The passing of the torch is an important part of many a story. The old, weathered hero hands over the reins to the young champion to take up the fight. As a wise Kryptonian named Jor-El once put it, "the son becomes the father and the father becomes the son." Legacy heroes are a tried and true part of storytelling, and few stories are as focused on legacy as the story of the DC Universe.
Starting with 1956's Showcase #4 and a story called "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!", DC Comics began to build a series of legacy characters with the Flash. Over the years, almost every hero you would find in Who's Who has been replaced at one time or another, but some legacy heroes have lasted longer than others. These are the 10 best legacy heroes in the DCU.
10 Flash
The one who kicked it all off, Flash is arguably the best-known legacy hero. And while we could count both Barry Allen, who took over for Jay Garrick and Wally West, who replaced Barry for decades, as separate legacies on this list, we want to give you a true count of ten and not repeat the same legacies.
The Flash legacy is one of the most detailed of all of DC's legacy heroes. Not only do we have Jay, Barry, and Wally, but we know that the name will continue well into the future. There's Sela Allen, who comes from an unknown point in the future, John Fox from the 27th Century, and Kryad of the 98th Century just to name a few. It seems that whatever the future holds for the DCU, a Flash will be part of it.
9 Green Lantern
The second legacy hero in the history of DC Comics, the Green Lantern went from one man who found a magic lantern after a train crash to an entire Corps made up of 7202 members who protect 3600 sectors of the universe. Some Green Lanterns, like Hal Jordan, Simon Baz, and Jessica Cruz, are human, but the vast majority are from the countless planets that make up the DC Universe. One Green Lantern, Mogo, is a planet.
The Green Lantern Corps has been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times, and each time it comes back, it comes back stronger and with a whole group of new ring slingers ready to make their mark on readers.
8 Atom
While every version of Flash is a speedster and every version of Green Lantern has a power ring, the entire concept for the Atom was changed from the Golden Age to the Silver Age. Al Pratt, the original Atom, was a short guy who didn't have any superpowers but liked punching criminals. The second Atom was Ray Palmer, a physicist who used white dwarf star matter to invent shrinking technology that allows him to become subatomic. These days Ray Palmer shares the name and technology with his protege Ryan Choi, who first took on the mantle of the Atom to find Ray when he went missing.
7 Blue Beetle
Dan Garret, the first Blue Beetle, made his debut in Fox Feature Syndicate's Mystery Men Comics #1 in 1939 as a street cop who built a bulletproof suit. Charlton Comics bought the rights to Blue Beetle and, along with adding a "t" to Dan's last name, gave him a new origin and superpowers via a mystical scarab he found.
A few years later, Charlton would introduce Ted Kord, a scientist with gadgets, but no scarab. Dan and Ted would become a part of the DC Universe, with Ted being a member of the Justice League in the 80s and 90s. In 2006, DC would add their own character to the Blue Beetle legacy with Jaime Reyes, who became the new owner of the magical scarab.
6 Robin
While not usually included in a list of legacies, when Batman has had five different teens wearing the costume - six if you count Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns - it's hard to say that Robin isn't one. Dick Grayson kicked things off as the first Boy Wonder and was followed up by Jason Todd and Tim Drake before Stephanie Brown became the first Girl Wonder (that's in continuity. Carrie Kelly is historically the first female Robin). These days, the old Robins have taken on new personas while Damian Wayne wears the red, green, and yellow.
5 Starman
Since Ted Knight first started fighting crime with his "gravity rod" in 1941, there have been eight heroes to use name Starman. Ted was followed by Mikal Thomas, a blue alien who came to Earth and liked it. Then came Prince Gavyn, an alien who used a staff to channel his cosmic powers. Will Payton was next, gaining superpowers after being hit with a beam from a satellite.
David Knight, Ted's oldest son, was the next hero to take on the name but was murdered soon after his career began. Jack Knight would take over the family business. Like Flash, the Starman name carries well into the future. There's Thom Kallor from the 30th Century and Farris Knight from the 853rd Century.
4 Mister Terrific
The Golden Age Mister Terrific, Terry Sloane, was a millionaire genius who also happened to be an Olympic-level athlete and a master of martial arts. Unlike so many other heroes, Mister Terrific's logo didn't hint at his name; instead, it just said "Fair Play". Terry would retire from crimefighting, but that didn't stop him from being murdered in 1979's Justice League of America #171.
Twenty-six years after Terry Sloane's death, Michael Holt would make his debut as the second Mister Terrific. Like his predecessor, Michael is a millionaire genius with Olympic-level athletic skills, Unlike Terry, Michael didn't just randomly decide to fight crime. After the death of his wife and unborn child, Michael was ready to commit suicide until the Spectre convinced him to take up the mantle of Mister Terrific.
3 Black Canary
Introduced in 1947, Dinah Drake took on the Black Canary persona and went undercover, joining street gangs to gain intel before taking them down. She later joined the Justice Society of America and while she initially didn't have superpowers, the first Black Canary gained her Canary Scream after a battle with a magician called Aquarius.
Dinah Laurel Lance wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps, which was the exact opposite of what her mother wanted. To get around her mom, Dinah Lance trained in secret with Wildcat before taking on the mantle of Black Canary. After Flashpoint, Dinah Laurel Lance was erased from continuity and Dinah Drake became the only Black Canary, but with Doomsday Clock, all of that may have changed yet again.
2 Superboy
The original stories of Superboy were about Clark Kent's years as a teen hero in Smallville. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman's origin was changed so that he had never been Superboy. The next version of the character would show up in 1993 during the "Reign of Supermen" storyline. This Superboy was a clone made from the DNA of Superman and Lex Luthor. While his style screamed "90s cool", he gained a fan following and finally returned to the DCU recently.
The third Superboy is Jon Kent, son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Currently, he's busy hanging out with the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century and he hasn't met his half brother yet, but we're sure that will happen soon. There's also Superboy-Prime, an evil Superboy who helped save everyone during Crisis on Infinite Earths and feels that they wasted their second chances.
1 Hourman
The original Hourman was introduced in 1940. Scientist Rex Tyler invented a drug called Miraclo that when taken would give the user super strength for one hour. Sadly, Rex would learn that his superdrug was also very addictive and he was forced to give it up. Rex's son Rick Tyler became the second Hourman when he used Miraclo to save a group of people during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Like his father, Rick became addicted and had to give up the power, but was given an hourglass full of tachyons that let him see the future. From the 853rd Century came the Android Hourman. Modeled on Rex Tyler's DNA, this Hourman was built to be trained and later replace the New God Metron.