10 Comic Book Cliches That Need To Die

10. Orphans

All heroes need an origin story. And since reading that one day, out of the blue someone decides to become a hero for no apparent reason does not make for very compelling reading. Almost every hero has to have some trigger or tragedy to make them decide to step up and be more than an ordinary citizen. Or they just get some random blast to radiation, either way.

The origin story that has been absolutely beaten to death is the orphan story. Batman? Dead parents. Superman? Dead parents, dead planet, AND a dead foster dad. Spider-Man? Dead parents, and a dead uncle. And being a cliche, this of course isn't just limited to classic comics. Newer heroes continue to get the orphan treatment. Even in recent years well-established characters have become orphans.

In the early 2000's Wolverine was shown to be an orphan. Sure he killed his father and then his mother committed suicide, which is slightly darker than most orphan stories, but it still counts.

It's hard to take the orphan story seriously anymore when it's been done so many times before.