Also it's worth mentioning that Greg Stolze's more recent superhero roleplaying settings are entirely about characters who were victims of circumstance. In Progenitor, the only way you can have powers is if someone with powers used them on you. You could actively seek this out and ask for it, I suppose, but it's a bit of a gamble. In "Better Angels," though, it's completely beyond your control. You have superpowers because an angel or a demon is possessing your body and granting them to you.
Really, "victim of circumstance" or "subject to forces outside their control" describes a lot of comic book superheroes as well.
Superman: affected by the earth's yellow sun
Spiderman: bitten by a radioactive spider
Green Lantern: was chosen by the ring
The X-Men: Born this way
Doctor Manhattan: blown apart at a molecular level and learned how to affect all matter
Etc. . .
As far as I know, there aren't a whole lot of comic book stories about people who just wanted to become superheroes where that wasn't the central focus. Watchmen and Kick-Ass both detail this idea, though it's worth noting that anyone who wants to get superpowers seems to be unable to actually get them.
A few notable exceptions to this rule include Iron Man and Captain America.