Title pretty much sums it up. Watched a video recently where someone was asked to name a black superhero that didn’t have lightning based powers and while I could name a few it made me realize just how prevalent the trope is.

But why?

Edit: Y’all I’m not asking for examples of black heroes that don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with 😮‍💨

    • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.worldOP
      9·
      2 days ago

      I’m not asking for examples of black superheroes who don’t have lightning powers. I’m asking why it’s a trope to begin with.

      • fox2263@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        2 days ago

        I think there’s only a handful and can’t really be called a trope when you’ve had just as many examples of black superheroes without lightning powers.

        There’s a few white ones too. Thor for example. Shazam. Flash. Wonder Woman

        • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
          1·
          15 hours ago

          Not sure Thor counts as his origin is based on real world mythology that predates comic book superheroes by about 1000 years. Marvel may have fit him into their fictional world, but his powers and persona were established. Like DC using Lucifer. Their comic version isn’t quite the Biblical version but most readers are passingly familiar with the fundamentals of his character without needing a backstory.