What is a Hero?

[CupcakeNinja]

Take away the bland, fairy tale definition for a second. Take away the magic swords, the gilded shining armor. Remove the party and the demon or whatever evil they have to face.

Define what a Hero is. Just the person. The individual. What do you believe makes a Hero?

Is it their choices? Their decision to do "the right thing"? Is it the way that they help others, save lives, and protect those who cannot protect themselves?

Or, is it their selfless attitude. The unending "giving" of themselves, their time, and maybe even their lives?

Take away the typical trope of smiling, golden boy or girl who can do no wrong. It doesn't even need to be on a scale of World Ending. Maybe it's just the man who pulled someone off a ledge. A person who saved a kitten from drowning. A parent who took the time to listen to their kid before it was too late. A firefighter who took off his oxygen mask and gave it to someone who was trapped in a blaze.

When you think of a Hero, what comes to your mind? How do you define the pedestal?

a person willing to do the work others turn their heads from.
Like me, when i fuck your mom

 

[owotrucked]

I find good intention to be too weak to define a hero because of its subjectivity. A villain can have a good intention in their POV. In fact, most people act as if they're the center of good and it doesnt take that much effort to rationalize and justify actions. Even thief or criminal can build good narrative to paint themselves as good.

For me the hero is someone who stick to the moral path to reach their goal, even in face of undefeatable adversity. The moral path is the one of empathy, because it's the supreme lodestar that counters dehumanization and avoids hurting anyone (like stealing means you hurt someone) and leave the door to peaceful ending. In addition, the empathy is the 'power of friendship' lol. Outside of the meme, it's legit the link that connects between the hero with the pleb that support him. Thus the hero fights on behalf of the starved villager who fed him so he could stand up, the wronged entrepreneur who lost everything to thuggish megacompanies and who scrapped everything to give the hero a powerful weapon, or the comrade that has suffered a betrayal and swore to never help and trust anyone and yet took the arrow to protect the hero. Empathy and trust is the the right that allows the hero to wield his sword on behalf of others.

However, I dislike heroes who stick too much to principles.

Moral beliefs can be like empirical rules made by the deads like "never kill". I think it's deontological ethics. It's blind and inflexible, but if applied systematically, it results in positive outcome more often than not. So, in a sense, moral belief is like "I stop thinking by myself. Instead, I just use pattern recognition to identify the moral belief that is the most related to the context I face."

There are times when blind moral principles are just not enough to navigate the world and would result in more sacrifice and suffering while the hero takes the slow long route. I think it's consequencialist ethics. When death is involved, peaceful resolution becomes less likely, and sometimes the hero is just dropped in a context that has already slipped past no return. In that case, the hero would be one to take responsibility and make the sacrifices

There's no single universal answer to reach a good outcome in Life. Deontological can be ineffective and time wasting, while consequentialist can be backfiring and hubris.

For me the hero should face doubt when picking these paths and show great insight in their decision and incredible resilience to tread their chosen path to overcome a daunting superhuman adversity that would simply break your average dude

 

[Deleted member 84247]

It not on Google, because I just made it up, like just moments ago on the top of my head.

Hmmm...
If
Play it straight is - human good, demon evil, war.

Reverse is - actually demons are victims, humans bad

hybridization - actually the bad one are the third party? Ghosts, lol ancient evils, gods, so both humans and demons are good? Victims?

deconstruction - humans are good. ~ but are they really? what makes them good? Demons are evil.. but are they, what makes them evil what are monsters are they sentient, can they speak, what are monsters? Do they weep for the deaths of their children?

cannibalization - take a used system, human good, demon bad, I know you know that i am setting it up for a reversal reveal, and you know I know you know, so actually it's not, there is actually no trope reversal, the reveal is that is is play it straight trope, lol.
... or.. is it? Maybe ghosts... boo!

divergence: stop having inter racial war?

Evolution: make it a Diplomatic, social economic conflicts or make conflict a domestic unrest?

Regression: self explanatory

Generic.Archdemon is a very smart cookie. Here is a cookie:

 

[J_Chemist]

Generic.Archdemon is a very smart cookie. Here is a cookie:

meanwhile I can't get even get a crumb for a reward.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

meanwhile I can't get even get a crumb for a reward.

You can eat the crumbs I feed the rats in that rubber room.

 

[J_Chemist]

You can eat the crumbs I feed the rats in that rubber room.

 

[Jerynboe]

A hero is someone who, when the chips are down, acts in the way that the storyteller’s ideology says they should rather than the way they could be cynically expected to.

Being brave instead of being a coward.
Being selfless instead of saving their own skin.
Being clever instead of panicking.
Being active instead of passive.

Frequently they don’t do this all the time, but the failures are not what make them a hero. The triumphant incarnation of a worldview is. Of course, this means that some heroes very much don’t look like heroes to other cultures or subcultures.
Like, I’m pretty sure some people feel like Robin Hood sold out when he immediately swore himself to King Richard, since he was at his core always about opposing illegitimate authority as opposed to wealth redistribution.

 

[Theirl]

Isnt a hero someone thst is willing to lose everything so that he can do what is right. Ex in ww2 in brasil there is a story about 3 soldiers that got lost from their unit. Their unit endep up getting pinned by the nazis. Those 3 found that and had a choice they could just run away no one would blame them or they could try to save their unit. They started firing so much and with so much noise at the nazis that they thought it was another unit, the brazilian unit managed to retreat, sadly those 3 end up dead. Even the nazis treated their corpse with respec seeing their sacrifice and treated the like heroes.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

a person willing to do the work others turn their heads from.
Like me, when i fuck your mom

The icon.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

It is what someone else calls you.
Nobody can call themselves a hero.

a person willing to do the work others turn their heads from.
Like me, when i fuck your mom

Me mom's dead. So... Yeah. Nailed that one.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

It is what someone else calls you.
Nobody can call themselves a hero.

Me mom's dead. So... Yeah. Nailed that one.

sorry about that mate. You've my condolences. But you should know by now that's not a deal breaker for me

 

[Daitengu]

Heroes are just people that do things you like but don't want to or can't do.

That's why a hero to some can be a villain to others.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

It is what someone else calls you.
Nobody can call themselves a hero.

You're a hero!

 

[Rhaps]

Growing up with Greek mythology, the idea of hero for me is very different from what we perceive as hero today. A hero isn't someone so grand, selfless, or fight for the right reason.

A hero for me is someone who has overwhelming willpower, someone who will never give up on their goal no matter what it is. Like Heracles who seeked redemption from his tragedy. Odysseus who just want to return home. Achilles fighting in the name of duty to the end. Hector who fought to defend his country till his final breath.

As long as someone never gives up on accomplishing their goal, they are a hero.

 

[owotrucked]

When the original trope is so old like Dragon Quest (Dai's quest) 1989 (game is 1986), the trope we have today is already a jumbled mashed potato cooked in every possible way

can think of:

Play it straight is - human good, demon evil, war.

Dragon Quest ofc

Reverse is - actually demons are victims, humans bad

Helck (2014) I can't believe it's only 9 years, it has such an old school vibe to it
Tensei shitara slime datta ken (2013)
konjiki no word master (2013)

forgot the title but an edgy story about an isekai guy is used in experiment by the church for black magic lol

hybridization - actually the bad one are the third party? Ghosts, lol ancient evils, gods, so both humans and demons are good? Victims?

Tensei shitara slime datta ken (2013)
konjiki no word master (2013)

deconstruction - humans are good. ~ but are they really? what makes them good? Demons are evil.. but are they, what makes them evil what are monsters are they sentient, can they speak, what are monsters? Do they weep for the deaths of their children?

Dungeon Meshi maybe

cannibalization - take a used system, human good, demon bad, I know you know that i am setting it up for a reversal reveal, and you know I know you know, so actually it's not, there is actually no trope reversal, the reveal is that is is play it straight trope, lol.
... or.. is it? Maybe ghosts... boo!

The executed sage is reincarnated as a lich and starts an all-out war (2019) maybe

divergence: stop having inter racial war?

Tensei shitara slime datta ken (2013)
konjiki no word master (2013)
Maou-sama no Machizukuri! ~Saikyou no Danjon wa Kindai Toshi~(2016)
Lazy Dungeon Master (2016)

Evolution: make it a Diplomatic, social economic conflicts or make conflict a domestic unrest?

Maoyuu Maou Yuusha (2010)

Regression: self explanatory

You mean returning to the root?
Kenja no Mago (2015)
Strongest Sage with the weakest crest (2016)
Hellmode ~A Hardcore Gamer Becomes Peerless in Another World with Retro Game Settings~ (2019?)
Frieren (2020)


anyway yeah it's such a mess that we see subversion more often than the classic

 

[RepresentingPride]

A dumbass who think justice is everything and often lose his/her precious one to save strangers who don't care about him/her.

Heroes are just people that do things you like but don't want to or can't do.

That's why a hero to some can be a villain to others.

make me think of the quote :

Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It’s our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There’s no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views.

 

[D.S.Nate]

Take away the bland, fairy tale definition for a second. Take away the magic swords, the gilded shining armor. Remove the party and the demon or whatever evil they have to face.

Define what a Hero is. Just the person. The individual. What do you believe makes a Hero?

Is it their choices? Their decision to do "the right thing"? Is it the way that they help others, save lives, and protect those who cannot protect themselves?

Or, is it their selfless attitude. The unending "giving" of themselves, their time, and maybe even their lives?

Take away the typical trope of smiling, golden boy or girl who can do no wrong. It doesn't even need to be on a scale of World Ending. Maybe it's just the man who pulled someone off a ledge. A person who saved a kitten from drowning. A parent who took the time to listen to their kid before it was too late. A firefighter who took off his oxygen mask and gave it to someone who was trapped in a blaze.

When you think of a Hero, what comes to your mind? How do you define the pedestal?

This is a fantastic question, I think you can take this in a number of ways. The scale of ones deeds can also determine what camp you fall in.

One is a matter of prospective (The hero being seen as such by the people they side they are on.) this often means that that same hero will be seen as demon to another camp. These hero's are normally known by a great number of people to the point there there reputation expands out to beyond them to the point that maybe over half the stories told are not fully true anymore. Sure they can also do small deeds and still be seen different by different camps but the reason why I wanted to split them was because with the prospective of others you can have a true evil person be seen as a hero.

Then there is the hero who dose good deeds unnoticed by others but still benefit them in the long run like. These can be split to different prospective but since it's an act hardly anybody sees it's more a self moral. The deed could have done good or could have just left things about the same as it was before but if the Hero in question feels like they did good then that itself is it's own reward. Unless this act backfires or dose do harm then it's a hero's act.

Overall though I think the best way to get to the core of what a hero is, is to measure it's with to the society there deeds will effect. Hero's is basically a person (any person) who's learned and trained themselves to be proficient at a skill that can benefit the society they live in. In that light any honest job worth it's salt. (From a doctor, the milk man. Hell even having and raising a kid.) could be considered hero's work because when you look at the hero's journey the BOON is basically the skill someone gains though that can benefit others around them. The society grows because of your act and so it is the boon that is spoke of in those old tales.

(I could go into this more deeply since I've tackle this in my book and recently been thinking on this topic more.)

 

[Succubiome]

Hot take: a hero is just someone with a tragic flaw where you think it makes them Really Cool, and sometimes the narrative also think it makes them Really Cool.

 

[Nyxia_]

Well I believe a hero is someone who sacrifices, they sacrifice their life of comfort and ease for an unending battle against their chosen evil, whether they be a magical hero fighting a demon king, or a homeless man giving the last of his dinner to the two homeless children next to him, both sacrifice themselves for others comfort, and I think that's what defines a "hero"

 

[georgelee5786]

I'd define a hero in its purest form as someone who fights for a good causes for a good reason and fights for it with good actions.