Wolf Gnards

The Problem with Hooded Superheroes

After watching NBC's The Cape and almost being run over by a car the other day while wearing a hoodie, I came to the conclusion that a hood really isn’t the most well thought out piece of survival gear.

Several classic comic book characters wear hoods including Hourman, The Hood, Raven, Dr. Doom, Spectre, Taskmaster, Hooded One, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Moon Knight to name a few. One thing of note, two characters named after the hood actually do not wear hoods: Red Hood and Black Hood. Red Hood wears some sort of red fish bowl and Black Hood a mask, but I digress. A hood serves some nice functions: it's ominous, mysterious, always fashionable, and conceals your identity. For comic books, hoods cast some nice dramatic shadows, especially with glowing eyes. However, hoods present one major drawback to actually fighting crime: field of vision.

A Hooded Vigilante’s Field of Vision

Aww, Kitty!

A Non-Hooded Vigilante's Field of Vision

Oh no, Kitty!

The same way Batman in films couldn’t turn his head left or right, the hood greatly diminishes one's field of view.  This is because all you can see on each side of you is more hood. As Martha Stewart said after her first prison yard rumble, “Peripheral vision... it's a good thing.” When jumping into a fray of goons, ninjas, zombies, or whatever type of fray one is wont to jump into, seeing what’s happening to your side is usually beneficial, and anything that blocks this field of view can be a real impediment in the fight.  Even the classic domino mask can present some problems to peripheral vision as most depicted in movies now seem to be thick rubber or plastic, in reality it’d have to paper thin to ensure an unobstructed view.

A villain like Victor von Doom not only wears a hood but wears a metal mask with small slits just big enough to show his pupils.  These means you not only have to be directly in front of Dr. Doom for him to see you, but you really need to be eye level because Doom is not so good at the looking up or down either. And considering one of his main archenemies is an invisible girl, it's safe to say that Dr. Doom is often lost and confused in battle.

Funny enough Superman is one of the few superheroes where a hood would be perfectly fine, as he has both X-ray vision (perfect for seeing through all types hoods, except lead-lined) and invulnerability (I wouldn't bother looking left either if I was indestructible). But Superman doesn't wear a hood or any sort of mask at all, although, his signature spit curl might count as an obstruction.

So, a word for any potential superheroes in the making: unless you don't have a problem walking into the occasional wall or getting stabbed (a lot), I wouldn't recommend a hooded costume.