What if Superman existed in the 1940s?
Let's imagine a world, where the character of Superman wasn't created... Because he was a real person...
In this reality, ''Krypton'' existed in the Andromeda Galaxy, where generations of eugenics lead to a superpowered society of human-looking aliens. Unfortunately, an unknown cataclysm would destroy the planet and a scientist managed to sent his infant son away on a spaceship, traversing the cosmos for three years (The child was in hyper-sleep) until he arrived on Earth. The ship would crash near ''Metropolis'' (Illinois), where a passing motorist found the alien child (His ship sunk in the Ohio River) and took it to a nearby orphanage. Luckily for everyone, the child later named ''Clark Kent'' grew up to care for others and seek to help those in need, training his incredible powers for the benefit of mankind. Upon turning 20 in 1938 (His birthday is July 18th), Clark began acting as a supehero the people dubbed ''Superman'' and this world's history took a new path...
Regarding his superpowers, he's more like his original 1930-40s incarnation, which grants him the following...
- Superhuman Strength: He possesses immense physical strength. His strength allows him to lift and move cars, locomotives, and even warships at his full strength. His strength also allows him to leap over buildings, generate a shockwave with a ''thunderclap'' and hold his breath for over two hours. Thankfully, he has full control of the precision and coordination of his strength, preventing accidents like tearing someone's arm off with a handshake.
- Superhuman Durability: While not as invulnerable as in his modern depictions, he's still effectively immune to most conventional weapons, requiring nothing less than a bursting shell to harm his skin and a direct nuclear strike would end him. He's also able to endure extreme temperatures (Both hot and cold), high voltages, crushing pressure, corrosive acids and even lethal radiation with virtually no issue.
- Superhuman Stamina: He possesses exceptional stamina that far exceeds that of normal humans. His enhanced physiology allows him to fight for extended periods without tiring, even while sustaining injuries that would incapacitate or kill most others.
- Superhuman Speed: He is capable of moving at incredible speeds, easily surpassing a speeding train and even a bullet, making him faster than the human eye can perceive. His enhanced reflexes and reaction time make him a formidable force in high-speed combat.
- Superhuman Senses: He possesses exceptional sensory abilities, far exceeding human limitations. His auditory perception allows him to hear sounds from great distances with incredible clarity, enabling him to selectively ignore irrelevant ones. His vision is equally advanced, providing him with the ability to see distant objects with the same sharpness and detail as though they were right in front of him even low light areas.
- X-Ray Vision: Rather than actual x-rays, he can use a form of ''clairvoyance'' to psychically peer through solid matter without irradiating stuff or people.
- Photographic Memory: He can memorize things with photographic accuracy, such as the entire content of a page with one glance.
- Language Assimilation: He can understand and speak the language of others with only a few seconds of exposure, although he still has an ''accent'' and doesn't know how to read or write them, only speak them.
- Body Control: He's capable of psychically alter his own physial appearance, allowing him to change his facial structure, hair and eye color, voice and even compress his muscles to appear shorter and thinner.
- Decelerated Aging: While his lifespan is only a bit longer than a human's (Around 150 years), his aging process is slower and better. By the time he's in his 80s, he'll only appear as if he's in his mid-40s and while his physical capabilities might decrease, his mental ones won't.
- Accelerated Healing: Should he suffer actual damage, his body is capable of repairing itself far quicker than a normal human. He's able to mend broken bones, torn muscles, damaged organs and deep burns in a matter of days or weeks at worst. However, other than his eyes and teeth, he's unable to regenerate major organs or limbs. On the upside, this healing also improves his immune system, making him immune to all known pathogens and contaminants, from snake venom to mustard gas.
- Flight: While at first restricted to running and jumping, he eventually unlocks the ability to levitate and propel himself through the air at incredible speeds (Being faster than a streak of lightning at his full speed). He can quickly alter his trajectory mid-flight, allowing for sharp turns, sudden stops, and precise aerial maneuvering. He can also extend this ability to whatever he's touching, allowing him to catch someone falling from hundreds of feets without them splattering on his arms or lift an airplane without it breaking apart over him.
With a real superhero appearing in the 40s, how would the course of history change?