The 16 Most Politically Incorrect Comic Book Characters

Luke Cage appears in 'The 16 Most Politically Incorrect Comic Book Characters'.Luke Cage was retconned, redesigned, and rewritten into a better, three-dimensional character. Cage began as a jive-talking blaxploitation product. He wore a tiara, donned chains, and called women "foxes." Luke Cage is a product of the '70s that does not fit today.Luke Cage was retconned, redesigned, and rewritten into a better, three-dimensional character. Cage began as a jive-talking blaxploitation product. He wore a tiara, donned chains, and called women "foxes." Luke Cage is a product of the '70s that does not fit today.

In 2003, Marvel rebooted an older 1950s cowboy character into a homosexual hero. Marvel's intentions were good, but the outcome failed.Rawhide Kid played up gay stereotype tropes, insulting everyone's fashion sense. He spoke in hacky double entendres and acted like an effeminate goof despite his heroic ideals and quick-draw shooting skills. Marvel included the comic in its adults-only MAX line, even though it lacked salty language or nudity. The Rawhide Kid was deemed too raw for kids simply because he was gay.Rawhide Kid played up gay stereotype tropes, insulting everyone's fashion sense. He spoke in hacky double entendres and acted like an effeminate goof despite his heroic ideals and quick-draw shooting skills. Marvel included the comic in its adults-only MAX line, even though it lacked salty language or nudity. The Rawhide Kid was deemed too raw for kids simply because he was gay.

The Mandarin debuted in Tales of Suspense.The Mandarin debuted in Tales of Suspense.In #50, the Mandarin wraps every Asian stereotype into one character. He is a skilled martial artist. He is a trained Asian mystic. He is a genius scientist. Having a name focused only on his race? Check.

The Mandarin was arguably Iron Man's most recognizable villain. This made him last longer than he should have. Though his character grew beyond his stereotypes over time, naming him "The Mandarin" remains hard to justify in today's modern setting.

He-She is a hermaphrodite supervillain, not just regarding genitalia.He-She was a villain.He-She was a villain of the Crimebuster in Lev Gleason's Boy Comics.He-She was a villain of the Crimebuster in Lev Gleason's Boy Comics.He-She used his/her ability to be a man and a woman to commit crimes. He-She used the woman half of his/her body to lure unsuspecting men with feminine wiles. Afterward, He-She's male half killed and robbed the victims.

Aside from being an offensive characterization of hermaphrodites, gender fluid individuals, and transgender people, He-She lacks logic. For He-She's schemes to work, He-She had to ensure only one side of his/her body was visible. It is awkward for a woman to talk to a guy while looking and speaking from only one side of her face. Luckily for He-She, comic books happen in a 2-D setting.

The Legion of Super-Heroes featured white heroes, blue heroes, and green heroes. It had no Black heroes.The Legion of Super-Heroes had no Black heroes until 1976.Tyroc hit the scene in 1976 as DC's first Black superhero, a year before Black Lightning debuted. Good intentions went wrong again.

Tyroc was not a hero joining the Legion. Tyroc was a Black separatist. The character believed in separating his race from others. This stemmed from the Legion's universe, where all Black people lived on one island separate from other races and cultures. This explains why no Black people were in the Legion comic before. Yikes.

Jim Shooter at DC Comics felt embarrassed by the character. He tried to get an African-American hero into the Legion since the 1960s, but editors shot him down. Tyroc's co-creator, Mike Grell, also hated the character. Grell intentionally drew a ridiculous costume for Tyroc as a protest. If a co-creator hates a character and what it stands for, why create it?

Wonder Woman is a super-strong Amazon warrior. DC writers needed a proper, equally strong villain for her to fight. So, in 1965, inWonder Woman.#157.Wonder Woman faced her biggest challenge yet: a giant egg with a face. This egg was a top-ranked Chinese Communist agent, but it remains just an egg waiting to crack.

Egg Fu featured the "sneaky Asian" stereotype on a giant egg. The character used sinister eyebrows, a Fu Manchu mustache, and Charlie Chan's broken English. This mixed every Asian stereotype into one character. Later, Egg Fu lost that nonsense because DC still thought a giant egg was a villain worth saving.

The Spirit's sidekick and friend, Ebony White, shows good intentions while still using stereotypes. Ebony White debuted in Will Eisner'sThe Spirit.In 1940, Ebony White was a young man who helped the Spirit solve mysteries, fight enemies, and drove a cab at age 12. However, he appeared with big pink lips, bugged-out eyes, and spoke with a minstrel show speech pattern. The name also contained an obvious racial pun.

Eisner got both praise and criticism for creating White. The character was a full-blown stereotype, but White was shown as a hero and smarter than he looked.Eisner admitted he used a racial stereotype.He defended his choice, saying the humor at the time involved "bad English" and "physical difference in identity."

DuringDC'sMillenium.The Millenium event created The New Guardians. A member, a Peruvian magician, got enhanced powers for good. This magician was Extraño, DC's first openly gay superhero. Extraño was gay, but straight men clearly wrote him.

Extraño carried every stereotype of the fey gay. He played up camp and comic relief, often calling himself "Auntie," and was very flamboyant in action and costume. Extraño faced an "AIDS vampire" named "Hemo-Goblin." This happened as the AIDS scare peaked in the homosexual community during the 1980s.

Mariah Dillard acted as a wily political figure in theLuke Cage.In the Netflix series, Mariah Dillard mixed a mob boss with a stereotypical mammy when she debuted inLuke Cage: Hero for Hire.#5.In 1973, Black Mariah, the leader of the Rat Pack criminal gang, stole from corpses and dealt drugs, dressing like a sour-faced Hattie McDaniel.Gone with the Wind.Her character design and look changed and improved over time.

Cisco Ramon offers comic relief on the TV show.The Flash.Paco Ramon, or Francisco "Cisco" Ramon, also known as Vibe, debuted in the TV show.Justice League of America Annual.He appeared at #2 in 1984 to diversify the JLA roster. Still, like many characters on this list, he was a bad Latin stereotype despite good intentions.

Born in Detroit, the Latinx hero quit leading a gang to fight crime using his shockwave ability. He called himself "Vibe" because he loved gyrating, breakdancing, and his saucy Latin background. The character failed, and DC has tried to change his origins ever since.

If you do not know "Thomas Kalmaku," you likely know him as "Pieface" since his debut in.Green Lantern.#2 in 1960. Kalmaku was Hal Jordan's closest confidant on Ferris Aircraft. Kalmaku still calls him the racially troubling nickname "Pieface." "Pieface" did not mean the ice cream treat "Eskimo pie"; it was old slang for "a person with a round face and blank expression," according to the Dictionary of American Slang.This term sounded harmless, but it usually applied to Inuit people and descendants of First Nation tribes.

Tom was the typical non-hero sidekick for Green Lantern, causing trouble everywhere he went. Over time, he became a hero himself. Kalmaku moved from a low-level mechanic to a big boss at Ferris Aircraft. Still, the "Pieface" name remains a problem in many stories.

Dr. Strange's teacher.The Ancient One is politically incorrect in multiple ways. First, in the comics, it is politically incorrect.The Ancient One.The Ancient One was the stereotypical Asian mystic master who helps a white guy become the main hero and best student.When the Dr. Strange movie was being made, Marvel changed the Ancient One from a stereotypical Asian elder to a bald Celtic woman.Marvel chose to change the Ancient One from a stereotypical Asian elder to a bald Celtic woman for the movie being made.

Marvel cast Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. They did this to move away from the character's racist depiction in the comics. Some critics claimed this was just white-washing. Many pointed out the role changed because the comic's Ancient One was Tibetan. This could upset the Chinese movie-going public due to tensions between Tibet and the People's Republic of China. Marvel white-washed a cultural stereotype that was politically incorrect anyway. Marvel had no way to win this instance.

Big Bertha is a member of the comedic Great Lakes Avengers.Big Bertha is a slim supermodel who transforms into a powerful, morbidly obese woman to fight wrongdoers. Many find Big Bertha troubling because her ability to switch from thin to fat to thin could hurt people with eating disorders. Bertha's secret identity as a supermodel gets respected, while her hero form, which is voluptuous, gets played up as a joke.Big Bertha is a slim supermodel who transforms into a powerful, morbidly obese woman to fight wrongdoers. Her ability to go from thin to fat to thin again troubles many because it could be insensitive to people with eating disorders.

Someone conceived a tiger-man villain for Captain America to fight but skipped giving him arms. Don't blink; this character is real.

Gustav Hertz became a double amputee in a machine accident. He trained his feet for superhuman dexterity and started looking like a tiger. This made him the feared Armless Tiger Man.Armless Tiger Man.Hertz waged a campaign to destroy all machines to get revenge for losing his arms. He fought Captain America and Black Panther, among other Marvel heroes. Hertz also worked with the Nazis because Subtle Description Man was apparently taken.

Some argue Armless Tiger Man could inspire real amputees. This is a weak argument. An armless hero might work, but his powers need to connect to his amputation. An evil Nazi amputee resembling a tiger does not put amputees in a positive light.

One person suggested a bad guy idea: a hooded man who hates people and shoots them with a hate gun that causes mutual hatred. They called him 'Hate-Monger'. This person also claimed he was a clone of Hitler.

That was not an eight-year-old's pitch for a villain. Some Marvel writers pitched this adversary for the Fantastic Four and Captain America.Hate-Monger.Hate-Monger stirs up hatred with his racist talk, xenophobic views, and his Hate Ray. While the first Hate-Monger was a Hitler clone, others wore the hood as Hate-Monger and spread hate.

For this villain, size matters. Some supervillain origins come from grave injustice or lab accidents, but not Codpiece.Codpiece was rejected by an attractive girl who thought he was not 'big enough.' She meant his height, but Codpiece misunderstood. Codpiece built a power suit with a giant cannon attached to his groin. His fear of his member's size led him to crime.Codpiece's origin shows size matters for villains. A girl turned him down because he was not 'big enough,' referencing his height. Codpiece built a power suit with a giant cannon on his groin. His paranoia about his member's size drove him into crime.