Super Powereds: Year 1

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Worm digs deep into the idea of what drives people to be superheroes and supervillains. Central to the story is the internal conflict of the protagonist, Taylor, who desperately wants to do the right thing and become a hero, but who keeps ending up in circumstances that force her to act like a villain, first while trying to infiltrate a team of villains and later by more and more extreme and desperate situations that culminate in her becoming the undisputed queen of her city's superpowered underworld. Janine - Sizemore HCP's Control professor, who retires roughly ten years following the events of Year Four. Joan (Scarf) - A speedster who works for Globe while he is on the run. Joan also goes by the name "scarf" when first meeting outsiders. Birdsman - An older hero on the Elemental Fury team, he summons various birds of fire, lighting, or plasma, that fight on his behalf. He is respected by the many younger heroes with whom he works.

Mutant Draft Board: A bureaucratic government institution created to control a large population of super-powered individuals. Chairman - The Chairman was a hero who was killed in the line of duty when a fellow hero, Green Jeans, lost control and accidentally killed him. He left behind a wife and two children. Shane's older sister, one year ahead of the protagonists' class. Top-ranked in her class, she has excellent fighting skills and the ability to manipulate Hard Light. She is actively pursuing Chad. After becoming a Hero she goes by the name Charon. The Alcoholic: He starts drinking heavily not long after enrolling at Lander, unaware that he has a genetic predilection for alcoholism. Beware the Nice Ones: Hershel is a sweet guy most of the time, but he can be surprisingly ruthless and carries around a lot of pent up anger. It's telling that when the brothers meet their father, Roy just tries to leave, but Hershel punches him in the face.Stories in this genre are just as likely (if not more) to star original characters as opposed to being part of established superhero franchises. This is for a variety of reasons. Sometimes the writers of popular "mainstream" superhero characters don't want to let them be used in such a way, especially if it means they will be portrayed in a negative light. Another reason is that Capepunk stories are often written by independent comic writers without access to the most popular characters in the genre, leaving them no choice but to use Expies. They also may not even be comic books at all, but completely original novels and films. Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Used his money and influence to force Mr. Numbers and Mr. Transport to take Alice as one of the five Powereds to be turned into Supers. In Year 2, he does the same to get them out of trouble in return for a favor. In Year 4 it's revealed that his influence is so vast that if his crimes were exposed in full they would probably bring down the entire Hero program with him. A bald, blue-eyed tough guy with cold abilities, who develops a grudge against Vince and constantly seeks to prove himself against him.

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. Dispatch - The mysterious intelligence behind the Heroes' communication network. She has an unidentifiable accent, and her powers or existence are not well known. The only that is known is that she is always there, she can be trusted, she has information the heroes need, and she is beyond the reach of potential enemies. A student in the same year as the main cast. He has the ability to put people into dream-like comas by looking them in the eyes.Psychic Static: A neat side effect of Chad rewiring his brain to improve performance. It no longer broadcasts on the same "frequency" as all other brains, so psychics aren't even able to detect him on their Psychic Radar, much less read his thoughts.

Dr. Hubert - A doctor who helped run a facility that housed Vince prior to the procedure that turned Vince from a powered to a super. He met with Mr. Transport and Mr. Numbers to discuss Vince's treatment and status. Most Common Superpower: Alice is stated to have a stunning figure, including a moderately-sized bust. Condescending Compassion: Towards pretty much everyone, but particularly Roy, in his first year. He is the top of the class and by far the most skilled and dedicated fighter, and as such he has a tendency to sum up anyone substantially weaker than him as not worth his time when it comes to combat training, because fighting them "won't teach him anything," and genuinely believing that this counts as being merciful towards them. He eventually grows out of this attitude. Adaptive Ability: Titan's power, as well as Hershel's actual power. Roy is actually a unique manifestation of it. Galina - A powerful and secretive mimic, she can mimic the appearance and powers of any super with only a few strands of hair, but her power only allows her to do this for one hour, once a day. She works for various entities through contractual agreements, including corporations, the DVA, Dean Blaine, and others.In Touch with His Feminine Side: Mild example, but during his years in prison he developed a taste for steamy romance novels. Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Vince is nice, amiable, caring, and an all around selfless guy. Obviously most people think something is up with him. The Leader: Britney is named one of the four team captains in Year 2 and proves to be a capable leader. The only reason her team loses to the Melbrook students is because Michael freezes her in place with one of his ice blasts, determined to take on Vince. She then makes the tough choice to tell Dean Blaine about the need to expel Michael, despite the fact that this leaves her team at a disadvantage. 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. 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.

An oversexed girl with the ability to create multiple copies of herself. Spends the entire first year as Roy's sex buddy but shuns him for much of Year 2, mostly for social reasons, despite still being sexually attracted to him.First-Name Basis: Very rarely referred to other than "Blaine" (by his friends) or "Dean Blaine" (by his students). The last name "Jeffries" rarely comes up. Love Martyr: Jill seems to fall for Jerkass guys, who end up abusing her (physically and/or emotionally). Occasionally, Will has to step in and help her get out of a bad relationship, although he does this without her knowing. A former Hero code-named Mood Swing with the ability to emit specific pheromones that can have various effects on her targets. She was one of the original gym instructors at the Lander HCP and taught the Subtlety course. On the other end of the idealism scale is Marion Harmon's Reconstruction series Wearing the Cape which sets out to make superheroes as realistic as possible yet still awesome. Sadly, the inclusion of supervillains still makes the world terrifying for normal people and makes muggles envious.