Dark Champions is a game published by Hero Games

Hero Games

Hero Games is the publisher of the Hero System, a generic roleplaying rules set that can be used to simulate many different genres, and was the co-developer of the Fuzion system.-History:...

 using its Hero System

Hero System

The Hero System is a generic role-playing game system that developed from the superhero RPG Champions. It is used as the underlying mechanics of other Hero Games role-playing games such as Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, Star Hero, and Pulp Hero...

 rules to simulate the action-adventure genre.

When the original Dark Champions book was published in the early 1990s, its focus was on dark vigilantes in a superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 or almost-superhero setting, focusing on adventures similar to those of Batman

Batman

Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

, the Punisher

Punisher

The Punisher is a fictional character, an anti-hero appearing in comic books based in the . Created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita, Sr., and Ross Andru, the character made its first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129 .The Punisher is a vigilante who employs murder,...

, and others. The edition provoked some controversy upon its release because of an emphasis on The Harbinger of Justice

Harbinger of Justice

The Harbinger of Justice is a signature character used as a prominent example in the roleplaying game Dark Champions.The Harbinger, aka "The Blue Moon Killer", is a vigilante who stalks the streets of Hudson City. In his original version, he had the power to summon any real-world firearm at will in...

, an extraordinarily powerful and murderous vigilante who was the setting's signature character.

The second edition, published in 2004, emphasizes general action

Action film

Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...

-adventure

Adventure film

Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....

 scenarios such as one might find in the adventures of James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

, Lara Croft

Lara Croft

Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...

, The A-Team

The A-Team

The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...

, the Die Hard

Die Hard

Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...

 and Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American buddy cop action film and the first in a series of films, all directed by Richard Donner and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as a mismatched pair of LAPD detectives, and Gary Busey as their primary adversary...

 movies, and so forth, though costumed vigilantes are still considered a subgenre (given detail in a supplement, Dark Champions: The Animated Series). Harbinger still appears but is somewhat de-emphasized.

Dark Champions also introduced the Hudson City campaign setting, which has been expanded with further supplements.