Superhero Creation Myths

Red Cross Disaster Relief: dft.ba/-geN
John's (free, bad) zombie apocalypse novel: dft.ba/-zombicorndl
In which Hank discusses Superhero creation myths, and how the stories we tell about superheroes reflect contemporary fears and fascinations--from Wolverine to Captain America to Spiderman to Batman to Dr. Who.
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A Bunny
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[@SexiestPenguin]

In my city, once a year, there is a zombie walk. In case you aren't familiar, everyone who wants to dresses up as a zombie, and shambles around the city, sometimes breaking into Thriller choreography and fun things like this. I was at work (in a store) when a zombie came in. He was a freshly-killed blood and tatter kind of zombie, and forgetting that this was Zombie day, I immediately rushed over to him, mistaking him for someone who had been hit by a car or something, and needed help. Clearly, if a zombie apocalypse were possible, I would die almost immediately. I can't even pretend I wouldn't.

[@JatPhenshllem]

That sounds awesome, where was this?

[@SexiestPenguin]

@@JatPhenshllem Winnipeg. Unfortunately, the zombie walks were discontinued in 2013, though.

[@JatPhenshllem]

@@SexiestPenguin :( Why?

[@SexiestPenguin]

@@JatPhenshllem I'm not sure

[@sarahtheeagle3060]

Hank, have you ever in your eccentric and erratic research discovered the corticeps mushroom? Its method of survival is literally turning insects into undead puppets that keep going while braindead in order to provide its body as food for the spores until they spread. It happens to be what many of the enemies of the video game "The Last of Us" are based upon, but it does re-open the discussion of what counts as "undead".

[@sarahprunierlaw9147]

ohhh! I should look them up!

[@mineola_]

I was going to comment about about the corticeps mushroom, but now I don't have to :D

[@lilyhannahwolpert3552]

The Wizard of Oz is the biggest chick-flick EVER! It's about 2 girls trying to kill each other over shoes

[@veronicab32]

Oh... My... Gosh...

[@MysteriousAsteria]

Vampires were actually not always associated with sexuality and romance. These tropes were assigned to them when fictional stories about vampires (and the supernatural in general) went mainstream during the romantic age in the late 18th/early 19th century. We have to thank Polidori's "The Vampyre" which portrayed a vampire as an alluring, mysterious nobleman who keeps seducing and finally killing young women. Followed by this then was Sheridan le Fanu's novel "Carmilla", which added the whole "vampires are romantically obsessing about their prey" trope. Finally Bram Stoker delivered Dracula, which was heavily influenced by Carmilla, and where the whole "vampires are sexy and love to drink the blood of hot young women" became finally the kind of stereotype fiction has been using since. Before the rise of the vampire novel most folktales were in fact rather fuzzy about how vampires come to be. It seems almost every human culture on earth developed stories, myths and legends about undead beings who consume specific body parts, blood or energy (of course spiritual and not physical) to sustain themselves. Depending which culture and time the nature of the vampire and their food source may change drastically. In some cultures vampires and zombies cannot even be clearly distinguished from each other. Now considering that we are probably talking about the eastern european myths (since they had the strongest influence on modern vampires in fiction), the vampire lore mostly started out describing it as some sort of revenant spirit. Over time that apparently changed from a spiritual apparition that often haunts the remaining living people of their town or family to a living corpse that feeds on the life source (like blood) of their relatives. And then finally (probably influenced by fear of pandemics) they were said to feed on anyone and not just people they knew from real life or were close to them. There is of course much, much more. Vampire myths are extremely interesting, especially when you analyze them with the whole knowledge about mass hysteria and irrational fear of the unknown. Personally I'd even say they are more interesting than zombies (and I think a good way to actually tell them apart is, that zombies are always degenerated and more dead, whereas vampires can restore their liveliness or something that resembles it, by consuming blood. Plus: vampires seem to have more autonomy than vampires (there are of course exceptions). Unfortunately they get messed up a lot. Even the vampires in the old romantic gothic novels were presented as softer and more idealized as those in folk tales and legends.

[@kipofthemany2213]

Asteria I gotta question. Have you watched Overly Sarcastic Production's video on Dracula? I think you hit every point in that video. Even so, I think you would enjoy that vid.

[@ItsCamille735]

Whenever I see someone talking about a zombie virus or apacolypes all I can think is "You Know We Made Them Up Right?"

[@N64GC]

Just count the number of times hank pushes his glasses up..

[@ashleycaveda]

+N64 GC I got 21--and that's not including the times he clearly just finished or is about to push up his glasses if his fingers weren't actually touching the glasses. I'd say I have too much time on my hands, but it really only took 3 minutes and 59 seconds.

[@gracemason5964]

Seeing Hank talk about superheroes (quite possibly my favorite conversation topic) makes me feel proud for some reason. It's like "yes Hank you challenge my knowledge of superheroes and I love you for that".

[@raindropsonroses6]

this is inexplicably exactly what i needed to see tonight. tomorrow, i will be picking up a new spiderman comic, along with a new motivation for my life. thank you, hank.

[@ava.olivia]

Anyone else notice the fact that this video is in 60FPS, but was released before KZbin had 60FPS video?

[@mortimermcmirestinks]

+BitPlusGaming ...WITCHCRAAAFT

[@hobimato]

Those bunnies at the end of the description boxes are too cute!

[@LittleOxfordSt]

This is one of my absolute favourite Vlogbrothers video. Such an interesting way of looking at the origin superheroes.

[@rekagaal]

Got an ad for Hank & John being at VidCon April 2017 Amsterdam on a Hank & John video. They're watching me. KZbin knows what I like and where I live.

[@shumajax1]

what about the zombie ant and the mind control fungus in the amazon.

[@mephostopheles3752]

"Dr. Who?" DR. Who? !?!?!?! DR. !?!?!?! It's "Doctor."

[@unknown-nl2xe]

What

[@Mattieisawesomer]

This might just be my favorite Hank Video... it's hard to describe how much I liked this video and how insightful it was to me. Yay Hank!

[@FromSamToYou]

I love this video, because when I start worrying about a zombie apocalypse, this video always reassures me.

[@kjracz15]

Why? Why was an 11-ish-year-old video suddenly recommended to me? I'm not complaining though.

[@Ariel-ps8je]

apparently in two years our fascination with drugs making super geniuses hasn't changed as we can see from "Lucy"

[@RitaSijelmass]

Ariel Schwartz It's a shame though that Lucy is complete and utter bullshit. And no, I will not apologise for my language - there might be a fine line between science fact and science fiction; but the creators of that movie waltzed over that border without even noticing the fence, in some disgusting hummer and douchebag sunglasses on, and didn't stop for gas until they were on another continent. That's how far off they are.

[@dannash2010]

I am using this video in my dissertation on Greek Mythological Heroes and American Superheroes. Thank you, Hank, this is has been really helpful to me. :D

[@missmargaretr6955]

While I did learn about homeostasis, and trust Hanks science prowess, I am still irrationally terrified of zombies.

[@angelwings967]

I have homework, God damn it.

[@xXWhiteTiger21Xx]

I have finals, crap.

[@MrNtlman]

xXWhiteTiger21Xx I have work, hmm....

[@xXWhiteTiger21Xx]

And now I have more exams xD

[@SyskeBehard]

I've got to say Hank, while I like most of the video I take exception to your gendered monster preference piece. It's overly simplistic and I know you know better (though I do realize this is from five years ago).

[@SpaceMasterRahel]

OH MY GOD. Your Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett novels have been DRIVING ME CRAZY. I have been trying to keep quiet about it for some time, but I just saw that you also have Good Omens on your shelf. OH MY GOD, I LOVE TERRY AND NEIL SO MUCH AND JUST SEEING THEM ON YOUR SHELF MAKES ME WANT TO READ GOOD OMENS ALL OVER AGAIN. And quite possibly write more slashy fanficion around it.

[@Jonesle90]

This video reminded me of the philosophy class I took a year ago; my professor mentioned that a lot of movies hit on the things we as a society deem important and/or fear. He said "you'll never look at movies the same way again," and then we watched Kung Fu Panda to talk about Eastern philosophy. Such a fun class. :)

[@raeraeofsunshine]

interesting to think about since the Deadpool movie was just confirmed, as well as Deadpool being confirmed as pansexual in the film

[@xoxoQueenBitchxoxox]

You have Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman on your bookshelf Good Omens is my all time favorite book and those are two of my favorite authors, it makes me happy that you like it too.

[@AnnBeiFong]

I like how in the whole picture screen of heroes are people (or humanoids) and a big blue box. GOTTA LOVE THE TARDIS.

[@lilypad145]

I really like the way the video quality has improved- Hank, you look good and the videos look very professional. They are wonderful to watch.

[@B3TT3RDAYS]

There are Pratchett books on your bookshelf, congratulations you just made my list of favorite people.

[@RainaRamsay]

I really enjoy looking at what our stories say about us as a culture. This is a highly enjoyable example.

[@Karaisoke]

I love that Kodomo no Omocha is on your shelf. :x

[@alexandramuses]

Now I can't stop noticing it, and of course I keep repositioning my own glasses in response. It's contagious.

[@thehelmofdarkness]

You have no idea how much you've eased my nerves with the 'there's no science of zombies' and that there will never be any zombies. I've been suffering from an intense phobia of zombies, which has basically tore apart what little life I lead (and I sound like I belong on a weird TLC show)... That still doesn't mean I'm not keeping my survival plans... And yes. Being obsessed and afraid of something really do go hand in hand. Thank you very much Hank (o^-^o)

[@halfpintstuff]

In John's novella I got the idea that they weren't actually dead, which is why John didn't refer to them as zombies. I think the idea of zombies only works if they don't actually die: they just get infected then go crazy. As Hank said, homeostasis doesn't like change.

[@96BackstreetGirl]

I didn't realise the connection with what interests us to superheroes until right now. And it makes perfect sense as, once i watched vsauces video on are we prepared for aliens, i decided to watch man of steel, not conciously recognizing the connection of outer space fascination. But superheroes, just like everything else, tells us a bit about ourselves. Well explained hank.

[@ladysuznuk]

its one of those things that once you start counting, you can never stop.

[@bluelesswonder]

In addition to superheros, Mary Shelley's Frankenstien is also a good insight on that fear and the unknown of new technology, In fact It could be a start to the common theme of life from death science fiction. Where in Frankenstein, Victor brings to life the creature with electricity ( a lightning storm) in turn at the current time Galvanism was a new head liner.

[@ariadnewinterfield9384]

The idea of virtual reality was another idea that was "scary" at the start of the rapid progression of communication technology with the Internet and so on, and the movie The Lawnmower Man was what I thought of when you were talking about the fear and interest going hand in hand. The movie, for those of you haven't watched it (probably a lot of you) was that a man was exploring the idea of teaching people things through a virtual reality. It was enhancing the learning process, and a lot of othe

[@CharlieFoPresident]

what RileyHayns said along with the fact that in comic books (and the x-men films) mutants such as wolverine are feared and targeted by the government rather than congratulated for their bravery in fighting evil.

[@AmericanTimelord97]

The Doctor in with classics like Superman and Batman....it just made my day. The Doctor is my hero...

[@whoknowstk421]

oh my gosh... the vlog brothers mentioned my favorite ever movie! limitless was so good! i loved it!

[@wherethebirdsgo]

Cool anthropological thought from Hank? Wild, love it

[@dannash2010]

This video has helped inspired my dissertation! Thanks for being awesome Hank!!

[@ScarletMoon41]

The little picture of Hiro Nakamura just made my day for some reason.

[@Johannasmirror]

I got really excited about getting the corn reference. I realize the rest of you probably got it, too. But I still felt really special.

[@sandrilene23]

Terry Pratchett for the win! Also, completely agree with you. I think reading or watching fantasy/sci-fi (anything where the creator creates a whole world) really gives insight into the creator's personality. A pessimist will create a world where humans have destroyed the planet/themselves. An optimist will show a future where humans have solved all of Earth's major problems, and go on to tackle problems in space.

[@flippa400]

that being said, he saves lives, and tries to do the right thing, which is pretty heroic.

[@MidskakurUlvur]

I'm pretty sure that what fascinates people so much is the sanction of deadly violence against(former)humans, and the idea of being a tough survivor, not to mention the adrenaline rush. Also, in stories that focus on violence between people, the writer often feels the need to try to answer who the good guys are in the conflict. This can be difficult if there are no clear "bad" guys. That's why many massive hordes of bad guys are either aliens, terrorists, nazis, zombies, or all of the above.

[@opabinnier]

I think it was considerably longer. He was commercially exhibited and had just enough brain cortex (ganglion) remaining in the stump to maintain equilibrium and adequate locomotion. He even had a stage name (I wonder if it was Hank?). Feeding him was tricky,as you can imagine, and he eventually succumbed to malnutrition. Man I would have loved to see that chicken!

[@obermegalutschoar]

I once had this idea of nanobots that enter dead bodies and restore life-functions to a point where the body is between death and life and the brain functions are partially restored, so these walking bodies would eat human flesh and be de-facto zombies. I bet someone had this idea before me, but the idea of zombies being somehow possible in the distant future fascinated me. I also just typed "tiny nanobots" until I realized it would be a tautology.

[@Espada061]

He looks so siencey when he pushes up his glasses. It's awesome.

[@kaleidoslug7777]

Cheers for Hank Green. For being one of the smartest most interesting to watch humans on earth

[@KFett11]

Saw a trailer for the movie Contagion and this video was the first thing that popped into my head.

[@xsepphie]

Wow, that part about spiderman is very true. Radioactivity was very popular in the science community in the early 1900s, whereas GMOs are more popular now.

[@LilyyyoftheRose]

It's a good reflection about the origins of Superheroes and the culture of fear, though.

[@xxAlchemistressxx]

Freakazoid has to be my biggest hero. Don't know why. But I'm really pleased to see him here. Thank you Hank!

[@nekofukami]

i'm saving this to watch whenever i get a new book idea

[@NathanPresents]

HIRO! You're a HERO forever in my heart! 2:44!

[@sailorsilverrose]

Back when the first Flash (Jay Garrick) came out he got his powers from breathing in hard water fumes. That has changed multiple times over the years now it is usually between the hard water fumes activated his already existing meta-genes or he had a similar accident to Berry Allen who is the second Flash. A lot of the superheros tend to get their powers from lab accidents or experiments.

[@inbararad]

I feel so good about that fact that I know what Homeostasis is! I can't even tell you. Whenever Hank gets all science-y I'm usually like 'whhaaaaaatt?" because, y'know, college science and high-school science, yeahhh not the same thing.

[@mycauliflowerrecipe]

I just keep getting more reasons to love you guys.

[@mataduvor]

aw, hank you brok my heart about the zombies... i like them... aww the tardis!

[@suluism]

This made me think of Farenheit 451 and Feed. Mostly Feed. That book sure scared me.

[@skydog905]

Although there is a love plot, Dracula in the original book still kicks ass. He sleeps in a coffin, is active at night, is rich, murders plenty of townsfolk, the works.

[@opabinnier]

Also certain frogs, and even some endotherms like certain bats and rodents. Of course there are many more examples of suspended animation in response to drought, like the lungfish... bu survivingt freezing really is remarkable because it causes cells to explode due to water expansion- and you get irreversible tissue damage. So an organic antifreeze is generated to prevent internal freezing though the critters get encrusted with ice. Similarly, some marine organisms live in sub-zero seawater.

[@dooooods]

that was a really cool one, much thanks to you, dftba

[@opticowl5486]

Returned to this video after we learned that they're revamping Fantastic Four to make it about interdimensional travel rather than space travel.

[@Theriot6592]

A Freakazoid reference? Hank Green, you just gained an awesome point.

[@33fgfhjjggy6y]

this is such a good episode

[@Pomegranite21]

Hank Green is definitely a superhero.

[@ilolatyu]

"Homeostasis - look it up and then stop worrying about Zombies!" LOL amazing

[@shinedusk]

Castle of Ortranto --> Dracula --> 70s and 80s vampire stuff e.g. Hammer Horror --> Anne Rice --> Twilight I'm sure there were many steps in between, but as far as I know, those are the main steps in how the vampire got tamed :-)

[@MischiefManaged01]

I never thought of super heros like that. Great. Now I'm going to be analyzing every super hero I read about now.

[@MsYellowhippy]

I went to a geography open day at UCL university the other day and the proffessor was telling us about some of the PHDs that people were doing and one of them was scarily similar to this! It was based on the baddies fought by Captain America at over the years showing how America's fears and perceptions change :) It sounds really interesting. Also, they are making a movie about Thor :D

[@ichemical]

I'm liking your Umbrella Academy poster in the background, Hank.

[@aichannnn]

Why doesn't this vid have more views??? It's impeccable!!!

[@holdens.6695]

UMBRELLA ACADEMY POSTER. wow i love that graphic novel and gerard way. gr8 job hank.

[@xOliverTuesday]

OMG! I saw that movie yesterday, and I had no memory at all of you talking about it! o.o

[@chickwithanipod]

The Doctor is not a hero. He is a traveller. The most heroic part of heroes is building your life after trauma, the doctor just moves on.

[@gracemason5964]

Also, superheroes and their mythologies are very under-rated in the terms of fiction, if I may speak honestly. Superheroes are (when well written) complicated and interesting characters. It's intriguing to see what can drive someone (man or woman) to want to dedicate their life to bringing justice, and see how they deal with the sacrifices they must make to do so. Superheroes always get written off as cheap entertainment and that's just not the case.

[@SugarGliderWisher]

At first i was like 0,o "Whaaaaa," and then i was like, "Ohhhhh," and now i'm like, "Wow you are a genius and you make me think in new fantastical ways and its awesome." So thank you for that.

[@NerdsBehavingBadly]

"Power resides where men believe it resides." - Varys, Game of Thrones

[@anunearthlychildness]

@Thoroughbred17 Ha yeh it was hard at first but eventually I got used to it. Growing up in Australia helped a little because we sort of get extremes of both sides. During summer it can get as high as 40! and during winter it gets down to 0, it does get lots lower but not were I'm from. I think the thing that shocked me the most was the humidity because Australia has very little humidity. I'm still not completely used to that yet and I've been here for 10 years!

[@foxdragon415]

Being revived (being dead, by some definition, then being alive again) is very different from being undead (in a state neither alive nor dead, or being dead by some definition but still being animate, depending on the story). The media just use the term zombie in situations like that to draw attention and readers.

[@justem214]

very awesome observations, also looking forward to hearing about Haiti. Just had a presentation about the red cross in Haiti today at school.

[@meganebee28]

I'm digging your Umbrella Academy poster on the door : ) Very snazzy. And your stash of Neil Gaiman : )

[@skydog905]

Faeries have been around a lot longer than vampires, though. Years of retelling fairy stories from different cultures could alter them, where vampires haven't been around long enough to horribly distort them without good reason.

[@emrigaela9887]

I HAVE HAD THIS QUESTION SINCE ABOUT SIX HANK VIDEOS AGO, AND NOW I AM GOING TO SAY A DEFINITE "YES THOSE ARE TERRY PRATCHETT BOOKS ON HIS LEFT."

[@boscorner]

What would your super power be? "An interesting question , as it not only reveals your inner most desires, but also your fears. I'd be bealch-man" - buford

[@eitanspuzzles]

I'm totally not surprised you read Terry Pratchett. Awesome.

[@TotallyAwesomeMcknz]

I love the TARDIS in 2:40 DFTBA!

[@anunearthlychildness]

@Thoroughbred17 Tennant is the reason I'm obsessed with them. I have the normal style ones in white, orange, pink and red, and then I have a pair of florescent green high tops which are my favorite. I love green! the high top style is much nicer than the normal. I'm kind of colour obsessed! I think that was Mika's doing. I mean I liked colour before but ever since listening to his music and seeing all his album covers I just love colour even more, he's such a bright colourful happy person :)

[@TheKyoSinomi]

Actually, there is a species of ant (don't remember what species at the moment) that gets infected from biting into the veins of a type of leaf that hold a fungus. This fungus kills the ant but temporarily revives it so that the fungus can travel to another tree and spread. Once the ant bites into the veins of the new leaf on the new tree the temporary zombie ant dies.

[@mattwalker21]

Hank, I think this would be worth a read: William G. Doty, "Myth: A Handbook" It's got a lot of the kind of stuff you're talking about in this video.

[@OptimusPhillip]

The idea of vampire stories being the romantic crap we think of them as now didn't originate until the 70s with Dark Shadows: centuries after the vampire was invented.

[@Ambrocious93]

Thanks to 'The Walking Dead' and 'Zombieland', I am now thoroughly prepared for a zombie apocalypse.

[@andrewxc1335]

The theme of "Limitless" is suspiciously similar to the Ted Chiang story "Understand." There's a great version on KZbin that you can listen to (book-on-tape, but it's a short story).

[@jman9082]

Scott Pilgrim right next to The Hunger Games? I love you guys.

[@mooerr]

So true. Although the original story of Dracula is a tragic drama.

[@ferntailwp]

You could've gone into the science of aspects of zombies and potentially how a zombie could be created in sans undead-ness. Leprosy, for example, could feed into the aspect of the zombie of which many have rotting flesh and missing limbs. If you combined enough of the aspects you could create a zombie-equivelant.