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26-640: The Psycho-Pirate is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . Bob Frazer portrayed the character for his live action debut during The CW 's 2018 Arrowverse crossover " Elseworlds ". The Charles Halstead version of Psycho-Pirate first appears in All-Star Comics #23 and was created by Gardner Fox and Joe Gallagher. The Roger Hayden version of Psycho-Pirate first appears in Showcase #56 and

52-549: A "self-derogatory and understating character". In American popular films, there are a wide range of stock characters, which are typically used as non-speaking extras in the background, bit parts with a single line, minor secondary/supporting roles, or major secondary/supporting roles. Stock characters in American films have changed over the decades. A 1930s or 1940s film's stock characters include newspaper vendors, ice vendors, street sweepers, and cigarette girls; in contrast,

78-399: A 1990s film has homeless " bag ladies ", pimps, plainclothes police, business women, and Black and Hispanic stereotypes. Stock characters in American popular culture, especially racial and ethnic stereotypes, often came to be seen as offensive in later decades and were replaced with new stereotypes. For example, the " lazy Black " and the " treacherous bespectacled Japanese " were replaced in

104-582: A creative writing professor and prolific fiction author, all characters begin as stock characters and are fleshed out only as far as needed to advance the plot. E. Graham McKinley says "there is general agreement on the importance to drama of 'stock' characters. This notion has been considerably explored in film theory, where feminists have argued, female stock characters are only stereotypes (child/woman, whore, bitch, wife, mother, secretary or girl Friday , career women, vamp , etc.)." Ulrike Roesler and Jayandra Soni analyze "not only with female stock characters in

130-706: A daunting challenge to a superhero. In instances where the supervillain does not have superhuman, mystical, or alien powers, the supervillain may possess a genius intellect or a skill set that allows them to draft complex schemes or commit crimes in a way normal humans cannot. Other traits may include megalomania and possession of considerable resources to further their aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real-world dictators , gangsters , mad scientists , trophy hunters , corrupt businesspeople , serial killers , and terrorists , often having an aspiration of world domination . The Joker , Lex Luthor , Doctor Doom , Magneto , Brainiac , Deathstroke ,

156-531: A time- and effort-saving shortcut for story creators, as authors can populate their tale with existing well-known character types. Another benefit is that stock characters help to move the story along more efficiently, by allowing the audience to already understand the character and their motivations. Furthermore, stock characters can be used to build an audience's expectations and, in some cases, they can also enhance narrative elements like suspense, irony, or plot twists if those expectations end up subverted. There

182-556: Is a brilliant criminal mind knowledgeable in psychology and emotions. The Roger Hayden incarnation of Psycho-Pirate can manipulate, drain, and amplify the emotions of others using the Medusa Mask. Furthermore, he can fly and create psychic constructs and illusions. The Charles Halstead incarnation of Psycho-Pirate appears in the Tomorrowverse , voiced by Geoffrey Arend . An alternate universe incarnation of Halstead named

208-703: Is often confusion between stock characters, archetypes , stereotypes , and clichés . In part this confusion arises due to the overlap between these concepts. Nevertheless, these terms are not synonyms. The relationship is that basic archetypes (such as " hero " or " father figure ") and stock characters (such as " damsel in distress " and " wise fool ") are the raw source material that authors use to build on and create fleshed-out, interesting characters. In contrast, stereotypes and clichés are generally viewed as signs of "bad writing or shallow thinking". Some stereotypes, such as racial stereotype characters, may be offensive to readers or viewers. According to Dwight V. Swain ,

234-423: Is that, as with films, these stock characters can incorporate racial stereotypes , and "prejudicial and demeaning images". One concern raised with these gay stock characters is they tend to be shown as just advice-giving "sidekicks" who are not truly integrated into the narrative; as well, the gay character's life is not depicted, apart from their advice-giving interactions with the main characters. This also echoed

260-579: The Inspector Gadget animated series, Dr. Evil and Mr. Bigglesworth from the Austin Powers film series , or Dr. Blowhole from the animated TV series The Penguins of Madagascar . The overarching villain of Star Wars , Emperor Palpatine , leads the tyrannical Galactic Empire , and was inspired by real-world tyrannical leaders. Stock character There are several purposes to using stock characters. Stock characters are

286-658: The Advisor appears in Justice Society: World War II , while the main universe incarnation appears in Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths . Supervillain A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character . It is sometimes found in comic books and may possess superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero . Supervillains are often used as foils to present

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312-582: The Green Goblin , Loki , the Reverse-Flash , Black Manta , Ultron , Thanos , and Darkseid are some notable male comic book supervillains that have been adapted in film and television. Some notable female supervillains are Catwoman , Harley Quinn , Poison Ivy , Mystique , Hela , Viper , and the Cheetah . Just like superheroes, supervillains are sometimes members of groups, such as

338-827: The Injustice League , the Sinister Six , the Legion of Doom , the Brotherhood of Mutants , the Suicide Squad , and the Masters of Evil . In the documentary A Study in Sherlock , writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss said they regarded Professor James Moriarty as a supervillain because he possesses genius-level intelligence and powers of observation and deduction, setting him above ordinary people to

364-536: The Justice Society to expose him. He is sentenced to a lengthy prison term and eventually dies in the 1960s. Roger Hayden first appeared as the second Psycho-Pirate in Showcase #56, and was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson . Hayden is a gangster and cellmate to Halstead on Earth-Two who obtains the Medusa Mask, which enables him to manipulate emotions. Ultra-Humanite later recruits him into

390-689: The Secret Society of Super Villains before the group is imprisoned in Limbo . In Crisis on Infinite Earths , Psycho-Pirate is kidnapped by the Anti-Monitor and becomes his accomplice. After the multiverse is destroyed, Psycho-Pirate is among the only beings who remember it. In Underworld Unleashed , Psycho-Pirate sells his soul to the demon Neron to gain enhanced power. He battles Manhunter before being defeated and arrested. In Joker: Last Laugh , Psycho-Pirate appears as an inmate of

416-405: The 1990s with the " street-smart Brother " and the "camera-happy Japanese tourist". Other groups more frequently represented as stock characters include women, Native Americans, Hispanics, Arabs, Gays/Lesbians, Jews, and Italians. Other briefly popular stock characters include the 1950s "overweight Communist cell leader" and the 1970s " Black Panther revolutionary". Even in timeless occupations,

442-622: The Slab prison. In JSA Classified , Psycho-Pirate and Power Girl are revealed to be refugees from Earth-Two . He is later killed by Black Adam , after which Raven destroys the Medusa Mask. In Blackest Night , Psycho-Pirate is resurrected as a Black Lantern before Superboy kills him. In The New 52 continuity reboot, Psycho-Pirate gains his psychic abilities from a virus created by Brainiac . In DC Rebirth , he joins Amanda Waller 's Task Force X . The Charles Halstead incarnation of Psycho-Pirate has no superhuman powers; however, he

468-459: The audience. In the late 1990s, there was a trend for screenwriters to add a gay stock character, which replaced the 1980s era's "African-American workplace pal" stock character. In the 1990s, a number of sitcoms introduced gay stock characters with the quality of the depictions being viewed as setting a new bar for onscreen LGBT depiction. One challenge with the use of stock characters in TV shows

494-574: The person in the job has changed, reflecting cultural and demographic changes. In the 1990s, a hairdresser (previously French) was often depicted as a gay man, a gardener (previously White) as Asian or Hispanic, a bartender (previously White) as Black, and a maid (previously Black) as Hispanic. Due to the scheduling constraints on television production, in which episodes need to be quickly scripted and shot, television scriptwriters often depend heavily on stock characters borrowed from popular film. TV writers use these stock characters to quickly communicate to

520-519: The plays' comic business and royal pomp." Tara Brabazon discusses how the "school ma'am on the colonial frontier has been a stock character of literature and film in Australia and the United States. She is an ideal foil for the ill mannered, uncivilised hero. In American literature and film, the spinster from East – generally Boston – has some stock attributes." Polly Welts Kaufman shows that

546-834: The point where only he can pose a credible threat to Sherlock Holmes . Fu Manchu is an archetypal evil criminal genius and mad scientist created by English author Sax Rohmer in 1913. The Fu Manchu moustache became integral to stereotypical cinematic and television depictions of Chinese villains. Between 1965 and 1969 Christopher Lee played Fu Manchu five times in film, and in 1973 the character first appeared in Marvel Comics . The James Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (whose scenes often show him sitting on an armchair stroking his cat, his face unseen) has influenced supervillain tropes in popular cinema, including parodies like Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Cat from

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572-461: The schoolma'am's " genteel poverty , unbending morality, education, and independent ways make her character a useful foil for the two other female stock characters in Western literature: the prostitute with the heart of gold and the long-suffering farmer's wife.'" Stock characters can be further identified as an alazon , the "impostor and self-deceiving braggart" in a story, or an eiron ,

598-530: The sense of typical roles in the dramas, but also with other female persons in the area of the theatrical stage..." Andrew Griffin, Helen Ostovich, and Holger Schott Syme explain further that "Female stock characters also permit a close level of audience identification; this is true most of all in The Troublesome Reign , where the "weeping woman" type is used to dramatic advantage. This stock character provides pathos as yet another counterpoint to

624-415: The way that Black and Latino characters were used in 1980s and early 1990s shows: they were given a stock character role as a police chief, which in put them in a position of power, but then these characters were used as minor characters, with little narrative interaction with main characters. In the 2000s, with changing views on depicting race, Latino/a characters are both typecast into stock characters and

650-490: The writers play with viewer expectations by making a seemingly stock Latino/a character act or behave "against type". Southern sheriff stock characters are depicted with a negative stereotype of being obese, poorly trained, uneducated, and racist, as was done with Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes of Hazzard . In the United States , courts have determined that copyright protection cannot be extended to

676-526: Was created by Fox and Murphy Anderson . Charles Halstead is a minor character who first appears in All-Star Comics #23, created by Gardner Fox and Joe Gallagher. He is a linotyper for the Daily Courier who is jealous of his boss's success and becomes the criminal mastermind Psycho-Pirate. He plans crimes based on emotions, hoping to ruin his boss. Halstead later shoots the Atom , who works with

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