Batman: Not a Superhero

That's right, I said it, I don't think Batman is a superhero. Now, I know what you're thinking, "Eli, how could you say that? Batman does so many great things and helps so many people, plus, he could easily kick you're @$$!"

I agree. Although now-a-days I strictly read Marvel comics, the first comics I really read with zeal were Batman comics, so Batman holds a special place in my heart. However, I can not consider Batman a superhero, and here's why:

The dictionary on my Mac defines a superhero as "A benevolent fictional character with superhuman powers, such as Superman." I added the bold for emphasis on superhuman. To be a superhero you have to have abilities that are impossible for a human to obtain, i.e. flight, super strength (not strength you can get from working out all the time), super speed (not speed you can get from running everyday), heat vision, etc...

Now, pro-Batman-as-a-superhero people would say something like "Batman is super intelligent." Not true! Batman is intelligent, yes, but any person can be as intelligent as him if they study enough, Reid Richards (or Mr. Fantastic) can be considered super intelligent because he can literally stretch his mind to allow for more intelligence, more memory capacity, and more retained information than a normal human can. Tony Stark (Iron Man) can only barely be considered a superhero when he integrated his body with the Extremis program, allowing his mind to become literally a computer, so he made himself into a superhero. A man with a suit with fancy gadgets does not make him a super hero, it makes him a hero with super gadgets.

Other's will say "he's super cunning." Again, not true, any person with enough training can become super cunning, just look at snipers and special agents, although they are definitely heroes, they're not super heroes by definition.

Now, I am NOT saying that this makes Batman less of a hero. He saves lives and fights bad guys, he just doesn't have any superhuman abilities. Super abilities, sure, but not superhuman, so in conclusion: hero yes, superhero no.

Now, since I hold these standards to Batman, I have to admit, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes) is not a super hero. He is solely a man with a robotic arm, but he is definitely a hero, personally one of my favorites, but again just a man.

HOWEVER! The original Captain America (Steve Rogers) is a superhero. He has the peak condition in every aspect of himself. Although, from my understanding, it is the optimum strength, speed, agility, and reflexes of man, he is still super. Why? Because of the combination. It's fact that the strongest man can't be the fastest man or have the best reflexes or be the most agile, our bodies don't allow that. The fact that Captain America is the strongest, fastest, agilest, and has the best reflexes of any man (not including specialized superheroes) makes him a super hero.

I would like to hear other's thoughts on this so please tell me what you think.