10 DC Heroes With Surprisingly Tragic Origins

6. Captain Atom

As the inspiration for Watchmen's Doctor Manhattan it would probably be fair to suspect that Captain Atom has an equally tragic backstory. That said, it might even be fair to say that the Captain had it worse, with his military career actually being the thing that led him down the path of being a literal radioactive man.

Post-Crisis, and hot on the heels of DC's acquisition of Charlton Comics, the publisher reimagined Captain Atom as a Vietnam veteran who was framed for a crime he didn't commit. He's sentenced to death by a military tribune, but Nathaniel Adam is given an alternative. If he lets the military use him for an experiment with little to no chance of survival, he'll receive a full pardon. A no brainer, really, given a small chance of survival is better than none, but still - there's no getting away from the fact that the military have effectively abused Adam by this point.

The experiment that gives the Captain his powers basically involves the military detonating a nuclear warhead beneath a crashed alien ship with Adam inside. He dematerialises, only to emerge a near two-decades later as the glowing superhero fans now know.

Things got a lot worse before they could get better though. His old commanding officer, General Wade Eiling, decides to ignore the previous pardon and coerce the Captain into being a government sanctioned superhero. He's remained that way pretty much ever since, and with the knowledge of his origin in hand, you realise how tough the Captain really has it.