What is a Hero?

[RepresentingThree]

The one who wins.

 

[GlassRose]

Just another word for fool.
(Credit where credit is due, that's a line from a song, 'Space Hero' from the album 'Carmen Miranda's Ghost')

In all seriousness, a hero is someone who puts their life on the line to save others, not thinking of any potential reward, but solely because they believe it's the right thing to do. A hero isn't necessarily special, and doesn't necessarily fight. Firefighters are the most common example of heroes in the modern day.

 

[CheertheSecond]

Hero: One who sacrifices something precious to themselves for the sake of another

To do a heroic act, something of great interest to the hero must be at stake. A demigod saving a person from a monster, and a typical human saving a person from a monster. One is an act of kindness, the other is the heroic act of risking of their livelihood for another.

Hero and saviour are not interchangeable.

What can be defined as precious to the hero is also a subject of debate. However, they are not limit to the life of certain people, reputation, wealth, happiness, etc.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

A hero is a character for people to look up to and aspire to be.
They are a goal for others to work towards.

 

[Poleg]

I know I should be used to it by now, but I cannot help but keep noticing everyone seems to have casually accepted that a 'normal' war between humans and demons has the demons being persecuted and the humans as the 'oppressors'...

This trope is honestly just bad. Whenever I read this I lose interest.

 

[Darkcrow.]

To me a Hero is someone like Harry Dresden.
I mean a guy needs to be something else to slit the throat of his lover/mother of his child just so that he could save millions of lives.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

You're a hero!

I've had people tell me that.
Your first impulse is often to say, "Nah... I just did what anyone would do in that situation."
Nobody else did it. They weren't available. When someone calls you a hero, accept it. Thank them. Do not crow about it or preen, just accept it. Because when someone calls you a hero, it isn't for you.

It is for them.

When someone honestly calls you a hero, from the bottom of their heart, it is often because they were in a situation where all hope was lost and you saved them. Be it physically, mentally, socially, or spiritually. You "saved" them. People are rarely "saved". How often do you remember being "saved"? It is a burden. It is a debt. A debt you wish to repay because you are grateful.

The person who saved you, the "hero", rarely will understand that. If someone calls you a hero, honestly, not ironically, calls you a hero, it may be hard to understand because, in this world, we don't really present heroes to people. We don't TEACH heroes or give examples of heroes. Society has "evolved" past the need for heroes.

Bullshit.

Even if we don't have words for/experience with/been a hero, you know what it feels like when someone is a hero to you, even if you can't express it in words.

I was in an elevator once, a client was riding along with me to their room. We had just met at random. She turned to me and said, "You saved me, By the way. I'd be dead right now if it was not for you. When I was at my absolute limit last month, you came in and made me laugh and I decided not to kill myself. You are a hero and more people should know."

I almost blew it off as a joke.

Thankfully I realized it wasn't. I nodded and said, "It's an honor. I'm just glad I noticed you were having trouble. in the future, let me know. I'm kinda clueless at times and might miss it in the future. I mean this, no matter how bad my day, how tired I am, I hope you will have the courage to tell me you need help."

She smiled, nodded, and said she would, then left.

I have no idea who she was or what I did. I honestly do not remember her at all. I think I met her like... four times in the years I worked at TLS.

When someone calls you a hero, be grateful and show them a smile. Act like it means a lot to be called one, even if it doesn't. To that person, who you helped, accidentally saved without even knowing...

THEY NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE A HERO.

They don't want it, they NEED it. They need a smile from you and a nod and a "you're welcome". Because people need heroes. We need people we can look up to, to aspire to. People who we can try to emulate. Examples to follow. When someone says you are a hero, they are saying:

Thank you. I wish to be more like you.

In such a situation, you don't NEED to be perfect. Lord knows I am not. I am not someone ANYONE should aspire to be. But I can appear to be someone you can aspire to be. It doesn't matter if I am a hero, because all heroes have feet of clay. What matters is that they have a positive image of you, and strive to become that. Because they will improve in the process.

A hero inspires. Inspiring someone might be the best way to help someone.

I made some funny jokes, cheered someone up, and forgot all about them.

However, a year later she got out of the program, got over her addiction to Fentanyl, and even managed to get her child out of foster care and start to live on her own outside the program. No idea what happened after that, but on the last day she was in the program, she made a point to find me on the night shift and thank me for everything I did for her.

I talked to her maybe... three times.

She made me into something I wasn't. It doesn't matter. What she thought I was is what inspired her, and she became a better person for it. Her beliefs were built on misperception, but I did nothing to correct her.

If a thing works, it works. Let it work.





I don't feel like a hero.




I won't repeat myself. You can go through my past posts and read the story there. I have done horrible things to innocent people. If there is a Hell, there is a special place waiting for me. If I had a wish, it would be to undo everything I did, and if that was not possible, at least some form of redemption.

However, I realize now there is no way to ever balance those karmic scales, and I shouldn't even try. If I actually was trying to "balance the scales", I have to ask myself, "If I ever did enough to make up for everything I did, would I stop helping people?"

If the answer is yes, then I am not really trying to redeem myself. If the answer is no, then there is no point in keeping score.

In the end, I think what is important is to make the world a better place than you found it. Just keep doing that. Forget the mistakes you made, and from this point, going forward, do your best to make things better. There are no karmic scales. Doing "Good" does not balance out the "Bad". The bad still exists. This isn't a LitRPG. You do not have a karmic "score".

This is why I can be a monstrous bastard AND a saint-like hero at the same time.

...

A hero isn't something that is defined easily. It is like porn, I can't tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it. How to become a hero is very difficult, but also very simple.

Suppress your rage. Overcome your fear. Act with courage and conviction.
Do your best to make the world better than you found it.

Society will decide if you are a hero or not. Be it a thousand people, or one person, someone else will decide if you are a hero. You might never know if you are a hero to someone else. They may not have the courage to say it, but if they do, accept the title and try to live up to it as best you can, because by simply accepting the title of hero, you may give someone something to aspire to. You may give them that single most precious thing that every man, woman, and child needs to survive in this fucked up world.




Hope.

Just another word for fool.

I'm sorry you think this way. I used to think like you, long ago. I do not anymore.

It is okay to be a hero. It is okay to aspire to be one as well. It is okay to have a hero, even if they are not perfect. I suspect you do not have one. I hope you find one someday. For what it is worth, I have yet to meet anyone who I found to be truly worthless or beyond redemption. The only thing a person needs is a desire to be better and regret for their failures. It sometimes helps to have someone to aspire to... a hero... if you will.

I have been a "fool" to many people.

The one that stands out the most is when a co-worker had a fork to her throat and the client had been off his drugs for a while and was basically having a complete psychotic break. He was experiencing three different worlds at once. A schizophrenic having a complete meltdown. There were snipers on the AIX building. Aliens crawling under his skin. He was God and serving god and in the army with his brain being kept in a jaw of an ass. And I mean the JAW of an ASS as in Mule.

I spent the longest fifteen minutes of my life stalling while I prayed for the cops to show up. I have never bullshitted so hard in my life. All these years of writing stories payed off in that 15 minutes as I followed his convoluted madness and random surreal stream of consciousness.

And on a lark, at the end, I said, "Well, as your commanding officer, I declare your assignment a complete success. Stand down. You are relieved of your weapon and duty. Please wait over there to be escorted to your next assignment."

And he did.

Three minutes later the CPEP squad FINALLY showed up and took him in.

Am I a fool?

Because Janet called me a hero, after that.

And I also collapsed shaking to the floor after they got him out of the room. I spend 15 minutes babbling madness with a madman and did not for one second think about how one wrong word would kill her. Nobody else in the room spoke or helped me. It was me, and me alone, just following his narration and making up things to fit in his rambling story as I went.

Literally, telling a story to save a life.

Most heroes are just normal people doing the best they can to do the right thing when nobody else does or can.

I know why you THINK a hero is a fool, but trust me, there is nothing foolish about altruism.

 

[Azure_Fog]

Well, I think the definition varies.

For me, if I think of a hero, I will be thinking of some knight in shining armor. I blame that on reading too many webnovels. Now, if I really force myself to come up with a definition, I’d probably just go with the definition I got when I googled it: “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.”

TL;DR of this section: Google definition.

Now if you wanted me to go deeper, then we get not a defenition, but more of a paragraph.

Spoiler: Long essay (1.5k words)

A ”hero” is a person, maybe group of people that typically stands out from a group. They could be a ”hero” simply because they decided to be or because another group decided they are a ”hero”. The reason for why a group decides someone is a “hero” will vary though.

For this first example, let’s look at the stereotypical isekai “hero”. The point was to look away from this, but I think it is important to look at all possible definitions. In this scenario, the “hero” is summoned (or hit by a truck) into another world, often with a cheat ability. The goal is to kill the Demon King. Always. (Why is it always demons…) The “hero” is typically on the side of the humans. Why are they called a “hero”? It is because they are going to kill the Demon King and erradicate the demons.

Now, let’s take a step back a bit. The humans call the “hero” a hero because they are removing a threat to humanity. Removing it is an arduous task and they have decided to take it on (with zero deliberation). However, let’s rephrase things a bit… Picture this: There is a world with three races: humans, demons, and magical beasts. Demons and magical beasts make up half the population while the other half is made up of humans. A “hero” is summoned by the humans to wipe out all of the magical beasts and demons, and they do so. Hooray! All the demons and magical beasts are gone, humans are no longer threatened! Now, look at this again. Make everyone human this time though. Now it doesn’t seem like such a great thing that this “hero” has done. Let’s look at it a bit differently again. Replace the “hero” with Thanos. They did the same thing: kill off half the population. Yet the “hero” is a “hero” and Thanos is the “villain”.

This little thought experiment demonstrates one thing: “hero” and “villain“ are the same thing. It’s all just a matter of perspective. So, we should take this into account when trying to define a “hero”. They need to abide by what is considered “morally right” and generally accepted by the group that sees them as a hero.

TL;DR for this section: “Hero” vs “villain” is a matter of perspective.

Now, let’s step back into reality. Let’s look at some other ways of seeing a “hero”, such as the example given in this post: “A firefighter who took off his oxygen mask and gave it to someone who was trapped in a blaze.” Society would consider this person a ”hero” because they saved someone else’s life, albeit at the expense of their own. That is what we’ll be looking at next: sacrafice.

So, what changed between a normal firefigher who goes into a burning building and this one? They both saved someone, yet the first would never be hailed as a “hero”. They just did their job. The second however, went beyond the job. They gave up their mask to save someone else, and likely died. Now, society would probably look upon this and say that they did the “right thing”. Again, to be considered a “hero” you must abide by the group that recognizes you as a hero’s “rules”. Then, in addition to that, there was a cost. A cost that would be considered rather large, in this case, the firefighter’s life.

This allows us to add a bit more to the definition: one must make a sacrafice for others.

TL;DR for this section: Sacrafice can be what sets a “hero” apart from others.

Rewind time a bit now. Let’s look at a different type of “hero”. Martin Luther King, Junior, an activist for black rights and the end of segregation. Now, those outside of the United States might have no idea who he is (I’m from the US, I have no idea what other countries teach in history class), but that’s fine. Though very condensed, in essence, he was an activist who lead many protests against the segregation of black people and the lack of rights they had. In addition, he gave several speeches on this very topic, with his most well known one being “I Have a Dream”. In the end, he was assassinated, but the impact he left was incredible and there is now a national holiday on his birthday. (Some of that information may be wrong as I did 0 research and this is from memory)

King would be a “hero” by today’s standards, standing up against oppression. However, back when he was alive, not everyone would see him that way. The general populace of white people, especially those in the south, would think him a ”villain”. Why? Because they still thought of black people as slaves or “worth less than white people.” In their eyes, they were correct.

This is very similar to the first example. In the eyes of the south, King represented the “demons”. A threat to “human” society. But, look at it from another way, such as today’s views, and you will exact opposite. King is the isekai’d “hero” and white society is the “demon”. He faces against the oppression of the “demons” and tries to make a world where everyone is equal.

Standing against oppression is a good quality for something to add to the definition of “hero”, but let’s try to generalize it. King, in the simplest terms, wanted change. This change was also considered “morally right” by whoever views them as a hero.

From this we can add another, and also my final point because I’m tired of typing, to the definition of a “hero”. A “hero” must bring about something that is considered “morally right” by the “hero”’s group, possibly involving standing up to another group.

TL;DR for this section: A “hero” could be someone who stands to bring a change that is considered “moral right” by their group, possibly standing against another group.

There’s something about the last bit though. Is someone a ”hero” even if they don’t bring around any change? In most cases, I would believe so. Let’s use another hypothetical situation. A city, let’s call it “Joeville”, is under seige by zombies. Someone dashes forwards saying, “I’ll hold the line! Evacuate everyone!” Then, they fight off zombies for a bit, die, and the city falls. Despite their efforts, almost nobody made it out. Yet, they would likely be sung as a hero. This however, could be seen as what was discussed in the first section. They stood up against a great threat, even if the end result had they done nothing would have been the same.

(Author sidenote: Or would they? I mean, I think it depends on how much they do… which brings up another point of “how much do you need to do to be a ’hero’?” I don’t feel like exploring that right now, this is taking far too long already, and I have another section planned…)

Now, let’s look at it again. Let’s look at Rosa Parks this time, who became famous for refusing to give up her seat, which ended up with a massive boycott of the bus system and removal of segregation there. Most people would consider her a hero of the civil rights movemen, but, did you know that she wasn’t the first? Claudette Colvin did the exact same thing, nine months earlier. In fact, Parks did what she did because of Colvin. So, does this make Colvin a hero too? The history books don’t seem to talk about her. Well, I would say so. You could argue that she caused changes later on, but the credit was given to Parks. I still would think she js a hero though.

Thus, we add a little bit more: Standing against status quo for what is conidered “morally right”

TL;DR for this section: A ”hero” could be someone who stands against what is normal in favor of what is deemed “morally right” by their group.

Now, let’s do the inverse. Say there is no oppressor, yet a change is caused.

Let’s look at Albert Einstein. He was a pioneer in science. Now, I may have forgotten most of what he did, but he was a great enough scientist that people decided to slice up his brain and sent it off for research.

Since I’m too lazy to delete what I just wrote, let’s use Thomas Eddison instead. Why? He made the lightbulb. Lightbulbs revolutionized life, and we use them even today. Now, would you consider him a hero? Maybe not as society as a whole, but some people would say that he is “their hero”. So, maybe the change doesn’t even have to be towards something morally right, just something beneficial. (Also, remember, societyis just one group. Sure, the people who consider Eddison to be their “hero” may be smaller, but it’s still a group.

Thus, we can add that it can simply be working towards a change that is beneficia. I will keep the “morally right” part in, but I’m too lazy to think of an example help this way too long.

TL;DR for this section: A “hero” could be someone who stands to bring a change that is considered “morally right” or beneficial by their group.

In the end, we are left with the following for someone to be considered a “hero” by a group:
1, A ”hero” must abide by what is considered “morally right” and generally accepted by their group.
2. A ”hero” must have check at least one of the following boxes as well:

• Stood against a (great) “threat” to their group.
• Made some sort of sacrafice of great cost for other(s).
• Brought about change that aligns with what their group considers “morally right”.
• Stood up against normality in favor of what is considered “morally right” by their group.
• Brought about change that benefits their group.

Sorry if there’s any typos, I was typing fast.

 

[Mortrexo]

I wrote this in my novel in the past. I think it summarizes it quite nicely.

 

[Tsuru]

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 beacon of hope