A subtrope of Genre Deconstruction; Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction is a very similar concept, applied to the Japanese Magical Girl genre. See also Superhero Horror, which are superhero stories with elements of the horror genre and often overlap with Capepunk. Megamind takes many superhero cliches and the Superman mythos and turns them on their head. Metroman is a Smug Super who turns out to be a Broken Ace who is miserable because he sees saving the day as a job instead of a calling or something that makes him happy, Megamind is an incompetent villain who is less fighting Metroman and more playing a game and can't think of what to do when Metroman fakes his death, having a crisis. The greatest example would have to be Hal Stewart A.K.A Tighten/Titan who shows what happens when a random unremarkable person gets superpowers, especially one who was secretly jealous of Metroman's "Relationship" with Roxanne. He becomes an even worse villain than Megamind could ever hope to be (but not a super one).

The son of a hero who is dead set on emulating his father's life and proving that he was a great hero. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Intra. Ambiguously Gay: Chad never displays much interest in sex one way or the other, being totally obsessed with training, but he is noted to look completely out of his element when Angela bribes him into dancing with her, while he has a very close friendship with her brother, Shane, whom he's rarely seen apart from.Dare to Be Badass: Has been forcing his grandkids to compete against one another since they were little for the right to bear the name Captain Starlight. However, both eventually choose to walk their own path and select new names. Will Murray's twin sister. Jill is a Technopath, which is fortunate, since her brother is a Gadgeteer Genius. She had a troubled childhood, which appears to result in her often dating abusive jerks. She drops out of the HCP in Year 4 and goes to work with Mr Numbers and Mr Transport's company as Miss Tech. Love Makes You Evil: He was complicit in all of Charles Adair's crimes, including instigating the death of Intra, right from the start, but as repeatedly noted, only because he believed it was the only way to help his sister, Shelby. Although it shows up more in the TV spinoffs than the films themselves, some people have begun to respond to the emergence of superhumans with Fantastic Racism.

Evil Mentor: George and Persephone end up kidnapping Hershel and Mary at the end of Year 1. Except the goal is later revealed to have been to distract the professors, while Globe makes off with certain data from Lander's servers, and to recruit Mary to their cause. Knowledge is power. That would be the motto of Lander University, had it not been snatched up and used to death by others long before the school was founded. For while Lander offers a full range of courses to nearly all students, it also offers a small number of specialty classes to a very select few. Lander is home to the Hero Certification Program, a curriculum designed to develop student with superhuman capabilities, commonly known as Supers, into official Heroes. Not Quite Flight: In Year 2, Violet learns to hover by lowering her density. She can then propel herself by selectively increasing a body part's density for a split second and "throwing" it in the direction she wants to fly. While it's very jerky, she learns to simulate flight fairly well. Condescending Compassion: His greatest flaw is that he will never make a serious effort against anyone he perceives to be in any way weaker than himself, even when doing so is actively detrimental to his goals. It costs his team the win in the match against Chad's team because his opponent was Selena, and he Would Not Hit a Girl. He gets over it in year 3.Miriam Taylor - The wife of the original Intra, Joshua Taylor, and the mother of Chad Taylor. Miriam also has a close relationship with Dean Blaine. She is supportive of her son, though she did try and talk him out of taking on the mantel of hero, and also initially opposed Chad's decision to use his father's hero name. She has shoulder length blond hair, and tanned skin, from a living next to the ocean. The son(s) of former hero Titan, they share a body. Hershel's a classic nerd, while Roy is a more confident ladies man. Hershel is from Chicago. Roy affects to be from "the deep south", Texas and thereabouts. After becoming a Hero they go by the name Ettin. Wild Claws - A super who watches the senior exams in Year Four. He is shaggy-haired, wears a green and gray costume, has wide shoulders and looks like a walking ball of muscle. He was a friend of the original Intra, and offers encouragement to Chad Taylor after the first senior year exam. It has been noted that with millions of Supers in the world, just about any power can be nullified or beaten by another Super's power. Will is a very smart guy who has technical genius to compliment his sister Jill's technopathy. He's friendly but somewhat aloof and logical. He's also a very bad person to get on the bad side of. After becoming a Hero he goes by the name Technomancer.

Topsy - A retired hero who co-founded the Gentle Hammers with Titan many years ago. He has the ability to manifest powerful energy vortexes that can be used offensively or defensively. He eventually works as a hero liaison for the PEERS Team.My Hero Academia takes place in a world where Everyone Is a Super and explores the way society has been reorganized by the universal presence of superpowers (called "Quirks" In-Universe). People suffer discrimination for having the "wrong" Quirks or being in the rare segment of the population that has no Quirks at all; Quirk usage in public has been outlawed, which has led to the emergence of extremist groups seeking to legalize it; superheroes are a government-regulated occupation that essentially consists of emergency services with Quirk usage being allowed; and it's shown that the appearance of Quirks initially threw the world into such chaos that it reversed societal and scientific progress. The show is less gritty than the usual Capepunk fare and leans more towards Reconstruction than Deconstruction, often finding ways to integrate traditional superhero themes and tropes into a more realistic setting. The Social Expert: After having warmed up to her surroundings, Alice proves to have great people skills and can get along with pretty much anyone. Quentin - A young boy, he was taken in by Gerard Cooper (Raze). Quentin is a powerful amplifier, the ability to increase the powers of other supers for a short period of time. He uses a three person tactic along with Adam Riley and Globe to help create a double-enhancement on Globe's team which they called the Mobius effect. Hive Mind: Julia experiences everything her copies do. She uses that to have frequent wild sex, while still remaining a Technical Virgin. During a team match in Year 2, she uses her copies as a Subspace Ansible of sorts, relaying information to each team member by sending a copy with each group.

Drill Sergeant Nasty: Has some elements of this, but this is justified. Only the best of the best get to be Heroes due to the necessary physical and mental requirements.

Love Makes You Evil: He forced Intra to pull a fake Face–Heel Turn so that Globe would kill him, using threats against Intra's family as incentive, and that's just a fraction of the horrible things he's done, but he's done them all because he believed it was the only way to save his wife, Shelby. Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Present mainly at the start, he was incredibly blunt and devoid of tact, and talked down to everyone. He later softens up and shows that he's a nice guy.