My Self wrote:
Superman is a varied and inconsistent character. For the sake of this, let's say Bronze + Pre New-52 Modern Age Superman ('75 to '11). We've got our Christopher Reeves Superman movies + Superman Returns in there. This drops the vigilante-style Golden Age (40s), campy serial Silver Age (50s-60s), and younger-and-darker New 52+Man of Steel version. (2011-now) For those less familiar with weird comic book terms, this is basically "regular" Superman.
This is a character who respects legitimate authority, but keeps a watchful eye (as a reporter) to ensure that it is not abused. Superman only forcefully removes authority figures if they have overstepped their bounds and endangered others, otherwise, he acts in his capacity as a member of the press to expose their misdeeds. He never deliberately targets innocents, and goes out of his way to assist or save them. Superman has a dual identity, and frequently uses elaborate lies to maintain it. However, he uses his dual identity to ensure those he loves are not endangered, and so he may have rest when he is not busy saving the world. Superman is not above using duplicity to defeat enemies that have an advantage on him. He is also willing to use Kryptonite (which is basically poison) to nonlethally defeat other Kryptonians, but he always applies it directly (not secretly), and never uses an equivalent on humans. He is willing to indefinitely incarcerate similarly powerful enemies, but he never executes prisoners, and avoids doing this to humans. He is at a much higher power level than the vast majority of his enemies. This means that it is almost always a practical possibility to defeat enemies without killing or maiming them.
That's pretty Lawful Good, if you ask me. The points when he would violate a regular Paladin code, he uses it to either protect his personal life and his friends, or to nonlethally incapacitate powerful opponents, instead of killing them or attempting a less practical, more dangerous method to subdue them. The divergence between what Superman...
Mayfair Games DC roleplaying game did quotes on other superheroes, Batman said of Superman parphrasing here, "Superman is the finest man I know, his sense of loyalty, justice and civil rights makes him paramount to any other hero. But at the same time, he is blinded by his sense of righteousness, that all evil can eventually be turned to good.His stubborness to cling to the very values that allow his enemies to take advantage of this has been his downfall"
To me Superman is a lost paladin, trying to do right in his mind, but not really sure if it is 100% the right thing after he has done something in response to a villian, like heat vision a number of times on Lex Luthor, and feeling guilty about it.
In RL, I can compare my gf's son who was a sniper in the Marines, an young kid (27 still a kid to me) and ever since he got out, he has it in his mind he is doing good, but in reality he is very condescending, know it all, very rude, try to rule the roost, tell everybody what to do, try to cuss you out person. (He doesn't tell me what to do because I will put him in his place). He claims the he was a donkey's butt before he went in and the Marines made him a bigger donkey's butt. His mom told me he wasn't this way until he got out. (I'm told he barely made honorable discharge, but nothing more). I said to him, "No the Marines are a fairly honorable outfit as I think all the services are, the Marines molded you into a man or tried too, but you held a vengeance against them for some reason from the stories you told me, and that turned you into a punk!"
Of course that set off fireworks, but held my ground. so to me he is like a lost paladin, tried to do the right thing, but stubbornly thinks that everything should be run like in the Marines, refusal to acknowledge he is a civilian now, that his sense of right is the only way and that he has to apply his own code of justice to the situation whether it fits or not. Superman does the same thing, runs things from a Krypton perspective, Steve Rodger does too, but Cap is more down to earth and more upfront about things. How many times have you seen in the comics of Supes asking Batman for advice, yet he he is supposed to have genius level intelligence. You sometime wonder if the man in red throws his common sense out the window.
You do not have to play a paladin as one rigid to Lawful Good that is a sexy tavern girl throws herself at the paladin, he absolutely runs to the nearest temple to amend his sins, though in my mind, he did nothing sinful. Your paladin can have faults,drawbacks, one that is constantly toeing the line of Lawful Good. I have a 7th level variant paladin that is more like a wandering knight attending fairs to see what evil lurks there, entering contest to win fair ladies hearts and occasion point out to the ruler he is evil and needs to be taken down. He doesn't necessary stop the two bullies fighting in a tavern or tries to ruffle the feathers of the two obvious thieves casing their suspects. He has a laisse <sp> faire attitude. Sorry post is so long.
