians. She also dreams of becoming a famous singer and idol and attends auditions whenever she can.[20] At the start of the live-action series, she is already these things, but has poor health and separates herself from the other Senshi.[21]

Chibi-usa/Sailor Chibi Moon (ちびうさ?)
The future daughter of Usagi and Mamoru, Chibi-usa travels from the 30th century to seek help to save her parents, then later to train with Sailor Moon to become a soldier.[22] She learns to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon. At times she has an adversarial relationship with her mother in the 20th century,[23] as she considers herself more mature than Usagi, but as the series progresses they develop a deep bond. Chibi-usa wants to grow up to become a lady like her mother.[24] In the English adaptations, she is called Rini, and her alter ego is called Sailor Mini Moon.

Setsuna Meioh/Sailor Pluto (冥王 せつな, Meiō Setsuna?)
A mysterious woman, called Trista in the English anime. She appears first as Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time, who has the task of protecting the Space-Time Door from unauthorized travelers. It is only later that she appears on Earth, living as a college student. She has a distant personality and can be very stern, but can also be quite friendly and helps the younger Sailor Senshi when she can.[25] After so long at the gate of time she carries a deep sense of loneliness, although she is close friends with Chibiusa.

Michiru Kaioh/Sailor Neptune (海王 みちる, Kaiō Michiru?)
A talented violinist with some precognition, called Michelle in the English anime. A year older than most of the other Sailor Senshi, she can transform into Sailor Neptune, channeling the power of the ocean. She worked alone for some time before finding her partner, Sailor Uranus, with whom she fell in love.[26] Michiru is elegant and personable, already well-known for her music as well as her painting, but has given up her own dreams for the life of a Senshi. She is fully devoted to this duty and willing to make any sacrifice for it.

Haruka Tenoh/Sailor Uranus (天王 はるか, Ten'ō Haruka?)
A good-natured, masculine-acting girl, called Amara in the English anime. Haruka, of an age with her partner, Michiru, transforms into Sailor Uranus, Soldier of the Sky. Before becoming a Sailor Senshi, she dreamt of being a racer, and is skilled at driving.[27] She tends to dress and, in the anime, speak like a man. She is so friendly and genial that nearly everyone she meets is attracted to her. When it comes to fighting the enemy, however, she distrusts outside help and prefers to work solely with Sailor Neptune and, later, Pluto and Saturn.

Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn (土萠 ほたる, Tomoe Hotaru?)
A sweet, lonely young girl whose name remains unchanged in English (though pronounced slightly differently). Daughter of a possessed mad scientist, a terrible lab accident in her youth significantly compromised her constitution. After overcoming the darkness that has surrounded her family, she is able to become the Soldier of Silence, Sailor Saturn.[22] She wields forces of destruction so powerful that she is rarely called upon to use them, and unlike the others, her Senshi and civilian personae seem somewhat disconnected. She is often pensive, and as a human has the inexplicable power to heal others.

Fei Ying

Silver Hawk is based on a series of stories about a masked heroine, Huang Ying (Wong Ngang), that was originally published in Shanghai during the late 1940s and early 1950s. A number of movies and TV shows on this subject were made in Hong Kong during the 60s and 70s and some famous actresses, including Connie Chan Po Chu, Angie Chiu Nga Chi (a.k.a. Gigi Chi(u)) and Petrina Fung Bo Bo, have portrayed the heroine. However, the story of Michelle Yeoh's Silver Hawk is newly written and set in a future time (around year 2008).

The movie starts with Silver Hawk riding on her motorcycle through what looks like China. She is chasing thugs who have stolen pandas and are getting away in a truck. She attaches her bike to the truck jumps and fights the men kicking them out of the truck and then continues to fight them. Then they give up. She heads back to Polaris City where she meets an old childhood friend then a flashback occurs. In this flashback it was the time at the martial arts training academy back when they were little.

Wolverine

Born the second son of wealthy landowners John and Elizabeth Howlett in Alberta, Canada during the late 19th Century, James Howlett was a frail boy of poor health. James was largely neglected by his mother, who was institutionalized for a time following the death of her first son, John Jr., in 1897. He spent most of his early years on the estate grounds and had two playmates that lived on the Howlett estate with him: Rose, a red-headed girl who was brought in from town to be a companion to young James, and a boy nicknamed "Dog" who was the son of the groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. Thomas Logan was an alcoholic and was extremely abusive to his son. The children were close friends but as they reached young adulthood, the abuse inflicted upon Dog warped his mind. His actions would lead to a tragic chain of events. that started as the three neared their adolescent years when Dog made unwanted advances toward Rose and James reported it to his father. In retaliation Dog killed James's pet dog. This in turn resulted in the expulsion of Thomas Logan and Dog Logan from the estate.

Thomas Logan, is a drunken stupor, invaded the Howlett estate with his son and attempted to take Elizabeth Howlett (implied to be his former lover) with him. John attempted to stop him and Thomas Logan shot him down in cold blood. James Howlett had just entered the room when this occurred and for the first time his mutation manifested; his claws extended from the backs of his hands and he attacked the intruders with uncharacteristic ferocity, killing Thomas Logan, and scarring Dog's face with three claw marks. Elizabeth Howlett, who was already an emotionally disturbed woman, took her life immediately afterward with a blast from Thomas's gun. Fearing for their safety, Rose fled the estate with James, who appeared to have been deeply traumatized and had somehow repressed or forgotten most of the memories of life back at the estate. Dog falsely reported to the police and James's grandfather that Rose had murdered John Howlett II and Thomas Logan. The eldest Howlett, shunned James and with no family left, took Dog in as his ward. However, Dog was already a burgeoning psychopath and it was too late for his character to evolve down any other path.

In the years that followed, James and Rose took refuge in a British Colombia mining colony under the guise of being cousins. James also assumed the name of "Logan" in order to hide his identity. As the hard work of mining toughened his body, and his mutant powers developed, he grew to be unusually strong and ferocious. He was immune to the elements and even ran with the wolves in the forest, learning to hunt as an animal hunts. "Logan" became a valuable and admirable figure amongst the small community of miners due to his hard work and strong ethics, earning him the respect of his peers, including the foreman Smitty, who became a surrogate father figure to James. During this period, James developed strong feelings for Rose, but could not act on them for the sake of their guise as cousins. Smitty, who had been mentoring James all these years, had also grown close to Rose, and the two eventually fell in love and became engaged, much to the scorn and surprise of James, who later accepted the situation for the sake of Rose's happiness. Meanwhile, the elder John Howlett was in failing health and asked Dog to find Rose and his grandson so he could make peace with them before he died. Dog agreed. However, Dog (who has become a physically formidable man himself) decides to track them down so he can kill James.

Dog hunted James and Rose down so easily that it seemed he had a preternatural skill for tracking. On then night that Smitty was due to leave the mining town with Rose, Dog (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Logan's future nemesis, Sabretooth) finally found and confronted James. Dog reminded James of his past, and that faithful night back on the estate that had changed all their lives so. The two fiercely fought in the middle of the street and despite being the physically stronger of the two Dog was eventually overpowered by the enraged James. As Dog laid unconscious, James unsheathed his claws for the first time in public, to the shock of everyone watching, and was about to deal the deathblow until Rose leapt in to stop him but was accidentally was impaled by his claws. Horrified, "Logan" held her in his arms as she died. He then fled into the woods where he lived in self-imposed exile with a pack of wolves, presumably for many years.

Logan possesses memories of being a Samurai in Japan, a mercenary operative for the Central Intelligence Agency, and a "wild man" in the Canadian wilderness. Due to extensive memory implants given to Logan through the Weapon X program, any or all of these memories are suspect. Logan has at least one memory of meeting Captain America (Steve Rogers) in World War II while he was in the Canadian Army which has been verified as true. Sometime after World War II, Logan was taken by a group of scientists led by Dr. Cornelius as part of the Weapon X program. Cornelius was hired to perfect and use a technique that would bond the indestructible element adamantium to human bone cells. Logan's skeleton was bonded to the adamantium, and he was indoctrinated into the Weapon X assassin program.

Wolverine was conscripted by Department H, and for his first mission was sent against the incredible Hulk. Wolverine was subsequently approached by Professor Charles Xavier, who was looking for mutants to help his students, the X-Men, escape from the island-being known as Krakoa, which had captured them. Wolverine left Alpha Flight to accompany Xavier and rescue the captured X-Men. After Krakoa was defeated, Wolverine decided to stay with the X-Men, for reasons which included that he had fallen for Marvel Girl (Jean Grey). Logan remained with the X-Men for quite some time, at one time being their field commander, and encountered adversaries such as Proteus (Kevin MacTaggart), Magneto (Magnus), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Brood, the Reavers, demons from the dimension of Limbo, the Marauders, the Morlocks, and even Dracula on one occasion.

After his encounter with the mutant assassin Omega Red, Logan began to question the memories he possessed, but his searches to find his true identity and memories proved fruitless. During an encounter with the mutant Magneto on his space station called Avalon, Wolverine slashed Magneto with his claws. Magneto retaliated, using his powers of the magnetic field to tear the adamantium out of Wolverine's skeleton, causing extensive injuries. These injuries shorted out Wolverine's healing factor for a time, and Logan also discovered that the claws that he believed a result of the Weapon X project were in fact part of his actual bone structure due to his mutation. These bone claws became Wolverine's main weapons until his skeleton later became grafted to adamantium again.

As a result of his injuries, Logan left the X-Men for a time. He visited Muir Island at the request of Kitty Pryde, and was also attacked by Cyber. During the Phalanx invasion, Logan and Cable were asked by Charles Xavier to find and rescue the captured X-Men. They joined with Cyclops (Scott Summers) and Jean Grey returning from their honeymoon (and secretly the future) and freed their teammates in Tibet. Later, Logan was kidnapped by Tyler Dayspring, calling himself Genesis, who wanted to make Wolverine one of his new Horsemen. Genesis had acquired adamantium by destroying the body of the mercenary known as Cyber, and had planned to recreate the bonding process used on Logan years ago. This time, however, Logan's body rejected the adamantium, and he regressed for a time to a feral-like state.

Logan regained his lucidity and rejoined the X-Men. Logan was subsequently kidnapped by the would-be conqueror Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur) and forced to fight the savage assassin Sabretooth for the mantle of the Horseman Death. Knowing that he might be able to resist Apocalypse's programming and that Sabretooth would be a very dangerous villain with the support of Apocalypse, Logan fought and defeated his nemesis. As a result, his skeleton again was laced with Adamantium. Under the control of Apocalypse, Wolverine fought the X-Men ferociously in his Death persona. But with the help of his teammates, he eventually broke free from Apocalypse's control.

While on the Weapon Plus satellite, Logan was able to access detailed files on his past. However, it was a trap, and only Jean's manifestation of the Phoenix was able to save them. Wolverine greatly mourns Jean's loss, was not pleased with Cyclops and Emma Frost's relationship, but has remained a valued member of the X-Men, serving on as many missions as he can while also doing solo operations.

Wolverine was ambushed by the Hand and Hydra. Transformed into a killing machine and outfitted with several devices, he battled various other heroes and killed both Hornet and Northstar. S.H.I.E.L.D. was eventually able to deprogram Logan, and he was sent to oppose Northstar, who also had been resurrected by Hydra. While on a mission in the Savage Land, he met the recently reformed Avengers and eventually accepted membership. Recently, Wolverine unnerved many high level officials, including those of S.H.I.E.L.D., by his sporadic movements in and out of the grid, with the tensions mounting in what seemed to be Wolverine's attempted assassination of the prime minister of Japan. Eventually it was revealed that Wolverine's true target was not the prime minister, but his bodyguard, the Silver Samurai. During an interrogation that began during their battle, and ended shortly after Logan severed the samurai's arm, Wolverine received some more information that led him back to Department H. Despite what he had originally thought, it was not the carelessness of his captors that allowed him to escape; rather, the Winter Soldier seemingly interfered with the operation in such a way that allowed Logan's escape. Wolverine tracked down the Winter Soldier in Serbia for information, but was rendered unconscious after a struggle after which the Winter Soldier revealed that he had earlier murdered Logan's pregnant wife.

Watchmen

Watchmen is a twelve-issue graphic novel limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form. Watchmen originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from Charlton Comics. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor Dick Giordano convinced the writer to create original characters instead.

Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to critique the superhero concept. Watchmen takes place in an alternate history United States where superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s, helping the United States to win the Vietnam War. The country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most costumed superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the personal development and struggles of the protagonists as an investigation into the murder of a government sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement and eventually leads them to confront a plot to stave off nuclear war by killing millions of people.

Creatively, the focus of Watchmen is on its structure. Gibbons used a nine-panel grid layout throughout the series and added recurring symbols such as a blood-stained smiley face. All but the last issue feature supplemental fictional documents that add to the series' backstory, and the narrative is intertwined with that of another story, a fictional pirate comic titled Tales of the Black Freighter, which one of the characters reads. Watchmen has received critical acclaim both in the comics and mainstream press, and is regarded by critics as a seminal text of the comic book medium. After a number of attempts to adapt the series into a feature film, director Zack Snyder's Watchmen was released in March 2009.

Characters

The main characters of Watchmen (from left to right): Ozymandias, the second Silk Spectre, Doctor Manhattan, The Comedian (kneeling), the second Nite Owl, and Rorschach.

Main article: Characters of Watchmen

With Watchmen, Alan Moore's intention was to create four or five "radically opposing ways" to perceive the world and to give readers of the story the privilege of determin

ing which one was most morally comprehensible. Moore did not believe in the notion of "[cramming] regurgitated morals" down the readers' throats and instead sought to show heroes in an ambivalent light. Moore said, "What we wanted to do was show all of these people, warts and all. Show that even the worst of them had something going for them, and even the best of them had their flaws."^[8]

Edward Blake/The Comedian: Already deceased when the story begins, his murder is what sets the plot in motion. The character appears throughout the story in flashbacks and aspects of his personality are revealed by other characters.^[18] The Comedian was based on the Charlton Comics character Peacemaker, with elements of the Marvel Comics spy character Nick Fury added. Moore and Gibbons saw The Comedian as "a kind of Gordon Liddy character, only a much bigger, tougher guy".^[1] Richard Reynolds described The Comedian as "ruthless, cynical, and nihilistic, and yet

capable of deeper insights than the others into the role of the costumed hero".^[18] Along with Dr. Manhattan, he is the only government-sanctioned superhero after the Keene Act banning superheroes is passed. Although he attempted to rape the first Silk Spectre in the 1940s, issue nine reveals that years later he fathered her daughter Laurie as part of a consensual sexual relationship.

Dr. Jon Osterman/Doctor Manhattan: A superpowered being who is contracted by the United States government. Scientist Jon Osterman gained superpowers when he was caught in an "Intrinsic Field Subtractor" in 1959. Doctor Manhattan was based upon Charlton's Captain Atom, who in Moore's original proposal was surrounded by the shadow of nuclear threat. However, the writer found he could do more with Manhattan as a "kind of a quantum super-hero" than he could have with Captain Atom.^[1] In contrast to other superheroes who lacked scientific exploration of their origin

s, Moore sought to delve into nuclear physics and quantum physics in constructing the character of Dr. Manhattan. The writer believed that a character living in a quantum universe would not perceive time with a linear perspective, which would influence the character's perception of human affairs. Moore also wanted to avoid creating an emotionless character like Spock from Star Trek, so he sought for Dr. Manhattan to retain "human habits" and to grow away from them and humanity in general.^[8] Gibbons had created the blue character Rogue Trooper, and explained he reused the blue skin motif for Doctor Manhattan as it resembles skin tonally, but has a different hue. Moore incorporated the color into the story, and Gibbons noted the rest of the comic's color scheme made Manhattan unique.^[19] Moore recalled that he was unsure if DC would allow the creators to depict the character as fully nude, which partially influenced how they portrayed the character.^[3] Gibbons wanted to be tasteful in depicting Manhattan's nudity, selecting carefully when full frontal shots would occur and giving him "understated" genitals — like a classical sculpture — so the reader would not initially notice it.^[20]

Daniel Dreiberg/The Nite Owl: A retired superhero who utilizes owl-themed gadgets. Nite Owl was based on the Ted Kord version of the Blue Beetle. Paralleling the way that Ted Kord had a predecessor, Moore also incorporated an earlier adventurer who used the name "Nite Owl", the retired crime fighter Hollis Mason, into Watchmen.^[1] While Moore devised character notes for Gibbons to work from, the artist provided a name and a costume design for Hollis Mason he had created when he was twelve.^[20] Richard Reynolds noted in Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology that despite the character's Charlton roots, Nite Owl's modus operandi has more in common with the DC Comics character Batman.^[21] According to Klock, his civilian form "visually suggests an impotent, middle-aged Bruce Wayne."^[22]

Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias: Drawing inspiration from Alexander the Great, Veidt was once the superhero Ozymandias, but has since retired to devote his attention to the running of his own enterprises. Veidt is believed to be one of the smartest men on the planet. Ozymandias was directly based on Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, whom Moore had admired for using his full brain capacity as well as possessing full physical and mental control.^[1] Richard Reynolds noted that by taking initiative to "help the world", Veidt displays a trait normally attributed to villains in superhero stories, and in a sense he is the "villain" of the series.^[23] Gibbons noted "One of the worst of his sins [is] kind of looking down on the rest of humanity, scorning the rest of humanity."^[24]

Walter Kovacs/Rorschach: A vigilante who wears a white mask that contains a symmetrical but constantly shifting ink blot pattern, he continues to fight crime in spite of his outlaw status. Moore said he was trying to "come up with this quintessential Steve Ditko character - someone who's got a funny name, whose surname begins with a 'K,' who's got an oddly designed mask". Moore based Rorschach on Ditko's creation Mr. A;^[12] Ditko's Charlton character The Question also served as a template for creating Rorschach.^[1] Comics historian Bradford W. Wright described the character's world view "a set of black-and-white values that take many shapes but never mix into shades of gray, similar to the ink blot tests of his namesake". Rorschach sees existence as random and, according to Wright, this viewpoint leaves the character "free to 'scrawl [his] own design' on a 'morally blank world'".^[25] Moore said he did not foresee the death of Rorschach until the fourth issue when he realized that his refusal to compromise would result in him not surviving the story.^[8]

Laurie Juspeczyk/The Silk Spectre: The daughter of the first Silk Spectre (with whom she has a strained relationship) and The Comedian. She had been the lover of Doctor Manhattan for years. While Silk Spectre was based partially on the Charlton character Nightshade, Moore was not impressed by the character and drew more from heroines such as Black Canary and Phantom Lady.^[1]

Ben 10

Ben Tennyson, his cousin Gwen, and their grandfather Max, during the start of their summer camping trip, Ben goes stomping off into the woods after another fight with Gwen, whom he is not happy to have along on the trip, and finds an alien pod on the ground. When he examines it, he finds a mysterious, watch-like device, called the Omnitrix, stored inside. The device attaches permanently to his wrist and gives him the ability to transform into a variety of alien life-forms, each with their own unique powers, quite similar to DC's Dial H for Hero comic. Although Ben realizes that he has a responsibility to help others with these new abilities at his disposal, he is not above a little superpowered mischief now and then. Along with Gwen and Max, Ben fights evil, both extraterrestrial and criminal.

In the first season, the plot mainly focuses on the villain Vilgax, an evil alien warlord who wants to use the Omnitrix to conquer the galaxy. Injured at the start of the season, he sends various drones to get the Omnitrix until he is healed. After he is fully healed, he attempts to retrieve it himself, only to be stopped by Ben, Gwen and Max. Furthermore, it is hinted throughout the season that Max knows more about aliens than he lets on, culminating in the revelation that he and Vilgax had fought previously. A more subtle plotline involves Ben being forced to "grow up" and learning to use the Omnitrix responsibly, with particular emphasis on that point in the episode "Kevin 11".

The second season mostly follows a "villain of the week" format. The few plot-centric episodes focus on Kevin, a super-powered 11 year old with the power to absorb different types of energies, who meets Ben in the first season. Having inadvertently allowed Kevin to absorb the Omnitrix's ability during their first meeting, Kevin serves as an antithesis to Ben. A sociopath, Kevin eventually morphs into a hideous amalgam of Ben's original ten forms and blames Ben for it. Vilgax also returns in the finale, teaming up with Kevin in the hopes of succeeding where he failed originally. Again, he fails, and both he and Kevin are trapped in an alternate dimension, the Null Void. Another important event during this season is the destruction of Ghostfreak, one of Ben's original ten forms. Having escaped from the Omnitrix, he plans to possess Ben and use the power of the Omnitrix to begin his own legacy of conquest. However, he is defeated and destroyed by Ben.

The third season has a similar yet darker plot layout. Its few plot-centric episodes focus around aliens styled on traditional horror monsters that Ben acquires as new forms through their contact with the Omnitrix. Purple-colored lightning, caused by a teleportation device created by the Frankenstein-esque alien Doctor Vicktor, heralds their appearance. Vicktor, in turn, is loyal to Ghostfreak, who is resurrected later in the third season. He plots to shroud the earth in darkness with the use of a corrodium beam projected from a space station and expanded across the earth using a transmitter in New Mexico, thus allowing him to be at full power and rule over the planet. His attempt, however, is thwarted by Ben; he dies once more from direct exposure to the sun, but not before his DNA is re-added to the Omnitrix.

The fourth season revolves around Ben's last adventures as summer vacation ends. The few plot-centric episodes revolve around the leader of the Forever Knights organization, Forever King, and his plans to deal with the Tennysons himself. He gathers many of Ben's enemies to serve as members of his group, the "Negative 10" to both battle the Tennysons and steal a powerful energy from the Plumber base at Mount Rushmore. Ben eventually defeats the Forever King, destroying the Mount Rushmore faces in the process, though it is implied that a hologram is used to recreate the faces. Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix is set shortly after this point.

The series' final episode shows a possible take on Ben's return to normal life following the end of his summer vacation, and ends with the reveal of his secret powers to his father and the general public, after a final climactic battle with Vilgax. The film Ben 10: Race Against Time portrays a similar situation, the difference being that Ben fights an original character created for the film and his secret remains safe.

Darkman

Scientist Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is developing a new type of synthetic skin to aid burn victims. He is frustrated with a flaw in the "skin", which causes it to rapidly disintegrate after being exposed to light for 99 minutes; however, it remains intact in darkness. Despite his devotion to the project, he cannot get past this limitation.

Westlake's girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings (McDormand), comes upon an incriminating document proving that corrupt developer Louis Strack Jr. (Friels) and mobster Robert G. Durant (Drake) have given bribes to members of the zoning commission. In search of the document, Durant and his minions attack and injure Westlake, retrieve the document, then blow up his lab. The blast throws Westlake clear of the lab; he survives but is hideously burned. He is brought to a hospital and subjected to a radical treatment in which the nerves to the pain centers of his brain are destroyed. Removing this sensory input gives him increased strength due to adrenal overload and keeps his injuries from incapacitating him, but it also destabilizes his moods and mental state.

Westlake escapes the hospital and sets out to get revenge on Strack and Durant. He also seeks to re-establish his relationship with Hastings. To hide his scarring and blend into crowds, Westlake rebuilds enough of his equipment to make his synthetic skin, but is still unable to overcome the 99-minute window of integrity. Thus, he can only appear briefly in public as himself (or later as others, whose features he is able to duplicate) in daylight, and otherwise wears bandages and a trenchcoat in his identity as Darkman. He is able to make masks in advance and store them for long periods by keeping them from light sources. He takes the opportunity to observe important people, such as the henchmen of his enemies, so he can masquerade as them.

There are at least two scenes in which the Westlake/Darkman personas have obviously become so closely intertwined that it becomes an exercise in futility to differentiate between the "facade" and the supposedly "real" personality of the title character. One of these involves a flash of berserker rage that "Westlake" experiences over a trivial insult at a carnival booth. The other involves "Darkman" very calmly, almost sadly, informing a villain that "I've learned to live with a lot of things" just before dropping him from atop an office building construction project.

Westlake eventually succeeds in destroying his enemies but is unable to return to his old life and thus continues his existence as Darkman.

Hell Boy

In 1944, the German Nazis work with Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland to build a dimensional portal. They intend to use it, with Rasputin's help, to awaken the Ogdru Jahad (the Seven Gods of Chaos), monstrous entities that have been imprisoned and asleep since an undisclosed time, to destroy their enemies. But Rasputin secretly intends to use the entities to bring about the destruction of the entire Earth. He is aided by his servant and lover, Ilsa von Haupstein, to whom he has granted eternal life, and Nazi Lieutenant Colonel (Obersturmbannführer) Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, a notorious killer, Hitler's chief assassin and leader of the Thule Society. The United States sends a small Army team to destroy the portal, guided by a young doctor, Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who is well-versed in terms of magic and sorcery. In the ensuing battle, the German scientists and soldiers are killed and the portal is destroyed, killing Rasputin. Ilsa and Kroenen escape capture. As the Army team surveys the ruins for anything that may have sneaked into their dimension through the portal, they discover a bright red infant demon with a right hand seemingly made from stone. Bruttenholm coaxes it into his arms with a Baby Ruth candy bar. They name the little demon "Hellboy."

Sixty years later, a young FBI agent named John Myers is transferred to the Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense, run by Professor Bruttenholm. He is introduced to Hellboy, now an adult. Also employed with the BPRD is a fish-like person named Abe Sapien who has advanced psychic abilities, and Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic who has yet to learn to control her firestarting abilities. Liz has recently left the bureau (for the thirteenth time) and checked herself into a mental hospital in an effort to protect others from her talent. Despite regular visits and coaxing from Hellboy, who appears infatuated with her, she is determined not to return.

Meanwhile, Kroenen and Ilsa resurrect Rasputin. Rasputin and his companions travel to New York and the Machen Library of Paranormal Artifacts. There, they open a display and, through magic, release a demon known as Sammael, a hell-hound with a distinct Lovecraftian appearance. Rasputin imbues Sammael with the power to reincarnate and split his essence, causing two of the creature's "eggs" to hatch and mature in seconds each time one dies. Rasputin then visits Liz as she sleeps, reactivating her powers and causing the near-total destruction of the hospital. Afterwards, Myers talks to her, and convinces her to return to the bureau, at least for the short term.

Hellboy with Sammael approaching from behind.

The multiplying Sammael quickly becomes a major problem, as Hellboy repeatedly kills it, creating dozens. Abe is injured during an attempt to retrieve some of their eggs, and Kroenen kills one of the FBI agents sent with Hellboy, and Sammael kills the other 2 agents. Kroenen, whose ancient body is now run by mechanisms, then shuts himself down and pretends to be defeated just before Hellboy arrives. Kroenen's 'corpse' is brought to the bureau for examination. FBI Director Tom Manning is angered by Hellboy's recklessness, which he feels is indirectly responsible for his agents' deaths. Hellboy gets mad and threatens Manning just as Liz returns, almost causing her to leave again just as quickly. Myers, in an effort to help her overcome her difficulties with Hellboy, takes her out for coffee and to talk. Hellboy, jealous, covertly follows them.

While they are away, Rasputin appears at the bureau, reanimating Kroenen before they confront Professor Bruttenholm. Out of twisted respect for Bruttenholm's protection and nurturing of Hellboy, Rasputin promises him a quick death, but first offers him a vision of the future, showing Hellboy is the agent that has destroyed the world. Rejecting Rasputin's vision of Hellboy's destiny, Bruttenholm is stabbed in the neck by Kroenen and, clutching a rosary, collapses and dies.

Manning takes over the BPRD and, with the help of Hellboy and the others, manages to find Rasputin's physical body located in a mausoleum in an old cemetery outside Moscow, Russia. An enraged Hellboy, with Manning's help, destroys Kroenen once and for all, to avenge the death of his "father", Professor Bruttenholm. Telling Manning to stay back, Hellboy reunites with Liz and Myers at Sammael's nest to defend them, but the hellhounds overwhelm him. In an effort to help, Liz, with some encouragement from Myers, ignores the fear that has prevented her from unleashing her full potential and uses her pyrokinetic powers to encase herself in blue fire, which she uses to incinerate the army of Sammaels and all the eggs. Unfortunately, this effect renders Hellboy, Liz, and Myers unconscious and they are captured by Rasputin.

To force Hellboy to release the Ogdru Jahad, Rasputin sucks Liz's soul out of her body, telling Hellboy that Liz will come back to life only if he complies. Hellboy, not wanting to lose Liz, awakens his true power as Anung un Rama (the Beast of the Apocalypse), causing his horns to regrow. He nearly releases the Ogdru Jahad, but the injured Myers reminds him of who he is and that he has the right to choose his own path. He snaps off his horns, returning to his former self and resealing the Ogdru Jahad. As Rasputin screams his frustration and disappointment at Hellboy, Hellboy stabs him in the heart with one of his broken horns.

However, Rasputin has one last trick up his sleeve: he is possessed by a demon from the Ogdru Jahad. The tentacled Behemoth bursts out of Rasputin's body, grows to immense size, and destroys Rasputin and Ilsa. Hellboy grabs a stone sword from a nearby statue and attacks the Behemoth's tentacles, then allows himself to be swallowed while detonating a belt of live hand grenades. The subsequent explosion tears the Behemoth apart from inside, killing it. Liz's vital signs are gone when Hellboy returns from the fight, but he whispers into her ear, and suddenly her life is restored. When she asks how her soul was returned, Hellboy replies that he simply told the creatures from the other side the cost of taking her: "Hey, you on the other side. Let her go. Because for her I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." She and Hellboy kiss as she surrounds them in blue flame, and the narrator, Myers, says that what truly makes a man is "Not how he starts things, but how he decides to end them."

Finally, the film ends with a humorous mid-credits scene, where a forgotten and frightened Manning is lost several levels down in the dank and dim halls of the mausoleum, listening to maybe the rustle of footsteps, and looking to see if there's anyone/anything around.

Hancock

John Hancock (Will Smith) is an alcoholic with superhuman powers, including supersonic flight, invulnerability, immortality, and super-strength. Though he uses his powers to stop criminals in his current residence of Los Angeles, his activity inadvertently causes millions of dollars in property damage due to his constant intoxication. As a result, he is routinely jeered at the crime scenes. Hancock also ignores court subpoenas

from the city of Los Angeles to address the property damage he has caused.

When public relations spokesperson Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) departs from an unsuccessful meeting pitching his All-Heart logo for corporations who are extraordinarily charitable—or wish to be perceived as such—he becomes trapped on railroad tracks with an incoming freight train. Hancock saves Ray's life, but he causes the train to derail and nearly injures another driver. Hancock is jeered by other drivers for causing more damage, but Ray steps in and thanks Hancock for saving his life. Ray offers to improve Hancock's public image, and Hancock grudgingly accepts. The spokesperson convinces the alcoholic superhero to permit himself to be jailed for outstanding subpoenas so they can show Los Angeles how much the city really needs Hancock. When the crime rate rises after Hancock's incarceration, the superhero is contacted by the Chief of Police. With a new costume from Ray, Hancock intervenes with a bank robbery, rescuing a cop and stopping the leader of the robbers, Red Parker (Eddie Marsan).

After the rescue, Hancock is applauded for handling the bank robbery. The superhero becomes popular once more, as Ray had predicted. He goes out to dinner with Ray and his wife Mary (Charlize Theron), with whom he reveals his apparent immortality and his amnesia from 80 years ago. After Hancock tucks a drunken Ray in bed, he discovers that Mary also has superhuman powers. He threatens to expose her unless she explains their origins, and she tells him that they have lived for 3,000 years with their powers, having been called gods and angels in their time. She explains that they are the last of their kind and that their kind are paired. Mary does not tell Hancock the entire truth, and Hancock departs to tell Ray about the conversation. The exchange results in a battle between Hancock and Mary that takes them to downtown Los Angeles, causing significant damage to the area. Ray, downtown in a business meeting, sees and recognizes Mary using abilities like Hancock's.

Hancock is later shot twice in the torso when he intervenes in a liquor store robbery. After being hospitalized, Mary enters and explains that as the pair of immortals gets close, they begin to lose their powers. She also explains that Hancock was attacked in an alley 80 years prior, his skull was fractured, causing amnesia. Mary deserted him then in order for him to recover from his injuries. After her explanation, the hospital is raided by the bank robber Red Parker and two other criminals that Hancock had encountered during his incarceration. Mary is shot in the process. Hancock is able to stop two men but is further wounded by them. When Red attempts to finish Hancock off, Ray comes to the rescue and stops the bank robber with a fire ax. With Mary nearly dying, Hancock uses the last of his strength to flee from the hospital so that their parting would allow her to heal with her powers. He later winds up in New York City, working as a superhero. As gratitude to Ray, Hancock paints Ray's All-Heart logo on the moon and calls the spokesperson to look up to the worldwide advertisement.

Sky High

It all begins at a secret school in the clouds like none on earth: Sky High, the first and only high school for kids with super-human powers going through crime-fighting puberty. At Sky High, the student body throw flames with their footballs, study Villainy with their Chemistry and are divided into Heroes and Sidekicks instead of jocks and geeks. It's an out-of-this-world yet completely recognizable place where cool gadgetry, rampant bravery and awe-inspiring magical skills mix it up with parental battles, peer pressure and dating trouble--with explosively fun results. This year's class features some of the best, brightest and most powerfully gifted super-teens ever assembled. And then there's Will Stronghold. When you're the son of the world's most legendary super heroes, The Commander and Jetstream, people expect you to live up to the family name The problem is that Will is starting with no superpowers of his own and, worst of all, instead of joining the ranks of the Hero class, he finds himself relegated to being a Sidekick. Now he must somehow survive his freshman year while dealing with an overbearing gym coach, a bully with super speed and a dangerous rebel with a grudge (and the ability to shoot fire from his hands)--not to mention the usual angst, parental expectations and girl problems that accompany teenage life. But when an evil villain threatens his family, friends and the very sanctity of Sky High, Will must use his newfound superpowers to save the day and prove himself a Hero worthy of the family tradition.

Students

Similar to the Power Rangers series, the students' civilian clothing throughout the film consistently matches particular color schemes, perhaps foreshadowing their future hero costumes.

• Michael Angarano as William "Will" Theodore Stronghold: Will is a freshman at Sky High. His parents are the two most famous superheroes of the day, the Commander and Jetstream. He is anxious at the outset of the film because he has no superpowers yet, which changes when he first develops super-strength and then flight. Near the end of the film when a few other characters battle each other, Will fights with Royal Pain and wins. His clothes are primarily red, white, and blue.
• Danielle Panabaker as Layla Williams: Will and Layla have known each other since first grade, when she told him that she could control (and speak to) plants; they have been best friends ever since. She is a pacifist and a vegan. She also has a crush on Will, which she covered up at the beginning of the film. Layla does not believe in using her plant manipulating power unless the situation demands it (although this seems to conflict with her casual use of her powers at the beginning of the movie, and later-on when she made a flower droop in the Paper Lantern). Her clothes are primarily green and light green. During the final battle she takes on Penny but refuses to use her powers eve n when Penny taunts her because of her pacifist nature; but when Penny hits her, it angers her enough that she invokes her powers and easily defeats Penny by wrapping her up in vines.
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Gwen Grayson (Royal Pain / Sue Tenney): A senior at Sky High; Will has a crush on her. Her true name is Sue Tenny. She is a straight-A student and a technopath, and she shows a mean streak towards Will's friends. However, she is, in fact, the Stronghold family's nemesis the Royal Pain, who was laughed off a generation ago as the prototypical school geek despite her skills as a technopath. 15 years before the movie, during a fight with the Commander and Jetstream, her signature weapon, the Pacifier, malfunctioned and exploded, causing her to revert to a baby. Taken in and re-raised by her own sidekick, Stiches, she creates a new identity as Gwen Grayson, and re-enrolls at Sky High, intent on finally putting her nefarious scheme to create an evil academy into action, as revenge against the Commander and Jetstream. She nearly succeeds, but Will's friends stop her minions and Ron Wilson, Bus Driver stops her sidekick from escaping with all of the babies. She fights Will, and almost wins after she punches him through a window, but ultimately is the loser when he discovers he has the power to fly and she is defeated and subsequently arrested. Her clothes are primarily pink, purple and gray. While wearing her Royal Pain armor, Gwen's voice is heavily distorted into a bass tone (performed by Patrick Warburton) similar to Anakin Skywalker wearing his Darth Vader armor.
• Steven Strait as Warren Peace: Warren is the son of an unnamed superheroine and a supervillain known as Baron Battle (whom the Commander put in prison; Warren therefore initially considered Will his archenemy). Warren is the quintessential rebel and a pyrokinetic. Brooding at school but more bearable outside, from the way he interacted with Will and Layla while off-campus. He eventually becomes good friends with Will and the others. He works at the Paper Lantern Chinese Restaurant, and can somewhat speak in Cantonese. His name is obviously a play on War and Peace. It was his aggression towards Will that accidentally allowed the latter to gain, for the very first time, access over his abilities. The two were later paired to a Save the Citizen after Lash and Speed challenged them (and consented by Boomer), knowing that all hell will break loose if those two were in the same team. Things didn't go quite as expected and Warren and Will became the first to defeat Lash and Speed. Warren fights Speed toward the end of the film and wins. His clothes are primarily black, with hints of red. He may also be indestructable as he was able to take at least two superpowered punches from Will, get knocked into a beam and thrown through several walls and pillars and get back up like it never happened, also exclaiming, "You think I can't take a hit?" If that was the case then he may be the first superpowered teen to exhibit more than one supernatural ability before Will. He was last seen taking the hand of a blond-haired girl who appears to have cryokinetic
• Dee Jay Daniels as Ethan: A Hero Support who is friends with Will, he can melt into a small puddle (which earned him the nickname "Popsicle"). He is often the butt of practical jokes, like getting his head dunked in the toilet by Lash and Speed, although he does fight Lash in the climax and wins. His clothes are primarily orange.
• Kelly Vitz as Magenta/Maj: Will's friend whose ability is to shapeshift into a guinea pig complete with purple highlights/streaks in her fur- she has purple highlights in her hair normally. She does not like to be pushed around. She seems to return Zach's feelings for her towards the end of the movie. Her clothes, as well as her guinea pig form, are primarily purple and black. In the final battle she disables the jammer on the gravity drive in her guinea pig form, saving the school.
• Nicholas Braun as Zach Braun: Will's spacey friend, who has the ability to glow - in the dark. His power actually proved useful when he, Warren, Layla, Magenta, and Ethan made their way though the vents since Warren couldn't use his powers to light up their way without igniting the rest of the vicinity and burn them alive in the process. He has a crush on Magenta. His clothes are primarily white and neon yellow. He has known Will since before the movie.
• Malika and Khadijah Haqq as Penny: Gwen's best friend who can replicate herself and is therefore the entire cheerleading team. She, along with Lash and Speed, eventually were a part of Gwen Grayson/Sue Tenny/Royal Pain's plan. In the latter half of the film, she and Layla fight. At first Penny seems to have the uppers hand, trapping Layla into a corner. But she loses when she angers Layla by hitting her, and Layla responds by making the plants outside a nearby window attack Penny and her doppelgangers, where she informs Layla that Royal Pain sabotaged the school's anit-gravity device, which would cause the school to fall out of the sky. She, along with Royal Pain, Lash, and Speed are sent to the detention center in the end. Her clothes are primarily orange and blue. Throughout the film they resemble cheerleading uniforms.
• Jake Sandvig as Lash: One of the resident bullies at Sky High. He and best friend

  

  Speed love tormenting the sidekicks and anyone else with no apparent powers. His superpower is his elasticity and he is, logically, champion of the game Save the Citizen, along with Speed, until Will and Warren break the records. His clothes consistently feature black and white striped arms. He is defeated by Ethan at the end when Ethan tricks him and then flushes his head down a toilet and it gets stuck there.
• Will Harris as Speed: Lash's best friend, who joins him in his bullying and is always his partner in the game Save the Citizen. He, despite being heavyset, has super-speed. His clothes consistently feature black and white, similar to Lash. It takes both Warren and Ethan to defeat him in the end because his super-speed gives him an advantage, allowing him to dodge Warren's fireballs. He loses when Ethan melts in front of him causing him to slip and go sliding down the hall, out of control. Warren finishes him off by hitting him with a fireball, sending him head first into a wall.

Adults

• Kurt Russell as Steve Stronghold/The Commander: Will's father, Steve Stronghold and his wife, Josie, run the most successful real estate agency in the city of Maxville. As the Commander, he is one of the world's strongest superheroes, displaying super-strength and durability. He is sometimes blinded by his own ego, but when it comes to his family, Steve is always there to support his son. As Steve, he wears glasses to hide his identity (a play on Superman); as the Commander, he wears a red, white, and blue costume. The castle logo on his chest presumably represents a stronghold, in reference to his real name.
• Kelly Preston as Josie Stronghold/Jetstream: Will's mother, Josie Stronghold, and her husband Steve are successful real estate agents. As Jetstream, she can fly and is touted as being an expert in hand-to-hand combat. In addition, she is the classic motherly figure, which Will often finds embarrassing. Just like her husband, she wears glasses as Josie and a red, white, and blue costume as Jetstream. She and her husband run the most successful real estate agency in Maxville.
• Lynda Carter as Principal Powers: The principal of Sky High. She appears to have the power to transform into a comet and back at will, (Her actress comments that "Powers is a comet".) She is a strict, no nonsense teacher who regrettably has to place both Will and Warren in the detention chamber on their first day of Will's freshman year. She also places Royal Pain, Stitches, Lash, Speed, and Penny in the same chamber at the ending of the movie, at which point Powers states "I'm not Wonder Woman, ya know" - a little in-joke to Lynda Carter's role as Wonder Woman in the 1970s). Her primary colors are light blue and white, though she is only seen in her suits and never in her costume. ^[1]
• Bruce Campbell as Coach Boomer/Sonic Boom: The gym teacher at Sky High, also known as Sonic Boom due to his ability to release sonic waves from his vocal cords, which he conveniently uses to bark at any student who doesn't live up to his expectations. His shouts are powerful enough to be heard by the entire school, usually shattering glasses in the process. Principal Powers appears to be the only one completely used to this kind of behavior. He is in charge of Power Placement and supervises "Save the Citizen." He will not hesitate to put his least favorite students in sidekick class. He is mentioned by the Commander as having never "made the big time" as a superhero, which would explain his bad temper. He wears only his gym suit which is dark blue and white.
• Kevin Heffernan as Ron Wilson - Bus Driver : The Sky High bus driver-slash-pilot. Ron is the son of two superheroes, but he does not have any powers. Basically comparable to Hagrid, he develops a sense of camaderie with Will. He feels a great sense of pride in driving the "superheroes of tomorrow" to school. He helps save the day by flying Will to the school when he couldn't fly yet, and knocking out Stitches stopping him from taking off with a busload of babies. At the end of the film, it is stated that he falls into a vat of toxic waste and gains powers (apparently the ability to grow, like Giant-Man) and begins working for the mayor.
• Cloris Leachman as Nurse Spex: A kind and eccentric elderly lady that serves as Sky High's single known nurse. She has the ability of X-ray vision, which she uses to see if Will may possible have any broken bones after Power Placement. She explains to Will that cases like his (where an offspring of two superheroes, or of one superhero and one human, develops no powers whatsoever) are not unheard-of. She tells Will that she does not want to be the one to tell his father that Will has no discovered powers, because he and Will's mom were both such successful and well-known heroes of their time, and still are.
• Jim Rash as Mr. Grayson/Stitches: Royal Pain's bumbling sidekick, and Gwen Grayson/Sue Tenney's "father", who raised her as his own after she turned into a baby. He wears a jester's outfit. A running joke throughout the film was when Royal Pain was ever angered by Stitches, she would grab the sidekick by the throat and choke him, while Stitches would gag out "Uncle, Uncle, Uncle!!" At the climax he attempts to take a bus full of babies away but is knocked out by Ron Wilson: Bus Driver, who says that he (Ron) is the only one qualified to transport super kids.
• Dave Foley as All American Boy/Mr. Boy: The Commander's old Hero Support. He now works as Hero Support teacher at Sky High. Although he takes pride in educating the Hero Support of tomorrow, he always seems depressed that his greatest accomplishment is just being Commander's sidekick (and is shaken to find that the Commander had never mentioned to Will that he had had a sidekick before teaming with Jetstream). Being the former sidekick, he seems to have no extraordinary abilities whatsoever other than enhanced athleticism. He also harbors a long-standing crush on Jetstream.
• Kevin McDonald as Mr. Medulla: The Mad Science teacher, with super brainpower – so much that he is still smarter than the average adult as a baby. This allows him to help the young students to restore himself and the other homecoming attendees to their proper ages. Both McDonald and Foley (above) come from sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall.