Included below are just some of the most notable second generation superheroes/
Jon Kent (Superman/Lois Lane)Featured in The Son of Superman by Howard Chaykin, this tells the story of Lois Lane as a single mother after Superman disappeared and the boy's realization that he is the son of the world's greatest hero. However, growing up in a more complex world dealing with terrorism on one side and fascism on the other, Jon begins to question if his father is really the hero the world needs.
Damian Wayne (Batman/Talia Al Ghul)Like the Emperor in Star Wars, Ra's Al Ghul wants his enemy to inherit his empire and in Son of the Demon, Bruce Wayne did just that. Taking over the League of Shadows, Batman briefly ran an international terrorist organization and actually did a lot of good. The evenings he spent with Ra's Al Ghul's daughter, Talia, and the story ends with Talia revealing her baby. Only recently, with the Batman and Son storyarc have we gotten to see the product of Bruce's loins... and he is a deadly little brat.
In recent comics, Bruce Wayne is dead and Damian has become Robin to Dick Grayson's Batman.
Huntress (Batman/Catwoman)The original progeny of Batman, Helena Wayne was also the daughter of Catwoman. She came from the alternate universe of Earth-2 based on the golden age of DC Comics. Although her universe was destroyed and parentage was retconed, she continues to be a popular character and ally of the Bat family.
Black Canary II (Black Canary I)
One of the most notable second generation superheroes is Black Canary who recently married Green Arrow. Her mother was the golden age Black Canary who fought villains back during World War II. Try not to think about the timeline too much and it almost makes sense. She was perhaps the first legacy hero to appear regularly in new comics.Daken (Wolverine)
Another long lost son, Daken (whose name means "bastard dog" or "mongrel") was born to a Japanese woman who Logan thought dead. Years later, Daken was made into a weapon, not unlike his father. In addition to his father's powers, he has powerful pheromones which suppress his scent and alter the emotions of others. He recently killed Punisher and has his middle claw popping out of the bottom of his arm instead of the top.Why? I'm not sure. Doesn't seem very effective.
As a sidenote, Daken is supposedly bisexual. Is it homophobic for me to find that frightening? Maybe it's just that seeing the blood lust he has for eviscerating people, it's not that unlikely to imagine him as a serial rapist as well.
If I was Spider-Man, I would be paying a lot of attention to my spidey sense when he is around.
X-23 (Wolverine [clone])Wolverine also has a recent daughter, though as I understand it, X-23 is actually a clone that duplicated his X-gene to create a more stable female model. Like her dad and brother, she was created and trained as a weapon. Her own variation on her father's claws: two claws each on her hands and one on each of her feet.
Biggest downside? Like her brother, she has a crappy codename.
Phoenix II/Marvel Girl (Cyclops/Phoenix)I always thought it was interesting that the two most uptight and conventional X-Men produced a punk like Rachel Summers. I guess it makes sense since she was raised in the post-Apocalyptic Days of Future Past and (once again) turned into a weapon by her enemies. She gained a new lease on life when she traveled back in time to fight alongside the X-Men and Excalibur.
She recently returned from the future again, this time with the name and costume of Marvel Girl... since no one was using it anyway.
Cable (Cyclops/Madelyne Pryor)What happens when you have a baby with the evil clone of your one true love? You get a 'roided-up Leifeld gunslinger with a Dirty Harry attitude just made for the '80s and with unwarranted popularity in the '90s. Cable wasn't created as the son of Scott and Madelyne, but somehow it happened...
... now it cannot unhappen... although I'd overlook the retcon if it did. Promise.
Stryfe (clone of Cable)What happens when you clone the baby of the evil clone of your true love? You end up with an evil clone who sports the most awkward costume I have ever seen.
Makes me wish there was some place you could banish comic ideas to where they would never return from. I think its a magical land called "litigation" and it never happens to characters who deserve it... because no one wants them enough.
Nate Grey (cloned son of Cyclops and Jean Grey from an alternate universe)What happens when... You know what? Fuck it. Alternate reality teenage Cable. NEXT!
Ruby Summers (Cyclops/Emma Frost)Ruby is a recent creation by X-Factor scribe Peter David. Although it may add more wrinkles to the continuity of the Days of Future Past storyline, Ruby was shown as her father's soldier in a rebellion against genetic oppression. Her body is ruby quartz in a manner similar to Emma Frost's diamond form, but she also possesses her father's trademark optic blasts.
Wiccan & Speed (Scarlet Witch/Vision)Now here is one of the weirdest ones. Scarlet Witch is the daughter of X-Men villain Magneto. Her power is to alter probability with "hex bolts." While this originally meant she could alter the fortune of small objects in her favor (i.e. causing an enemy to trip, the roulette ball to land on black, or cause a mounted TV to fall on someone's head), in recent comics, it was revealed that this has quantum implications meaning that basically, she can do anything.
Well, a long time ago, Wanda fell in love with the robot Vision and inadvertently created in him the ability to reciprocate those feelings. At one point, her powers actually enabled her to have twin boys with the man-bot, but when someone pointed out that she made them up out of pure crazy, they ceased to exist.
They later returned for no apparent reason having been adopted and lived pretty much normal lives and possessing powers of their own. The most notable of these children is Billy "Wiccan" Kaplan, most notable for being one of the few homosexual male superheroes. The other is Tommy Shepherd, a less developed character based on Quicksilver who goes by the name "Speed" which is a terrible name, movie, and drug.
Bad choice, kid, but considering your upbringing, you got off light.
Franklin Richards (Mr. Fantastic/Invisible Woman)The first born of the Fantastic Four, Franklin possesses the latent psychic abilities of GOD apparently. He makes AKIRA look like Rasputin. After the FF and the Avengers were killed fighting Onslaught, he created a pocket universe inside his little blue ball and recreated them with his imagination. While he is currently just a kid, those god-like powers can crop up at any moment.
Incidentally, he is destined to meet and fall in love with Rachel Summers in Days of Future Past.
Valeria Richards (Mr. Fantastic/Invisible Woman)Their second born is arguably creepier. Barely more than an infant, she is already smarter than her father making her possibly the smartest human being on Earth. Imagine if your child invented a time machine while munching Fruit Loops and watching Spongebob. That's Valeria.
Spider-Girl (Spider-Man/Mary Jane)An alternate future, female version of Spider-Man, May "May Day" Parker ended up inheriting her father's powers and legacy as Spider-Girl. Somehow, she managed to have a long running series that avoided death more inexplicably than Kenny. The character was uninspired and every other character in the story was a slightly less interesting twist on one or more pre-existing Marvel character.
Starman III (Son of Ted Knight, the original Starman)Jack Knight is the son of the original, golden age Starman. He wasn't supposed to carry the mantel, but after his brother was shot by a sniper, Jack had to rise to the occasion to save his father and his family. Jack is the only second generation hero here to surpass his lineage. The Starman series was massively popular and is still considered one of the best examples of the genre. If it weren't for Jack Knight, the name "Starman" would just be another hokey superhero long forgotten.
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