Are superheroes actually "heroes"?

It's a question I've explored myself on many different occasions when reading comic books, watching a superhero flick, in the shower contemplating the meaning of life (which is 42) and this issue.

I recently saw "Captain America: Civil War" for a second time. It was just as good as the first, but it got me thinking about what a hero is supposed to be, as opposed to what they actually are. Some spoilers may be ahead for comic-related movies and stories.

My own thesis on this matter is that superheroes create the super villains. Here's why I believe this:

Now, I am taking into account that there are some super villains who came up out of nowhere and terrorized the city and needed to be stopped by the hero. But, more often than not (from what I have studied), having a superhero running around the city proposes a challenge to those who may not be mentally stable and want to prove the hero can be stopped and can fail.

Let's take a look at some of the most infamous super villains in comics by checking out their background, their relationship with the hero and why the hero is the one to blame for their existence.

1. The Joker.

One of the most infamous and most recognizable villains in all of comic book history, the Joker is Batman's most dangerous enemy. He has thousands of personal murders on his record since his debut in 1940. Thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands more with his deadly gimmicks, and has used his deadly "joker gas" to poison the entire Justice League, the Bat Family and even the population of Gotham to serve as creepy grinning zombie-like minions: all simply for fun. He sees the Batman as his greatest challenge and will do anything and everything in his power to break him. So how did Batman help create Joker?

In one of the darkest comic books ever written, "The Killing Joke," it recounts a possible origin story for Joker, by which the vast majority of comic enthusiasts would agree to be the most likely one. In short, during a crime-gone-wrong event, Batman confronts an unnamed man who is posing as the villainous "Red Hood." During their brief fight, the man stumbles back and falls into a vat of chemicals. Presuming him to be dead, Batman flees from the scene. But the man reemerges, his skin bleached white, his hair dyed green and his sanity completely gone. Donning the name "the Joker," this man sought to kill Batman while committing violent crimes using clown-themed gimmicks to pull them off.

2. Green Goblin/Harry Osborn.

Harry Osborn is Peter Parker's closet friend in the Spider-Man comics. Harry is the son of wealthy businessman Norman Osborn, founder of Oscorp, a leading scientific research facility. In a lab accident leaving him mentally unstable, Norman becomes the Green Goblin and frequently battles with Spider-Man. During their final battle against one another, Norman accidentally impales himself with his own glider. Harry, who witnesses the death of his father, swears to get revenge on Spider-Man but is unable to do anything about it. After a while, Harry stumbles upon a Spider-Man costume in Peter's apartment. Putting two and two together, he borrows his father's old equipment and confronts Peter as the new Green Goblin. The two of them have several battles, each ending in Spider-Man narrowly avoiding death and Harry proving to be just as dangerous as his father.

3. Ultron.

While the comic books have a different origin story for one of the Avenger's most well-known and dangerous foes, I want to discuss the movie's portrayal of Ultron, as it goes more hand-in-hand with my argument. In the 2015 blockbuster, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner work on a project to create a true, artificially-intelligent robot army that could be sent out and do the work for the Avengers so they would be able to take a break every now and then, trusting the robots to do their job and keep the world safe. However, secretly using Loki's staff to help with this, they create Ultron, an imperfect A.I. program that decides the only way to bring peace to the world is to destroy it and disband the Avengers team. Using his programming to create an army of robots who will bend to his will, Ultron cashes in literally tons vibranium (a fictional metal that is highly versatile and nearly indestructible) to turn the city of Sokovia into an asteroid large enough to wipe out all life on earth. Though the Avengers were able to stop Ultron, they lost a member in the fight, along with a few hundred civilian casualties.

The list could go on and on with the number of villains who have risen up because of the actions of a superhero, or simply because the superhero exists. There is no doubt that where you find superheroes, you will inevitably find super villains who are always trying to outmatch the hero in one way or another.