There Are Real Superheroes in the World Around You, But They Can’t Fly.

KnightVigil, a religious super hero, has a specific message for the people of his community and beyond—and it’s not necessarily Scripture. For him, it’s all about neighbors helping neighbors, getting together to make a difference by building community. And his striking costume, which evokes references to the knights of medieval times, goes a long way toward delivering that message.

Angle-Grinder Man patrols by night looking for unhappy drivers who have been clamped and then sets their cars free. He promises to take on clamping firms, speed cameras and the congestion charge on behalf of drivers. An odd-job man by day, he claims to operate in Kent during the week and in London on weekends.

“I’ve been a volunteer crime-fighter for more than 10 years now,” Mr. Extreme says, “but the thing that really made me get involved in this is that I myself have been a victim of violent crime and have also come from a struggling background. I’ve been jumped by gang members, bullied at school, and I was molested as a child,” he revealed. But from the gauntlet of those experiences, Mr. Xtreme was born.

This time-traveler from the year 2039 was sent to Earth on a mission to save us from our ill-fated future. Braving a range of semi-heroic deeds, Captain Ozone is hard at work saving endangered species, promoting renewable energy and ecological art, and teaching school children how to become environmental activists.

In a City of Angels, Ragensi has come to know its demons. Referring to himself as a “Paranormal Investigator and Masked Adventurer Extraordinaire,” Ragensi utilizes his knowledge of paranormal activity to occupy a very unique niche in the world of real life super heroes.

Being first means everything to Knight Owl, a Real Life Superhero working and living in the Vancouver, WA and Portland, OR areas. Being first means answering a call when no one else can—or will. It means minimizing a victim’s trauma, with the safety of all concerned in mind. Being first, simply, means saving lives. Trained as an emergency medical technician (EMT), Knight Owl is currently working toward his certification as a paramedic.

The Dark Guardian has been dubbed, what the media calls a Real Life Superhero. He is here to show the world there are people that care to make a difference, people that will stand against what is wrong in our society, stand up to the bad guys, help those in need, and change the world for the better. He uses the iconic appearance of comic book superheroes to make a difference, inspire others, spread a positive message, and call attention to issues in his community. He works to help make a difference by doing civic activities, crime fighting, charity work, safety patrols, hospital visits, school talks, distributing wanted and missing person fliers, helping the homeless, community clean ups, and more.

Recognizing that poor people must often make hard choices between housing, food, child care, health care and education, Nyx knew she had to act. “Being poor means being an illness, an accident or a paycheck away from living on the streets,” she says, “and that makes the homeless easy targets on many levels.” That’s why she feels the strong need to protect these vulnerable individuals any way she can, from car patrols to foot patrols, to anonymous reporting to the city police department.

Entomo is the insect man, a crimefighting detective who seeks to protect the people of Naples as well as the environment. He claims to be the sum of all the powerful, silent and venomous small creatures inhabiting this world. He is also a synthesis, the human-like swansong of millions of races. He employs his faculties in saving what is left to save and destroying what doesn’t fit in the bigger scheme of equilibrium.Update: Entomo’s photo has been altered to preserve his secret identity.

Phantom Zero’s journey began in a densely populated, highly urbanized town across the river from New York City. There, he went on regular patrols and came to realize that the local police were doing a fine job of keeping the neighborhood safe. His focus then shifted upon moving to a smaller town in Central New Jersey, and he now devotes most of his energies to working one-on-one, helping often random people through their personal crises, steering them toward resources or organizations to further them along their journeys.

A superhero living and working in Massachusetts, Civitron is an “artistic representation of self, a father, family man, and creative director of socially-conscious events and projects.” Much like a hip-hop artist will adopt a stage name and persona, Civitron exists as “my ambassador to the world and a symbol of creative altruism,” he says, while still allowing him a comfortable level of anonymity. “Instead of fighting ‘crime,’ I seek justice,” he continues, “I prefer direct social and emotional contact with the public as opposed to sticking to the shadows.”

While a snow-shovelling hero from an isolated Canadian town of less than 7,000 might seem laughable, Polar Man has truly made a difference. Not only does he clear walkways for the elderly, he also tidies playgrounds in the summer and takes a keen interest in participating in community events.

While Zetaman patrols the seediest parts of Portland ready for anything, he’s never had to apprehend any criminals. More often than not, Zetaman spends his nights handing out gloves, sandwiches and other useful items to Portland’s less fortunate residents.

Superbarrio Gómez is a Mexican high school dropout that wears red tights and a red and yellow wrestler’s mask. Rather than fight crime and corruption with violence, he uses his image to organize labor rallies and protests, and file petitions.

The Capital City Super Squad is a volunteer organization using superhero identities to inspire and help the people living, working and traveling in Washington DC. The Capital City Super Squad engages in civic activities in the guise of superheroes to help people during safety patrols, community events, fundraisers and other activities. At this current time they have seven active members; Captain Prospect, team leader; Nice Ninja; Spark; Siren; Justice; DC Guardian and The Puzzler.

His bat mobile is a Nissan X-Terra. His weapon of choice is a cell phone. He is Citizen Prime, an anti-crime activist on a mission reminiscent of The Guardian Angels, but with a comic book flair. He takes photographs of evil-doers in the act and calls the cops. Call me crazy, but calling the cops to report loitering teenagers smoking pot out back of the Circle K probably doesn’t require a $4,000 suit of body armor.