10 Most Popular Nickelodeon Superheroes, Ranked Lamest To Coolest
While the prevalence of superhero media beyond comic books has exploded in recent years, Nickelodeon has long been ahead of the curve.
The network's featured some of the most entertaining, and oft-times deconstructive, superpowered characters in many of their shows—whether in the lead role or as an in-universe supporting character. The following characters mostly date back to the time period referred to as "Classic" Nickelodeon. Thus, heroes in superhero-based recent shows like Henry Danger and The Thundermans will not be featured. Also, honorable mention paid to Ultra Lord of the Jimmy Neutron franchise.
10 Pickboy (U-Pick Live)
Perhaps overshadowed by 90s-era Nickelodeon is certain staples of early to mid-2000s Nickelodeon that resonated at the time, but have failed to gain the same renewal of retrospective traction. Fitting this particular bill to a tee is Nickelodeon's superheroic answer to Ryan Seacrest and Dick Clark, who featured on Slime Time Live's biggest threat at the time, U-Pick Live (2002-2005).
9 Jenny Wakeman (My Life As A Teenage Robot)
Though short-lived, My Life as a Teenage Robot has all the makings of an underappreciated Nick enterprise deserving of a cult revival and second-look from naysayers. The cartoon debuted on the network in 2003 and followed the adventures of a robot youth named KJ-9 who struggles episode-in and episode-out to protect Earth from harm while trying to live a normal life as her preferred covert/humanized identity, "Jenny."
8 Monkeyman (Hey Arnold!)
With the episodic spotlight on himself in season five, Hey Arnold!'s neighborhood superhero notably overcame his demons to establish a more close-range rapport with the townsfolk he watch-guards over.
Even when he traveled too far in embracing a newly-formed extroverted lifestyle to capitalize on the benefits celebrity affords him, audiences' belief in the hero as a stalwart protector of the weak never wavered. For he clearly felt genuine empathy for a just-been-mugged Sid, then subsequently followed his on-brand impulse to avenge him.
7 Superdude (All That)
Before he became a bona fide mainstay on Saturday Night Live, the aptly named star of NBC's Kenan first honed his sketch comedy chops on Nickelodeon's teenage-aimed showcase of their own not-ready-for-primetime-players.
One of the actor's most featured recurring characters on All That was the Superman parody, "Superdude," whose personal Kryptonite was lactose intolerance. A weakness that proved quite costly during Superdude's frequent bouts with his arch-nemesis: Milk Man.
6 The Crimson Chin (The Fairly OddParents)
For a child with Fairy GodParents, Timmy still finds ways to emotionally invest in deserving fantastical beings who exist within his world.
The Jay Leno-voiced crime-fighter, otherwise known as The Daily Blabbity Newspaper's Charles Hampton Indigo—holy plain-clothed-alias, Batman. The as-expected, overly large-chinned hero sports a compelling backstory. Bit by a radioactive celebrity while working as a struggling late-night talk show host, Crimson's noble response to power acquisition proves he actually is the selfless protector the commonfolk want him to be.
5 Snap (ChalkZone)
While Rudy's got the chalk, Snap's got the stealth to keep his buddy cool in overwhelming, ChalkZone-set situations.
The humanoid, blue-costumed drawing is Rudy's first friend and subsequent sidekick on all his adventures in the make-believe land first seen on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, where transcribed imagination gains sentience. Perhaps most heroically, Snap's egolessness allows the show to run through Rudy, and the brains of their outfit equally assigned elsewhere (Penny).
4 Danny Phantom (Danny Phantom)
Ultimately not as long-lasting as Butch Hartman's earlier Nickelodeon breakout, the slickly-animated within the confines of 2D Danny Phantom still holds up to this day. Its lead, an accident-caused, super-able being, Danny Phantom ran with the "serial adventures of a teenager with a colossal, superheroic secret" formula that Smallville had begun to master just a few years prior.
3 Action League (Action League Now!)
The stop-motion animated super-gang were chucking themselves into and out of trouble before Robot Chicken made it commonplace. Most remembered for their short film adventures as a recurring skit featured on KaBlam!, The Flesh, Thunder Girl, Stinky Diver, Meltman, Justice, and The Chief also found life in appearances on All That, and even briefly as their own flagship program from 2001-2002. Notably, one episode was even banned over terrorist-fighting overtures that were too-close-to-home amid a then-immediately-post-9/11 world.
2 Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (SpongeBob SquarePants)
So what if they're past their prime? These guys rule.
The has-beens of Bikini Bottom routinely step up to the plate when called upon... or at the least entertain its citizens and fans alike while trying. Here's hoping their last adventure, whenever it might be, does not result in an arc-completion as tear-producing as, say, Logan. But, if it does, this underwater tandem will most definitely stick the landing.
1 Quailman (Doug)
A definitive superhero of the early 90s content boom, the creation of way-back-there Nickelodeon tramples over his superheroic contemporaries like Really Really Big Man (Rocko's Modern Life!) and Powdered Toast Man (Ren and Stimpy) for the sheer fact that, thirty years later, the clever still rock a green sweater-vest, red cape, and belt tied around their head for Halloween.
As the alter ego of Doug Funnie, whose frequent internal longing to be the alpha version of his weaker self is borderline Fight Club-esque, Quailman could save just about everything from harm. Sans the show itself, following a Disney makeover that spat-out long sleeves for Doug, a new hair-do for Patti Mayonnaise, and a feature-length movie with the opposite of staying power.
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