Often, our favorite superheroes are inspired by the nature around us. Batman is based on a bat, Spider-Man on a spider, Ant-Man on an ant, but there are many other superheroes from the Marvel and DC stables adapted from animals, each one more wacky than the last. This is the case for these 12 iconic comic book characters, inspired by real animals.
12) Squirrel Girl
Created in 1992 by Steve Ditko, Squirrel Girl quickly gained popularity over time. Doreen Green is a mutant who possesses squirrel-like powers. She made her first appearance with the Great Lakes Avengers before becoming the nanny of Danielle Cage, the baby of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. While she is indeed a mutant, Squirrel Girl doesn't often work with the X-Men. Marvel writers wanted to give her a more joyful and lighthearted identity than her other mutant counterparts. Power-wise, her strength, reflexes, and agility are increased tenfold compared to a normal human being. She has a squirrel tail, formidable incisors, claws on her fingertips, and is also able to communicate with squirrels. While her powers are amusing, she is a formidable mutant who even managed to defeat Logan in a single combat.
11) Catwoman
Do we really need to introduce Selina Kyle? Catwoman made her first appearance in 1940 under the pens of Bill Finger and Bob Kane. This famous burglar associated with cats has been adapted numerous times for the screen, notably played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry and Zoë Kravitz. Although she doesn't have any powers, she is often associated with felines, particularly for her flexibility, discretion, ability to move in the dark, and her totally hypnotic power of seduction. As for Marvel, they also had their own Catwoman in the person of Black Cat, from the Spider-Man universe.
10) Ant-Man
Whether it's Hank Pym or Scott Lang, Ant-Man is the superhero inspired by ants. Created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man is now a very well-known character to the general public, a member of the Avengers and the MCU. In addition to being able to change size thanks to Pym particles, Ant-Man has the ability to communicate with ants.
9) Rocket Raccoon
Created in 1976, Rocket Raccoon is indeed a space raccoon. For years, Rocket was an extremely secondary character. It wasn't until the mid-2000s that the character gained prominence when he was catapulted into the crossover Annihilation: Conquest. He then joined the new Guardians of the Galaxy team. This is where Rocket gained popularity, helped by James Gunn's films. Since then, his ultra-touching relationship with Groot, his ultra-effective cynical humor, and his cult design have made Rocket Raccoon a central character in the Marvel Universe.
After Ant-Man, we had to mention The Wasp. Janet Van Dyne was created in 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Also a member of the Avengers, she is also the wife of Hank Pym. As her name suggests, her superhero abilities are modeled on those of the yellow and black insect. Janet has never had it easy. Her relationship with Hank deteriorates as the latter gradually descends into a form of raging madness. He hits his wife, which prompts the Avengers to remove her from the team. Hank, due to a morbid paranoia, even created Ultron. As for Janet, she died in 2008 following the events of Secret Invasion (before, of course, returning a few years later).
7) Detective Chimp
Detective Chimp first appeared in 1952 in The Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog at DC Comics. At first, Chimp is just a circus chimpanzee, a little smarter than the others, a mascot who entertains the audience. But Chimp emerges from this condition when he becomes the assistant of detective Fred Thorpe. When Fred dies, Chimp decides to take up his mentor's torch and officially becomes a detective.
6) Tigra
Unlike Cheetah, who decides to play evil on the DC side, Tigra is a heroine at Marvel. The two characters share the same peculiarities and the same abilities, inspired by tigers. Tigra made her first appearance in 1972 under the direction of Roy Thomas. Greer Grant Nelson, seriously injured by HYDRA, was treated by the Cat People. She received feline DNA that transformed her into a human tiger. A member of the Avengers, Tigra has all the feline abilities, inspired by an ancestral god of the Cat People.
5) Blue Beetle
Created in 1939, Blue Beetle belongs to the DC stable. Popularized by the eponymous DC film, Blue Beetle is a superhero who gets his powers from an ancient Egyptian artifact in the shape of a scarab. The latest, Jaime Reyes, thus receives superhuman abilities inspired by the insect. He obtains an ultra-powerful techno-biological armor, the ability to fly, energy shields, etc.
4) Howard the Duck
Created in 1973, Howard the Duck is today an extremely famous figure of The House of Ideas. Howard is a duck from the planet Duckworld. A mirror world to ours populated by intelligent ducks. He is torn from his universe and catapulted into our world. He is forced to adapt to a society he doesn't understand and becomes a cynical and sarcastic figure who constantly criticizes our human society. A very good fighter, he uses his abilities to do good around him. Howard the Duck was even the hero of his own film in 1986. A film produced by George Lucas that Lucasfilm tried to make disappear by all means...
3) Spider-Pig
This is a combo between a spider and a pig. We could have simply quoted Peter Parker but that would have been a little too easy. So here is Spider-Pig, a variant of Spider-Man who evolves in a universe other than Earth-616. Popularized by the Spiderverse saga from Sony, Spider-Pig's origins are completely lunar. Basically, Peter Porker is a spider. He is bitten by May Porker, a pig scientist who tests a nuclear hairdryer on him. The spider then mutates into an anthropomorphic pig similar to May Porker. We told you it was lunar. Spider-Pig made his first appearance in 1983 on Earth-8311.
2) Captain Carrot
Imagine Roger Rabbit with the powers of Superman. That's the concept of Captain Carrot, imagined in 1980. A playful parody of the Kryptonian, Captain Carrot is a giant rabbit in a superhero costume. His real name is Roger Rabbit (yes, 8 years before the release of Robert Zemeckis's film), and the character is created by the great Roy Thomas. He lives on Earth C, a parallel world populated by anthropomorphic animals. On his Earth, Roger is a comic book artist. During a cosmic phenomenon linked to Superman, Roger eats an irradiated carrot that transforms him into Captain Carrot. We really wonder sometimes what comic book writers consume...
1) The Tick
We're breaking the rules a bit here, because The Tick is neither a DC nor a Marvel character. But we really wanted to tell you about this totally WTF character. Created in 1986 by Ben Edlund, The Tick became the mascot of the New England Comics store in Boston. The character wears the disguise of a blue tick. A satire of classic superheroes, The Tick became the hero of his own line of comics in 1987. In 1994, the character gained real notoriety when he became the protagonist of his own cartoon, which ran for 3 seasons. Later, the character even appeared in the film Toy Chase, before being the hero of two live-action series in 2001 and 2016.
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