"DUUUUUUUUUUDE you know what would be totally hardcore? If there was a comic that didn't feature any of those stupid 'dialog balloons' or 'plot points.' It just had a guy SHOOTIN' STUUUUUUUFF! We could call it BLOODGUN! YEAH!" - '90s Kid in Atop the Fourth Wall episode "Cable # 1"
During the 1990s, antiheroes became extreme popular. Trying to be the opposite of Silver Age characters, antiheroes lacked heroic traits and were completely willing to kill. They tended to use lethal force. These antiheroes tended to be sarcastic, brooding, militaristic or outright insane. The antiheroes would do amorally ambiguous things. However, this led to the problem of having extremely unlikable protagonists that did (often) being unnecessarily violent and lethal.
Male versions of these tend to be overly muscular. They usually had bandoliers and pouches on their costumes. They used giant-over sized guns. Female versions are basically all the criticisms of super-heroine taken bizarre degrees: being objectified, barely there-clothes and impossible anatomy.
Their names tended to be "gritty", one word names (such as "Cable", "Deathblow","Shogun" and so on). They often had intentionally misspelled names (such as "Byrd" and "Lunatik") or names with the word "blood" (such as "Blood Pack") in it. This is either to standout or for trademark purposes.
References:
- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NinetiesAntiHero
- Various Atop the Fourth Wall episodes including "Youngblood # 1", "Youngblood # 2", "Youngblood # 3", "Youngblood # 4", "Youngblood # 5", "Bloodstrike # 1", "Cable # 1", "Lunatik # 1", "Pitt # 1", "Newmen # 1" and "Darker Image # 1" to name a few
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