For every lame super hero that we've quickly forgotten over the years, the bad-ass favorites have filled the void with their larger than life abilities. Since super heroes became popular way back in the early decades of 20th century, few have stood the test of time to be considered necessary heroes. Since the super hero universe is becoming an expanding sea of super goodness, with new heroes cropping up all over the place, there are only a select few the world can't live without.

From purely a character standpoint, the super hero world, and metaphoric real world, is a much better place with certain heroes defending the planet. Here's a look at 5 Super Heroes We Can't Live Without:

Witchblade (the many women of)

Although you hear a lot more about other female super heroes, it’s hard to argue that the one in possession of the Witchblade might be the most important of them all, especially if you look back through history. Cleopatra, Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, Queen Isabella, even Wonder Woman, were all possessors of the Witchblade, which proves that the world can’t live without it and its hosts. For any hero who has worn the ancient artifact/weapon, the Witchblade is like a Swiss Army Knife of gauntlet gear you’d find at Tiffany’s. Not only is it intelligent armor that can produce a multitude of necessary weapons, its female host/hero can create any weapon needed for battle, bring the dead back to life, heal wounds, and experience the lives of its past possessors. As far as females super heroes go, whoever is possessing Witchblade is everything we need to keep the world safe, and then some.

Spider-Man

Would the mild-mannered Peter Parker be as cool without his Spidey persona? Maybe, maybe not, but that’s what makes him so cool. The fact a lonely, inadequate, under-the-radar geek can go on to become one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen lends even more credibility to his "amazing" tag. Spidey proved that all unpopular high school computer nerds have their own unique special powers similar to Peter Parker. Although Spider-Man’s super-strength and spider-esque powers made him extraordinary to the average world, he’s a hero who’s also had to rely on his own wits and resourcefulness to enhance his abilities. In that regard, Spider-Man serves as an inspiration to all lonely geeks (and the geek within all of us) with the message that having a super power is equally about finding your own abilities to enhance your identity. With power comes great responsibility, no matter what special ability you possess. We have Spider-Man to thank for that.

Iron Man

Okay, here’s where the list gets a little weird. If this was 2003 instead of 2008, we doubt Iron Man would be making many "can’t live without" lists. Can the world live without Iron Man? Maybe. But since Tony Stark made such a huge debut this year on the big screen, it’s obvious the present world can’t live without Iron Man... and won’t be for at least a few years and another movie or two. So, to even suggest that the world could live without Iron Man when industrialist billionaire Tony Stark is among the new and elite generation of cinematic super heroes would be insanely contradictory to the newly created public demand that resurrected the hero from obscurity. No matter how you look at it though, Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. made Tony Stark and his Iron Man alter ego even cooler than he was in the Marvel panels.

Batman

Perhaps the more important question might be... Do we want to live without Batman? It’s obvious that Batman’s popularity in the comic book world is clearly defined and established, and has been since his debut in 1939. Batman gained even more popularity as a hero during his stint on TV back in the ‘60s when Adam West took on the live-action persona of the caped crusader and then went on to even bigger reinvented heights when he received an edgy comic book makeover in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns in the ‘80s. After the huge success of Tim Burton’s big screen Batman in 1989, Bruce Wayne ran out of cinematic gas after the 1997 film Batman & Robin over exposed Batman and killed any interest in the hero as a feature film super hero. Living on in the comics and in animated form after the live action movies, Batman was resurrected in 2005 by director Christopher Nolan for Batman Begins, which only reinforced his popularity as a timeless hero. Now with Nolan’s The Dark Knight about to explode into theaters, as the most anticipated movie of the year, it’s obvious the world can’t live without Batman.

Superman

Although the question of Superman being the most popular super hero of all time seems to divide comic book fans like a hot knife through butter, Superman has endured all of the criticism. No matter how you look at him, Superman is the most iconic super hero of all time. He’s transcended the comic book pages to become part of our pop-culture fabric. Superman ranks up there with Elvis, The Beatles, Campbell’s Soup, the Atari 2600, the iPhone... you name it. He’s a Norman Rockwell type super hero. Despite becoming somewhat of a walking (or flying) cliché over the years, Superman still stands for all that is good and wholesome in the world, even if the world has changed around him. We can’t think of any other super hero who has had more of an impact on the world over eight generations than Superman. Is he the coolest super hero? To some fans, he is. Is he the most powerful? Not anymore, that’s for sure. Can the world live without him? Absolutely not. Besides, DC tried to kill him off in the 1990s and the entire industry is now finally getting back on its feet.