The Grasshopper is the name of multiple humorous fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, all created by Dan Slott. No Grasshopper to date has survived past the issue in which they first appeared. The Grasshoppers are a simultaneous homage to and satire of stereotypical superheroes and Marvel's tendency towards animal-themed characters. They are also a lampoon of the tendency of superhero team books to introduce new, hastily developed characters only to dramatically kill them off within a few issues. The complicated romantic troubles of the first Grasshopper recall many characters with similar subplots (Spider-Man, for instance), as does the unlikely family background of the second.