Misfits

Origin

When a freak storm possessing unusual properties struck the London borough of Wertham, it granted many people caught in it superhuman powers, including a group of five young offenders - disgraced athlete Curtis, party girl Alisha, introvert Simon, chav Kelly and foul-mouthed smart alec Nathan - serving out their community service sentences as part of their Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). When their probation worker became a crazed killer in the wake of the storm, the five were forced to kill him and hide his body, a shared secret that brought the disparate group together to become (eventually) unlikely friends.

Creation

The young offenders were created by Howard Overman, and are the stars of the E4 television show Misfits. The five are never referred to in the show as the Misfits, as it is a description more than a team name; indeed, the group are neither a team nor a gang, but rather five very different individuals thrown together by events beyond their control, who gradually, through their shared experiences, become friends to varying degrees. Neither heroes nor villains (despite their minor criminal records), the group are simply trying to survive in a world where they and many around them have been given superpowers they don't particularly want. The closest they have to a "team name" is the press nickname they gained in a now-defunct timeline where they went public: the ASBO Five.