Heroes who are direct parodies or homages of other heroes, villains or real-world figures. A parody is not the same as a homage: a hero who is not played for comedy but is based on another hero or character is a homage, they only become parodies if it is done for comedy purposes.

• Parodies: Heroes who are direct parodies of other heroes, villains, or real-world figures. Parodies are done only for comedy purposes and, as such, are not to be taken too seriously and usually not purely good. Rick Sanchez, Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Deadpool, Darkwing Duck, are good examples of this.

• Homages: Heroes that pay homage to another hero, villain, or real-life figure. Unlike the parodies, homages are done respectfully or glorified. Homage heroes are usually taken seriously, sometimes even more so than their originals. These characters are often not used for humor. In some cases, they can even be Pure Good if their actions are admirable enough. Link, Chihiro Ogino and Madoka Kaname are examples of pure good homages.

It is important to note that, in order to qualify, a character must be directly and clearly parodying or paying homage to another character or character type. A character that simply shares similarities to another character is NOT a parody or an homage.

It's also important to know that, just because a hero has a scene parodying or paying homage to another work, that does NOT mean the entire character is a parody or homage (i.e. Robin William's version of The Genie and Eric Cartman often parody or pay homage to movie scenes, but are original characters themselves).