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We have the tag from before, which is explained thus:

For questions about the development and usage of powers and abilities beyond what is "normal" for a specific species.

We also have a relative newcomer on the block, namely for which a proposed tag wiki excerpt is:

For questions about people having surnatural powers or highly developed skills and using them in order to fight or make evil.

Aside from the fact that "surnatural" should probably be "supernatural",

  • what is really the difference between these two except for the application of those powers, which would be squarely up to the character and thus fall outside of the scope of Worldbuilding?
  • is this a meaningful distinction to make in tags?
  • does it make sense that a "superheroes" tag would include using unusual powers or abilities to make evil?

How does the community feel about this?

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    $\begingroup$ Mostly agree. Character questions are not always outside scope, though. A world where no one with superpowers acts heroic, say, would be significant. Similarly, historical figures are part of the world that can seriously shape it. (I'd rather permit character questions and tag them as such, personally.) $\endgroup$
    – The Nate
    Jan 24, 2017 at 5:49
  • $\begingroup$ @TheNate That's a different discussion, but we had lots of discussion about it during the early days of the beta period (most of it should still be here on Worldbuilding Meta, and what isn't can probably be found in Worldbuilding Chat if you dig enough) and determined that questions about what a character would do or does are off topic, though often questions about what a character can do in a given world are on topic. (The litmus test effectively being "is this about Bob specifically, or is it about anyone in Bob's position?".) Compare worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/help/on-topic. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jan 24, 2017 at 6:30
  • $\begingroup$ Regarding potential differences, Batman is the classic example of a superhero who does not have any super-powers. In fact, one of the questions currently tagged "superheros" is explicitly about how realistic it is to have Batman be a non-super-powered superhero. $\endgroup$
    – R.M.
    Jan 26, 2017 at 19:09
  • $\begingroup$ @R.M. Batman is super powered the same way that Iron Man is. More so actually, since he not only has the gadgets and tools, but also a huge amount of training in his fighting and deducting skills. You could say that his super power is in his mind and will, pushing himself much further than other humans, making him super human in that regard. $\endgroup$
    – AndyD273
    Jan 30, 2017 at 18:17
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    $\begingroup$ I've gone ahead and merged the tags, creating a synonym in the process (superheroes $\to$ super-powers). $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Apr 21, 2017 at 13:35

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I'd kill "superheroes" tag and just keep "super-powers".

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  • $\begingroup$ This has got my vote. $\endgroup$
    – The Nate
    Jan 24, 2017 at 5:42
  • $\begingroup$ Super-powers is the better tag since it is both older, and covers both heroes and villains. $\endgroup$
    – kingledion
    Jan 25, 2017 at 14:31
  • $\begingroup$ Superheroes is definitely a subset of super-powers.and so is redundant. $\endgroup$
    – AndyD273
    Jan 30, 2017 at 18:08

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