The Appeal of Superman

A major, unique appeal of Superman is that he does not have an origin. Although he has a general "origin story", with Krypton exploding and him growing up on Earth, what he lacks is an "origin event": a turning point in his life that results in him deciding to become a superhero. He lacks an Uncle Ben, or a Thomas and Martha Wayne, or an Abin Sur, or a Super-Soldier Serum, or a cosmic rays moment -- an event in his conscious life history that he experiences, which forks his life from being that of a normal person to being that of a superhero. (You may think that either Clark discovering his alien heritage or Jor-El's hologram telling him that he was sent to Earth to help humanity would be his origin event, but I disagree -- in the comic canon for the time between 1938 and 1986, during which he was most popular, he only discovered his alien heritage when he was an adult and had already become Superman, and Jor-El had never lectured him about his purpose. Rather, in the 1938-1986 continuity and thus in the general public view of Superman, there is no discrete origin event.) Most people believe that Clark Kent decided to become Superman simply because of his upbringing -- and a positive upbringing is not an extraordinary, life-forking incident like the ones that other superheroes go through.

Why is Superman lacking an origin event appealing? Don't you need an origin event to provide dramatic motivation for a character? I believe the appeal is that Superman's lack of an origin event means that he lacks an unusual life experience that would separate his life from ours, and by being similar to us in that way, he can inspire us more easily. Where most superheroes are different from the audience by both possessing superpowers and having had a unique, extraordinary experience that has shaped their mentality towards being a hero, Superman only has the superpowers to distinguish his life experience from ours. By being more similar to us in that way compared to other superheroes, having lived a normal life just like ours (only with superpowers), he is able to inspire us more strongly because he is comparatively similar to us. It's harder to be inspired by someone who is highly different from you -- this is why representation of various types of people is known to be important for creating role models. It's easier to be inspired by someone who has lived a similar life to us. When they do something good, we think, "If they can do it, why can't I?", based on our similarities to them. The fewer differences there are between us and them, the more we can be inspired by them. Superman lacking an origin event removes a major difference between our life experience and the character's, explaining why he is the most inspiring superhero both in the real world and in the DC Universe.

If Superman being more relatable makes him more inspiring, what exactly does he inspire that is different from any other superhero? Most would claim that he inspires hope, or compassion, or justice, or truth in others, and though I believe these are true, I believe there is nothing about Superman that evokes those virtues in a particularly strong way that is unique from other superheroes. The virtue that I believe is uniquely represented in Superman more strongly and more pervasively in his life story than any other is humility. Superman is extremely humble and this founds all his other traits, like his kindness and honesty, and I believe that when we feel inspired to be more like Superman, it is specifically his humility that is unconsciously imprinting onto us. This is because Superman's humility is tied to the Superman myth more so than any other virtue, in these forms:

-Krypton exploding due to the arrogance of the Science Council.

-Clark coming from a humble, working-class, farming family, and that he moves from the humble Smallville to a big intimidating city.

-The fan-favorite element of Pa Kent's heart attack. The reason this is so resonant with audiences is not only because it provides a broad lesson about how he can't save everyone, but because by depicting Superman's limitations, the event must instill him with further humility. Knowing what you can't do makes you more humble.

-Kal-El sees himself as human, or rather as equal to all humans, considering himself more "man" than "super" despite his elevated physical abilities. He's an alien who considers himself equal to humans. This contrasts Lex Luthor, who is a human who considers himself superior to other humans due to his elevated intellectual abilities. Superman vs Luthor is humility vs arrogance.

-Superman's acceptance of the bumbling Clark Kent performance. Superman is so humble that he feels no injury to his pride when he pretends to be a clumsy fool. He is not above debasing and embarrassing himself for the greater good.

-The fan-favorite instances of Superman supporting suicidal individuals. I believe these are so resonant (beyond simply being incredible acts of kindness) because in showing that Superman has time for even the most personal problems that citizens are facing, he is emphasizing his humility. He is indicating that he doesn't view his time as a valuable commodity that can only be spent on giant, citywide disasters. (Practically speaking, maybe his time is indeed that sort of commodity, but Superman not seeing it that way makes him seem more humble.) It takes humility to believe one person's emotional turmoil is worth your time, even when your time could be spent doing almost anything in the universe given your abilities.

-Superman's no-killing rule. Superman is humble enough to realize he doesn't have the right to decide whether someone is beyond redemption. Hence his employment of the Phantom Zone projector, which is essentially the opposite of the death penalty. The death penalty says that someone is beyond improving, and thus must be killed. The Phantom Zone says that everyone should be allowed the chance to improve, so it gives them an eternal lifetime to try.

The true student of Superman sees himself as equal to all others in importance and value, regardless of superficial differences like physical or mental abilities. The entire life of Superman illustrates that no matter how super you are, you're always just a man.

This sort of humility can feel quite empowering. If everyone is equal, no one is more important than you, and you may feel confidence based on that. A fan feels empowered by Superman for the fact that Superman doesn't see himself as superior, and thus implies that everyone is equal, including the fan. Superman says you are as valuable and important as he is.

To conclude, I would like to point out how accurate Grant Morrison's explanation of Superman as an exaggerated everyman is. He lives a typical life but his superpowers exaggerate it -- so he walks his dog but he walks it around Saturn, he has a den with his collectibles but it's a giant Fortress with alien artifacts, he has friends as a kid whom he sees on weekends but they're the 31st-century Legion of Super-Heroes, he has a personal project he laments not attending to more but it's the bottled city of Kandor, etc. I believe that this everyman element feeds into both of the ideas I have asserted: by grounding him, it makes him more relatable (and thus more inspiring); and by showing that he is content to live essentially a simple life, it further depicts his humility.

TLDR:

To put it all together, I think Superman's lack of a distinct origin event that separates him from the audience creates relatability, which allows him to inspire us, mainly with the trait of humility that is present throughout his myth, more effectively than any other superhero. We see Superman and unconsciously internalize, "If he can be that humble, among other things, then so can I."

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Appendix A - Why Hope is the Popular Answer:

If my take is accurate, and Superman is the most inspiring superhero due to his lack of an origin event, I believe I may understand why the idea that Superman embodies "hope" has become so popular:

When we are inspired to become better in any particular way, we always feel hope by the very fact that we got inspired. Getting inspired to be better in any way, more willful or more faithful or whatever, indicates to us that we can indeed become better, and that maybe everyone else can too. The idea that we can get better instills us with hope.

So really any character who inspires anything in us, perhaps Green Lantern or Wonder Woman, probably inspires hope as a secondary result of them first inspiring other, more specific traits, like willpower or faith.

The reason this may have become associated with Superman in particular rather than other inspiring characters, even though it comes as a result of any kind of inspirational process, may be due to the fact that Superman is the most inspirational due to his lack of a distinct origin event. He inspires the audience so effectively that they have had more numerous instances of being inspired by the character, and thus have had more numerous opportunities to notice their hopeful reaction to the inspiration process, and thus began associating it with the character.

(This is all on top of the fact that Superman is generally hopeful, believing in the good of the world, etc. The reason I don't like hopefulness being considered his primary inspirational quality is because I don't see it to be unique to Superman. Wonder Woman is hopeful, Batman is hopeful, Martian Manhunter is hopeful -- so analyzing Superman as solely representing hope doesn't help to explain his individual staying power, or why he inspires people so much more strongly and pervasively than any other similar character. In addition, analyses are about unconscious reactions to things, and I find that I gain an emotional sense of humility by reading Superman more so than I gain a sense of hope, because I gain a sense of hope whenever I read about any character who does the right thing.)