There is another criteria that is sometimes added, one that I maintain is not necessary, but nevertheless often present when discussing superheroes, and that’s a secret identity.
The problem with a secret identity, when discussing a real-life superhero is that the identity, if successfully maintained, would prevent being able to distinguish items 1 and possibly 2 on the above list.
There would be no way to know the superheroes origin, and the extent of his powers could only be guessed at.
One would assume that such a super-hero would gain legendary status, and he might take his secrets to the grave.
Supposedly an urban legend from the time of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Pérák, which roughly translates as ‘the Springer’ “was said to leap out from shadowy alleys and startle passers-by.
Oral tradition suggests that some of Pérák’s leaps were of an extraordinary magnitude, including the act of jumping over train carriages, similar to England’s Spring Heeled Jack,” at least according to Callum McDonald and Jan Kaplan in their book Prague in the Shadow of the Swastika: a History of the German Occupation 1939-1945 by way of Wikipedia.
But the legend strongly suggests that Pérák harassed the German occupation forces, through the use of steel springs attached to his feet.
At least one Czech citizen at the time believed that Pérák wore a black mask and worked as a chimney sweep.
That citizen was master Czech animator Jiří Trnka who created a cartoon about what he knew.
