Superheroes in Real Life

[First of Two]

Inspired by comic books, ordinary citizens are putting on masks to fight crime.

Citizen Superheroes.

[Jem'hadar]

The charity work stuff discussed in the article sounds noble & I applaud it. The crime-fighting stuff I'm a bit more skeptical about.

Real crime-fighting can be tedious, time-consuming, expensive & dangerous. It's one thing to be a good samaritan when something happens in front of you. Quite another to put on a costume & patrol the streets looking for crimes being committed.

They're also going to run into potential legal problems, both w/ the cops who probably won't be too friendly to the idea of private citizens dressing up as superheroes to battle crime, & from suspects they intercept. If you attack someone out on the street that you think is engaging in a crime, you could be putting yourself in a situation where you're sued for assault & battery.

[First of Two]

That's why you wear the mask. They can't sue you if they can't identify you!

Now, I'd love to do this sort of thing, except for one thing... I'm more of the supervillain type.

Well, to be accurate, the "misunderstood man-monster" type. Like Bruce Banner or Man-Thing.

Hm... maybe... "Beware, evildoers! This is the realm of (insert code name here), and he does not share power!"

[tonyg]

They're also going to run into potential legal problems, both w/ the cops who probably won't be too friendly to the idea of private citizens dressing up as superheroes to battle crime

Of course not, you are threatening their jobs. It sort of sad that until recently it was considered a citizen's responsibility to take action to stop a criminal, where as today it is a crime to stop them.

It just makes it easier for the criminals.

[C5]

I can understand why, though. If a cop sees a bunch of people fighting, knowing which one is the thug, the victim and the vigilante can be tricky. Besides, there is nothing to prevent the thug to gain the upper hand over the vigilante, making the police force job twice as difficult. And of course, would such a phenomenon spread, we probably would end up with thugs dressing as "superheroes" when mugging people.

Nevertheless, it's kind of refreshing to see that people can be so fond of imaginary creations that they want to copy them as closely. Especially to do some good. I particularly like the guy who worked at a charity.

[First of Two]

I've decided. If I ever come into a goodly amount of money, like if I win the Powerball or the Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, I am definitely going to do this.

I already have a code name chosen, a costume half-designed from back in my semi-LARP days, a charity or two to benefit, and a specific crime/s to fight.

I'm going to be the militant vigilante arm of RAINN.