Firlefanz
Lady of the Land
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 6984
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What do you expect of heros?
Or rather, what abilities, features and character traits do you like for heros - mostly when you read stories.
I'm just curious, because I wonder whether the characters we write are actually the kind of characters people want to read about.
--- - Firlefanz
Reading: "The Golem's Eye" by J. Stroud
Writing: Kiera and the Juggler Boy - YA
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11/28/2006, 7:14 pm
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Loud G
Grand Master
Registered: 01-2005
Location: Maryland, USA
Posts: 492
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
When I think of a hero, I think of an "Every-man" type person. A hero is just a normal guy that in any other circumstance would go unnoticed because he is so normal.
However, what sets the hero apart is where other people give up, he keeps going despite all odds. He may feel like giving up many times, but in the end doesn't.
But then again that is just one type.
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11/29/2006, 10:02 pm
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BardNoir
Journeyman
Registered: 10-2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 85
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
I like the UnderDogs.
The type of Hero that shouldn't be a hero and somehow ends up doing Heroic things even if there are others better than he - at least he steps up to the plate (when others have refused to do so) even if he isn't the best player in the game.
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"No story that ever began 'So I was playing a Half-Elf, Chaotic-Neutral, Fighter/Thief/Mage' can ever end well." -The Bard Noir
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11/30/2006, 4:38 pm
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mspatric
Initiate
Registered: 10-2003
Posts: 14
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
The anti-hero, or...
A hero who actually decides to do something as opposed to simply being swept up in the madness of the world. I would much rather read about the farmboy who sees the evil in the land and joins the resistance to slowly undermine the oppressive tyrant, as opposed to some twit who ends up going on a magical quest to find the enchanted sword to slay the Dark Lord.
Last edited by mspatric, 12/24/2006, 11:07 pm
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12/24/2006, 11:06 pm
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BardNoir
Journeyman
Registered: 10-2006
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 85
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
I also like a good "anti-hero". I guess my dark nature is also interested in bad guys doing something for a good for the wrong reasons. Like a serial killer who is helping the police track other serial killers, not because he wants to help the cops but because he wants to kill them. (Now that's a cool show)
I also like Reluctant Heroes - you know the guy who has all the skills and powers to get the job done, but spends the entire story running from it because of the traumatic past he must defeat before facing the nemesis of the story. You don't have spend a great deal of time building him up through the story, you just jump right in to keep kicking a good man when he's done.
Last edited by BardNoir, 1/1/2007, 3:55 pm
---
"No story that ever began 'So I was playing a Half-Elf, Chaotic-Neutral, Fighter/Thief/Mage' can ever end well." -The Bard Noir
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1/1/2007, 3:54 pm
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David Meadows
Squire
Registered: 09-2003
Posts: 693
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
quote:
Loud G wrote:
However, what sets the hero apart is where other people give up, he keeps going despite all odds. He may feel like giving up many times, but in the end doesn't.
To me that's the key defining trait of a hero. Without that, he's not a hero he's merely a... protagonist.
---
"An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered;
an adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered."
-- G.K. Chesterton
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1/3/2007, 11:44 am
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Charlemagnex
Initiate
Registered: 01-2008
Posts: 4
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
A Hero, in the classical Greek definition fo the world, is larger then life in appearence, ability, lineage and well, pretty much everything.
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1/15/2008, 8:26 pm
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dragonlady
Intrepid Adventurer
Registered: 04-2003
Location: England
Posts: 313
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Re: What do you expect of heros?
Don't forget that classical Greek heroes also have certain codes that they defend, but do not always live by.
In fact I think most ancient Greek heroes have some flaw that usually leads to their downfall. Which is probably due to the Greek Tragedies.
Personally I think a hero is someone who keeps going even though the odds are against her, or someone who successfully faces a really tough situation. I think the latter are more likely to be anti-heroes, but it depends really.
I don't think it necessarily needs to be a physical situation either, although that's often what gets focused on. There's all sorts of little ways a person can be a hero.
---
"Why sometimes I've believed as many as 6 impossible things before breakfast" -- Red Queen, Lewis Carrol
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1/15/2008, 9:39 pm
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