Award-winning poet, playwright and 2014 Foundling Fellow, Lemn Sissay OBE, created Superman was a Foundling, a poem printed on the walls of the Museum’s Study Studio.
Superman was a Foundling is a striking exploration of the powerful role of orphaned, fostered and adopted children in our culture. Sissay, who experienced growing up in care, describes the project as addressing the disparity between our admiration for fictional characters and a widespread disregard for their real-life counterparts:
“Superman was a Foundling upraises the fictional stars of popular and classic culture who are fostered, adopted or orphaned. They range from Romulus and Remus of Rome’s foundation myth, to Lisbeth Salander of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Their adventures have enriched our lives, but we do not recognise the connection between the fictional characters and the fostered, adopted and orphaned children in our midst.
Did Superman have ADHD? Did Harry Potter have an uncontrollable temper? Was Lisbeth Salander unable to form lasting relationships? For all their complexity and pain, these characters are shining examples of how to be your best. Young people in care enrich our lives in a similar way.”
Can you think of other fictional characters who grew up in children’s homes or were fostered, adopted or orphaned? Let us know on Twitter, or leave a note at the Information Desk on your next visit. We will pass all suggestions on to Lemn, who aims to build the most comprehensive list in the world of fictional characters who had alternative childhoods.
Lemn Sissay’s public art installations can be found at Royal Festival Hall and Fen Court. He was the first official poet of the Olympic Games and the resulting work, Spark Catchers, is displayed in The Queen Elizabeth Park. He was aided by artist Charlotte Jonsmyr in the realisation of this mural.
If you would like to view this work, please contact the Museum in advance to ensure the room is open during the time of your visit.
A full list of the characters included in Superman was a Foundling:
Alem Kelo was fostered, Refugee Boy, Benjamin Zephaniah, 2001
Anne Shirley was adopted, Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1908
Annie Warbucks was adopted, Annie, 1982
Asajj Ventress was orphaned, Star Wars: Clone Wars, 2003
Batman was orphaned, DC Comics, first appeared 1939
Becky Sharp was orphaned, Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847–48
Boba Fett was fostered, Star Wars, first appeared Star Wars Holiday Special, 1978
Brenton Brown was fostered, Brixton Rock, Alex Wheadle, 1999
Carrie Willow was fostered, Carrie’s War, Nina Bawden, 1973
Cassia Xiao was adopted, The Concubine of Shanghai, Hong Ying, 2011
Christopher Banks was fostered, When We Were Orphans, Kazuo Ishiguro, 2000
Cinderella was fostered, Cinderella, first appeared 1697
Darth Bane was orphaned, Star Wars, first mentioned Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, 1999
David Copperfield was adopted, David Copperfield, Charles Dickens, 1850
Dick Whittington was orphaned, folklore, early seventeenth-century
Dorothy Gale was adopted, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, 1900
Edward Cullen was adopted, The Twilight Series, Stephenie Meyer, 2005
Edwin Drood was orphaned, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Charles Dickens, 1870
Eppie was adopted, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe, George Eliot, 1861
Estella Havisham was adopted, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens, 1860
Esther Summerson was fostered, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, 1852
Euphrasie was adopted, Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, 1862
Eva Luna was fostered, Eva Luna, Isabel Allende, 1987
Evey Hammond was orphaned, V for Vendetta, Alan Moore and David Lloyd, 1982
Fanny Price was fostered, Mansfield Park, Jane Austen, 1814
Fanny Robin was fostered, Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy, 1874
FitzChivalry was adopted, Farseerers Trilogy, Robin Hobb, 1995
Frodo Baggins was adopted, The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkein, 1954
Galen Marek (Starkiller or The Apprentice) was orphaned, Star Wars, first appeared Star Wars: the Force Unleashed, 2008
Gideon Smeed was a foundling, Hetty Feather, Jacqueline Wilson, 2009
Ham Peggotty was adopted, David Copperfield, Charles Dickens, 1850
Han Solo was orphaned, Star Wars, 1977
Harriet Beadle (Tattycoram) was a foundling, Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens, 1855
Harry Potter was fostered, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK Rowling, 1997
Hashio Mizouchi was a foundling, Coin Locker Babies, Ryu Murakami, 1980
Heathcliff was a foundling, Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë, 1847
Heidi was fostered, Heidi, Johanna Spyri, 1880
Helena Landless was orphaned, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Charles Dickens, 1870
Hercules was adopted, Hercules, Disney, 1997
Hetty Feather was a foundling, Hetty Feather, Jacqueline Wilson, 2009
Hortense was an orphan, Small Island, Andrea Levy, 2004
Hotaru Tomoe (Sailor Saturn) was adopted, Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi, 1992
Huckleberry Finn was fostered, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, 1884
Jack Dawkins (Artful Dodger) was orphaned, Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, 1838
Jack Dawson was orphaned, Titanic, 1997
Jack Worthing was a foundling, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oliver Wilde, 1895
Jacob Vaark was orphaned, A Mercy, Toni Morrison, 2008
Jamal Malik was orphaned, Slumdog Millionaire, 2008
James Bond was fostered, James Bond, Ian Fleming, 1953
James Trotter was fostered, James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl, 1961
Jane Eyre was fostered, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë, 1847
Jean Valjean was orphaned, Les Misérables, Victor Hugo, 1862
Jerusha Abbott was orphaned, Daddy Long-Legs, Jean Webster, 1912
Jude Fawley was fostered, Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy’s novels, 1895
Kikuyuki Sekiguchi was a foundling, Coin Locker Babies, Ryu Murakami, 1980
Klaus Baudelaire was fostered, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket, 1999
Lisbeth Salander was adopted, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson, 2005
Luke Skywalker was adopted, Star Wars, 1977
Lux Bonteri was orphaned, Star Wars, 1977
Lyra Belacqua (Lyra Silvertongue) was fostered, His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman, 1995
Madeline was orphaned, Madeline, Ludwig Belemans, 1939
Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter) was orphaned, Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi, 1992
Mamo was orphaned, Garbage King, Elizabeth Laird, 2003
Mamoru Chiba was orphaned, Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi, 1992
Mary Lennox was adopted, The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1911
Matilda Wormwood was adopted, Matilda, Roald Dahl, 1988
Messalina was fostered, I, Claudius, Robert Graves, 1934
Miss Honey was fostered, Matilda, Roald Dahl, 1988
Miss Wade was orphaned, Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens, 1855
Natty Bumppo was adopted, Leatherstocking Tales, James Fenimore Cooper, 1841
Nell Trent was adopted, The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens, 1841
Neville Landless was orphaned, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Charles Dickens, 1870
Oedipus was a foundling, mythical Greek king of Thebes, Oedipus Rex, Sophocles, first performed 429 BC
Oliver Twist was orphaned, Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, 1838
Ororo Munroe (Storm) was orphaned, X-Men, Marvel Comics, first appearance 1975
Philip Pirrip was orphaned, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens, 1861
Pippi Longstocking was orphaned, Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren, 1945
Pollyanna Whittier was orphaned, Pollyanna, Eleanor H. Porter, 1913
Prince Caspian was orphaned, Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia, C. S. Lewis, 1951
Princess Leia was adopted, Star Wars, 1977
Quasimodo was adopted, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo, 1831
Ram Mohammed was orphaned, Q & A, Vikas Swarup, 2005
Rapunzel was fostered, Children’s and Household Tales, Brothers Grimm, 1812
Richard Carstone was orphaned, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, 1852
Robin was orphaned, DC Comics, first appearance Detective Comics #38, 1940
Romulus and Remus were foundlings, twin brothers and central characters of Rome’s foundation myth
Rosa Bud was orphaned, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Charles Dickens, 1870
Rose Maylie was adopted, Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens, 1838
Sade and Femi Solaja were fostered, The Other Side of Truth, Beverley Naidoo, 2000
Sarah Crewe was fostered, A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1905
Scarlett O’Hara was orphaned, Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell, 1936
Setsuko was adopted, Grave of The Fireflies, Akiyuki Nosaka, 1967
Smike was fostered, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens, 1839
Snow White was fostered, Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Brothers Grimm, 1812
Sookie Stackhouse was orphaned, The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Charlaine Harris, 2001
Sophie Fevvers was a foundling, Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter, 1984
Spider-Man was adopted, Marvel Comics, first appearance Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962
Sue Trinder was adopted, Fingersmith, Sarah Waters, 2002
Sunny Baudelaire was fostered, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket, 1999
Superman was a foundling, DC Comics, Action Comics #1, 1938
Sylvia Green was adopted, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Joan Aiken, 1962
The Penguin was orphaned, DC Comics, first appearance Detective Comics #58, 1941
Tiggist was orphaned, The Garbage King, Elizabeth Laird, 2003
Tohru Honda was orphaned, Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya, 1998
Tom Hagen was adopted, The Godfather, Mario Puzo, 1969
Tom Jones was foundling, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Henry Fielding, 1749
Tom Riddle was orphaned, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling, 1998
Tom Sawyer was adopted, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain, 1876
Turanga Leela was a foundling, Futurama, 1999
Violet Baudelaire was fostered, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket, 1999
Wedge Antilles was orphaned, Star Wars, 1977
William Beech was fostered, Goodnight Mr Tom, Michelle Magorian, 1981
Wolverine was orphaned, Marvel Comics, first appearance The Incredible Hulk #180, 1974
Yuri Zhivago was adopted, Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak, 1957