Who doesn’t like superheroes? Ahead of World Cartoonist Day on May 5, We present you with the desi-versions of the guardians of the Universe.
From having powers and abilities like super strength to being able to traverse any distance in a matter of seconds, our Indian superheroes are up for the game every time.
If you are a 90’s kid, and remember any of these Indian superheroes (No! am not talking about Krishh or Ra-One), from the world of comics, then your childhood was awesome.
Get ready to witness the doppelganger of Superman, Batman or Ironman. Here we go into the world of fantasies:
Super Commando Dhruva:
Dhruva Mehra, or what we call him as “Super Commando Dhruva”, operates in the fictional Indian city of ‘Rajnagar’. He is the founder of a fictional government-approved crime fighter organization, Commando Force.
The character’s appearance is distinctive and iconic: a yellow and sky-blue costume, brown boots and a utility belt with a star-shaped buckle.
However, this character does not possess any superpowers nor does he have an Alter-ego, but he makes up for that with his intellect, detective skills, ability to talk to almost every kind of animals, scientific knowledge, martial art and acrobatic skills, an unparalleled willpower and a determination to eliminate evil from this world.
Created by Raj Comics, Dhruva is considered as one of the most successful superhero of the brand.
Parmanu:
Vinay once witnesses a group of criminals killing his classmate and he vows to avenge. Later, he finds the murder weapon and revolver and learns that the killer was head of the police himself.
Vinay’s uncle designs a costume that would give him superpowers. Parmanu’s costume gives him various superpowers such as flying up to a speed of 1000 km/hr. He can fire atomic bolts from his chest. His wrist gadgets can fire atomic bolts as well and release atomic ropes.
His belt contains many gadgets which help him to teleport, atomize, and reduce his size to any desired level.
Inspector Steel:
Similar to Robocop, Inspector Steel is composed of armor plating, ICs, chips, various weapon systems, and electronic wizardry. The only human part within him is his brain, which is wired to the rest of the systems.
Wanted to know how he has been created? Well! Inspector Amar lost some major parts of his body after an accident. In order to save his life, his brain was placed into a mechanical body; making him a cyborg. His friend, Professor Anees, was the one who performed this operation.
Doga:
Much like Thanos, Doga is the first and as yet the only antihero character in Raj Comics. The character first appeared in the issue Curfew.
Deeply affected by his past and the cruelty on his life, circumstances forced orphan Suraj to fight against evil or lose everyone he ever loved. To destroy the evil, he suffered since childhood and save his loved ones, Suraj concealed his identity behind a dog mask, adopted the name Doga and set out to eliminate all the evil against humanity.
He does not believe in upholding the laws and rules of the world since he considers the whole system corrupt. Doga has an extraordinary physical strength and endurance, he is an expert in Martial Arts as well as shooting, and has clever reflexes.
Nagaraj:
One of the most successful hero of Raj Comics (the other two being Commando Dhruva and Doga), Nagraj is the king of snakes. He has the ability to heal instantly and sense infrared, his weapons are poison bite and snake spit. And most importantly, he doesn’t age (something like vampires).
Originally meant for destruction of humanity, Nagraj was the creation of professor Nagmani who decided to sell him to the highest bidder. On his first mission to steal an ancient golden statue, he encounters a sadhu known as Baba Gorakhnath who helped Nagraj get rid of the mind control pill implanted by the evil professor and serve humanity. His powers range from shape shifting to releasing various types of snakes. Nagraj’s blood is more poisonous than any kind of snake and is composed of small snakes itself.
Aruna:
Aruna is a metahuman, who can change her physical shape and appearance at her will, but not her mass.
According to Aruna, her shape-shifting powers manifested when she was very young. Because of this her parents were never sure of her true gender. Her family were treated as Dalit (untouchables) the lowest rung of the ancient varnas class structure.
She was orphaned while still very young, when her parents were abducted by two unknown men. She adopted the name Aruna (after Aruṇa, a male “Charioteer of the Sun” in Hindu mythology), and eventually became one of the top stunt persons in India due to her shape-shifting abilities.
Aruna uses her powers to fight for justice and stamp out intolerance.
Now, don’t blame the superheroes for saving only “America”, they do save “Diwalo Ki Delhi” too…
