Superhero Ethics Writing Prompts

I’ve seen quite a few posts making fun of the trope where the hero refuses to kill the villain despite killing the villain’s mooks. So, how about a story where the hero refuses to harm any of the people working for the villain but is perfectly willing to kill the villain themself.

Your secret identity has been found out by the villain, instead of using it against you, the villain goes to your Hero Association and files a case against them for "Child Endangerment" due to the fact that you are 12.

Nearly all your life you lived on the streets. People ignored you at best and reviled you at worst. Then you got superpowers and those same people begin to lecture you about “altruism,” “duty,” and “responsibility.”

You’re a supervillain that was working on a grand scheme until the hero came by, massacred hundreds of your minions, and foiled your plans. Now at their mercy, you closed your eyes and accepted your death when suddenly they let you go, claiming that if they kill you, they’ll be just like you.

Your superpower can completely nullify the powers of any other superheroes in your vicinity. You expected the government or supervillains to be after you, but you never would have thought that some heroes would voluntarily seek you out.

You're a retired S-tier supervillain. After you retired, you married a B-tier hero. You are forced back onto the stage when an A-tier villain attempts to kill your spouse.

"I should've been a hero instead of following my family's legacy" a villain sighed to himself while rescuing civillians trapped under the rubbles of destroyed buildings caused by the reckless and arrogant hero who's still telling the fakest story to his Twitch fans while striking poses

The world's most powerful superhero have gone rogue. All the remaining heroes and villains are helpless on their own. So they must free the hero's greatest enemy, who is sealed away in a supposedly impenetrable prison.

You, a supervillain, answer a knock at your door, only to find your superhero nemesis shivering, bleeding, scared, and slightly dazed (as if drugged). They appear to have been assaulted. The hero mumbles “...didn’t know where else to go…” before collapsing into your arms.

In an exclusive global televised sit-down interview with Superman, he corrects Cooper Anderson's referencing Superman's Christianity; "Actually, Anderson, I'm not Christian, I worship the Sun, the source of my super powers."

You and your friend have been “Hero” and “Villain” solely to entertain your town for a long time. Until, that is, an actual hero decides to take your “villain” friend down.

You have designed superhero costumes for decades. Good, bad, it doesn't matter. You give everyone an costume that fits them with no bias. Now the superheroes are telling you that you can't make costumes for villians anymore. The villians step up to protect you.

You are a state prosecutor who has consistently won against "vigilantes" and reckless "super heroes." Your reputation is well known. So you're not surprised when the latest rising star you're prosecuting ambushes you in the garage out of desperation. This was a big mistake on their part.

You are a hero with severe anger management and self control issues. Despite this, and because of immense effort on your part, you are mainly known for your calm and collected nature. But today a villain has finally to cross the line.

No superhero works alone. Everyone has a “Keeper,” someone to help the paragons with their darker moments. Of the two, criminals and villains fear the Keeper more.

The public's hate for super heroes has grown. The reason: They don't kill villains, which gives them a chance to escape. You are the leader of the biggest anti-super hero groups. You are going from a rally you get stopped by some of the greatest heroes. They say they're here to kill you.

Your nemesis has been reclassified as an A-Class, meaning he cant fight you Anymore.

"No! That's it! I'm done! I'm putting a line! No more heroic sacrifices! Are we going to save the world? Yes! But we are doing it without sacrificing anyone else! And that's final! I don't care how much difficult it seems! We are all going to see this trought and that's it!"

As a small-time super villain thief, there's nothing better than finding your greatest frenemy the superhero(ine) stuck. Time to find out how far you can take this without upsetting them.

After many years as a superhero you realise something, the whole superhero system is corrupt, rotten to the core. You're going to fix that.

Your party of adventurers have escaped from the demon’s lair, but they are after you! The only way to stop them is for someone to stay behind and close the portal from the demon’s side. While you’re deciding, your best friend, coward and comic relief of the group, goes behind you and close it.

A scandal has rocked the world - a superhero turned out to be a horrible person. Their archnemesis' reaction was surprising - they've vowed to be the person the world thought the "hero" was.

People saying you have “superspeed” is oversimplified. You have quantifiable and individual control over friction, momentum, time perception, etc. This is something you have to teach new “speedsters” when they receive their gifts so they don’t hurt anyone.

You were a villain until a rival villain offered you a lot of money, if you were to cease your villainous activities. After a few months boredom got the better of you and you decided to join up with the heroes.

The supervillainess' plan now that she's finally captured her heroic nemesis? Putting on a seminar for her fellow evildoers called "Turning a Superhero Into Your Boytoy Sidekick in Seven Easy Steps."

Her superhero name was the Siren because she of ability to breath underwater and draw people to her. Now the rest of her team is discussing how unseemly it is to have a teammate that runs around naked and stops crime by letting villans fuck her, but she's just so effective.

You learned you have the power to pleasure women just by staring at them and imagining what you're doing to them. They feel everything you think. You use this for good and evil. Friends, family, and even strangers.

After retiring from fighting crime, the senior superhero became a perv with his powers