Off My Mind: Should Superheroes Keep Trophy Rooms?

As comic book readers, most of us have a tendency to want to collect things. Whether it's a true trophy or just a memento to remind us of something cool that happened, it's human nature to keep certain things around. Superheroes are no different. There are several heroes and teams that have dedicated rooms to commemorate their successful victories when battling the supervillains.

The supervillains almost make it easy. If they don't have actual superpowers, they most likely have some crazy or high tech weapons and gadgets. Upon their defeat (or even escape), items are discarded or appropriated. Villains can't be allowed to keep possession of dangerous items regardless if it is actually their private property. It seems committing a super-villainous act takes away some of their legal rights.

These items are much too dangerous to sit in the police department evidence room and some most likely can't be easily destroyed, so it falls to the trustworthy heroes to take possession of them. The common place for these items is a room dedicated to storing and displaying the prizes from a battle.

Is this really a good idea? How safe is it for these items to sit out on display and how safely locked up are they really?

You would think that a superhero team's headquarters is the safest place to keep trophies from villains. Sometimes their bases are even kept in hidden locations. They're rarely opened to the public so there shouldn't be a problem, right? Wrong.

We've often seen even secret headquarters infiltrated by crafty villains. Batman keeps several trophies in the Batcave and the Justice League has a trophy room as well. Because Batman is the World's Greatest Detective, that implies he's a pretty smart dude. He would make sure only the best security system is being used. Any base that he is involved in should be impenetrable to outsiders.

Yet, how many times have people casually wandered into the Batcave? This is Batman's ultimate private space. Villains have strolled in and could have access to any of his toys or trophies. The Hall Of Justice even has public tours. Sure, tourists aren't given full access but would it really be that difficult for a cunning villain to enter a restricted area?

The current X-Force team decided to have a secret base since the other X-Men don't know of their existence. Cavern-X is their place to gather as well as keep any spoils they feel looks really cool on display. Things got bad the last time the X-Men discovered there was a secret X-team of killers so you would think Wolverine, Angel, Psylocke and the others would go to great lengths to keep their activities and base of operations a secret. Yet, Magneto easily uncovered their secret, strolled in and made himself at home. Well, he is Magneto so that says something, right? Magneto is the same person that has been defeated by superpowered teenagers time and time again. There are other smarter villains out there that could easily discover the location of the X-Cave.

Going back to public headquarters like the Justice League or Teen Titans use, who maintains the facilities? I have never seen any member sweeping up the floors or dusting the trophy cases. They must have some sort of janitorial team. How heavily are they screened before getting hired? Even if they have the highest clearance and are scrutinized by Batman, they could easily be influenced or used by villains. What happens when a villain kidnaps their loved ones and forces them to get them access?

The heroes usually win their battles at the end of the day but happens if the team doesn't survive? What if they get transported to another world like in Secret Wars or Heroes Reborn. The heroes base would be left unattended and eventually someone would be able to crack their security system.

The trophy rooms we've seen do have some pretty cool stuff. If anyone has a secure place, it might be Superman with his Fortress of Solitude. But even that place isn't completely secure. If the heroes are looking to keep dangerous items away from villains, it makes sense for them to take possession. If they're just taking them to display in a boasting manner, their motives should be reassessed. Keeping so many dangerous items in one place is asking for trouble and eventually, it's going to result in the loss of innocent lives.

nice late story cant wait to read

Batman and the Flash keep trophy's in the Batcave and the Flash Museum, so why not let all of them have one!?

If Batman does it then it must be okay

Nice topic I have often thought about this one myself and well they kinda address it in All Star Superman which was cool.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Tony is the hardest working man alive! I feel like every single time I log on, no matter the time, there is a new article up.

I'm sure the Justice League has robotic janitors, they would never have ordinary people do it. I love trophy rooms, I think they're great ideas.

 It's a great question, I remember during the old Flash TV series where the Nightshade told Barry he had to start his collection because one day his work would be done and he had to be reminded of the good work he had done. That's how I see trophy rooms in comics, TV and movies. I will agree, you have to watch what you keep in there. As pointed out in Sky High, Justice League, Justice Society trophy rooms can backfire on you. However, with Batman, Superman and the Avengers. It really helps to keep that stuff around.

My room would contain the heads of all my fallen enemies, and I would talk to them every day, and ask advice.  Wait, never mind... That was Babylon 5. :P

I think with Batman it's more of "evidence" storage gone wild. How exactly do you get a giant penny and a dinosaur into an underground cavern without it going unnoticed...oh, wait that's right! - he's really an eccentric millionaire making additions to Wayne Manor that involve excavating...

Kind of funny that most of the stuff in a "trophy" room is all broken **** that doesn't work anymore - or shouldn't work anymore...

Y'think maybe it's kind of subliminal? Well, all the cool super-heroes collect valuable stuff...I need a cave or a fortress or a private room for all my swag and guano, too!!!

I officially hate Cavern-X.  For 40+ years the X-Men have coped without ripping off the Bat-Cave, so they really need to start now?  NO!  The very idea that they'd hang a giant Sentinel head from the ceiling is ludicrous.  It would have been dismantled & studied, not hung up as a permanent reminder of the persecution they've had to face over the decades. 

It is the X-Men's eqvivilent of Kirk Douglas'  secret underground room from Sky High... holding on to "trophies" for no reason at all other than Plot Induced Stupidity which will inevitably lead to deadly villains getting the drop on the heros in their own 'home'.  Lame lame lame...

im pretty sure the Hall of Justice has a cleaning crew, as its more of a museum than a HQ now. And im also pretty sure the Watchtower and Titans Tower are super hi tech self cleaning marvels. And the JSA probably takes turns cleaning their HQ as a family/team building exercise. And on the Marvel side, Tony and the Avengers have cleaning crews and cleaning robots in sure.

most heroes shouldn't have a trophy room, even batman. thats kind of dickish to hang all your so-called Selfless acts of heroism on a wall somewhere. How can they be mad at Booster Gold, when collecting trophies makes them more or less just like him?
 The only exception for me is the JLA, as they use extensive knowledge of many different technologies and magics to tear things down so they can put them safely in their museum. They arent keeping those to stroke their egos. They keep them to educate the public. I put that more on line with the Titans hall of Fallen Teammates than the Batcave.

good read Tony. Stop waking up at 4 in the morning. we appreciate it, but we can wait until later to read our news. :)

If Batman does it then it must be okay

Realisticly.. people like stuff...

People like trophies... Not having a trophie room is inhuman.

I'm all for having a vault of some kind in which to store dangerous items that cannot be dismantled, or if destroyed would be more devastating than if left in tact, OR as evidence and a means of discovering a villain's next move.
But trophies? No way. Trophies seem like an arrogant, out-dated, and almost puerile tradition - I suppose if the "hero" is on some sort of personal "conquest" or is full of themselves, then the idea fits (I guess Batman's obsession, and Booster Gold's, or Wally West's arrogance fits). But that sort of hubris warrants a backlash against the hero who is engaging in such behavior and leaving these things around is an invitation to a vengeful villain to seek out a hero's secret stronghold, or an inspiration to a would-be villain to take up a cause where a defeated villain left off, or even just out of spite for the hero.
Either way it's probably wise not to invite the media into your top secret headquarters to show off your stash on national t.v.

Some images that didn't make it into the article:

I don't know, for some reason collections contained in secret rooms seems reminiscent of a serial killer to me since many collect "trophies" as well to reminisce about the past.  Not that heroes keep things from battle for reasons like a serial killer would, but still it just seems creepy and even a bit lame, as if heroes are resting on their laurels of their past successes.  I mean unless the artifact is something that can and must be kept out of villain's hands, then I see no use for such trophies being contained in a trophy room.

OOOOOH! Souvenir!

I find it to be foolish to do so.

Easy to put a tracking device in an item and go kill the idiot who took it in its own Batcave.. Oops, I said too much ;P

We need Trophy Rooms ;O 

I also see trophy rooms as an arsenal not just a memento from a previous battle.

yes many times their secret HQ is breached, but how many times has a "trophy" saved the lives of our favorite heroes?

There have been numerous examples across all the comic book universes.

Nice topic!

My biggest 'Trophy room' gripe ... Iron Man's "armories".  I think, at last count, he has destroyed his armory, to keep it from getting in the wrong hands, 17,485 times.

Heck, I think Fraction had Stark destroy his armory, then a few issues later ( after his hateful liquid-metal-stored in his bones-I am Colossus who can fly-current suit ) he somehow had enough parts left over to make Pepper her own suit.  Ugh.

I digress.

So comes down to the writer and artist.   A trophy room is can be a great place to pay homage to heroes / villains of days past.  Sneaking in a piece of equipment from some near forgotten super hero.

It would be okay if it was shells only, like disarm what needs disarming.  If it can't be disarmed then throw it into a sun or something.

No. It's not safe.

I'd have a trophy room, but just keep each individual thing locked up.  It would be more like an evidence room than a museum.

Here's a tour of my "trophy room." Sorry for the poor quality. Posted back in 2009.

And the extended look at my Madman stuff.

As the series 52 suggested, it was relatively easy for Supernova/Booster Gold enter both the batcave and the Fortress of Solitude, and although Batman and Superman were not there, the concept that there wasn't some kind of security against that type of thing is just irresponsible on their parts. What would have happened if someone with similar powers to Supernova had gotten in there, there is some seriously dangerous stuff in both hero-hideouts, its easy picking for someone like Per Degaton or Despero to go right in and take whatever they want. There is hardly any security on those places, but if a trophy room has an effective system of security, its perfectly fine to keep an evidence room, there is something about calling it a trophy room, unless its literally stuff like trophies, that just doesn't work for the idea that they are selfless heroes. The Flash Museum and JSA museums make sense, it doesn't belong to anyone directly, and its all just public access stuff on display in secured buildings for the most part.

What do the rest of you think on that, do the JSA and Flash museums act as big public trophy rooms or something to honestly display items of historical importance to those people

Since Batman is the detective and Superman is the Alien, I think its okay for those two.  Everyone else is just creepy.

depends on the trophies... i think batman should have burned scarface but its ok to maintain the robin clothes of jason and etc...

of course it depends on what you have in the room...

@GraveSp said:

If Batman does it then it must be okay

If Batman jumped off of a bridge, would you do it too? (Even though you don't have a grappling hook like he does?)  :)

i really dont see the problem with it. its not like im gonna go broadcasting that i have a storage of supervillain/superhero artifacts nor am i going to broadcast the fact that i have a secret base.

some people just like to remember the epic battles they've or the struggles they've overcome. a great deal of the stuff in various trophy rooms are either deactivated, broken or replicas. superheroes put their lives on the line every day, cant they just have a little something to remind themselves of the good they do?

I think all of the non-dangerous / unnecessary artifacts should belong to a museum, I've always felt that makes much more sense than a trophy room....

I am really disappointed you guys didn't mention this infamous Spongebob episode....

Yeah, it's a totally dumb idea. Has anyone seen the move Sky High? (Yes, it's kid's movie, but seriously, it's really funny.) The superheros in that movie keep a trophy room, and it comes back to bite them.

Yes to the trophy room; could easily double as an armoury if you were able to repair all the objects.  Could be easily secured with a padlock (just joking)

I'm all for the trophy rooms. They not only act as a "keep safe" for the dangerous armeries of supervillains but also as a reminder of the good times and bad times that heroes have had, plus im sure that the heroes would put on more security with some items than others depending on how dangerous they are.
Not to mention that the trophy rooms seem like a healthy expression of the heroes mentality. I mean just compair the Batcaves trophies with the batcave shown in flashpoint. (only 1 trophy, and all barren).

I see the trophy room or the secret lair as something that will be invaded at least once in a superheroes possession of one, either through some fault or failing of their own (telling or taking the love interest to it), or the continual tracings of an enemy or fan.  Unless properly deactivated and/or secured/booby trapped, a hero should not consider keeping deadly trophies around.  Unless, . . using as a snare for a current or future lure . . . but no, one should probably disassemble an unused ultimate nullifyer, an antimatter gun,  or the portal to hell.

In a way this is a way for those people to remember and show their achievements. As you say it's human to keep things in order to stock memories we've had with. WW does have something like that in her WonderDome. But it's less creepy.