Beowulf: First Literary Superhero Beowulf was the first literary super hero. Like the common day superman, Beowulf has ordinary human characteristics, as well as superhuman powers. Like the Anglo-Saxons of Beowulf's time, he is boastful, manly, and willing to outdo his fellow neighbor. The only difference between him and the rest of the Anglo- Saxons is that he possesses extreme amounts of physical power. Grendel, the antagonist of the story, was feared by all men. He ate humans and attacked them in their sleep. Many men had attempted to kill Grendel, but until Beowulf, no man had ever