How Did Superheroes Get Powers

Natural mutation - The x-menArtificial / forced mutation Alien DNA - InhumansAliens - Martian man hunter / superman / halkgirlFailed experiments - HulkRadiation - Fantastic four Successful experiments - Captain AmericaMagic - Dr Strange Curses - The Ghost riderAre gods or their relatives - Thor / Hercules Offspring of other superheroes - SpidergirlUniversal entities - Death / Galactus Exposure to things - Robots / Androids - The vision Super suits - Iron man Spies - Black widow Martial artists / Trained - the punisher...The list goes on and on .... !

Ask your mom - You are the best Super Hero :-)So stop aspiring to be a comic Super hero.And if you really want to know how to be Super hero in the eyes of society, how about exercising the powers you already have, namely:Help those who need help,Share love with the ones who need it the mostBrig smile to faces around youSupport free education for a child from a financially poor backgroundDonate clothes, food and above all your precious time to poor and needyIf you do this, you will be true Super hero in all supreme sense.It ain’t that difficult, right?

It's hard to say which is the most common, but there are different formulaic ways through which superheroes had obtained theirs powers. I have not included "powers" acquired through physical training (Green Arrow), through gadgets (Iron Man), or both (Batman).An accident that involves any field of science.If we don't include thousands of characters getting the same origins, the "freak accident" is possibly the most common way of getting superpowers. "I volunteer for this procedure."Not all "scientific" powers came through an accident, sometimes the hero is a scientist who tries something on himself, or the hero volunteers for his country, or just to save himself from dying.Created in a laboratory.Sometimes it's neither an accident nor a voluntary procedure. There is a long list of super-powered beings who were constructed mechanically, or engineered genetically.A privilege bequeathed upon.One category of the thousands of characters I mentioned earlier is the various Lantern Corps, who were all chosen for one distinguishing characteristic. There are also those powers passed down through the generations, when someone has been found capable and worthy to wield them.A priceless inheritance.The other category of thousands are all the mutants in the Marvel Universe (ignoring the alien origin of the X-Gene). These are superheroes born with their abilities. The DC Universe has a lot of metahumans, who have also had their superpowers since their birth.Like everyone else back home.This is another long list, aliens, lost civilizations, realms of gods, and creatures from harsh environments. All of whom have incredible superpowers when they walk among us.  (I know Wonder Woman was "created", but she represents all the Amazons here.) This is in no way an exhaustive list, but I can't think of many popular superheroes who don't fall in one or more of these categories. All images are from Comicvine. From top to bottom, they are:Dr. Manhattan, Barry Allen, Spider-Man, and the HulkAnt-Man, Captain America, Deadpool, and Luke CageNate Grey, Red Tornado, Superboy, and X-23Arisia Rrab, Laira Omoto, Captain Marvel, and Dr. StrangeDinah Lance, Rogue, Scarlet Witch, and ZatannaAquaman, Superman, Thor, and Wonder Woman

If people start answering it this is going to be a long, long list.  I'm going to give it a shot, mostly because I'm curious how many I can think of off the top of my head without any Googling...For the purposes of this, I'm including only humans (ie, no aliens who don't possess powers by their own species' standards), and I am not going to include characters like Iron Man or Green Lantern who rely primarily on a wearable, essentially magic, weapons.  It's my definition, so don't argue, just make your own. I'm also sticking to Marvel and DC, because that's all my brain can handle at this moment. And this is going to be very Marvel heavy. Robin (all of them)NightwingRed HoodRed RobinHawkeyeMockingbirdNight ThrasherNick Fury/most of SHIELDBlack WidowGreen ArrowStarlordPatriot (at least at first)Ka-zarShannaFoolkillerBlack Canary (sometimes, right?)BuckyBlue BeetleHindsight ladThe PunisherPaladinSilver SableShang ChiKickers Inc. (Except for the main guy)Mark Hazard: MercThe Slingers (all of them I think?)Storm (for a significant amount of time, no powers and still an active hero)Valerie CooperKaneGarrison Kane (pre cybernetics.  Not counting cyborgs on this list) HammerGW BridgeNighthawkUltimate Defenders (all of them from the original Ultimates) Black Panther (debatable, I guess)BengalColleen WingDakota NorthElektraWhite tigerD-ManCrimson CommandoEDIT: Ones I didn't think of in my first go aroundI hope it goes without saying, because it was in the question but: BatmanWolfpack (all of them)That's enough from me for now.  I'll update this as I think of more.  Fun game. Feel free to tell me if I'm wrong about any of these, and they do have powers or are aliens or whatever and I'm just forgetting.  I shall strike them from the record.  Also, I know some of these folks (ie Paladin) have slightly superhuman strength/agility/speed...  I don't know.  Draw your own line where you will.

One of the major ways superheroes have gained there powers is by birth. This can either be a mutation (Marvel’s X-Men), or species related (races other than human on Earth or aliens). Another method that is similar to one you mention is a science experiment that worked as intended (Geo-Force). Many have gained powers from magic. This can be by being granted powers magically (such as SHAZAM) or by learning magic itself. Then there are those superheroes who’s powers are technological in source (Ironman and Green Lantern) or are just a skill learned to a level it is above human normal (Green Arrow and Hawkeye). These are just a few of the ways a superhero can gain powers other than the methods you listed.

Franklin Richards is the only human that comes to mind, but there are a LOT of superpowerful non-humans (robots, aliens, human hybrids, gods, etc, etc) out there, many of a heroic bent.There are also some former X-Men like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver that arguably qualify. Groups like the New Mutants and X-Factor also make things a bit complicated, and that's without getting into timeline shenanigans.Another category of superhuman that is often forgotten is the supergenii, who are usually thought of as being unpowered (hence my listing them separately) despite brains that often outperform supercomputers. Intelligence like that of Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Bruce Banner, T'Challa, Amadeus Cho, Peter Parker, and so on is EXTREMELY, physics-breakingly, superhuman. However, it's not entirely clear to what extent these abilities are a result of nature or nurture, though Valeria Richards in particular was (RIP) very compelling evidence for nature playing a very big role (even as training can also give utterly ridiculous results in comics, like Hawkeye's Mach 438 arrows (Avengers #109)). Of course, most of these guys don't do their heroics with brainpower alone, with Cho and Valeria being notable exceptions.And for all I know I’m forgetting dozens of characters. Oh well, Marvel’s a big place and my interest in the setting tends to be focused on the cosmic tiers.