Novels
The first City of Heroes novel, The Web of Arachnos, by Robert Weinberg, was published by CDS Books (an imprint of the Perseus Publishing Group) in October 2005. The novel chronicles the back stories of Statesman and Lord Recluse, the central iconic characters in the City of Heroes and City of Villains franchises. A second novel, The Freedom Phalanx, written by Robin Laws, released in May 2006 and detailed the reformation of the hero team the Freedom Phalanx in the 1980s; the story centers on the fledgling heroes Positron and Synapse, but also includes Manticore, Sister Psyche, and Statesman. The book's villains include Lord Recluse, Doctor Null, Shadow Queen, and Revenant. Artist George P¨¦rez provides the covers for the first two novels, as well as lending his name to one of the early areas of the game itself, P¨¦rez Park. A third novel, The Rikti War, was announced by CDS at the time the first novel was published, with an August 2006 scheduled release date. Authors Paul S. Kemp and Shane Hensley have been attached to the project at various times. The book will reportedly cover the epic transdimensional war between Earth and the Rikti home world, however a post on the official message boards containing a message supposedly from Kemp states that the "novel is not to be and [he] must leave it at that. "Developer Sean Michael Fish (Manticore) has recently stated that CDS will no longer be publishing books for CoX, and The Rikti War may or may not be published.
Comic books
Main article: City of Heroes comic book
To tie in with the game, NCsoft released original comic book series that featured various characters from within the games themselves. The original series by publisher Blue King featured the heroes/roommates Apex and War Witch with their neighbor Horus. The more recent series from publisher Top Cow features signature heroes and villains from both City of Heroes and City of Villains such as The Statesman, Positron, Lord Recluse, and Ghost Widow. However, the Top Cow series is slated to end with Issue 20 (July 2007), with no current plans for another new series. The official website allows people to download the comics in PDF format roughly a month after their release in comic book stores.
Collectible card game
Main article: City of Heroes Collectible Card Game
Alderac Entertainment Group also worked with CoH to create a collectible card game featuring characters from the game, as well as several original characters. The game's website also allows players to create a game-compliant card for their own online character. This card game is now discontinued.
Role-playing game
Main article: City of Heroes Roleplaying Game
The CoH team has also worked with Eden Studios, Inc. to create a role-playing game based on the massively multiplayer online game. While a free preview version of the game was released, the game has been delayed due to the cancellation license with FOX on their Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel roleplaying-games.
Movie/Television
In June 2007, it was announced that the producer for the Transformers film, Tom DeSanto, had acquired the option to make movies and television shows based on the City of Heroes franchise. In February 2008, it was announced that DeSanto has indeed begun preparations for the film. A plot summary has been released detailing that the movie itself takes place during the first Rikti War.