Superpowers & Character Alignments

Superpowers of any character from any show usually fall under at least 1 of any of these types (adapted and compiled from Mutant X and other superhero or good vs evil shows):

Elemental: The control of natural science and the forces of nature. E.g. the control over weather, plants, magnetic fields, physical surroundings
Feral: Something to do with animalistic or enhanced physical abilities. E.g. animal-like strength, canine/feline/bestial abilities
Molecular: Something to do with a physical mutation and/or the ability to manipulate the body structure or objects at a molecular level. E.g. walking through objects, invisibility, invincibility, self-healing, shape-shifting, size-alteration, transmutation of matter
Psionic: Something to do with mental or psychic abilities/manipulation. E.g. visions/premonitions, illusions, psychic blasts, erasing/altering memories, ability to enter people's dreams, mind control, manipulate emotions
Divine or Demonic; Magical; Spiritual; Cosmic (whichever you prefer to call it): Unexplainable powers, God or demon-given abilities e.g. ability to create or destroy things, fairy-type powers, ability to sense or control spirits, sci-fi alien powers, time-travel, teleportation, creation of forcefields, cosmic awareness, resurrecting the dead, soul manipulation, healing

Trigger:

Conditional: Requires certain conditions to occur. E.g. triggered by the time of the day/month/year, presence of objects, emotions, physical contact, mental concentration, can also be triggered by feeding on something, absorbing or drawing power from an external source e.g. blood, rings, amulets, artifacts, prayers that call on God or spells that call on demons.
Passive: Does not require a trigger. Unconditional. Constant. E.g. constant self-healing.

Of course, every superpower would have one or more weaknesses or limitations attached.

Side-effects:

Change in appetite: It can become parasitic cravings (e.g. cravings for unusual sustenance to grow/survive) or loss of hunger
Change in sleep patterns: Some become nocturnal, some may require long hibernation, some do not need sleep
Behavioural, mental and/or emotional change: Emotional outbursts, loss of control of body movement (in cases of hosts/vessels e.g. Bruce Banner/the Hulk)
Degeneration: Physical, mental, emotional or spiritual loss/damage with each use or over time, certain objects/conditions (e.g. light, kryptonite, religious objects, etc.)

As a fan of superheroes, I am often fascinated by the different types of characters, good and evil, that turn up and how they react in a variety of situations. After some time, I began to notice a trend of characters being created and loosely categorised them into four categories:

		Purpose/Goal
		Good – does things to help others or for the greater good	Bad – does things for selfish gain
Code of conduct/ Moral ethics	Good – abides by strict laws	Good good guy	Good bad guy
Code of conduct/ Moral ethics	Bad – uses any means necessary	Bad good guy	Bad bad guy

Over time, I noticed that some heroes like Batman fell in the grey areas and had to add in neutral columns, as shown below. After reading up on Character Alignments on other websites, I realised that there were formal terms for such alignments, thus I've changed some terms in my table and added in more notes to further clarify how I define these alignments. (In my opinion, Batman is a chaotic neutral because he is a vigilante who helps people, but there are times when he is bent on taking revenge on his parents' murderers. His methods sometimes include death threats, etc.)

In addition, there are people who have mentioned characters who do things for no logical reason (e.g. just because; for the sake of keeping the law) and included the column of Stupid. Since stupidity can either benefit others or self, I will consider it a subset of Neutral.

After further reading (see here), critics of the alignment system have suggested using a different scale like Altruistic / Egoistic & Cooperative / Uncooperative, which has almost the same meaning. Thus, I have also included those details in the table below.

Do leave your comments to let me know what you think or how to improve it.

		Purpose/Goal (Moral axis)
		Good – does things to help others or for the greater good (altruistic)	Neutral – helps others and/or self depending on situation; ignorant; or indifferent	Evil – does things for selfish or collective gain (egoistic)
Code of conduct (Ethical axis)	Lawful – strictly abides by or enforces government, religious or ethical laws (cooperative)	Lawful good "By the law/power of ________, you are proclaimed guilty/under arrest." "I will report you to ___________."	Lawful neutral or Lawful stupid "The law is above all else."	Lawful evil "It is the law/will of _______. So it shall be done." "By our warrior's code, you will live to fight me another day."
	Neutral – generally follows government, religious or ethical laws, unless the situation calls for otherwise. May sometimes exploit loopholes in laws.	Neutral good does both lawful good and chaotic good depending on the situation or struggles between both	True neutral or Neutral stupid "I go both ways." "I'm just going with the flow." "I don't give a damn."	Neutral evil observes laws that benefit themselves while ignoring laws that don't or struggles between lawful and chaotic evil
	Chaotic – tends to disobey government, religious or ethical laws. Believes in free expression. (uncooperative)	Chaotic good sees freedom and justice as more important than authority "I will do whatever it takes to help them."	Chaotic neutral or Chaotic stupid "Just doin' what we can to survive." "I want my/our rights/freedom."	Chaotic evil "I do what I want when I want." "I am the law. And you will play by my rules."