The pulps covered a wide range of genres. Though most depicted adventures of some sort, some genres were more realistic (ex. outdoor, romance, railroad, spicy, sports). Among those that were more adventurous, certain genres and subgenres proved to be more popular than others. Among these are:
- Private Pilot (ex. Carson Napier, Bill Barnes – Air Adventurer, Dusty Ayres and His Battle Birds, Captain Midnight and the Secret Squadron)
- Military Pilot (ex. James “Biggles” Bigglesworth, G8, Red Randall)
- Advanced Flying Machine Pilot (ex. The Rocket Men, The Rocketeer, Robur, Master of the World, Doctor Omega, William Kinney, Avanti Planetaros)
Anti-Hero
- Gentleman Thief (ex. Arsène Lupin, Fantômas, A.J. Raffles, Simon Templar – The Saint, Crimson Clown, Monsieur Zenith)
- Criminal Turned Hero (ex. Judex, Modesty Blaise, Rocambole, Waldo, the Wonder-Man, Lone Wolf)
Bizarre Crimefighter
- The Shadow
- The Spider
- The Avenger
- The Whisperer
- Deen Bradley, The Cobra
- Doctor Coffin
- Doctor Syn
- Zero the Silent
- Moon Man
Detective
- Gentlemen/Great Detective (ex. Monsieur Lecoq, C. Auguste Dupin, Lord Peter Wimsey, Philo Vance, Albert Campion, Madelyn Mack)
- Hard-Boiled Detective – Men (ex. Nick Carter, Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Lew Archer, Nestor Burma)
- Hard-Boiled Detective – Women (ex. Grace “Redsie” Culver, Violet McDade & Nevada Alvarado, Sarah Watson, Carrie Cashin)
- Wealthy Masked Detective (ex. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Domino Lady, Lady Luck, Green Hornet, Madam Madcap)
- Private Detective (ex. Sally the Sleuth, Miss Boston, Dixon Hawke, Tocsin, Myra North, Special Nurse)
- Amateur Sleuth (ex. Joseph Rouletabille)
- Asian Detective (ex. Kogoro Akechi, Charlie Chan)
Occult Detective / Weird Tales
- Monster Hunter (ex. Jules de Grandin, John Thunstone, Ghost Exterminator)
- Mystic/Occult Detective (ex. Simon Iff, Carnacki the Ghost-Hunter, Randolph Carter)
- Psychic Detective (ex. Flaxman Low, Dr. John Silence, Sâr Dubnotal, Prince Abdul Omar)
- Mystic (ex. Green Lama, Fascinax, Ralf Clifford)
Proto-Superheroes (with powers)
Science Adventures
- Earthman On A Strange Planet (ex. Flash Gordon, John Carter, Gullivar Jones)
- Future (ex. Buck Rogers, Captain Future, Northwest Smith, Eric John Stark)
- Time Travel (ex. The Time Traveller)
- Scientific Detectives (ex. Lash Lynn, Craig Kennedy)
- Inventors (ex. Frank Reade, Captain Nemo, Doctor Q, Quentin Locke, Radio King, Prof. Haskel Van Manderpootz)
- Boy Inventors / Edisonades (ex. Johnny Brainerd, Tom Swift, Electric Bob)
- Mad Scientists (ex. Rotwang, Dr. Moreau, Dr. Herbert West, Arthur Maxon, Dr. Moses Nebogipfel, Dr. Griffin)
Spy / Secret Agent
- Government (ex. Secret Service Operator #5, Yorke Norray)
- Femme Fatale Spy (ex. The Leopard Woman)
- Secret Agents (ex. Secret Agent X-9, Rouletabille)
Two-Fisted (some of these types can be found in other genres, too)
- Sailor (ex. Sailor Steve Costigan, Singapore Sammy)
- Boxer (ex. Kip Morgan)
- Soldier (ex. The Sergeant, Beau Geste, Don Winslow of the Navy, Night-Hawk)
Western
- American West (ex. The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid, Hopalong Cassidy, Denver Doll)
- Mexican West (ex. Zorro)
World Adventurer
- Ancient Mysteries/Ruins (ex. Indiana Jones)
- Big Game Hunter (ex. Allan Quatermain)
- Adventure Team (ex. Doc Savage and his Fabulous Five, Tintin)
- Asia / Middle East (ex. El Borak, Kirby O’Donnell, Captain Athelstan King)
- Jungle Adventures (ex. Tarzan, The Phantom, Rima the Jungle Girl)
- Lost World (ex. Professor Challenger)
- Seafaring (ex. Captain John Fury / The Skipper)
- Hollow Earth (David Innes, Otto Lidenbrock)