# Where did the trend of naming superheroes with the prefix "Captain" come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 7, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257 "2016-09-07T06:10:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/1 "2016-09-07T06:10:32Z")
Most things that parody superheroes or use discount versions of them will almost always have someone named “Captain Something” like “Captain Power” or “Captain Justice”. Captain Caveman is an example of a parody superhero name, while Captain Planet is an example of somebody just grafting the word Captain to a completely unrelated hero. Obviously Captain America is the biggest and most obvious Captain superhero, but was he the origin of naming superheroes Captain? Or was it already in place beforehand and if so was it done because of its military or its police connotations? Is there a reason why even when Captain America’s popularity was at its lowest (in the late 50’s when he wasn’t even in comics and then in the late 80’s IIRC when he was often ranked as the least popular of the “main” Marvel heroes) that people were still named superheroes Captain? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/2 "2016-09-07T06:19:47Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Most things that parody superheroes or use discount versions of them will almost always have someone named “Captain Something” like “Captain Power” or “Captain Justice”. Thanks, Captain Obvious. Captain Marvel might be among the oldest Captain names (though it has been used by several distinct personages.) I believe that one dates back to the late 1930s, whereas Captain America didn’t show up until 1941. I don’t know what the inspiration for the name is, other than the fact that “Marvel Man” sounds pretty weird. (And indeed, DC alleged at the time that Captain Marvel was a ripoff of Superman.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/3 "2016-09-07T07:43:08Z")
It comes from (now D.C.) Captain Marvel, who got the Captain moniker in reference to the [actual military rank of its original publisher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fawcett_Publications) via a convoluted series of reference. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/4 "2016-09-07T09:19:59Z")
I believe that Captain Midnight predates even Captain Marvel. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/5 "2016-09-07T09:36:38Z")
My favorite was 1967’s [Captain Nice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Nice). ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/6 "2016-09-07T10:54:21Z")
[Captain Underpants!](http://www.reading-rewards.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/captain-underpants-badge.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/7 "2016-09-07T11:14:49Z")
[Captain Klutz.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Klutz) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/8 "2016-09-07T11:16:45Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I believe that Captain Midnight predates even Captain Marvel. Yes, earlier than Marvel. But Marvel wins some cred in that Midnight was an actual USAAC Captain, Marvel wasn’t military at all. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/9 "2016-09-07T13:03:56Z")
The best ever: [QUOTE=Hill Street Blues] “Name?” \*“\*Captain Freedom. Ten tons of nitro in one fist and a neutron bomb in the other. When I walk buildings shake and _bad guys wet their pants_.” [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/10 "2016-09-07T13:04:42Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Thanks, Captain Obvious. > > Captain Marvel might be among the oldest Captain names (though it has been used by several distinct personages.) I believe that one dates back to the late 1930s, whereas Captain America didn’t show up until 1941. > > I don’t know what the inspiration for the name is, other than the fact that “Marvel Man” sounds pretty weird. (And indeed, DC alleged at the time that Captain Marvel was a ripoff of Superman.) Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 in February 1940. Captain America first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 in March 1941. So there was about a year’s difference between the appearance of the two characters. Note that Captain Marvel didn’t get his own dedicated book until 1941, until then he was just one of the characters in Whiz Comics (though he was also the most prominent one). ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/11 "2016-09-07T13:17:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Yes, earlier than Marvel. But Marvel wins some cred in that Midnight was an actual USAAC Captain, Marvel wasn’t military at all. Indeed, I’d say it’s a stretch to call Captain Midnight a superhero. He first showed up as a radio character in 1938, but he was basically just a daring Air Corps pilot. He did have a secret identity of sorts (“Midnight” was not his real name, although he did hold the actual rank of Captain), but the show was largely an aviation-themed adventure program, rather than what we usually think of as a superhero show. Later, he showed up in the comics as well, but even there he was more in the Adventurer With a Bunch of Gadgets genre than the superhero genre. Granted, that can be a fuzzy line at times, but Captain Midnight mostly stayed on the other side of it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/12 "2016-09-07T13:19:49Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Later, he showed up in the comics as well, but even there he was more in the Adventurer With a Bunch of Gadgets genre than the superhero genre. Granted, that can be a fuzzy line at times, but Captain Midnight mostly stayed on the other side of it. Well, yeah, I was reading the first sentence and thinking “gee, you mean Batman minus the weird clothing?” ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/13 "2016-09-07T13:51:59Z")
How come none of them has ever been promoted? Or is someone else **Major America** and they just have a desk job back at HQ. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/14 "2016-09-07T13:58:12Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > How come none of them has ever been promoted? Or is someone else **Major America** and they just have a desk job back at HQ. In the _Marvel Zombies_ timeline, the Captain America character is called Colonel America. DC has had at least a couple of heroes named Commander Steel. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/15 "2016-09-07T14:00:17Z")
The only General that comes to mind is that bad guy in the Superman movie–I think. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/16 "2016-09-07T14:07:09Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > The only General that comes to mind is that bad guy in the Superman movie–I think. How dare you forget the name of General ZOD?! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/17 "2016-09-07T14:12:48Z")
TV Tropes has a bit to say about this phenomenon on their [“Captain Superhero”](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaptainSuperhero) page. I like the bit from Marvel’s Nextwave hero, The Captain: > [@](#): > > “I was Captain Power for a while. But then I got sued. Something about a cartoon. Then I changed it to Captain Ron. And got sued. Changed it to Captain L. Ron. Got beaten up by Tom Cruise. I was Captain Universe, but it turned out there was already a Captain Universe. Captain Ultra. There had been one of those. A plumber, would you believe. Broke into my apartment and left a horse’s head in my water tank as a warning. Captain Avenger, taken. Captain Avalon, I had to give up(…)I tried Captain Marvel. There’ve been, like, eight Captain Marvels. One of them was an adult movie star with a lightning bolt on his…anyway. There was a Captain Kerosene. I mean, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, and there was already a Captain Kerosene. That was my luck right there. I wasn’t Captain Rectitude, but I was pretty much all of the other Captains at one time or another. So I gave up. I decided I was just The Captain. And then some marine-looking guy tracks me down and says, “I was The Captain First!”. I had to pay him money in the end.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/18 "2016-09-07T14:15:58Z")
Let’s move this to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/19 "2016-09-07T14:31:27Z")
NM, ninja’d, and more thoroughly by Captain **Czarcasm**. _shakes fist_ ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257/20 "2016-09-07T15:07:56Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > How come none of them has ever been promoted? Or is someone else **Major America** and they just have a desk job back at HQ. There was a DC villain named Major Disaster. I keep waiting for a cybervillain named Colonel Panic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-trend-of-naming-superheroes-with-the-prefix-captain-come-from/765257.md?page=2)