Kyle Howard-Muthulingam’s friends already knew he was a superhero.

The 16-year-old died on Friday after jumping into the water at Woodbine Beach to save a mother and son who were struggling in the current. He was the only one who died.

It was an act of heroism, but his friends depicted him as a hero long before that.

“Kyle, along with the rest of our group, sort of became something of a superhero team in my imagination,” said Christian Markland, who drew his friends as superheroes and comic book characters. “We all had different strengths and weaknesses and journeys, but we’d all come together to help each other.”

In one sketch by Markland, Howard-Muthulingam is represented by character Leo Cruz in a comic called “Supafly: The Peace Protector.”

In the story, a teen boy named Matt Mason has the power to see into another dimension, where monsters and aliens roam. Some escape into our reality and the team of friends goes on a quest to rid their hometown of the rogue creatures.

In another, “Captain Superfly and the League of Heroes,” Howard-Muthulingam is depicted by superhero Screech, who has a sonic yell and a yellow and green uniform.

The heroes, known as Team Superfly, are dedicated to defending the Earth, Markland said. When Captain Superfly comes across a threat he cannot face alone, he uses his powers to create Rings of Destiny and bestows them upon his friends: Kid Arachnid, Death Stare, Dark Vixen and the Screech.

“In a lot of ways, Kyle was often the heart of our group,” Markland said. “Whenever our morale was down or whenever we were having a bad day, Kyle’s enthusiasm and energy would make us forget about it, even if it was only for a few hours.”

Those friends were some of the dozens who gathered at Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts Wednesday morning to remember and mourn Howard-Muthulingam.

Howard-Muthulingam was one of five people pulled out of the water at Woodbine Beach on Friday, after a mother and her son called for help. Emergency services found him with no vital signs and he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

In a picture created by his friend Malik Holligan-Lewis, Howard-Muthulingam is represented by a character in the middle of two others. Holligan-Lewis created a story called “The Adventures of Little Malik,” about a boy who goes on an adventure but is unable to turn back.

“I made this picture because little Malik was meeting his roommates for the first time, just like how I met my friends for the first time,” Holligan-Lewis said.

Holligan-Lewis’s first memory of Howard-Muthulingam was working together on a group project in a Grade 9 science class.

Holligan-Lewis and his partner were both quiet kids at the time, and agreed they needed “someone who is going to talk a lot,” Holligan-Lewis said. “And then Kyle was talking a lot.”

Holligan-Lewis and Howard-Muthulingam became friends, walking home from school together and cracking jokes.

“Lots and lots of jokes,” Holligan-Lewis said, laughing at the memory. “The jokes might not even be funny, but we’d still laugh at it.”

Howard-Muthulingam was always trying to help out and provide for others. He’d often buy his friends Popeyes on the first day of school.

On Saturday, Holligan-Lewis learned his friend had died trying to save two people at Woodbine Beach.

“We went down to the place where he died and we put up flowers and the picture,” he said of a photo of Howard-Muthulingam smiling with his friends. “It was really nice to have a lot of people there.”

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Of his friend’s legacy, Holligan-Lewis said, “I will definitely try to be more selfless and more brave ... Just trying to remember Kyle, I will definitely be braver.”

In the midst of the Howard-Muthulingam family’s grief, Abenaya Lingam said her family is grateful that her cousin left the world a hero.

“I’m glad this place can know him as a hero, because he truly was,” she said.

Lingam said her family is still trying to process what happened.

“Obviously, at the first, it was hard,” Lingam said. “But we’re doing a lot better now. My uncle is starting to smile and laugh, my aunt is too. I’m trying my best to stay positive too.”

In some ways, Lingam said, she and her cousin were more like twins. They were born a month and a day apart, and both played sports, such as soccer.

Lingam also attended Wexford Collegiate and said Howard-Muthulingam “absolutely loved dancing and singing.”

“I guess he really did want to become something in the performing arts. That’s why he came to this school, obviously; no one really comes here without a really big dream. So he’s a really big dreamer.”

Tom Lazarou, principal at Wexford Collegiate, said in a statement that Kyle was a well-rounded student who excelled in dance and drama.

“More importantly, he was a genuinely kind and well-liked young man who was always willing to help others. Indeed, he was trying to assist others in need on Friday when this tragedy occurred.”

The school opened its doors Wednesday so students and staff could be together to reflect and remember Howard-Muthulingam, he added, with staff on hand to offer support and counselling.

Ann Merriam, who runs the performing arts program at the school, said Howard-Muthulingam was a gentle soul and a team player.

The school will dedicate a show to him this year, Merriam added.

When Merriam received a phone call from the hospital letting her know her student had died, she immediately knew where at Woodbine Beach the incident took place.

“I just don’t know why it’s not cordoned and blocked off,” she said. “And I hope that it will be now and unfortunately this is maybe what it will take. I don’t ever want to hear this again.”

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up for the Howard-Muthulingam family.