The Curious Origins Behind Iconic Superhero Names and Villains
By Published Apr 19, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites.
Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: , The Bad Batch, and Watch Men. Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
Naming a superhero or supervillain is a big part of making a character that readers will want more of, and a could wreck a character's chances at fame. Would Spider-Man be so popular if he was called "Arachnid-Guy?" Would the Joker be so iconic if he was called Ally Babble (who was a real Batman character that only showed up twice!)? It's safe to say that, no, Spider-Man and Joker would not be known today if those were their names.
This is why creators will often take a long time to come up with a character's name. It needs to pop in a good way. It can't be generic. And, perhaps most importantly, it needs to tell the reader a lot about the character. The greatest idea for a character can be ruined if their name doesn't stick with the reader or if it sounds too goofy. And considering some of the most famous characters in comics have pretty goofy names (Doctor Octopus? Matter-Eater Lad?) a name needs to be really goofy if it isn't going to work. That exact thing almost happened to 's archenemy, .
Captain America's Greatest Foe Was Almost Totally Different
With superhero comics being all the rage and Hitler bringing the world closer to another world war, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon sat down and created the most patriotic superhero of all time, Captain America. Adorned in the red white and blue, this hero would stand for America and fight against the Nazis or any other villain who dared to threaten apple pie and baseball. But Kirby and Simon knew that their hero wouldn't be a hit unless he had someone to punch.
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Sure, Cap could clock the Nazis, and the cover of Captain America Comics #1 would show the hero giving Hitler a right cross to the jaw, but a super soldier needed a supervillain to take on, otherwise his adventures would get boring. Simon decided to think it over while he had lunch at his usual spot. Sitting there, having finished the main course, Simon ordered a hot fudge sundae. When it arrived, he stared at the yummy treat and thought that the fudge spreading over the vanilla looked like a weird tentacled creature. That's when it hit him. In that moment, Joe Simon came up with Captain America's first foe... Hot Fudge.
Thankfully, Joe Simon Thought Again, And The Red Skull Was Born
Thankfully, Joe Simon realized that "Hot Fudge" was a terrible name for a bad guy, but that doesn't mean the sundae wouldn't hold the answer to his problem. Looking it over again, he focused on the cherry that sat atop the dessert. He imagined a man with bright red face. Then, his mind went darker, and it came to him... Red Skull.
And so, Captain America's greatest enemy, and one of the most iconic supervillains in all of comicdom, was born. Looking at the first appearance of Red Skull in Captain America Comics #1, it's hard not to see the hot fudge sundae's influence. The head is the cherry, and his brown suit is the fudge. But somewhere out there in the multiverse is a world where Captain America battled the evil Hot Fudge in his debut issue, and the history of comics was forever altered. Would Captain America have taken off with such a weirdly named foe? Would Kirby and Simon's careers have been as influential? Would Marvel Comics exist?
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Luckily, we don't live in that reality. We got the one with the Red Skull and decades of amazing work by two amazing creators. We live in the timeline where Captain America continues to show us how to fight fascists. And, all things considered, that's a good thing to have out there.
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