10 Comics Superheroes With The Best Motivations

4. Swamp Thing

Swamp Thing Brightest Day
DC Comics

Swamp Thing is the superhero genre's very own eco warrior, and given how there's a dearth of them going around in both Marvel and DC, it's only right that he's considered to have one of the most compelling motivations in the biz.

Disheartening though it may be to learn that, in the years since Swamp Thing has been introduced, no major progress has been made in regards to global warming, it's nice to know the protector of the Green is still out there protecting mother nature from its greatest enemies.

It's also worth pointing out that Swamp Thing has also featured in some of DC's greatest tales, with the likes of Alan Moore, Scott Snyder and Charles Soule all having worked wonders on the character, while Moore's stint in particular is revered as a game-changer for the medium, with it also having introduced John Constantine.

Swamp Thing is no less salient today than he was back when he first appeared, and the fact he's still so popular largely stems from his unique focus on the environment. He's a protector of Earth in the most literal sense, and while other heroes dedicate their time to protecting the human race, the Green's foremost champion serves a valuable purpose in looking after all aspects of nature.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.