Basic Action Super Heroes!

Hello everyone! This is my first thread here, I hope you find the topic worthwhile. (Also, not sure if it goes here, if not please some Admin move it.)

I'm currently trying to create my own team of International Heroes. I've never felt one has been done well; even DC's Justice League International fell short in many respects. For my project, my parameters are as follows:
*The team is called The World Champions. They have a setup similar to The Avengers': The United Nations provides them with permission to operate and resources, but they are largely self-governing. However the team must have one hero representing every UN Security Council Member nation. This means the "core" of the team will be an American hero, a British one, a Chinese one, a Russian one and a French one. There will also be 10 other heroes, who will be a "rotating" membership, again like The Avengers' or the JLA's.
*I want the heroes to represent the various types of cultures of the World. However I also want to avoid stereotyping, which is a tricky part. Similarly while I want a variety of Superhero Archetypes, I also want to avoid making all of them too "American". I'm doing research on the comics and cartoons from those countries for these purposes.

The main heroes so far are:
*From the USA, a caped Flying Brick (yes, its based on Superman, but hey, if the rest are going to be more original, then at least this one can be a homage! )
*For the United Kingdom, I'd like a Celtic Hero, probably a Neopagan Spellcaster (I've never done such a character before, and I want to experiment.)
*For the Russian one, I'm thinking of just using the public domain character Octobriana (who wasn't really made in Russia, but whatever, I can just base mine on her otherwise.) Female Brick with a bad attitude; I'd love to play with her and defy the Cold War era stereotype.
*For the French one I'm going with a masked Badass Normal, if for no other reason than they are so prevalent there.
*My research indicates that the Chinese one should be based on legendary warriors with mystical gifts. Not sure exactly which abilities; I know I don't just want to make him/her (not decided on gender either) just another Super Martial Artist.

I have not decided yet which the other 10 countries will be, I'm open to suggestions there. Advice on the types of the characters would be welcome too, ESPECIALLY regarding names- I tend to suck at naming characters!

Hello and welcome.

I have some international characters that I made for another game, including a French super hero (Tricolore) and a Mexican hero (El Guarda Volador). My British heroine (The Sparrow) is not a spellcaster, nor Celtic, but you're welcome to use any of those names if they appeal to you.

Thanks for the quick response!

I have seen some of your characters, and I like them a lot! I will keep the names in mind (that's always the last part of the creation process for me.) Speaking of which, once I have them all figured out I will Stat them in in BASH! and post them here.

Here are some other countries I'm currently considering making heroes for (they all seem to be very important for the UN):
*Mexico ( A Masked Luchador. Don't laugh, they were very popular there once.)
*Brazil
*Germany
*Israel
*Japan (a cyborg, think Kamen Rider)
*India
*Nigeria
*South Africa
*Egypt
*One Eastern European country (not sure which yet)

Suggestions for any of these are welcome!

Nah, for Japan do a Magical Girl.

Oh, I intend to do a Magical Girl as well; there will be *plenty* of characters showing up in the series (this will be a webcomic) besides the ones in the World Champions. However Magical Girls tend to be either solo acts or in specialized teams, so I don't see one joining the WC.

Sijo wrote: *For the United Kingdom, I'd like a Celtic Hero, probably a Neopagan Spellcaster (I've never done such a character before, and I want to experiment.)
*For the French one I'm going with a masked Badass Normal, if for no other reason than they are so prevalent there.

A good name for your British hero would be Taliesin.

For the French one I would be inclined to design some sort of anti-heroic master criminal as there is something of a gallic pulp tradition that favours this type of character.

Some thoughts:

Israel - some sort of angelic hero
India - a god/goddess avatar
Egypt - a mummy! Or perhaps some sort of immortal that has been previously mummified and is now virtually indestructible (lots of immunity/healing)

Doktorelecktron: Thanks for the ideas! Funny, I just found out about Taliesin while doing research for this project, but I need to read more before I can decide how/if to use him.

And you hit on the head for the French Hero, they tend to be Masked Masterminds, often with a Ghost theme (Le Fantome du Paris, maybe? Hmm.)

The Hindu and Israelite ones are tricky, because while I don't mind messing around with religion, I do not want to offend any potential readers. (Well not too many- some people WILL be always be offended no matter how you tackled a subject.)

Sijo wrote:And you hit on the head for the French Hero, they tend to be Masked Masterminds, often with a Ghost theme (Le Fantome du Paris, maybe? Hmm.)

Absolutely although I might be tempted to modernize such a character. Maybe into some sort of tech-noiry super-infiltrator type (still with a shady background).

Sijo wrote:The Hindu and Israelite ones are tricky, because while I don't mind messing around with religion, I do not want to offend any potential readers. (Well not too many- some people WILL be always be offended no matter how you tackled a subject.)

Yes, I completely sympathize. I tend to avoid references to living religions where possible. Another thought I had about Israel was maybe a Mossad trained super-super-spy (a sort of Israeli Black Widow). Really just because Mossad have such a badass reputation Or maybe a super-golem!

Heres a few ideas off the top of my head.
Spanish Brick named ' el Toro' he's like a minotaur
French brawler named 'Espirt De Corps' who boosts team mates when close by.
English brick 'Stone Henge' - all grey and rocky
Italian flyer named 'Falco', gadgeteer
Nigerian with lion powers named "Zaki"
South African who transforms into a Diamond Body "Briolette" she can fire diamond shards and dazzle her opponents. Good Armour, weakness vs sonics.
Turkish mystic named 'Süleyman'
Romanian Alchemist named ' Virgiliu'

All great ideas (especially the names.) Thanks!

Thanks. Heres a few more that I've been mulling over.
For the German and Iron Man style hero named 'Panzermann' or a super solider from the ww2 'Ubersoldat' or a master clock maker who uses wind up automatons named 'Clockwerk'